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I
UBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOfJ
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
A HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL AND TERRITORIAL
INDIANA AND THE CENTURY OF
STATEHOOD
JACOB P1ATT DUNN
AUTHOR AND EDITOR
VOLUME I
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1919
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
A HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL AND TERRITORIAL
INDIANA AND THE CENTURY OF
STATEHOOD
JACOB PIATT DUNN
AUTHOR AND EDITOR
VOLUME I
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1919
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
A HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL AND TERRITORIAL
INDIANA AND THE CENTURY OF
STATEHOOD
JACOB PIATT DUNN
AUTHOR AND EDITOR
VOLUME I
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1919
Copyright, 1919
bj
THE AMERICAN HISTOBICAL SOCIETY
INTRODUCTORY
The past thirty years, beginning with the reorganization of the
Indiana Historical Society in 1886, constitute an epoch in historical
work in Indiana. In part this has been only a local feature of the
general awakening of interest in American history, due primarily to
passage through the centennial anniversaries of the great events of
American beginnings. Independent of that, there has been in Indiana
a systematic effort to gather and put in print authentic historical matter
that has resulted in five volumes of Publications of the Indiana .His-
torical Society, and twelve volumes of the Indiana Magazine of History
the latter due to the self-sacrificing efforts of Mr. George S. Cottman,
in addition to numerous volumes by individual authors. In this
period the State University and several colleges have taken up special
^research work in history in their courses of study, and the public has
**) profited by the publication of a number of papers of this origin.
it But Indiana history has also been the beneficiary of much of the
^research of historical societies in her sister states, and especially those
. -included in old Northwest Territory. A single illustration will show
,^he importance of this. When I published my "Indiana, a Redemption
*;from Slavery", in 1888, I thought I had got to the bottom of the local
"^slavery history; but in the last dozen years, the fact has been developed,
}in Illinois, that Thomas Jefferson had his hand on the opposition to
s^ slavery all through our territorial history; and, what is more surprising,
r^his touch with the movement was through Baptist churches, whose
^ connection with the movement had not even been noticed. It is a
^"^matter of gratification to be able to present this phase of the matter,
'A; and give the credit where it belongs, in the present publication. The
<^y bringing to light of this and many other material facts not only justifies
'the rewriting of Indiana history, but justifies the statement that we
only now reached the point when the earliest history of Indiana
be written authoritatively. In these regards, the succeeding pages
>will speak for themselves.
J. P. DUNN.
J
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE PREHISTORIC HOOSIER 1
CHAPTER II
THE INDIANA INDIANS 43
CHAPTER III
THE EUROPEAN CLAIMANTS 98
CHAPTER IV
THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION 137
CHAPTER V
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 182
CHAPTER VI
INDIANA TERRITORY 226
CHAPTER VII
THE NEW STATE 286
CHAPTER VIII
UNDER THE FIRST CONSTITUTION 334
v
-
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER IX
THE CONSTITUTION OP 1851 435
CHAPTER X
DRIFTING INTO WAR 498
CHAPTER XI
THE CIVIL WAR 569
CHAPTER XII
AFTER THE WAR - 672
CHAPTER XIII
AN ERA OF REFORM 728
CHAPTER XIV
MEDICAL HISTORY OF INDIANA'S FIRST CENTURY 787
CHAPTER XV
EDUCATION 860
CHAPTER XVI
TRANSPORTATION, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY 924
CHAPTER XVII
CHARITIES AND CORRECTION 975
CHAPTER XVIII
TEMPERANCE 1027
CHAPTER XIX
NEW HARMONY. . ... ..1071
CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER XX
.
THE WORD HOOSIER 1121
CHAPTER XXI
HOOSIER CHARACTER. . 1156
.
.-
INDEX
Abbott, William I... 2093
Abolition party, first appearance of, 236
Abolitionists, 510
Ackerman, John K.. 1746
Act concerning the introduction of
Negroes and Mulattos into Indiana
Territory, 243
Adams, Andy, 2021
Adams, Charles K.. 2028
Adams, J. Otis, 1766
Adams, Joseph 1).. 1987
Adams, Sarah K., 1083
Adams, Wayman, 1650
Adams, William H., 1842
Address of the Carrier of "The Indian-
apolis Journal," 1123
Ade, George, 1813
Adirondacks, 63
Administration of 1865, Julian speech
attacking, 682
Admission of state, 286
Admission of State to Union, Centennial
of, 781
Admission to the bar, qualifications for,
770
"Adventures of Captain Bonneville," 116
Advocate of temperance, 700
After the Civil War, 672
After war elections, 694
Agricultural education. 909
Agricultural implements, 947
Agricultural labor, 941
Agriculture, Wabash and Erie Canal's
value to, 411
Aicher, Amalia, 1541
Aichhorn Karl C., 1819
Ahlgren, Carl J., 1508
Aldridge. Hal A.. 2068
Alerding. Herman J., 1660
Alexander, Arthur A., 1613
Aley, Robert J., 1982
Algonkin languages, 40
Algonkins, 7 3
