HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY, IL PAST and PRESENT H ISl^ORY COUNTY, ILLINOIS: CONTAINING A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; ITS CITIES, TOWNS, ETC.; A BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF ITS CITIZENS; WAR RECORD OF ITS VOLUNTEERS IN THE LATE REBELLION ; PORTRAITS OF ITS EARLY SETTLERS AND PROMINENT MEN; GENERAL AND LOCAL STATISTICS; HIS- TORY OF THE NORTHWEST; HISTORY OF ILLINOIS; CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES; MAP OF MORGAN COUNTY; MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS, ETC., ETC. IL L US TRA TED CHICAGO: DONNELLEY, LOYD & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1878. COPYRIGHT. DONNELLEY, LOYD AND COMPANY, 1878. MORGAN V -"'A. PREFACE. But little over half a century ago and not a white man dwelt in the present confines of Morgan County. It was then a luxuriant, trackless, uninhabited . domain? with no life save that of the wild beast or bird, native savage, or >^** ' wandering hunter, or explorer, in his search for new scenes and fresh exploits. One hundred and thirty-six years before that time, the western borders of the county had first fallen under the gaze of the white man, as the devoted mis- sionary, Marquette, paddled up the Illinois River, on his return voyage of discovery. It will soon be two hundred years since the first habitation of the white man appeared in the Mississippi Valley. Ere he could do this, empires were to change, the native savages were to be expelled, and new powers were to come into energetic existence. Though the French were the discoverers of this beautiful, fertile valley, yet it was reserved to the sturdy Anglo-Saxon to develop its resources, and bring it to its present condition. The merry French- man loved ease, not conquest, and here he could pass his time in luxuriant idleness, the natural fertility of the soil providing abundantly for all his simple desires. .. A little over a century passed from the date of Marquette's explorations, until the War of Independence occurred, whereby this vast region passed into the hands of the valiant sons of freedom, and emigration began rapidly to pour into it. So quickly did the valley fill, that in less than half a century it was divided into territories and states; and in 1809, Illinois was recognized as an integral part of the Union. Nine years after, the State passed to the second grade of government. About this time the "Sangamo country" became noted in the East and South, and emigrants came thither in great number;:. Early in the Autumn of that year, Ambrose Collins, Elisha and Seymour Keilogg. their families, ' left their eastern home, proceeded in wagons to the heai navigation, for the West, where they embarked in flat-boats, and side by side, floated down the beautiful Ohio to old Shawneetown, where they disembar! resumed their first mode of travel, and went on to Carmi. As it was late in the season, they remained here during the winter, and the next summer proceeded J:o Edwardsville, then a prominent western town. Here Mr. Collins was taken sick, and with his family, with the exception of one son, Charles, was compelled to remain for the winter. The two Kelloggs, their families, and Charles, went on to the head of Mauvaisterre Creek, where, late in the Autumn of 1819. thcv " established their homes, the first in the county. The following winter they were visited by three commissioners from a New Yo'rk city colonization com- pany, one of whom, Isaac Fort Roe, remained and founded a home. XIV. PREFACE. however, lived but a short time, his death being the first among the whit residents in the present county. Emigration now began to come into the new country with surprisin rapidity, and five years after these events occurred, Morgan County was created retaining at that time the present counties of Scott and Cass, the former bein separated in 1832, the latter in 1837. To record the events from the arrival of the Kelloggs until the presen time, and preserve them for coming generations, has been the aim of this work This lapse of time has not been without its history ; a history so full of import ant events, and fraught with interest to the children of these sturdy pioneer; who left homes for these wild haunts, and whose energy has made .Morga: County what it is abounding in ." ealth, enterprise, and culture. To preserve correctly these annals has been our aim, and while we do no arrogate to ourselves accuracy beyond criticism, the narration will be foum measurably correct, the arrangement and collation of which compelled th careful examination and digestion of a labyrinth of facts, incidents, am narratives enveloped in the PAST, entering so largely into the PRESENT of th community in whose interest these pages have been written. To the patriarchs of the PAST, and to the representative men of the PRESENI without whose aid the undertaking would have been fruitless, we tender ou -grateful acknowledgements. Especially do we desire to record our obligation to JUDGE WILLIAM THOMAS, that eminent citizen, whose, pen has so faithfull preserved the PAST during his long residence in the county, and whose aid ha been so fredy given. Also to MR. TIMOTHY CHAMBERLAIN, secretary of the Ol Settlers' Association, for the use of the society's records, and the list of the oL settlers, prepared by him. To L R. BAILEY, for the use of the Sentinel (no> Coiirier) files, and for valuable information contained .in them. To MR. M. I SIMMONS, and MR. C. M. EAMES, for free access to*the Journal files. To th propriet "s and editor of the Courier, and to the Waverly and Meredosia pres: all of wh n freely exte ded aid to us whenever desired. To many others, .. nd to the citizens of Morgaji County in general, w tender our acknowledgements, for the uniform courtesy and kindness extends our representatives during the preparation of these annals, as well as for thei liberal patronage, without which this history could not have been prepared, ani would have i nained unwritten, and unpreserved. Respectfully, DONNELLEY, LOYD & CO., Publishers. CONTENTS. PAOK History of Northwest Territory.. 19 Geographical Position 19 Early Explorations 20 Discovery of the Ohio 33 English Explorations and Settlements 35 American Settlements 60 Division of the Northwest Territory 66 Tecumseh and the War of 1813 70 Black Hawk and the Black HawkWar 74 Other Indian Troubles 79 Present Condition of the Northwest 87 Illinois 99 Indiana 101 Iowa 102 Michigan 103 Wisconsin 104 Minnesota 106 Nebraska 107 History of Illinois 109 Coal 125,, r- Compactof 1787 llf^ Chicago 132 Early Discoveries 109 Early Settlements 115 Education 129 French Occupation 112 Genius of LaSalle 113 Material Resources 124 Massacre at Fort Dearborn. .141 Physical Features 121 Progress of Development 123 Religion and Morals 128 War Record of Illinois 130 History of Morgan County 221 Topography and Geology 221 Coal Measures 222 Limestone 227 Clays 228 Bafldlng Material 228 Railroads 229 Population 229 HISTORICAL. PAGE History of Morgan County: Agriculture 229 Agricultural Implements 242 Divisions of Land 243 Fences 243 Architecture ( Early) 244 Agricultural Organizations. .247 Morgan Coun'v Agricultural Society 250 Political History 252 County Offlceis since 1823... 263 Past and Present 267 Winnebago War (The) 288 The Deep Snow 293 Black Hawk War (The) 294 The Sudden Freeze 307 Railroads 310 Old Settlers Association 31!) Common Schools 330 Jacksonville, City of 334 Business Interests 354 Banks 354 Man ufactures 355 Water Works 356 Gas Works 357 Street Railway 357 Municipal History 357 Fire Department 361 Cemeteries 361 Lodges, Associations, and Societies 362 Militia 362 Young Meus Christian Asso- ciation 36-2 Reading Room and Library. 362 Jacksonville Library Asso- ' elation 363 Art Association of Jackson- ville 364 Jacksonville Literary Union. 364 Plato Club (The) 865 Jacksonville Horticultural Society 366 Jacksonville Natural History Society 366 Sorosis 367 PAuK Jacksonville, City of: Microscopical Society 367 Morgan County M Society 367 Jacksonville Medical Club... 367 Churches 367 City Schools 375 Illinois College 380 Whipple Academy 385 Jacksonville Female A> my 386 Illinois Female College 389 Jacksonville Business Col- lege 392 Athenaeum 394 Illinois Conservatory of Music ". 396 Orphans Home 398 The Press 399 The State Institutions 401 Illinois If'tltutlon for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb 401 Oak Lawn Retreat 409 Illinois Institation for the Education of the Blind 410 M,-redosia 413 Waverly 420 Murra \ ''.e 427 Franklin 128 Woodson 429 (hapin 430 Concord 431 Ly nnville 432 Prentice 432 Alexander. 433 ' Neelyviile 433 Arcadia -. . . . 434 Bethel 434 Morgan Citv 434 Literberry 435 Orleans 435 Pisgah... 435 Woodlyn 435 Sinclair 436 Yatesville 436 Mouth of the Mississippi sjl Source of the Mississippi 21 Wild Prairie $>3 LaSalle Landing OH the Shore of Green Bay 25 Buffalo Hunt 27 Trapping 29 Hunting 32 Iroquois Chief 34 Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain. . . 43 Indians Attacking Frontiers- men 56 A Prairie Storm 59 A Pioneer Dwelling 61 Breaking Prairie 63 Tecumseh, Shawnee Chieftain... 69 Indians Attacking a Stockade... 72 Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftain. . 75 Big Eagle 80 Capt. Jack, the Modoc Cnleftain 83 Kinzie House 85 ILLUSTRATIONS. Village Residence ............. 86 A Representative Pii ne ;r ....... 87 Lincoln Monument. Springfield. 88 A Pioneer School House ......... 89 Farm View in the Winter ....... 10 Spring Scene .................... s}l Pioneers 1 First Winter ........... 02 Apple Harvest .................... 4 Great Iron Bridge of the C., R. & P. R.R., crossing the Missis- sippi at D venport, Iowa ..... 96 A Western Dwelling .............. l r " Hunting Prairie Wolves at : Early Day ..................... u Starved Rock, on the Illinois River. LaSalle Co., HI .......... 110 An Early Settlement ............. 116 Chicago in 1833 ........ .......... 133 Old Fort Dearborn, 1830 ......... 136 Present Site Lake Street Bridge, Chicago, 1833 .................. 136 PA OK Ruins of Chicago 142 View of the City of Chicago 144 Shabbona 149 Illustrat'onsof the City of Jack- sonvill : Atneiueum :',N" Conservatory of Music 397 Conriei- Office . . 400 Grac _. E. Church 375 High c'-ool 379 I Hincts allege 383 Illinois female College 391 Illinois Institution for the Education of the Blind. ...411 Illinois Institution for (he Education <>f the Deaf and Dumb 401 Jacksonvi.,3 Female Acade- my 388 Jacksonville Woolen Mil Morgan County Court House.377 PAGK Burnett Isham 200 Curtiss T. E 212 De vere J. H 364 Hart Wm. P. Rev 219 PORTRAITS. PA<;K Langley James 146 drear William 348 Reinbach Harry 252 SeymourJWilliam... Strawn Jacob Widenham J. C.... PASS 182 ...frontispiece. 380 XVI CONTENTS. MORGAN COUNTY WAR RECORD. PAGE Infantry. lOtb (3 months) 437 8th (3 years) 437 9th ' 437 9th (consolidated) 437 10th(3 years) 437 tltli " 441 14th " 441 Veteran Batallion, 14th and 15th 443 1 4th ( reorganized) 444 15th " 444 16th (3 years) 444 18th (reorganized) 444 19tn (3 years) 444 20th " 444 21st " 444 23d " 444 26th " 445 27th - 445 28th " 446 28th (consolidated) 446 29th (3 years) 447 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 88th 38th 39th 41st 43d (consolidated). . . .... ^449 44th (3 years) .449 45th " 449 50th " 449 53rd " 450 .44 .447 .447 .448 .448 .449 .449 .449 .449 PAGE Infantry. 54th (3 years) 450 56th 450 57th " 450 58th (consolidated) 450 59th (3 years) 450 61st " 450 62d " 450 64th " 450 67th " 450 68th 450 71st (3 months) 450 73d (3 years).... 451 74th 76th 87th 91st 92d 94th 95th 99th 101st 105th 113th 115th 117th 118th 119th 122d 126th 129th 130th 133d 133d (100 days) 462 144th (3 years) 462 135th " 462 137th (100 days) 462 151 .451 .451 .452 .452 .452 .452 .452 .452 .460 .460 .460 .461 .461 .461 .461 .461 .461 .461 .461 PAGK Infantry. 140th (100 days) 462 144th (one year) 462 145th (100 days) 462 146th (one year) 463 149th (3 years) .463 150th (one year) 463 153d " 463 154th " 463 155th " 464 Cavalry. 2d ( 3 years) 464 3d " 464 3d (consolidated) 465 4th (3 years) 465 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th llth 12th 13th 465 465 465 465 466 466 466 466 466 J3th (consolidated) 466 15th (3 years) 467 17th " 467 Artillery. 1st 467 2d 467 Chicago Board of Trade 468 Springfield Light 468 29th U. S. Colored Infantry 468 30th " " " 468 First Army-Corps 468 Recruits for the U. S. Regular Army 468 DIRECTORIES. PAGE PAGE PAGE Jacksonville City Directory 469 Town 14 North Range 9 West .631 Town 15 North Range 12 West .717 Business Directorv.530 Town 13 North Range 8 West '..537 .. 10 .. " 11 " .657 .679 Town 16 North Range 8 West " 9 " .724 .727 9 " ..567 Town 15 North Range 8 West .685 " 10 " .733 " 11 " ..587 -.603 " 9 " 10 " .688 .694 .. 12 .739 .753 Town 14 North Range 8 West ..615 " 11 " .703 " 13 " .762 ABSTRACT OF ILLINOIS STATE LAWS. PAGE Adoption of Children itjfl BUN of Exchange and Promis- sory Notes 151 County Courts 155 Con veyances 164 Church Organizations 189 Descent 151 Deeds and Mortgages 157 Drainage 163 Damages from Trespass 169 Dfilnitiou "f Commercial Termsl73 Exemptions from Forced Sale... 156 Estrays 157 Fences 168 Forms: A i tides of Agreement 175 Bills of i-urchase 174 Billsof Sale 176 Forms: PAGE Bonds 176 Chattel Mortgages 177 Codicil 189 Lease of Farm and B'ldings.179 Lease of House 180 Landlord's Agreement 180 Notes 174 Notice Tenant to Quit 181 Orders 174 Quit Claim Deed 185 Receipt 1 74 Keal Estate Mortgage to se- cure Payment of Money. ...181 Release 186 Tenant's Agreement 180 Tenant's Notice to Quit 181 Warranty Deed 182 Will 187 PAGE Game 151 Interest 158 Jurisdiction of Courts 154 Limitation of Action 155 Landlord and Tenant 169 Liens 172 Married Women 155 Millers 159 Marks and Brands 159 Paupers 164 Roads and Bridges 161 Surveyors and Surveys 160 Suggestions to Persons purchas- ing Books by Subscription 190 Taxes 154 Wills and Estates 152 AVejghts and Measures 158 Wolf Scalps 164 PAGE Map of Morgan County front. Constitution of the United Statesl92 Klectors of President and Vice- Presklent. 1876 206 il Rules for every day use 207 TJ. S. Government Land Meas- ure 210 MISCELLANEOUS. PAGE Surveyors Measure 211 How to keep Accounts 211 Interest Table 212 Miscellaneous Table 212 Names of the States of the Union and their Significations 213 Population of the U. S 214 PAGE Population of Fifty Principal Cities of the U. S 214 Population and Area of the U. S.215 Population of the Principal Countries in the World 215 Population of Illinois 216 Agricultural Productions of Illi- nois by Counties 218 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the " New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old " Northwestern Territory. " In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast magnitude. It includes an area .of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States, including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula- tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of the entire population of the United States. Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far- stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent on the globe. For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North- west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United States. (19) 20 - THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. EARLY EXPLORATIONS. In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded no settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize upon any news from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer took advantage of these discoveries. In 1616, four years before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene- trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary, below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent result; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes, nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen- eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac. During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St. Ignatius, they learned of a great river away^to the west, and fancied as all others did then that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a THK NOKTHWKST TKHKITORY.. 21 22 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe- dition, prepared for the undertaking. On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist- ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi a& exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But, nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar- quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to thank hiin for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake. He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to Joliet, said : " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun- tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage, returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin, which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were now upon the bosom of th3 Father of Waters. The mystery was about to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 23 Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand *' reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab- itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas- tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors. THE WILD PRAIRIE. On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person. After remaining a few days they re-embarked and descended the river to about latitude 33, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course 24 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois, rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, ' did we see such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards, swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River.'' The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and reported their discovery one of the most important of the age, but of which no record was preserved save Marquette 's, Joliet losing his by the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the mouth of a stream going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan he asked to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefully passed away while at prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving . the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been called Marquette. While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre- paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun by him. These were Robert de LaSalle and Louis Hennepin. After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of those ages a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific, when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol- lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan, dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that LaSalie's idea to connect the great lakes by a chain of forts with the Gulf of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un- measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis- tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized. LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also received from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chev- THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 25 alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a. fort, and passed on to Green Bay, the " Baie des Puans''' of the French, where he found a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors, LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY. started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, when, hear- ing nothing from the Griffin, he collected all the men thirty working men and three monks and started again upon his great undertaking. By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, called by the Indians, "Theakeke," wolf, because of the tribes of Indians called by that name, commonly known as the Mahingans, dwelling there. The French pronounced it Kiakiki, which became corrupted to Kankakee. "Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the country," about the last of December they reached a village of the Illi- nois Indians, containing some five hundred cabins, but at that moment 26 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. no inhabitants. The Seur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuff's, took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suffi- ciency of maize, large quantities of which he found concealed in holes under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois. The corn being securely stored, the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward evening, on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must have been the lake of Peoria. This was called by the Indians Pim-i-te-wi, that is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the natives were met with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent some time with them, LaSalle determined to erect another fort in that place, for he had heard rumors that some of the adjoining tribes were trying to disturb the good feeling which existed, and some of his men were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships and perils of the travel. He called this fort " Crevecceur" (broken-heart), a name expressive of the very natural sorrow and anxietj^ which the pretty certain loss of his ship, Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the part of the Indians, and of mutiny among his own men, might well cause him. His fears were not entirely groundless. At one time poison was placed in his food, but fortunately was discovered. While building this fort, the Winter wore away, the prairies began to look green, and LaSalle, despairing of any reinforcements, concluded to return to Canada, raise new means and new men, and embark anew in the enterprise. For this purpose he made Hennepin the leader of a party to explore the head waters of the Mississippi, and he set out on his jour- ney. This journey was accomplished with the aid of a few persons, and was successfully made, though over an almost u iknown route, and in a bad season of the year. He safely reached Cana ^a, and set out again for the object of his search. Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecoeur on the last of February, 1680. When LaSalle reached this place on his return expedition, he found the fort entirely deserted, and he was obliged to return again to Canada. He embarked the third time, and succeeded. Seven days after leaving the fort, Hennepin reached the Mississippi, and paddling up the icy stream as best he could, reached no higher than the Wisconsin River by the llth of April. Here he and his followers were taken prisoners by a band of Northern Indians, who treated them with great kindness. Hen- nepin's comrades were Anthony Auguel and Michael Ako. On this voy- age they found several beautiful lakes, and "saw some charming prairies." Their captors were the Isaute or Sauteurs, Chippewas, a tribe of the Sioux nation, who took them up the river until about the first of May, when they reached some falls, which Hennepin christened Falls of St. Anthony THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 27 in honor of his patron saint. Here they took the land, and traveling nearly two hundred miles to the northwest, brought them to their villages. Here they were kept about three months, were treated kindly by their captors, and at the end of that time, were met by a band of Frenchmen, BUFFALO HUNT. headed by one Seur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had pene- trated thus far by the route of Lake Superior ; and with these fellow- countrymen Hennepin and his companions were allowed to return to the borders of civilized life in November, 1680, just after LaSalle had returned to the wilderness on his second trip. Hennepin soon after went to France, where he published an account of his adventures. 28 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. The Mississippi was first discovered by- De Soto in April, 1541, in his vain endeavor to find gold and precious gems. In the following Spring, De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his wander- ings, he fell a victim to disease, and on the 21st of May died. His followers, reduced by fatigue and disease to less than three hundred men, wandered about the country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor to rescue them- selves by land, and finally constructed seven small vessels, called brigan- tines, in which they embarked, and descending the river, supposing it would lead them to the sea, in July they came to the sea (Gulf of Mexico), and by September reached the Island of Cuba. They were the first to see the great outlet of the Mississippi ; but, being so weary and discouraged, made no attempt to claim the country, and hardly had an intelligent idea of what they had passed through. To La Salle, the intrepid explorer, belongs the honor of giving the first account of the mouths of the river. His great desire was to possess this entire country for his king, and in January, 1682, he and his band of explorers left the shores of Lake Michigan on their third attempt, crossed the portage, passed down the Illinois River, and on the 6th of February, reached the banks of the Mississippi. On the 13th they commenced their downward course, which they pursued with but one interruption, until upon the 6th of March they dis- covered the three great passages by which the river discharges its waters into the gulf. La Salle thus narrates the event : " We landed on the bank of the most western channel, about three leagues (nine miles) from its mouth. On the seventh, M. de LaSalle went to reconnoiter the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti meanwhile examined the great middle channel. They found the main outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the 8th we reascended the river, a little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond the re*ch of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to the column were affixed the arms of France with this inscription : Louis Le Grand, Roi De France et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvieme Avril, 1682. The whole party, under arms, chanted the Te Deum, and then, after a salute and cries of " Vive le Roi," the column was erected by M. de La Salle, who, standing near it, proclaimed in a loud voice the authority of the King of France. LaSalle returned and laid the foundations of the Mis- sissippi settlements in Illinois, thence he proceeded to France, where another expedition was fitted out, of which he was commander, and in two :succeeding voyages failed to find the outlet of the river by sailing along the shore of the gulf. On his third voyage he was killed, through the THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 29 treachery of his followers, and the object of his expeditions was not accomplished until 1699, when D'Iberville, under the authority of the crown, discovered, on the second of March, by way of the sea, the mouth of the " Hidden River." This majestic stream was called by the natives 44 Malbouchia," and by the Spaniards, " la Palissade," from the great TRAPPING. number of trees about its mouth. After traversing the several outlets,, and satisfying himself as to its certainty, he erected a fort near its western outlet, and returned to France. An avenue of trade was now opened out which was fully improved. In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some European colo- nists. In 1762, the colony was made over to Spain, to be regained by France under the consulate of Napoleon. In 1803, it was purchased by 30 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. the United States for the sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territory of Louisiana and commerce of the Mississippi River came under the charge of the United States. Although LaSalle's labors ended in defeat and death, he had not worked and suffered in vain. He had thrown open to France and the world an immense and most valuable country ; had established several ports, and laid the foundations of more than one settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia, are to this day monu- ments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had founded neither of them (unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecoeur,) it was by those whom he led into the West that these places were peopled and civilized. He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored." The French early improved the opening made for them. Before the year 1698, the Rev. Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois, and founded Kaskaskia. For some time this was merely a missionary station, where none but natives resided, it being one of three such vil- lages, tlie other two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is known of these missions is learned from a letter written by Father Gabriel Marest, dated " Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de ITmmaculate Conception de la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after the founding of Kaskaskia, the missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Crevecoeur. This must have been about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes on the Oubache river, (pronounced Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly*) was estab- lished in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether prob- able that on LaSalle's last trip he established the stations at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. In July, 1701, the foundations of Fort Ponchartrain were laid by De la Motte Cadillac on the Detroit River. These sta- tions, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts to occupy the Northwest Territory. At the same time efforts were being made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the settle- ment and founding of the City of New Orleans by a colony from England in 1718. This was mainly accomplished through the efforts of the famous Mississippi Company, established by the notorious John Law, who so quickly arose into prominence in France, and who with his scheme so quickly and so ignominiously passed away. From the time of the founding of these stations for fifty years the French nation were engrossed with the settlement of the lower Missis- sippi, and the war with the Chicasaws, who had, in revenge for repeated * There is considerable dispute about this date, some asserting it was founded as late as 1742. When the new court house at Vincennes was erected, all authorities on the subject were carefully examined, and i'/02 fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court house. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 31 injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez. Although the company did little for Louisiana, as the entire West was then called, yet it opened the trade through the Mississippi River, and started the raising of grains indigenous to that climate. Until the year 1750, but little is known of the settlements in the Northwest, as it was not until this time that the attention of the English was called to the occupation of this portion of the New World, which they then supposed they owned. Vivier, a missionary among the Illinois, writing from " Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort Chartres, June 8, 1750, says: "We have here whites, negroes and Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There are five French villages, and three villages of the natives, within a space of twenty-one leagues situated between the Mississippi and another river called the Karkadaid (Kaskaskias). In the five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites, three hundred blacks and some sixty red slaves or savages. The three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight hundred souls all told. Most of the French till the soil; they raise wheat, cattle, pigs and horses, and live like princes. Three times as much is produced as can be consumed ; and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New Orleans." This city was now the seaport town of the Northwest, and save in the extreme northern part, where only furs and copper ore were found, almost all the products of the country found their way to France by the mouth of the Father of Waters. In another letter, dated Novem- ber 7, 1750, this same priest says : " For fifteen leagues above the mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the ground being too low to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans, the lands are only partially occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I think, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all lumber, bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and above all, pork and flour from the Illinois. These things create some commerce, as forty vessels and more have come hither this year. Above New Orleans, plantations are again met with ; the most considerable is a colony of Germans, some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty -five leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here, within five or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations. Fifty leagues farther up is the Natchez post, where we have a garrison, who are kept prisoners through fear of the Chickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee, they raise excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas, where we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river traders. * * * From the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred leagues, there is not a settlement. There should be, however, a fort at the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the English can reach the Mississippi. In the Illinois country are numberless mines, but no one to W2 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. work them as they deserve." Father Marest, writing from the post at Vinceniies in 181 2, makes the same observation. Vivier also says : " Some individuals dig lead near the surface and supply the Indians and Canada. Two Spaniards now here, who claim to be adepts, say that our mines are like those of Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we should find silver under the lead ; and at any rate the lead is excellent. There is also in this country, beyond doubt, copper ore, as from time to time large pieces arc found in the streams." HUNTING. At the close of the year 1750, the French occupied, in addition to the lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois, one at Du Quesne, one at the Maumee in the country of the Miamis, and one at Sandusky in what may be termed the Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the Northwest they had stations at St. Joseph's on the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan, at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimackanac or Massillimacanac, Fox River of Green Bay, and at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of LaSalle were now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of this vast realm, basing their claim on discovery and settlement. Another nation, however, was now turning its attention to this extensive country, THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 33 and hearing of its wealth, began to lay plans for occupying it and for securing the great profits arising therefrom. The French, however, had another claim to this country, namely, the DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO. This " Beautiful " river was discovered by Robert Cavalier de La- Salle in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet and Marquette. While LaSalle was at his trading post on the St. Lawrence, he found leisure to study nine Indian dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois. He not only desired to facilitate his intercourse in trade, but he longed to travel and explore the unknown regions of the West. An incident soon occurred which decided him to" fit out an exploring expedition. While conversing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea, but at such a distance that it required eight months to reach its mouth. In this state- ment the Mississippi and its tributaries were considered as one stream. LaSalle believing, as most of the French at that period did, that the great rivers flowing west emptied into the Sea of California, was anxious to embark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the continent to the commerce of China and Japan. He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the approval of the Gov- ernor. His eloquent appeal prevailed. The Governor-and the Intendant, Talon, issued letters patent authorizing the enterprise, but made no pro- vision to defray the expenses. At this juncture the seminary of St. Sul- pice decided to send out missionaries in connection with the expedition, and LaSalle offering to sell his improvements at LaChine to raise money, the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two thousand eight hundred dollars were raised, with which LaSalle purchased four canoes and the necessary supplies for the outfit. On the 6th of July, 1669, the party, numbering twenty-four persons, embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence ; two additional canoes carried the Indian guides. In three days they were gliding over the bosom of Lake Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the Seneca village on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity of the present City of Rochester, New York. Here they expected to procure guides to conduct them to the Ohio, but in this they were disappointed. The Indians seemed unfriendly to the enterprise. LaSalle suspected that the Jesuits had prejudiced their minds against his plans. After waiting a month in the hope of gaining their object, they met an Indian 34 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. from the Iroquois colony at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured them that they could there find guides, and offered to conduct them thence. On their way they passed the mouth of the Niagara River, when they heard for the first time the distant thunder of the cataract. Arriving among the Iroquois, they met with a friendly reception, and learned from a Shawanee prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks. Delighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready to resume their journey ; but just as they were about to start they heard of the arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring village. One of them proved to be Louis Joliet, afterwards famous as an explorer in the West. He THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 35 had been sent by the Canadian Government to explore the copper mines on Lake Superior, but had failed, and was on his way back to Quebec. He gave the missionaries a map of the country he had explored in the lake region, together with an account of the condition of the Indians in that quarter. This induced the priests to determine on leaving the expedition and going to Lake Superior. LaSalle warned them that the Jesuits were probably occupying that field, and that they would meet with a cold reception. Nevertheless they persisted in their purpose, and after worship on the lake shore, parted from LaSalle. On arriving at Lake Superior, they found, as LaSalle had predicted, the Jesuit Fathers, Marquette and Dablon, occupying the field. These zealous disciples of Loyola informed them that they wanted no assistance from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their patron saint ; and thus repulsed, they returned to Montreal the following June without having made a single discovery or converted a single Indian. After parting with the priests, LaSalle went to the chief Iroquois village at Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passing thence to a tributary of the Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far as the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by LaSalle, the persevering and successful French explorer of the West, in 1669. The account of the latter part of his journey is found in an anony- mous paper, which purports to have been taken from the lips of LaSalle himself during a subsequent visit to Paris. In a letter written to Count Frontenac in 1667, shortly after the discovery, he himself says that he discovered the Ohio and descended it to the falls. This was regarded as an indisputable fact by the French authorities, who claimed the Ohio Valley upon another ground. When Washington was sent by the colony of Virginia in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why the French had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty commandant at Quebec replied : " We claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discoveries of LaSalle, and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley.'* ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. When the new year of 1750 broke in upon the Father of Waters and the Great Northwest, all was still wild save at the French posts already described. In 1749, when the English first began to think seri- ously about sending men into the West, the greater portion of the States of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were yet under the dominion of the red men. The English knew, however, pretty 36 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. conclusively of the nature of the wealth of these wilds. As early as 1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had commenced movements to secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the English crown. In Pennsylvania, Governor Keith and James Logan, secretary of the prov- ince, from 1719 to 1731, represented to the powers of England the neces- sity of securing the Western lands. Nothing was done, however, by that power save to take some diplomatic steps to secure the claims of Britain to this unexplored wilderness. England had from the outset claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast and its possession was a discovery and possession of the country, and, as is well known, her grants to the colonies extended " from sea to sea." This was not all her claim. She had purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of land. This lat- ter was also a strong argument. As early as 1684, Lord Howard, Gov- ernor of Virginia, held a treaty with the six nations. These were the great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the Mohawks, Onei- das, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Afterward the Tuscaroras were taken into the confederacy, and it became known as the Six NATIONS. They came under the protection of the mother country, and again in 1701, they repeated the agreement, and in September, 1726, a formal deed was drawn up and signed by the chiefs. The validity of this claim has often been disputed, but never successfully. In 1744, a purchase was made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, of certain lands within the " Colony of Virginia," for which the Indians received 200 in gold and a like sum in goods, with a promise that, as settlements increased, more should be paid. The Commissioners from Virginia were Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel William Beverly. As settlements extended, the promise of more pay was called to mind, and Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the mountains with presents to appease the savages. Col. Lee, and some Virginians accompa- nied him with the intention of sounding the Indians upon their feelings regarding the English. They were not satisfied with their treatment, and plainly told the Commissioners why. The English did not desire the cultivation of the country, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In 1748, the Ohio Company was formed, and petitioned the king for a grant of land beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted, and the government of Virginia was ordered to grant to them a half million acres, two hun- dred thousand of which were to be located at once. Upon the 12th of June, 1749, 800,000 acres from the line of Canada north and west was made to the Loyal Company, and on the 29th of October, 1751, 100,000 acres were given to the Greenbriar Company. All this time the French were not idle. They saw that, should the British gain a foothold in the West, especially upon the Ohio, they might not only prevent the French THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 37 settling upon it, but in time would come to the lower posts and so gain possession of the whole country. Upon the 10th of May, 1774, Vaud- reuil, Governor of Canada and the French possessions, well knowing the consequences that must arise from allowing the English to build trading- posts in the Northwest, seized some of their frontier posts, and to further secure the claim of the French to the West, he, in 1749, sent Louis Cel- eron.with a party of soldiers to plant along the Ohio River, in the mounds and at the mouths of its principal tributaries, plates of lead, on which were inscribed the claims of France. These were heard of in 1752, and within the memory of residents now living along the " Oyo," as the beautiful river was called by the French. One of these plates was found with the inscription partly defaced. It bears date August 16, 1749, and a copy of the inscription with particular account of the discovery of the plate, was sent by DeWitt Clinton to the American Antiquarian Society, among whose journals it may now be found.