Alien and Sedition laws, 218
Allderdice, Joseph, 1681
Alldredge, John S., 2061
Allen. John K . 2122
Allison, William IV. 1607
Alloys, experiments in, 949
Alloiiez, Father, 56, 59, 60, 72
Altar mounds, 24
Amendments to Constitution, 711
American Conchology, 1086
American Entomology, 1086
American Fur Company. 116
American Indian Mission Association,
361
American lotus, preparation by Miami
women, 77
American Medical Association, 828
American Occupation, 137
American Railway Express Company,
1675
Ames. K. K.. 893
Ammunition, manufacturing of, Civil
war, 595
Amo, 86
Amt, J. Henry, 2180
Anderson, 86, 952
Anderson, Albert B.. 1778
Anderson, William, 86
Andrew, Abram P., 1374
Andrew, Mary, 1516
Andrew, William L., 1514
Andrews, Charlton, 1988
Andrews, James M., 745
Anesthetics, 833
"Annals of the West," 1202
Anoka, 86
Anthony, Charles H., 1324
Anthony Family, 1323
Anthony, Harvey M., 1325
Anti-Gambling law, adopted at Vin-
cennes Aug. 4, 1790 (illustration). 204
Anti-rat law, 831
Anti-Saloon League, 1064
Anti-slavery League. 529
Anti-slavery Library Society, 509
Anti-slavery literature, 509*
Anti-slavery newspapers. 347
Anti-slavery paper, first in the United
States, 517
IX
INDEX
Anti-slavery people aroused, 246
Anti-slavery sentiment, 346
Anti-suffrage faction, 690
Antitoxin, 835
Antitoxin law, 831
"An Unmarked Grave," 273
Apperson, Edgar L., 2141
Apperson, Elmer, 2141
Apportionment law of 1915, 726
Apportionment laws of 1891 and 1885,
opinions on, 724
Arbitrary arrests, 638
Arlm.-k.lr. X. L.,' 1530
Armstrong, James, 126
Ann' of the Xorthwest. equipment of,
275
Army rations assailed, 593
Arnold. Matthew, 1017
Arsenal, Civil war, 595
Arthur. David C.. 2262
Article IX, Constitution of 1816, 863
Article XIII, Xegroes and Multattoes,
471
Articles of Compact, 193
Articles of Confederation, 183
Artifacts, 28
Artificial cooling of meat*, 943
Art. -I- 1203
Akbury (DePauw) University. 897, 911
Ajiseniaipia. 188
A--i--.in-nt. average rate of. 754
A--' -iM-nt-. 752
Atkins, Elias C.. 1854
Atkinn. Henry C., 1856
Atkinson. Eleanor, 2035
Atlantic cable, celebration of laying. 432
Attack on Fort Harrison. 268
Attack on Iroquoi* Fort (illustration) 54
At water. Caleb, 28
Atwood. Francis I. 1244
Aubry. M . 13O
Auction of books. 1209
Aujrhinbauffli. Sidney I... 1717
Aujrur. William H., 2055
Ault. Nelon L.. 1317
Austin. ThonuM H . 1743
Aii-tm Wilbur <;.. 1786
Australian Ballot Law, 741
Australian Ballot System, 744
Authorized liquor agent*. 1046
Automobile, first. 948; Indiana product,
Mi
Automobile industry. 939. 946
Author- medical. 819
Axlry. .lame*. 102H
Ayreo. .lame* E , 2005
o, 13. 25
B*<hman Frederick M.. 1929
B.-on. \lr- Albion K 779: (Portrait!
7*0
'... ..,, Hilary E.. 2168
K.M. V. H..' 2217
Badger, Oliver P., 458
Badolett, John, 245, 301, 975; First
Chancellor of Indiana (portrait), 245
Baer, Samuel \\ ., 1260
Bailey, John W., 1993
Bailey, Robert W., 2070
Baird, Patrick, 296
Baker, Lieut. -Gov. Conrad, 692, 695,
1012; (portrait) 696
Baker, Francis E., 1771
Baker, Hugh J., 1802
Baker, John H., 1469
Baker, Paul, 1599 -:-'-\:'.
Baker, Rayman H., 1671
Baldwin, Edgar M., 1338
Baldwin, Elihu W., 911
Ball, John H., 1435
Ballard, Curtis W., 2218
Ballot law, proposed, 745
Ballweg, Frederick, 2040
Ballweg, Frederick W., 2040
Baltzell, Robert C., 1820
Bankruptcies, 702
Bank of Vincennes, 327
Bank Tax Fund, 478
Banks, 412, 446; early, 323
Banta, David I).. 1169, 1372
Baptist Church, first in Indiana, 253
Baptiste Peoria, 83
Baptists, 253
"Baptized Churches of Christ Friends to
Humanity, on Cantine Creek," 253
Barbour, Lucian, 1334
Barnard. Herman J., 1509
Barnes. Albert A., 2026
Barnes. Barzillai < >.. 2080
Barnett. John T., 1752
Barnhill, John F , 819
Barrett, James M., 745; (portrait) 747
Barrett Law, 748
Barringer. John M., 1879
Bartel. Adam H., 1884
Barth, Lewis L., 2254
Bass. John H., 1444
Batcheler. Charles E.. 1345
Bates, Charles A., 1361
Bates Edward, 604
Bates. Hervey, 1697
Bates. William O., 129, 1524
Batt. Charles K., 1838
Battle of Romney (illustration . 600
Battle of the Fallen Timbers (illustra-
tion). 209
Battle of the Thames, 282; (illustra-
tion), 282
Battle of Tippecanoe, 266
Bauer. Carl E.. 2245
Baxter Bill. 701. 703
Baxter. J. W.. 10
Baxter law, 1056
Baxter, William. 699; (portrait). 700
Beach. Leslie W., 1603
Beadle. John H.. 2263
INDEX
Bean, Mrs. C. W., 1137
Beard, John. 478, 566; (portrait), 479
Beasley, John T., 1595
Bebee case, 1052
Beckman. Howard W., 1575
Beebe, George T., 1771
Beecher, Henry W., 406. 893, 1177
Beecher's church (1893), (illustration),
407
Beeson, John T.. 1287
Beggs brothers, 235
Beggs, Charles, 254
Beggs, James. 254
Behm, Adam <>.. 1319
Bell, Reginald I... 1659
Bender, Ernest H-, 1673
Benefiel, John. 301
Bennett, Henry W.. 1682
Bennett, Thomas W., 1572
Bentham, Jeremy, 1087
Berkebile. Earl. 1763
Bernhardt. Ada L. S.. 2208
Berry. \\Tiiteford M., 2037
Berryhill, John S., 1300
Beveridge, Albert J., 761, 1862; (por-
trait), 762
Bicknell, Ernest P., 1024
Bioknell. George A., 1792
Biddle. Horace P., 1220
Bieler, Charles L., 1575
Bieler. Jacob L.. 1573
Bienville. Governor, 110
Bigger, Samuel'. 425; (portrait). 426
Big Grade at Madison (illustration). 401
Bill for internal improvements, 393; his-
tory of. 384
Bill of Bank of the State of Indiana.
Jeffereonville Branch (illustration) 412
Bill to establish schools. 869
Bingham, Joseph J.. 589
Birch Creek reservoir, 409
Birdsell. John C.. 1482
Birkbeck, (Morris) Indiana in 1818. 1200
Bissot, Francois, 109
Bissot, Jean B.. 107
Blark, Charles H., 1299
Black Hawk (postoffice), 86
Blackburn. Eugene. 2004
Blackford. Isaac. 893; (portrait), 335
Blake. James. 391. 881. 893
Blatchley, Willis S.. 1292
Blind, 988: education of, 1003; provision
for. 1002
Bliss. William S.. 2177
Block of Oolite Limestone (illustration).
967
"Blocks of five." 729. 735
Blue Jacket. 207
Blue Jeans Williams, 708
Blue. Lulu I.. 1287
Blue, Perry H., 1286
"Blue Ribbon" movement. 715. 1060
"Blue sky law," 779
Board of Health, 828 ; membership, 1918.
831
Board of State Charities, 1022
Board of Trade Map, 1853, 973
Boards of trade, 974
Bobbs' Free Dispensary. 853
Bobbs, John S., 823, 1000; (portrait), 851
Bockhotf, William F., 2284
Bohlen, Oscar D., 1845
Bohn, Armin. 1795
Bohn, Arthur, 1796
Bohn, Gustavus, 1795
Bolley, Henry L., 1999
Bolton, Nathaniel. 460
Bolton. Sarah T.. 999; (portrait). 460
Bond. Shadrach. 224, 233
Bond, William C., 1662
Bonds, 393
Bone, Alfred R.. 2233
'Bone Bank" on the Wabash, 30
Bone House (illustration), 23
Bonham, George L., 2048
Bonner, Walter W., 1894
Book auction, 1209
Book, first known to have been printed
in Indiana, 1209
Boon, Ratliff. 374; (portrait). 373
Boone (Daniel), Capture of. 147
Boone, Franklin M., 1251
Boone. John. 298
Booth, Newton. 1382
Burden. James W., 439
Borghim, Gutzon. 853
Borough of Vincennes. 245
Burton. Fredolin R., 1973
Bossingham, John E.. 2257
Boundaries of land claims. 231
Bovard. George F.. 2005
Bowen, John M., 1482
Bowers. O. Dale, 1473
Bowers. Rose A., 816
Bowles, William (portrait). 650
Bowsher, D. D., 1902
Bowsher Co., Inc.. N. P.. 1901
Bowsher. Jay C., 1903
Bowsher. Ne'lson P., 1902
Boy Blacksmith. 1151
Boyd, Harrington, 1896
Boyle. Guy A.. 2009
Bradford. "Oscar C.. 2092
Bradshaw, Arthur E.. 1368
Bradway. Olna H., 1560
Bragdon. Chalmer L.. 1220
Braley. C. H., 1403
Brandon, J. Clifton. 1806
Brannum. Joseph G., 1738
Brattain. John C. F., 1962
Bray. Madison J., 2076; (portrait), 841
Brazil Block. 959
Brebuer. Frank D.. 1666
Breckenridgip. Judge. 662
Breech -loading gun invention. 606
Breen, William P., 1889
INDEX
Anti-slavery people aroused, 246
Anti-slavery sentiment, 346
Anti-suffrage faction, 690
Antitoxin, 835
Antitoxin law, 831
"An Unmarked Grave," 273
Apperson, Edgar L., 2141
Apperson, Elmer, 2141
Apportionment law of 1915, 726
Apportionment laws of 1891 and 1885,
opinions on, 724
Arbitrary arrests, 638
Arbuckle, N. L.,' 1530
Armstrong, James, 126
Army of the Northwest, equipment of,
275
Army rations assailed, 593
Arnold, Matthew, 1017
Arsenal, Civil war, 595
Arthur. David C.. 2262
Article IX, Constitution of 1816, 863
Article XIII, Negroes and Multattoes,
471
Articles of Compact, 193
Articles of Confederation, 183
Artifacts, 28
Artificial cooling of meats, 943
Artists, 1203
Asbury (DePauw) University, 897, 911
Assenisipia, 188
Assessment, average rate of, 754
Assessments, 752
Atkins, Elias C., 1854
Atkins. Henry C., 1856
Atkinson, Eleanor, 2035
Atlantic cable, celebration of laying, 432
Attack on Fort Harrison, 268
Attack on Iroquois Fort (illustration) 54
Atwater, Caleb, 28
Atwood, Francis L., 1244
Aubry, M., 130
Auction of books, 1209
Aughinbaugh, Sidney L., 1717
Augur, William H., 2055
Ault, Nelson L., 1317
Austin, Thomas R., 1743