* These measures did not, however, deter the English from going on with their explorations, and though neither party resorted to arms, yet the conflict was gathering, and it was only a question of time when the storm would burst upon the frontier settlements. In 1750, Christopher Gist was sent by the Ohio Company to examine its lands. He went to a village of the Twigtwees, on the Miami, about one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. He afterward spoke of it as very populous. From there he went down the Ohio River nearly to the falls at the present City of Louisville, and in November he commenced a survey of the Company's lands. Dur- ing the Winter, General Andrew Lewis performed a similar work for the Greenbriar Company. Meanwhile the French were busy in preparing their forts for defense, and in opening roads, and also sent a small party of soldiers to keep the Ohio clear. This party, having heard of the Eng- lish post on the Miami River, early in 1652, assisted by the Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked it, and, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives were killed and others wounded, captured the garrison. (They were probably garrisoned in a block house). The traders were carried away to Canada, and one account says several were burned. This fort or post was called by the English Pickawillany. A memorial of the king's ministers refers to it as " Pickawillanes, in the center of the terri- tory between the Ohio and the Wabash. The name is probably some variation of Pickaway or Picqua in 1773, written by Rev. David Jones Pickaweke." * The following is a translation of the inscription on the plate: "In the year 1749. reign of Louis XV., King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere, com- mander-in-chief of New France, to establish tranquility in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have buried this plate at the confluence of the Toradakoin, this twenty- ninth of July, near the river Ohio, otherwise Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of the said river, and all Its tributaries; inasmuch as the preceding Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and treaties; especially by those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle." 38 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. This was the first bloodshed between the French and English, and occurred near the present City of Piqua, Ohio, or at least at a point about forty-seven miles north of Dayton. Each nation became now more inter- ested in the progress of events in the Northwest. The English deter- mined to purchase from the Indians a title to the lands they wished to occupy, and Messrs. Fry (afterward Commander-in-chief over Washing- ton at the commencement of the French War of 1775-1763), Lomax and Patton were sent in the Spring of 1752 to hold a conference with the natives at Logstown to learn what they objected to in the treaty of Lan- caster already noticed, and to settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June, these Commissioners met the red men at Logstown, a little village on the north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the site of Pitts- burgh. Here had been a trading point for many years, but it was aban- doned by the Indians in 1750. At first the Indians declined to recognize the treaty of Lancaster, but, the Commissioners taking aside Montour, the interpreter, who was a son of the famous Catharine Montour, and a chief among the six nations, induced him to use his influence in their favor. This he did, and upon the 13th of June they all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a settlement of the southeast of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should not be disturbed by them. These were the means used to obtain the first treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley. Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea were trying to out-manceuvre each other, and were professing to be at peace. The English generally outwitted the Indians, and failed in many instances to fulfill their con- tracts. They thereby gained the ill-will of the red men, and further increased the feeling by failing to provide them with arms and ammuni- tion. Said an old chief, at Easton, in 1758 : " The Indians on the Ohio left you because of your own fault. When we heard the French were coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not get them. The French came, they treated us kindly, and gained our affections. The Governor of Virginia settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when we wanted help, forsook us." At the beginning of 1653, the English thought they had secured by title the lands in the West, but the French had quietly gathered cannon and military stores to be in readiness for the expected blow. The Eng- lish made other attempts to ratify these existing treaties, but not until the Summer could the Indians be gathered together to discuss the plans of the French. They had sent messages to the French, warning them away ; but they replied that they intended to complete the chain of forts already begun, and would not abandon the field. Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the Ohio regard- THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 39 ing the positions and purposes of the French, Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia determined to send to them another messenger and learn from them, if possible, their intentions. For this purpose he selected a young man, a surveyor, who, at the early age of nineteen, had received the rank of major, and who was thoroughly posted regarding frontier life. This personage was no other than the illustrious George Washington, who then held considerable interest in Western lands. He was at this time just twenty-two years of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two, accompanied by four servitors, set out on their perilous march. They left Will's Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and on the 22d reached the Monon- gahela, about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with the chiefs of the Six Nations. From them he learned the condition of the French, and also heard of their determination not to come down the river till the fol- lowing Spring. The Indians were non-committal, as they were afraid 'to turn either way, and, as far as they could, desired to remain neutral. Washington, finding nothing could be done with them, went on to Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek. Here the French had a fort, called Fort Machault. Through the rum and flattery of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian followers. Finding nothing of importance here, he pursued his way amid great privations, and on the llth of December reached the fort at the head of French Creek. Here he delivered Governor Dinwiddie's letter, received his answer, took his observations, and on the 16th set out upon his return journey with no one but Gist, his guide, and a few Indians who still remained true to him, notwithstanding the endeavors of the French to retain them. Their homeward journey was one of great peril and suffering from the cold, yet they reached home in safety on the 6th of January, 1754. From the letter of St. Pierre, commander of the French fort, sent by Washington to Governor Dinwiddie, it was learned that the French would not give up without a struggle. Active preparations were at once made in all the English colonies for the coming conflict, while the French finished the fort at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications, and gathered their forces to be in readiness. The Old Dominion was all alive. Virginia was the center of great activities ; volunteers were called for, and from all the neighboring colonies men rallied to the conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac men were enlisting under the Governor's proclamation which promised two hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they were gathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point, whither Trent had come for assistance for his little band of forty-one men, who were 40 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. working away in hunger and want, to fortify that point at the fork of the Ohio, to which both parties were looking with deep interest. " The first birds of Spring filled the air with their song ; the swift river rolled by the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the melting snows of Spring and the April showers. The leaves were appearing ; a few Indian scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed near at hand ; and all was so quiet, that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader, who had been left by Trent in command, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek, ten miles up the Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilder- ness, keen eyes had seen the low intrenchment rising at the fork, and swift feet had borne the news of it up the river ; and upon the morning of the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw upon the Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes filled with men, and laden deep with cannon and stores. * * * That evening he supped with his captor, Contrecceur, and the next day he was bowed off by the Frenchman, and with his men and tools, marched up the Monongahela." The French and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la Chapelle, in 1748, had left the boundaries between the French and English possessions unsettled, and the events already narrated show the French were determined to hold the country watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries ; while the English laid claims to the country by virtue of the discoveries of the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New- foundland to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The first decisive blow had now been struck, and the first attempt of the English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these lands, had resulted disastrously to them. The French and Indians immediately completed the fortifications begun at the Fork, which they had so easily captured, and when completed gave to the fort the name of DuQuesne. Washing- ton was at Will's Creek when the news of the capture of the fort arrived. He at once departed to recapture it. On his way he entrenched him- self at a place called the " Meadows," where he erected a fort called by him Fort Necessity. From there he surprised and captured a force of French and Indians marching against him, but was soon after attacked in his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the morning of July 4th. He was allowed to return to Virginia. The English Government immediately planned four campaigns ; one against Fort DuQuesne ; one against Nova Scotia ; one against Fort Niagara, and one against Crown Point. These occurred during 1755-6, and were not successful in driving the French from their possessions. The expedition against Fort DuQuesne was led by the famous General Braddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 41 acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered such an inglorious defeat. This occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is generally known as the battle of Monongahela, or " Braddock's Defeat." The war continued with various vicissitudes through the years 17567 ; when, at the commence- ment of 1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then Secre- tary of State, afterwards Lord Chatham, active preparations were made to carry on the war. Three expeditions were planned for this year : one, under General Amherst, against Louisburg ; another, under Abercrombie* against Fort Ticonderoga ; and a third, under General Forbes, against Fort DuQuesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surrendered after a desperate resistance of more than forty days, and the eastern part of the Canadian possessions fell into the hands of the British. Abercrombie captured Fort Frontenac, and when the expedition against Fort DuQuesne, of which Washington had the active command, arrived there, it was found in flames and deserted. The English at once took possession,, rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their illustrious statesman, changed the name to Fort Pitt. The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduction of Canada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ; Amherst was to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and General Prideaux was to capture Niagara. This latter place was taken in July, but the gallant Prideaux lost his life in the attempt. Amherst captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point without a blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memor- able ascent to the Plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated Montcalm, and on the 18th, the city capitulated. In this engagement Montcolm and Wolfe both lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm's successor, marched to Sillery, three miles above the city, with the purpose of defeating the English, and there, on the 28th of the following April, was fought one of the bloodiest battles of the French and Indian War. It resulted in the defeat of the French, and the fall of the City of Montreal. The Governor signed a capitulation by which the whole of Canada was surrendered to the English. This practically concluded the war, but it was not until 1763 that the treaties of peace between France and England were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that year, and under its provisions all the country east of the Mississippi and north of the Iberville River, in Louisiana, were ceded to England. At the same time Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain. On the 13th of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was sent from Montreal to take charge of Detroit, the only remaining French post in the territory. He arrived there on the 19th of November, and sum- moned the place to surrender. At first the commander of the post, Beletre : refused, but on the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the 42 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. French arms, surrendered. Rogers remained there until December 23d under the personal protection of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, to whom, no doubt, he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here to inquire the purposes of the English in taking possession of the country. He was assured that they came simply to trade with the natives, and did not desire their country. This answer conciliated the savages, and did much to insure the safety of Rogers and his party during their stay, and while on their journey home. Rogers set out for Fort Pitt on December 23, and was just one month on the way. His route was from Detroit to Maumee, thence across the present State of Ohio directly to the fort. This was the com- mon trail of the Indians in their journeys from Sandusky to the fork of the Ohio. It went from Fort Sandusky, where Sandusky City now is, crossed the Huron river, then called Bald Eagle Creek, to " Mohickon John's Town" on Mohickon Creek, the northern branch of White Woman's River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Delaware town on what is now Sandy Creek. At Beaver's Town were probably one hundred and fifty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of cleared land. . From there the track went up Sandy Creek to and across Big Beaver, and up the Ohio to Logstown, thence on to the fork. The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule. New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large trade was speedily manifested. Had the British carried out their promises with the natives none of those savage butcheries would have been perpe- trated, and the country would have been spared their recital. The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in these atrocities. We will now pause in our narrative, and notice the leading events in his life. The earliest authentic information regarding this noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named Alexander Henry, who, in the Spring of 1761, penetrated his domains as far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French, but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on his hunting grounds. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Canadian to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly reproached him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the West. He declared that no treaty had been made with them ; no presents sent them, and that he would resent any possession of the West by that nation. He was at the time about fifty years of age, tall and dignified, and was civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Ojibwas and Pottawatamies. The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina, were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, ratified February 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. PONTIAC, THE OTTAWA CHIEFTAIN. 44 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man dead. Pontiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the commander of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares and Mingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local quarrels to unite in this enterprise. The blow came, as near as can now be ascertained, on May 7, 1763. Nine British posts fell, and the Indians drank, " scooped up in the hollow of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton. Pontiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit. Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian woman disclosing the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was carried out r however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of action, when Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to one of the Indian chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed the concealed musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and trembled. He saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were prepared. He endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions ; but the guilt was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a severe reprimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post. Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August, 1764, continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He organized a regular commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on bark, which, to his credit, it may be stated, were punctually redeemed. At the conclusion of the treaty, in which it seems he took no part, he went further south, living many years among the Illinois. He had given up all hope of saving his country and race. After a time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis in a war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and only ended in a quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom soon afterwards killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the northern Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars which followed. Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would undoubtedly have been carried out. It was in the Spring of the year following Rogers' visit that Alex- ander Henry went to Missillimacnac, and everywhere found the strongest feelings against the English, who had not carried out their promises, and were doing nothing to conciliate the natives. Here he met the chief, Pontiac, who, after conveying to him in a speech the idea that their French father would awake soon and utterly destroy his enemies, said : " Englishman, although you have conquered the French, you have not THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 45 yet conquered us ! We are not your slaves ! These lakes, these woods, these mountains, were left us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance, and we will part with them to none. Your nation supposes that we, like the white people, can not live without bread and pork and beef. But you ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains." He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them, no presents sent them, and that he and his people were yet for war. Such were the feelings of the Northwestern Indians immediately after the English took possession of their country. These feelings were no doubt encouraged by the Canadians and French, who hoped that yet the French arms might prevail. The treaty of Paris, however, gave to the English the right to this vast domain, and active preparations were going on to occupy it and enjoy its trade and emoluments. In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to pre- vent it falling into the hands of the English, who were becoming masters of the entire West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at Fon- tainbleau, gave to the English the domain of the country in question. Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United States and England, that part of Canada lying south and west of the Great Lakes, comprehending a large territory which is the subject of these sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion of the United States ; and twenty years still later, in 1803, Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to France, and by France sold to the United States. In the half century, from the building of the Fort of Crevecoeur by LaSalle, in 1680, up to the erection of Fort Chartres, many French set- tlements had been made in that quarter. These have already been noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Vincennes), Kohokia or Cahokia, Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a large tract of rich alluvial soil in Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the site of St. Louis. By the treaty of Paris, the regions east of the Mississippi, including 1 all these and other towns of the Northwest, were given over to England; but they do not appear to have been taken possession of until 1765, when Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty of England, established him- self at Fort Chartres bearing with him the proclamation of General Gage, dated December 30, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Cath- olics who worshiped here, and a right to leave the country with their effects if they wished, or to remain with the privileges of Englishmen. It was shortly after the occupancy of t>ae West by the British that the war with Pontiac opened. It is already noticed in the sketch of that chieftain. By it many a Briton lost his life, and many a frontier settle- 46 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. ment in its infancy ceased to exist. This was not ended until the year 1764, when, failing to capture Detroit, Niagara and Fort Pitt, his confed- eracy became disheartened, and, receiving no aid from the French, Pon- tiac abandoned the enterprise and departed to the Illinois, among whom he afterward lost his life. As soon as these difficulties were definitely settled, settlers began, rapidly to survey the country and prepare for occupation. During the year 1770, a number of persons from Virginia and other British provinces explored and marked out nearly all the valuable lands on the Mononga- hela and along the banks of the Ohio as far as the Little Kanawha. This was followed by another exploring expedition, in which George Washing- ton was a party. The latter, accompanied by Dr. Craik, Capt. Crawford end others, on the 20th of October, 1770, descended the Ohio from Pitts- burgh to the mouth of the Kanawha ; ascended that stream about fourteen, miles, marked out several large tracts of land, shot several buffalo, which were then abundant in the Ohio Valley, and returned to the fort. Pittsburgh was at this time a trading post, about which was clus- tered a village of some twenty houses, inhabited by Indian traders. This same year, Capt. Pittman visited Kaskaskia and its neighboring villages. He found there about sixty-five resident families, and at Cahokia only forty-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was another small settlement, and at Detroit the garrison were quite prosperous and strong. For a year or two settlers continued to locate near some of these posts, generally Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to the fears of the Indians, who still main- tained some feelings of hatred to the English. The trade from the posts was quite good, and from those in Illinois large quantities of pork and flour found their way to the New Orleans market. At this time the policy of the British Government was strongly opposed to the extension of the colonies west. In 1763, the King of England forbade, by royal proclamation, his colonial subjects from making a settlement beyond the sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. At the instance of the Board of Trade, measures were taken to prevent the settlement without the limits prescribed, and to retain the commerce within easy reach of Great Britain. The commander-in-chief of the king's forces wrote in 1769 : " In the course of a few years necessity will compel the colonists, should they extend their settlements west, to provide manufactures of some kind for themselves, and when all connection upheld by commerce with the mother country ceases, an independency in their government will soon follow." In accordance with this policy, Gov. Gage issued a proclamation in 1772, commanding the inhabitants of Vincennes to abandon their set- tlements and join some of the Eastern English colonies. To this they THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 47 strenuously objected, giving good reasons therefor, and were allowed to remain. The strong opposition to this policy of Great Britain led to its change, and to such a course as to gain the attachment of the French population. In December, 1773, influential citizens of Quebec petitioned the king for an extension of the boundary lines of that province, which was granted, and Parliament passed an act on June 2, 1774, extend- ing the boundary so as to include the territory lying within the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In consequence of the liberal policy pursued by the British Govern- ment toward the French settlers in the West, they were disposed to favor that nation in the war which soon followed with the colonies ; but the early alliance between France and America soon brought them to the side of the war for independence. In 1774, Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, began to encourage emigration to the Western lands. He appointed magistrates at Fort Pitt under the pretense that the fort was under the government of that commonwealth. One of these justices, John Connelly, who possessed a tract of land in the Ohio Valley, gathered a force of men and garrisoned the fort, calling it Fort Dunmore. This and other parties were formed to select sites for settlements, and often caine in conflict with the Indians, who yet claimed portions of the valley, and several battles followed. These ended in the famous battle of Kanawha in July, where the Indians were defeated and driven across the Ohio. During the years 1775 and 1776, by the operations of land companies and the perseverance of individuals, several settlements were firmly estab- lished between ths Alleghanies and the Ohio River, and western land speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a council held in Kaskaskia on July 5, 1773, an association of English traders, calling themselves the " Illinois Land Company," obtained from ten chiefs of the Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on the east side of the Mississippi River south of the Illinois. In 1775, a mer- chant from the Illinois Country, named Viviat, came to Post Vincennes as the agent of the association called the " Wabash Land Company." On the 8th of October he obtained from eleven Piankeshaw chiefs, a deed for 37,497,600 acres of land. This deed was signed by the grantors, attested by a number of the inhabitants of Vincennes, and afterward recorded in the office of a notary public at Kaskaskia. This and other land com- panies had extensive schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all were frustrated by the breaking out of the Revolution. On the 20th of April, 1780, the two companies named consolidated under the name of the "United Illinois and Wabash Land Company." They afterward made 48 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. strenuous efforts to have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all signally failed. When the War of the Revolution commenced, Kentucky was an unor- ganized country, though there were several settlements within her borders. In Hutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated thai at that time " Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000 white and black in- habitants the whites being a little the more numerous. Cahokia con- tains 50 houses and 300 white inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were east of the Mississippi River, about the year 1771 " when these observa- tions were made " 300 white men capable of bearing arms, and 230 negroes." From 1775 until the expedition of Clark, nothing is recorded and nothing known of these settlements, save what is contained in a report made by a committee to Congress in June, 1778. From it the following extract is made : " Near the mouth of the River Kaskaskia, there is a village which appears to have contained nearly eighty families from the beginning of the late revolution. There are twelve families in a small village at la Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the Kahokia Village. There are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philips, which is five miles further up the river." St. Louis had been settled in February, 1764, and at this time con- tained, including its neighboring towns, over six hundred whites and one hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all the country west of the Mississippi was now under French rule, and remained so until ceded again to Spain, its original owner, who afterwards sold it and the country including New Orleans to the United States. At Detroit there were, according to Capt. Carver, who was in the Northwest from 1766 to 1768, more than one hundred houses, and the river was settled for more than twenty miles, although poorly cultivated the people being engaged in the Indian trade. This old town has a history, which we will here relate. It is the oldest town in the Northwest, having been founded by Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out in the form of an oblong square, of two acres in length, and an acre and a half in width. As described by A. D. Frazer, who first visited it and became a permanent resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised within its limits that space between Mr. Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt. Perkins' house (near the Arsenal building), and extended back as far as the public barn, and was bordered in front by the Detroit River. It was surrounded by oak and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set in the ground, and had four gates east, west, north and south. Over the first three 'of these THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 49 gates were block houses provided with four guns apiece, each a six- pounder. Two six-gun batteries were planted fronting the river and in a parallel direction with the block houses. There were four streets running cast and west, the main street being twenty feet wide and the rest fifteen feet, while the four streets crossing these at right angles were from ten to fifteen feet in width. At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer, there was no fort within the enclosure, but a citadel on the ground corresponding to the present northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. The citadel was inclosed by pickets, and within it were erected barracks of wood, two stories high, sufficient to contain ten officers, and also barracks sufficient to contain four hundred men, and a provision store built of brick. The citadel also contained a hospital and guard-house. The old town of Detroit, in 1778, contained about sixty houses, most of them one story, with a few a story and a half iri height. They were all of logs, some hewn and some round. There was one building of splendid appearance, called the " King's Palace," two stories high, which stood near the east gate. It was built for Governor Hamilton, the first governor commissioned by the British. There were two guard-houses, one near the west gate and the other near the Government House. Each of the guards consisted of twenty-four men and a subaltern, who mounted regularly every morning between nine and ten o'clock, Each furnished four sentinels, who were relieved every two hours. There was also an officer of the day, who per- formed strict duty. Each of the gates was shut regularly at sunset ; even wicket gates were shut at nine o'clock, and all the keys were delivered into the hands of the commanding officer. They were opened in the morning at sunrise. No Indian or squaw was permitted to enter town with any weapon, such as a tomahawk or a knife. It was a stand- ing order that the Indians should deliver their arms and instruments of every kind before they were permitted to pass the sentinel, and they were restored to them on their return. No more than twenty-five Indians were allowed to enter the town at any one time, and they were admitted only at the east and west gates. At sundown the drums beat, and all the Indians were required to leave town instantly. There was a council house near the water side for the purpose of holding council with the Indians. The population of the town was about sixty families, in all about two hundred males and one hundred females. This town was destroyed by fire, all except one dwelling, in 1805. After which the present ik new " town was laid out. On the breaking out of the Revolution, the British held every post of importance in the West. Kentucky was formed as a component part of Virginia, and the sturdy pioneers of the West, alive to their interests, 50 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. and recognizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the trade in this part of the New World, held steadily to their purposes, and those within the commonwealth of Kentucky proceeded to exercise their civil privileges, by electing John Todd and Richard Gallaway, burgesses to represent them in the Assembly of the parent state. Early in September of that year (1777) the first court was held in Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, afterwards major, who had arrived in August, was made the commander of a militia organization which had been commenced the March previous. Thus the tree of loyalty was growing. The chief spirit in this far-out colony, who had represented her the year previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move unequaled in its boldness. He had been watching the movements of the British throughout the Northwest, and understood their whole plan. He saw it was through their possession of the posts at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, and other places, which would give them constant and easy access to the various Indian tribes in the Northwest, that the British intended to penetrate the country from the north and soutn, ana annihi- late the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic man was Colonel, afterwards General, George Rogers Clark. He knew the Indians were not unanimously in accord with the English, and he was convinced that, could the British be defeated and expelled from the Northwest, the natives might be easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies sent for the purpose, he satisfied himself that the enterprise against the Illinois settlements might easily succeed. Having convinced himself of the certainty of the project, he repaired to the Capital of Virginia, which place he reached on November 5th. While he was on his way, fortunately, on October 17th, Burgoyne had been defeated, and the spirits of the colonists greatly encouraged thereby. Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia, and at once entered heartily into Clark's plans. The same plan had before been agitated in the Colonial Assemblies, but there was no one until Clark came who was sufficiently acquainted with the condition of affairs at the scene of action to be able to guide them. Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility of his plan, received, on the 2d of January, two sets of instructions one secret, the other open the latter authorized him to proceed to enlist seven companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three months from their arrival in the West. The secret order authorized him to arm these troops, to procure his powder and lead of General Hand at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at once to subjugate the country. With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburgh, choosing rather to raise his men west of the mountains, as he well knew all were needed in the colonies in the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B. Smith to Hoi- THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. -51 ston for the same purpose, but neither succeeded in raising the required number of men. The settlers in these parts were afraid to leave their own firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but few could be induced to join the proposed expedition. With three companies and several private volunteers, Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which he navigated as far as the Falls, where he took possession of and fortified Corn Island, a small island between the present Cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of this fortification may yet be found. At this place he appointed Col. Bowman to meet him with such recruits as had 'reached Kentucky by the southern route, and as many as could be spared from the station. Here he announced to the men their real destination. Having completed his arrangements, and chosen his party, he left a small garrison upon the island, and on the 24th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, which to them augured no good, and which fixes beyond dispute the date of starting, he with his chosen band, fell down the river. His plan was to go by water as far as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence march direct to Kaskaskia. Here he intended to surprise the garrison, and after its capture go to Cahokia, then to Vincennes, and lastly to Detroit. Should he fail, he intended to march directly to the Mississippi River and cross it into the Spanish country. Before his start he received two good items of infor- mation : one that the alliance had been formed between France and the United States ; and the other that the Indians throughout the Illinois country and the inhabitants, at the various frontier posts, had been led -to believe by the British that the u Long Knives" or Virginians, were the most fierce, bloodthirsty and cruel savages that ever scalped a foe. With this impression on their minds, Clark saw that proper management would cause them to submit at once from fear, if surprised, and then from grati- tude would become friendly if treated with unexpected leniency. The march to Kaskaskia was accomplished through a hot July- sun, and the town reached on the evening of July 4. He captured the fort near the village, and soon after the village itself by surprise, and without the loss of a single man or by killing any of the enemy. After sufficiently working upon the fears of the natives, Clark told them they were at per- fect liberty to worship as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the great conflict they would, also he would protect them from any barbarity from British or Indian foe. This had the desired effect, and the inhab- itants, so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised by the unlocked for turn of affairs, at once swore allegiance to the American arms, and when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the 6th of July, they accom- panied him, and through their influence the inhabitants of the place surrendered, and gladly placed themselves under his protection. Thus 52 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. the two important posts in Illinois passed from the hands of the English into the possession of Virginia. In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, Clark found a powerful ally and generous friend. Clark saw that, to retain possession of the Northwest and treat successfully with the Indians within its boun- daries, he must establish a government for the colonies he had taken. St. Vincent, the next important post to Detroit,remained yet to be taken before the Mississippi Valley was conquered. M. Gibault told him that he would alone, by persuasion, lead Vincennes to throw off its connection with England. Clark gladly accepted his offer, and on the 14th of July, in company with a fellow-townsman, M. Gibault started on his mission of peace, and on the 1st of August returned with the cheerful intelligence that the post on the " Oubache " had taken the oath of allegiance to the Old Dominion. During this interval, Clark established his courts, placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, successfully re-enlisted his men, sent word to have a fort, which proved the germ of Louisville, erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and dispatched Mr. Rocheblave, who had been commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner of war to Richmond. In October the County of Illinois was established by the Legislature of Virginia, John Todd appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor, and in November General Clark and his men received the thanks of the Old Dominion through their Legislature. In a speech a few days afterward, Clark made known fully to the natives his plans, and at its close all came forward and swore alle- giance to the Long Knives. While he was doing this Governor Hamilton, having made his various arrangements, had left Detroit and moved down the Wabash to Vincennes intending to operate from that point in reducing the Illinois posts, and then proceed on down to Kentucky and drive the rebels from the West. Gen. Clark had, on the return of M. Gibault, dispatched Captain Helm, of Fauquier County, Virginia, with an attend- ant named Henry, across the Illinois prairies to command the fort. Hamilton knew nothing of the capitulation of the post, and was greatly -surprised on his arrival to be confronted by Capt. Helm, who, standing at the entrance of the fort by a loaded cannon ready to fire upon his assail- ants, demanded upon what terms Hamilton demanded possession of the fort. Being granted the rights of a prisoner of war, he surrendered to the British General, who could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the force in the garrison. Hamilton, not realizing the character of the men with whom he was contending, gave up his intended campaign for the Winter, sent his four hundred Indian warriors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio, THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53 and to annoy the Americans in all ways, and sat quietly down to pass the Winter. Information of all these proceedings having reached Clark, he saw that immediate and decisive action was necessary, and that unless he captured Hamilton, Hamilton would capture him. Clark received the news on the 29th of January, 1779, and on February 4th, having suffi- ciently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Cahokia, he sent down the Mississippi a " battoe," as Major Bowman writes it, in order to ascend the Ohio and Wabash, and operate with the land forces gathering for the fray. On the next day, Clark, with his little force of one hundred and twenty men, set out for the post, and after incredible hard marching through much mud, the ground being thawed by the incessant spring rains, on the 22d reached the fort, and being joined by his " battoe," at once commenced the attack on the post. The aim of the American back- woodsman was unerring, and on the 24th the garrison surrendered to the intrepid boldness of Clark. The French were treated with great kind- ness, and gladly renewed their allegiance to Virginia. Hamilton was sent as a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement. During his command of the British frontier posts, he had offered prizes to the Indians for all the scalps of Americans they would bring to him, and had earned in consequence thereof the title " Hair-buyer General," by which he was ever afterward known. Detroit was now without doubt within easy reach of the enterprising Virginian, could he but raise the necessary force. Governor Henry being apprised of this, promised him the needed reinforcement, and Clark con- cluded to wait until he could capture and sufficiently garrison the posts. Had Clark failed in this bold undertaking, and Hamilton succeeded in uniting the western Indians for the next Spring's campaign, the West would indeed have been swept from the Mississippi to the Allegheny Mountains, and the great blow struck, which had been contemplated from the commencement, by the British. " But for this small army of dripping, but fearless Virginians, the union of all the tribes from Georgia to Maine against the colonies might have been effected, and the whole current of our history changed." At this time some fears were entertained by the Colonial Govern- ments that the Indians in the North and Northwest were inclining to the British, and under the instructions of Washington, now Commander-in- Chief of the Colonial army, and so bravely fighting for American inde- pendence, armed forces were sent against the Six Nations, and upon the Ohio frontier, Col. Bowman, acting under the same general's orders, marched against Indians within the present limits of that State. These expeditions were in the main successful, and the Indians were compelled to sue for peace. 