Austin, Wilbur G., 1786
Australian Ballot Law, 741
Australian Ballot System, 744
Authorized liquor agents, 1046
Automobile, first, 948; Indiana product,
948
Automobile industry, 939, 946
Authors, medical, 819
Axley, James, 1028
Ayres, James E., 2005
Aztecs, 13, 25
Barhman. Frederick M., 1929
Bacon, Mrs. Albion F., 779; (Portrait)
780
Bacon, Hilary E., 2168
Badet. F. H., 2217
Badger, Oliver P., 458
Badolett, John, 245, 301, 975; First
Chancellor of Indiana (portrait), 245
Baer, Samuel W., 1260
Bailey, John W., 1993
Bailey, Robert W., 2070
Baird, Patrick, 296
Baker, Lieut. -Gov. Conrad, 692, 695,
1012; (portrait) 696
Baker, Francis E., 1771
Baker, Hugh J., 1802
Baker, John H., 1469
Baker, Paul, 1599
Baker, Rayman H., 1671
Baldwin, Edgar M., 1338
Baldwin, Elihu W., 911
Ball, John H., 1435
Ballard, Curtis W., 2218
Ballot law, proposed, 745
Ballweg, Frederick, 2040
Ballweg, Frederick W., 2040
Baltzell, Robert C., 1820
Bankruptcies, 702
Bank of Vincennes, 327
Bank Tax Fund, 478
Banks, 412, 446; early, 323
Banta, David D., 1169, 1372
Baptist Church, first in Indiana, 253
Baptiste Peoria, 83
Baptists, 253
"Baptized Churches of Christ Friends to
Humanity, on Cantine Creek," 253
Barbour, Lucian, 1334
Barnard, Herman J., 1509
Barnes, Albert A., 2026
Barnes. Barzillai O., 2080
Barnett, John T., 1752
Barnhill, John F., 819
Barrett, James M., 745; (portrait) 747
Barrett Law, 748
Barringer, John M., 1879
Bartel, Adam H., 1884
Barth, Lewis L., 2254
Bass. John H., 1444
Batcheler, Charles E., 1345
Bates, Charles A., 1361
Bates Edward, 604
Bates. Hervey, 1697
Bates, William O., 129, 1524
Batt, Charles S., 1838
Battle of Romney (illustration). 600
Battle of the Fallen Timbers (illustra-
tion), 209
Battle of the Thames, 282; (illustra-
tion), 282
Battle of Tippeoanoe, 266
Bauer, Carl E.. 2245
Baxter Bill. 701. 703
Baxter, J. W., 10
Baxter law, 1056
Baxter, William. 699; (portrait), 700
Beach, Leslie W., 1603
Beadle. John H., 2263
INDEX
XI
Bean, Mrs. C. W., 1137
Beard, John, 478, 566; (portrait), 479
Beasley, John T., 1595
Bebee case, 1052
Beckman, Howard W., 1575
Beebe, George T., 1771
Beecher, Henry W., 406, 893, 1177
Beecher's church (1893), (illustration),
407
Beeson, John T., 1287
Beggs brothers, 235
Beggs, Charles, 254
Beggs, James, 254
Behm, Adam O., 1319
Bell, Reginald L., 1659
Bender, Ernest H., 1673
Benefiel, John, 301
Bennett, Henry W., 1682
Bennett, Thomas W., 1572
Bentham, Jeremy, 1087
Berkebile, Earl, 1763
Bernhardt, Ada L. S., 2208
Berry, Whiteford M., 2037
Berryhill, John S., 1300
Beveridge, Albert J., 761, 1862; (por-
trait), 762
Bicknell, Ernest P., 1024
Bicknell, George A., 1792
Biddle, Horace P., 1220
Bieler, Charles L., 1575
Bieler, Jacob L., 1573
Bienville. Governor, 110
Bigger, Samuel! 425; (portrait), 426
Big Grade at Madison (illustration), 401
Bill for internal improvements, 393; his-
tory of, 384
Bill of Bank of the State of Indiana,
Jeffersonville Branch (illustration) 412
Bill to establish schools, 869
Bingham, Joseph J., 589
Birch Creek reservoir, 409
Birdsell. John C., 1482
Birkbeck, (Morris) Indiana in 1818, 1200
Bissot, Francois, 109
Bissot, Jean B.. 107
Black, Charles H., 1299
Black Hawk (postoffice), 86
Blackburn, Eugene, 2004
Blackford, Isaac. 893; (portrait), 335
Blake. James. 391. 881. 893
Blatchley, Willis S., 1292
Blind, 988; education of, 1003; provision
for, 1002
Bliss. William S., 2177
Block of Oolite Limestone (illustration).
967
"Blocks of five," 729, 735
Blue Jacket. 207
Blue Jeans Williams, 708
Blue, Lulu L. 1287
Blue, Perry H., 1286
"Blue Ribbon" movement, 715, 1060
"Blue sky law," 779
Board of Health, 828; membership, 1918,
831
Board of State Charities, 1022
Board of Trade Map, 1853, 973
Boards of trade, 974
Bobbs' Free Dispensary, 853
Bobbs, John S., 823, 1000; (portrait), 851
Bockhoff, William F., 2284
Bohlen, Oscar D., 1845
Bohn, Armin, 1795
Bohn, Arthur, 1796
Bohn, Gustavus, 1795
Bolley, Henry L., 1999
Bolton, Nathaniel, 460
Bolton, Sarah T., 999; (portrait), 460
Bond, Shadrach, 224, 233
Bond, William C., 1662
Bonds, 393
Bone, Alfred R., 2233
"Bone Bank" on the Wabash, 30
Bone House (illustration), 23
Bonham, George L., 2048
Bonner, Walter W., 1894
Book auction, 1209
Book, first known to have been printed
in Indiana, 1209
Boon, Ratliff, 374; (portrait), 373
Boone (Daniel), Capture of, 147
Boone, Franklin M., 1251
Boone, John, 298
Booth, Newton, 1382
Borden, James W., 439
Borglum, Gutzon, 853
Borough of Vincennes, 245
Bortpn, Fredoliti R., 1973
Bossingham, John E., 2257
Boundaries of land claims, 231
Bovard, George F., 2005
Bowen, John M., 1482
Bowers, O. Dale, 1473
Bowers, Rose A., 816
Bowles, William (portrait), 650
Bowsher, D. D., 1902
Bowsher Co., Inc., N. P.. 1901
Bowsher, Jay C., 1903
Bowsher, Ne'lson P., 1902
Boy Blacksmith, 1151
Boyd, Harrington, 1896
Boyle, Guy A., 2009
Bradford, Oscar C., 2092
Bradshaw, Arthur E., 1368
Bradway, Olna H., 1560
Bragdon. Chalmer L., 1220
Braley, C. H., 1403
Brandon, J. Clifton, 1806
Brannum, Joseph G., 1738
Brattain, John C. F., 1962
Bray, Madison J., 2076; (portrait), 841
Brazil Block, 959
Brebuer, Frank D., 1666
Breekenridge, Judge, 662
Breech-loading gun invention. 606
Breen, William P., 1889
XII
INDEX
Breitwieser, Joseph V., 2010
Bribery, punishment of, 746
Bridges, 938
Bright, Jesse D., 451, 554, 587, 1052;
(portrait), 555
Bright, Michael G., 556
Bright's "overt act," 588
Brock, Earl E., 1827
Brock, Frank H., 1413
Brock, Ray C., 2022
Broderick, Case, 2130
Brodhead, Col., 163
Brooke School for Boys, 1803
Brooks, Wendell S., 1804
Brown, Arthur V., 1874
Brown, Austin H., 442, 1925
Brown, Daniel, 2245
Brown, David, 329
Brown, Demarchus C., 2230
Brown, Edgar A., 1978
Brown Family, 1925
Brown, Frank R., 1409
Brown, Garvin M., 1926
Brown, George, 612
Brown, George P., 909
Brown, George W., 2143
Brown, Henry B., 911
Brown, Hilton U., 1647
Brown, John, 382, 558
Brown, Lewis, 1679
Brown, Omer F., 2018
Brown, O. L., 1653
Brown report on Indiana limestone, 962
Brown, Ryland T., 811, 962, 1044, 1055;
(portrait), 1045
Brown, Samuel R., 18; description of
mounds, 18
Brown, Stuart, 2093
Brown, William J., 1925
Browne, John W., 252
Browning, Eliza G., 1788
Brownlee, James, 296
Bruce, Casselman L., 1678
Bruns, Edward W., 1362
Brush, Henry, 274
Bryan, William J., 756
Bryan, William L.. 905, 1359
Bryant, James R. M., 487
Bryant. William M., 2041
Buck, Charles S., 1265
Buck. Ollie H., 2024
Buckingham. Ebenezer, Jr., 355
Buddenbaum, Louis G., 1537
Buffum, Arnold. 509
Building of canals, 384
Building stone, 961
Bullerdick. Omer D.. 2132
Bulson, Albert E., Jr., 816
Bundy, Omar, 1873
Buning, John H., 1926
Burford, William B.. 1495
Burgess, James P., 1029
Burgess. John K., 1948
Burial mounds, 1
Burnet, Judge, 230
Burnet, Harry B., 1812
Burnett, Frances H., 1137
Burns, Harrison, 1398
Burns, Lee, 1399
Burnside, Ambrose E., 606
Burnsworth, Mrs. Z. (portrait), 852
"Burnt District, The," 1150
Burnt District of New York (map), 1152
Burr, Aaron, 249; movements of, 382
Burr, David, 388
Burris, Harry, 1663
Burton, C. M., 164
Burton, James C., 1394
Burton, Joseph R., 1929
Burtt, Joe B., 2223
Buschmann, Charles L., 2134
Bush, George P. (portrait), 1181
Busse, E. P., 827
Busseron, Francis, 346
Butler, Amos W., 1024
Butler, Charles, 403; (portrait), 405
Butler, Charles E., 1308
Butler, John M., 1450
Butler, Richard, 191
Butter and cheese making, 954
Buttler, Arthur, 1706
Buttler, William, 1706
Butts, Nathan T., 703
Byram, Oliver T., 1692