54 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. During this same year (1779) the famous " Land Laws" of Virginia were passed. The passage of these laws was of more consequence to the pioneers of Kentucky and the Northwest than the gaining of a few Indian, conflicts. These laws confirmed in main all grants made, and guaranteed to all actual settlers their rights and privileges. After providing for the settlers, the laws provided for selling the balance of the public lands at forty cents per acre. To carry the Land Laws into effect, the Legislature sent four Virginians westward to attend to the various claims, over many of which great confusion prevailed concerning their validity. These gentlemen opened their court on October 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and continued until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided three thousand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, who came in the person of Mr. George May, and assumed his duties on the 10th day of the month whose name he bore. With the opening of the next year (1780) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis- sippi commenced. The Spanish Government exacted such measures in. relation to its trade as to cause the overtures made to the United States to be rejected. The American Government considered they had a right to navigate its channel. To enforce their claims, a fort was erected below the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. The settle- ments in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by emigrants. It was dur- ing this year that the first seminary of learning was established in the "West in this young and enterprising Commonwealth. The settlers here did not look upon the building of this fort in a friendly manner, as it aroused the hostility of the Indians. Spain had been friendly to the Colonies during their struggle for independence,, and though for a while this friendship appeared in danger from the refusal of the free navigation of the river, yet it was finally settled to the satisfaction of both nations. The Winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusually severe ones ever experienced in the West. The Indians always referred to it as the "Great Cold." Numbers of wild animals perished, and not a few pioneers lost their lives. The following Summer a party of Canadians and Indians attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possession of it in consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolting colonies. They met with such a determined resistance on the part of the inhabitants, even the women taking part in the battle, that they were compelled to abandon the contest. They also made an attack on the settlements in Kentucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable manner, they fled the country in great haste. About this time arose the question in the Colonial Congress con- cerning the western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachusetts. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 55 and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this subject finally led New York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass a law giving to the dele- gates of that State in Congress the power to cede her western lands for the benefit of the United States. This law was laid before Congress during the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until Sep- tember 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling upon the States claiming western lands to release their claims in favor of the whole body. This basis formed the union, and was the first after all of those legislative measures which resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In December of the same year, the plan of conquering Detroit again arose. The conquest might have easily been effected by Clark had the necessary aid been furnished him. Nothing decisive was done, yet the heads of the Government knew that the safety of the Northwest from British invasion lay in the capture and retention of that important post, the only unconquered one in the territory. Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into the Coun- ties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the act establishing the Town of Louisville was passed. This same year is also noted in the annals of American history as the year in which occurred Arnold's treason to the United States. Virginia, in accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d day of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the United States upon certain conditions, which Congress would not accede to, and the Act of Cession, on the part of the Old Dominion, failed, nor was anything farther done until 1783. During all that time the Colonies were busily engaged in the struggle with the mother country, and in consequence thereof but little heed was given to the western settlements. Upon the 16th of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio River of American parentage occurred, being that of Mary Heckewelder, daughter of the widely known Moravian missionary, whose band of Christian Indians suffered in after years a horrible massacre by the hands of the frontier settlers, who had been exasperated by the murder of several of their neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to humanity, a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of shame upon their lives. For this and kindred outrages on the part of the whites, the Indians committed many deeds of cruelty which darken the years of 1771 and 1772 in the history of the Northwest. During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and frontiersmen occurred, and between the Moravian Indians and the Wyan- dots. In these, horrible acts of cruelty were practised on the captives, many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of the notorious 56 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. frontier outlaw, Simon Girty, whose name, as well as those of his brothers, was a terror to women and children. These occurred chiefly in the Ohio- valleys. Cotemporary with them were several engagements in Kentucky ,. in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who, often by his skill and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the outposts from cruel destruc- 1NDIANS ATTACKING FKONTIEKSMEN. tion. By the close of the year victory had perched upon the American banner, and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of peace had been arranged between the Commissioners of England and her uncon- querable colonies. Cornwallis had been defeated on the 19th of October preceding, and the liberty of America was assured. On the 19th of April following, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, peace was THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 5T proclaimed to the army of the United States, and on the 3d of the next September, the definite treaty which ended our revolutionary straggle was concluded. By the terms of that treaty, the boundaries of the West were as follows : On the north the line was to extend along the center of the Great Lakes ; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long Lake ; thence to the Lake of the Woods ; thence to the head of the Mississippi River; down its center to the 31st parallel of latitude, then on that line east to the head of the Appalachicola River ; down its center to its junc- tion with the Flint ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean. Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several posts were still occupied by the British in the North and West. Among these was Detroit, still in the hands of the enemy. Numerous engagements with the Indians throughout Ohio and Indiana occurred, upon whose lands adventurous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by the proper treaty. To remedy this latter evil, Congress appointed commissioners to treat with the natives and purchase their lands, and prohibited the set- tlement of the territory until this could be done. Before the close of the year another attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however, not pushed, and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in the Northwest she had formerly done, withdrew her troops, having on the 20th of December preceding authorized the whole of her possessions to be deeded to the United States. This was done on the 1st of March following, and the Northwest Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion. To Gen. Clark and his soldiers, however, she gave a tract of one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situated any where north of the Ohio wherever they chose to locate them. They selected the region opposite the falls of the Ohio, where is nojv the dilapidated village of Clarksville, about midway between the Cities of New Albany and Jeffer- sonville, Indiana. While the frontier remained thus, and Gen. Haldimand at Detroit refused to evacuate alleging that he had no orders from his King to do so, settlers were rapidly gathering about the inland farts. In the Spring of 1784, Pittsburgh was regularly laid out, and from the journal of Arthur Lee, who passed through the town soon after on his way to the Indian council at Fort Mclntosh, we suppose it was not very prepossessing in appearance. He says : " Pittsburgh is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who live in paltry log houses, and are as dirty as if in the north of Ireland or even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on, the goods being bought at the vast expense of forty-five shillings per pound from Phila- 58 THE- NORTHWEST TERRITORY. delphia and Baltimore. They take in the shops flour, wheat, skins and money. There are in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and not a priest of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel." Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabitants, and was beginning to discuss measures for a separation from Virginia. A land office was opened at Louisville, and measures were adopted to take defensive precaution against the Indians who were yet, in some instances, incited to deeds of violence by the British. Before the close of this year, 1784, the military' claimants of land began to occupy them, although no entries were recorded until 1787. The Indian title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished. They held large tracts- of lands, and in order to prevent bloodshed Congress adopted means for treaties with the original owners and provided for the surve3 r s of the lands gained thereby, as well as for those north of the Ohio, now in its possession. On January 31, 1786, a treaty was made with the Wabash Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been made in 1784. That at Fort Mclntosh in 1785, and through these much land was gained. The Wabash Indians, however, afterward refused to comply with the provisions of the treaty made with them, and in order to compel their adherence to its provisions, force was used. During the year 1786, the free navigation of the Mississippi came up in Congress, and caused various discussions, which resulted in no definite action, only serving to excite speculation in regard to the western lands. Congress had promised bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution, but owing to the unsettled condition of affairs along the Mississippi respecting its naviga- tion, and the trade of the Northwest, that body had, in 1783, declared its inability to fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded between the two Governments. Before the close of the year 1786, how- ever, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians, to allow some grants and the settlement thereon, and on the 14th of September Con- necticut ceded to the General Government the tract of land known as the " Connecticut Reserve," and before the close of the following year a large tract of land north of the Ohio was sold to a company, who at once took measures to settle it. By the provisions of this grant, the company were to pay the United States one dollar per acre, subject to a deduction of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies. They received 750,000 acres, bounded on the south by the Ohio, on the east by the seventh range of townships, on the west by the sixteenth range, and on the north by a line so drawn as to make the grant complete without the reservations. In addition to this, Congress afterward granted 100,000 acres to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under the resolutions of 1789 and 1790. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. ;>9 While Dr. Cutler, one of the agents of the company, was pressing its claims before Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance for the political and social organization of this Territory. When the cession was made by Virginia, in 1784, a plan was offered, but rejected. A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition of slavery, which prevailed. The plan was then discussed and altered, and finally passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina. By this proposition, the Territory was to have been divided into states A PRAIRIE STORM. by parallels and meridian lines. This, it was thought, would make ten states, which were to have been named as follows beginning at the northwest corner and going southwardly : Sylvania, Michigania, Cher- sonesus, Assenisipia, Mesopotamia, Illenoia, Saratoga, Washington, Poly- potamia and Pelisipia. There was a more serious objection to this plan than its category of names, the boundaries. The root of the difficulty was in the resolu- tion of Congress passed in October, 1780, which fixed the boundaries of the ceded lands to be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles 60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. square. These resolutions being presented to the Legislatures of Vir- ginia and Massachusetts, they desired a change, and in July, 1786, the subject was taken up in Congress, and changed to favor a division into not more than five states, and not less than three. This was approved by the State Legislature of Virginia. The subject of the Government was again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed throughout that year and until July, 1787, when the famous "Compact of 1787" was passed, and the foundation of the government of the Northwest laid. This com- pact is fully discussed and explained in the history of Illinois in this book r and to it the reader is referred. The passage of this act and the grant to the New England Company was soon followed by an application to the Government by John Cleve& Symmes, of New Jersey, for a grant of the land between the Miamis. This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1786, and, being greatly pleased with them, offered similar terms to those given to the New England Company. The petition was referred to the Treasury Board with power to act, and a contract was concluded the following- year. During the Autumn the directors of the New England Company were preparing to occupy their grant the following Spring, and upon the 23d of November made arrangements for a party of forty-seven meiu under the superintendency of Gen. Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of January the sur- veyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, were to meet at Hart- ford and proceed on their journey westward ; the remainder to follow as- soon as possible. Congress, in the meantime, upon the 3d of October, had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western settlers, and to prevent unauthorized intrusions ; and two days later appointed Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Territory of the Northwest. AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS. The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now com- plete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of Indian affairs, settlers from the East began to come into the country rapidly. The New England Company sent their men during the Winter of 1787-8 pressing on over the Alleghenies by the old Indian path which had been opened into Braddock's road, and which has since been made a national turnpike from Cumberland westward. Through the weary winter days they toiled on, and by April were all gathered on the Yohiogany, where boats had been built, and at once started for the Muskingum. Here they arrived on the 7th of that month, and unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor. THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 61 Gen. St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the Northwsst, not having yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, written out, and published by being nailed to a tree in the embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed to administer them. Washington in writing of this, the first American settlement in the Northwest, said : " No colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at Muskingunu Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. I know many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better calcu- lated to promote the welfare of such a community.' 1 A PIONEEll DWELLING. On the 2d of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held on the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purpose of naming the new- born city and its squares." As yet the settlement was known as the Muskingum," but that was now changed to the name Marietta, in honor of Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the block -houses stood was called " Campus Martins ;" square number 19, " Capitolium /" square number 61, " Cecilia ;" and the great road through the covert way, " Sacra Via.'' Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M. Varnum, who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been appointed to the judicial bench of the territory on the 16th of October, 1787. On July 9 r Gov. St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The act of 1787 provided two district grades of government for the Northwest,. 02 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. under the first of which the whole power was invested in the hands of a governor and three district judges. This was immediately formed upon the Governor's arrival, and the first laws of the colony passed on the 25th of July. These provided for the organization of the militia, and on the next day appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that country that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto River into the County of Washington. From that time forward, notwithstanding the doubts yet existing as to the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the 2d of September the first court of the territory was held with imposing ceremonies. The emigration westward at this time was very great. The com- mander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, reported four thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between Feb- ruary and June, 1788 many of whom would have purchased of the "Associates,", as the New England Company was called, had they been ready to receive them. On the 26th of November, 1787, Symmes issued a pamphlet stating the terms of his contract and the plan of sale he intended to adopt. In January, 1788, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sections upon which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining one-third of this locality, he sold the other two-thirds to Robert Patterson and John Filson, and the three, about August, commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which was designated as being opposite Licking River, to the moulh of which they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington. The naming of the town is thus narrated in the "Western Annals " : " Mr. Filson, who had been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the town, and, in respect to its situation, and as if with a prophetic perception of the mixed race that were to inhabit it in after days, he named it Losantiville, which, being interpreted, means : ville, the town ; anti, against or opposite to ; os, the mouth ; L. of Licking." Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty persons and eight four-horse teams under way for the West. These reached Limestone (now Mays- ville) in September, where were several persons from Redstone. Here Mr. Symmes tried to found a settlement, but the great freshet of 1789 caused the " Point," as it was and is yet called, to be fifteen feet under water, and the settlement to be abandoned. The little band of settlers removed to the mouth of the Miami. Before Symmes and his colony left the " Point," two settlements had been made on his purchase. The first was by Mr. Stiltes, the original projector of the whole plan, who, with a colony of Redstone people, had located at the mouth of the Miami, whither Symmes went with his Maysville colony. Here a clearing had THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 63 been made by the Indians owing- to the great fertility of the soil. Mr. Stiltes with his colony came to this place on the 18th of November, 1788, with twenty-six persons, and, building a block-house, prepared to remain through the Winter. They named the settlement Columbia. Here they were kindly treated by the Indians, but suffered greatly from the flood of 1789. On the 4th of March, 1789, the Constitution of the United States 'went into operation, and on April 30, George Washington was inaug- urated President of the American people, and during the next Summer, an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north of the Ohio. The President at first used pacific means ; but these failing, he sent General Harmer against the hostile tribes. He destroyed several villages, but BREAKING PRAIKIE. was defeated in two battles, near the present City of Fort Wayne r Indiana. From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events were the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796, General St. Clair was appointed in command, and marched against the Indians ; but while he was encamped on a stream, the St. Mary, a branch of the Maumee, he was attacked and defeated with the loss of six hundred men. General Wayne was now sent against the savages. In August, 1794, he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, compelled the Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following year, the treaty of Greenville was signed by the principal chiefs, by which a large tract of country was ceded to the United States. Before proceeding in our narrative, we will pause to notice Fort Washington, erected in the early part of this war on the site of Cincinnati. Nearly all of the great cities of the Northwest, and indeed of the 64 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. wfeole country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer structures, known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Pon- chartrain, mark the original sites of the now proud Cities of Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit. So of most of the flourishing cities east and west of the Mississippi. Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790, was a rude but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a number of strongly-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for soldiers' barracks were a story and a half high, while those composing the officers quarters were more imposing and more conveniently arranged and furnished. The whole were so placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an acre of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles. The logs for the construction of this fort were cut from the ground upon which it was erected. It stood between Third and Fourth Streets of the present city (Cincinnati) extending east of Eastern Row, now Broadway, which was then a narrow alley, and the eastern boundary of of the town as it was originally laid out. On the bank of the river, immediately in front of the fort, was an appendage of the fort, called the Artificer's Yard. It contained about two acres of ground, enclosed by small contiguous buildings, occupied by workshops and quarters of laborers. Within this enclosure there was a large two-story frame house, familiarly called the " Yellow House," built for the accommodation of the Quartermaster General. For many years this was the best finished and most commodious edifice in the Queen City. Fort Washington was for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military governments of the Northwestern Territory. Following the consummation of the treaty various gigantic land spec- ulations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain from the Indians in Michigan and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands. These were generally discovered in time to prevent the outrageous schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war. On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States and Spain was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured. No sooner had the treaty of 1795 been ratified than settlements began to pour rapidly intp the West. The great event of the year 1796 was the occupation of that part of the Northwest including Michigan, which was this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated by the British forces. The United States, owing to certain conditions, did not feel justified in addressing the authorities in Canada in relation to Detroit and other frontier posts. When at last the British authorities were called to give them up, they at once complied, and General Wayne, who had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and who, before the year's close, sickened and died near Erie, transferred his head- THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. DO quarters to the neighborhood of the lakes, where a county named after him was formed, which included the northwest of Ohio, all of Michigan, and the northeast of Indiana. During this same year settlements were formed at the present City of Chillicothe, along the Miami from Middle- town to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and speculators began to appear in great numbers. In September, the City of Cleveland was laid out, and during the Summer and Autumn, Samuel Jackson and Jonathan Sharpless erected the first manufactory of paper the " Red- stone Paper Mill" in the West. St. Louis contained some seventy houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along the river, contiguous to it, were more than three thousand inhabitants, mostly French Canadians, Indians and half-breeds, scarcely any Americans venturing yet into that part of the Northwest. The election of representatives for the territory had taken place, and on the 4th of February, 1799, they convened at Losantiville now known as Cincinnati, having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and considered the capital of the Territory to nominate persons from whom the members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance with a previous ordinance. This nomination being made, the Assembly adjourned until the 16th of the following September. From those named the President selected as members of the council, Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findlay and Jacob Burnett, of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. On the 16th of September the Territorial Legislature met, and on the 24th the two houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenbtirg being elected President of the Council. The message of Gov. St. Clair was addressed to the Legislature September 20th, and on October 13th that body elected as a delegate to Congress Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, who received eleven of the votes cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of Gen. St. Clair. The whole number of acts passed at this session, and approved by the Governor, were thirty-seven eleven others were passed, but received his veto. The most important of those passed related to the militia, to the administration, and to taxation. On the 19th of December this pro- tracted session of the first Legislature in the West was closed, and on the 30th of December the President nominated Charles Willing Bryd to the office of Secretary of the Territory vice Wm. Henry Harrison, elected to Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination the next day. 66 THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. The increased emigration to the Northwest, the extent of the domain r and the inconvenient modes of travel, made it very difficult to conduct the ordinary operations of government, and rendered the efficient action of courts almost impossible. To remedy this, it was deemed advisable to divide the territory for civil purposes. Congress, in 1800, appointed a committee to examine the question and report some means for its solution. This committee, on the 3d of March, reported that : " In the three western countries there has been but one court having cognizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned crim- inals, and at the same time deters useful citizens from making settlements in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assist- ance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * * To- minister a remedy to these and other evils, it occurs to this committee that it is expedient that a division of said territory into two distinct and separate governments should be made ; and that such division be made by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, running directly north until it intersects the boundary between the United States and Canada." The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance with its suggestions, that body passed an Act extinguishing the Northwest Terri- tory, which Act was approved May 7. Among its provisions were these : " That from and after July 4 next, all that part of the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at a point on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky River, and running thence to