Byrd, Charles W., 220
Cabot, John, 98
Cadillac, Lamothe, 47, 59, 106
Cairns, Anna S., 2015
Callahan, James M., 2068
Calland, Joseph E., 1671
Calumet river, 87
Camden, M. H., 1625
Campaign names, 586
Campbell, Alexander, 1102, 1177
Campbell, Henry F.. 1745
Campbell, John B., 269
Campbell, John L., 911
Campbell, Marvin, 1322
Campbell, William, 121
Camp Douglas, 661
Camp meeting, 1177
Camp Morton, 613. 972; (map), 614
Camp Morton Gate (illustration), 655
"Campus Martius." Ohio Company's Fort
at Marietta (illustration), 197
Canal around falls of the Ohio, 245, 382
Canal boats, 391
Canal bonds, 404
Canal, ceremony at building of, 389
Canals, 245, 382; building of, 384; diffi-
culty of maintaining. 399: surveys, 387
Canby, General E. R. S., 609
Canning industry. 954
Cannon, William T.. 1316
Canteen Creek Baptist church, 249
. f
INDEX
Xlll
Canthorn, Henry, 233
Capital, at Corydon, 288, 308 ; first effort
to remove, 287; location of permanent,
. 361 ; new at Indianapolis, 363 ; actual
work of removal, 367
Capitol, first Indiana State, 370
Capitulation of Post Vincennes, 160
Captives (illustration), 57
Capture of Caskaskia, 148
Capture of Vincennes, 151
Care for the poor, 976
Carey, Angeline P., 1185
Carey Mission, 360
Carhart, Joseph, 921
Carithers, Oliver L., 1528
Carleton, Emma N., 1285
Carlisle, Charles A., 2275
Carnefix, Louis W., 1760
Carnegie, Andrew, 921
Carpenter, Charles G., 2073
Carpenter, Orville 0., 2093
Carr, Clement V., 2044
Carr, George W., 442; (portrait), 441
Carr, Thomas, 298
Carriages and wagons, 946
Carrington, Edward, 192
Carrington, Gen. H. B., 652, 663
Carroll, J. J., 1672
Carson, Franklin R., 1731
Carter, Charles E., 1757
Carter, Laura, 816
Carter, Vinson, 1829
Cartier, Jacques, 98
Carver, Jonathan, 15; description of
mounds, 15
Case, Marvin T., 1303
Cuss, Lewis, 354, 499
Castleman, John B., 658; (portrait), 657
Cates, Joseph, 1570
Cavanaugh, John, 1564
Cave, Alfred N., 1841
Cawley, Edgar M., 1833
Cayuga, 87
Celebration of ratification of the Pota-
watomi treaty, 1033
Celeron, expedition of, 121; Route of.
1749 (map), 119
Census Bureau report on Indiana, 944
Centennial Anniversary of Establishment
of Indiana Territory, 759
Centennial Commission, 781
Centennial Memorial, 781
Centennial of admission of Indiana to
Union, 781
Centennial of the State, 709
Center of Mound Building Nation, 13
Central Canal, 393, 401
Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane.
823, 825
Central States Medical Monitor, 814
Ceremony at building of canal, 389
Certified schools, 913
Chalybeate Springs, 970
Chapel, Indiana State Prison, Michigan
City (illustration), 986
Chapman, Jacob, 442
Chappelsmith, John, 1088
Charitable institutions, 980; legislation
for, 996; statistics, 1020
Charitable legislation, 1020
Charities, 824
Charities and Correction, 975
Charities, State Board of, 1022
Charity Organization Society, 1020
Charles, A. A., 1623
Charles, Etta, 816
Charles Smith's Steam Mill Company,
329
Charlevoix, Father, 61
Charlton, Thomas J., 1010; (portrait),
1011
Chase, Charles D., 1968
Chase, Dudley H., 1967
Chase, William M., 1203
Cheese-making, 954
Chenoweth, Harry W., 1471
Chersonesus, 188
Chicago, site of, 59
Children of Mound Builders, 33
Children's Aid Society, 1020
Children's Guardians, 1021
Children's Reading Circle, 921
Chitwood, Mary L., 1397
Choctaws, 39
Christian, Wilmer F., Sr., 1512
Christie, George I., 1254
Church, Charles H., 2063
Church history during British occupation.
131
Churchman, W. H., 1003
Cincinnati, 197; first literary center in
the West, 1207
Circuit Courts, establishment of, 338
City Dispensary, 853
Civil service reform, 283
Civil War, 498, 569, 836; first call, 594;
total call for men in 1861, 594; draft.
594; soldiers, 594; arsenal, 595;
equipment and supplies, 595; manu-
facturing of ammunition, 595; Sani-
tary Commission, 596, 613; first regi-
ment called, 596; military hospital,
596; record of Three Months Soldiers,
598; movements of Indiana troops,
599; statistics. 601; Indiana's quota.
601; shipbuilding, 605; warships, 605;
money contributions, 613; nurses, 613;
minute men, 623; conditions, 631;
crime during, 639; governor's control
over militia, 641; government carried
on by War Governor, 642; financial
conditions. 642; return and public re-
ception of Indiana troops, 670
Clapp, Moses E., 1807
XIV
INDEX
Clark county, stone fort, 5; Map of
Stone Fortification and Mounds, 6;
mounds, 9; stone mounds, 9
Clark, George R., 168, 179, 183, 186, 382,
1018; (portrait), 141; military service,
143; report to Governor Henry, 143;
public instructions, 147; expedition
against, 153; letter to Hamilton (il-
lustration), 159; Thomas E. Watson's
comment on, 166; success, 169; route
in Indiana (map), 173
Clark, Marion E., 1298
Clark, Marston G., 382
Clark, S. Earl, 2133
Clark, William, 228
Clark, W. A., 2049
Clarke, Grace J., 1317
Clark's Grant, 226
Clay, Henry, 439, 513; reception by So-
ciety of Friends, 513
Claycombe, Lloyd D., 1582
Claypool, Jefferson H., 1569
Claypool, John W., 1234
Claypool, Solomon, 1233
Cleveland, Grover, 720
Cleveland, William F., 2146
Clinehens, Stephen A., 1846
Clift, Lawrence, 1852
Clinton, DeWitt, 385
Clow, John W., 2103
Chine, William J., 2162
Clyburn, Henley, 2006
Coal miners relief, 748
Coal, production from 1912-1915. 959
Coate, M. W., 2014
Cobb, Thomas R., 1935
Coburn, Henry I., 893
C'oburn, Henry P., 896
Cockrum, James W., 527; (portrait),
528
Cockrum, William M., 528; (portrait),
533
Coffin, Charles E., 1745
Coffin. Charles F., 1009, 1014
Coffin, George V., 1876
Coffin, Levi. 508
Coffin. Rhoda M., 1014; (portrait). 1015
Cole, Charles A., 2061
Cole, E. P., 493
Cole, George L., 1484
Coleman. Harold G., 1493
Coleman. William H., 1950
Colfax. Schuyler, 465, 565, 645, 1580;
(portrait), - 467
Colgrove, Philip T.. 2055
Colleges denominational, 911
Colleges, sectarian. 897
Collet, Hippolyte, 132
Collet, Luke, 132
Collett. John, 1
Collier. Clinton C.. 2231
Collings. William P., 2230
Collins, Caroline V., 2095
Collins, Napoleon, 612
Colonial Charter Claims (map), 184
Colonial claims, 183
Colonization in Liberia, 470
Colonization Society, 470, 471, 1003
Colorado Seminary, 1000
Columbia, founded, 196
Columbus, Christopher, 98
Commerce, 924
Commissioned schools, 913
Commission to erect a new State House,
709
Commission to investigate taxation, 753
Committee on Education, 488, 867
"Common School Advocate," 881, 882,
890, 893
Common School Convention, 891
Common School Fund, 477, 489
Common school movement, 882
Common school system, reform of, 473
Common schools, 877; report on, 887;
uniform system, 482
Company F., Twenty-seventh Indiana
Regiment, 1199
Company of the Occident, 110
Comparison of Jefferson and Johnston
petitions, 257
Comstock, Horace A., 1566
Communistic experiment, 1071
Community House No. 2 (illustration),
1116
Community life, 1094
Community No. 2, 1105
Community No. 3, 1105
Conder, Croel P., 1649
Conduitt, Allen W., 1707
Confederate conspiracy, 659
Confederate conspirators, trial of, 665
Confederate plots, abandonment of, 660
Confederate prisoners plan escape, 661;
plot to release, 654
Confederate soldiers, seized steamers, 660
Confiscation Act, 634
Conflict of charters, 182
Congress of 1788 confirms land titles of
French settlers, 201
Congressional Township Fund, 477
Conklin. Seth, 519
Connecticut Western Reserve, 214
Conner, William, 1476
Connolly, John, 137; acts of at Fort
Pitt, 138
Conrey, J. A., 2227
Consolidated schools. 913
Constitution, First. 334; movement for
new, 438; amendments, 711; proposed
changes, 771 ; antiquated, 776
Constitution of 1816, 435. 975, 1073
Constitution of 1851, 435; adopted. 496
Constitutional amendments, legal opinion
on, 712
Constitutional convention. 440, 709; sec-
ond, 350; cost of, 443
INDEX
xv
Constitutional Convention of 1816, 863
Constitution-making, 393
Contest between Owen and Bright, 464
Controversy of governors, 376
Controversy over Green River Island,
759
Convention for admission as State, 296
Convention of 1816, 295
Conventions, 546, 724
Cook, Harry V., 1351
Cook, John E., 558
Cook raid, 561
Cooke, Marjorie B., 2061
Coolidge, Mary R., 1977
Coonse, Harvey, 1710
Cooper, Edward L., 1470
Cooper, George W., 1940
Copperhead speeches, 693
Coquillard, Alexis, 1464
Corn club, 914
Cornelius, Paul B., 1893
Cornstalk, 88
Cory, Elnathan, 2072
Cory, Thomas, 2077
Corydon, 295, 366, 787; chosen for cap-
ital, 288; capital of the State, 308
Cost of constitutional convention, 443
Cost of Moving State Library (illustra-
tion), 371
Cottman, George, 1135, 1154
Cotton, William, 297
Coudert, Mrs. Charles duPont, 1204;
(portrait), 1205
Coulter, John M., 905
Coulter, Stanley, 1936
Counties, lay-off of, 307
"Country Contributor," 1196
Country doctor, 789
County option law, 767, 1064
Court house of 1811-12, 295
Courts, early, 334, 338
Cowing, Hugh A., 1611
Cox, Charles R., 1969
Cox, Edward T., 1, 5, 12, 14, 35; (por-
trait), 36
Cox, Jeremiah, 296
Cox, Linton A., 1437
Cox, Millard. 2108
Cravens. William, 1028
Crawford, Anna M., 1447
Crawford, Andrew ,1., 2123
Crawford. Charles M., 1446
Crawford, Hugh, 121
Crawford, John L.. 2124
Crawford, William H., 277
Crawford, W. O., 2083
"Crazy Asylum" (illustration), 981
Creager, Edwin F., 1794
Creation, Miami theory of, 63
Crecraft. Albert N.. 2259
Cresap. Michael, 121
Cressey, T. R.. 893
Crime 'during Civil war, 639
Cring, Charles C., 2139
Critchfleld, Frederick H., 2126
Crittenden Resolution, 583
Crockett, Charles E., 1330
Crockett, Elmer, 1330
Croghan, George, 121, 127; report, 128
Croghan, William, 382
Crone, Frank L., 1824
Cross, Charles M., 1393
Crowe, John F., 875, 901
Crumpacker, Harry L., 2079
Cruse, James S., 2195
Culley, D. V., 893
Culter, Mary M., 1971
Culver, T. Talmadge, 2196
Cumback, Will, 1947
Cummins, James L., 1843
Curtis, William 8., 2047
Cushman, Moe A., 1545
Custer, Lafayette P., 744
Cutler, Ephraim, 221, 252
Cutler, Manasseh, 192
Dablon. Father, 34
Dafler, Wesley W., 1488
Dagenet, Charles E., 82; (portrait), 83
Dagenet, Christmas, 82
Dana, Edmund, 384
Dane, Nathan, 192; on Ordinance of
1787, 193
"Daniel Gray." 1182
Daniels, Edward. 1460
Danielson, Emu, 1389 '
Danton of Indiana Democracy, 556
Darby (William) on Indiana schools,
1817. 1201
Dark Hollow Quarry Company, 965
Darneille, Isaac, 243
Darrach, Eugene H., 2242
Darrach, George M., 2242
D*Artaguiette, 117
Daugherty, William W.. 1863
Daughters of Temperance, 1043
Davis, Arch, 1293
Davis, George W., 1885
Davis, Jefferson, 499; indictment of,
682
Davis, Jefferson C., 608, 1563; (portrait),
609
Davis, John C.. 1564
Davis, Ray, 1901
Davis, Thomas T., 237, 245
Davis, Will J., 2287
Dawley. Chella M.. 2084
Dawson, Louis. 1659
Day. Thomas C., 2205
Dayton. Jonathan, 382
Deaf, 988
Deaf and dumb, instruction of, 990
Deal. Mrs. Samuel M., 1138
Dean, Ward H., 1910
XVI
INDEX
Dearborn County, Ancient Forts (map),
16
Death of Tecumseh (illustration), 282
de Beaubois, Father, 111, 112
de Bellerive, St. Ange, 118
de Boisbriant, Pierre D., 110
Decker, Luke, 235
Deed of land, first Indiana, 48
Defense of Fort Harrison (illustration),
267
Defensive mounds, 1, 12
Defrees, Joseph H., 1831
DeGroote, John F., 1329
DeHority, Edward C., 1669
DeHority, Frank E., 1766
de la Balme, Col., 171
De La Matyr, uilbert, 1245
de Lumber ville, Jean, 58
de LaSalle, Sieur, 100
Delaware, 88
Delaware prophet, revelations of, 125
Delegation to President, 676
Dellett, Oliver J., 1714
DeUinger, John H., 2163
DeMent, Edward A., 1421
Deming, Elizur H., 811; (portrait), 511
Democratic Conventions, 724
Democratic meeting disturbed, 592
Democratic party, 554; four prominent
war leaders of, 592
Democratic platform, plank of, 667
Democrats, 498; Free Silver, 756; Gold,
756
Demonetization of silver, 755
Denby, Charles, 1823
Denman, Matthias, 197
Denny, Caleb S., 1797
Denny's drawing of Site of Fort Wayne
in 1790, 206
Denominational colleges, 911
Denton, George K., 2259
DePauw, John, 299
DePauw University, 299, 897, 911
DePauw, Washington C., 1355
DePrez, John D., 1653
de Richardville, Drouet, 117
Deschler, Louis G., 1518
De Soto, 98
De Soto chronicles, 37
De Vaudreuil. Governor, letter, 108
Devernai, Julian, 132
Devin. Alexander, 301
de Vincennes, Sieur, 107, 112
de Vinsenne, Francois Morgan. 113
DeWitt, Simeon, 191
Diary of William Owen, 260
Dickey, George W., 1968
Dickinson, Joseph, 1250
Dickinson, Joseph J., 1251
"Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant,"
1142
Dietz, Charles L.. 2015
Dietz, Robert H.. 2015
Dill, Howard A., 1576
Dill, James, 296
Dilling, Frank M., 2228
Dillon, John B., 1269
Dime Savings and Loan Association,
1020
Dingle, Mary, 1898
Directors of the poor, 977
Discoveries, medical and surgical, 831
Discovery of gold, 498
Diseases, early, 797
Disher, W. H., 1591
Dissette, James I., 1779
District Medical Society, 798
"Divinely Led," facsimile of Preface,
1113
"Divinely Led, or Robert Owen's Grand-
daughter," 1112
Division Act of 1800, 224
Division Act of 1809, 261
Dix, Dorothea L., 993, 1001, 1007; (por-
trait), 1002
Dixie Highway, 783
Doctors, pioneer, 794, 798
Dodge, Henry, 1558
Dodge, Wallace H., 1477
Dodson, Charles < >., 1690
Dolmetsch, Eugene C., 1637
Domestic wants of Indians, 80
Donations by physicians, 853
Doney,.C. P., 1496
Dongan, Governor, 58, 104; discussion
of troubles between French and Eng-
lish, 104
Doran, Francis H., 2114
Dorste, Louis T., 1818
Douglas, Stephen A., 576
Douglass, Frederick, 694
Dowden, Ross, 2075
Doyle, Percy H., 1793
Doyle, William, 1347
Draft commissioner, Civil war, 602
Draft, Civil war, 594
Draft exemption payment, Civil war,
602
Drake, James P., 461
Drake, Priscilla, 461
Dred Scott decision, 564, 775
Dreiser, Theodore, 1185, 1188
Dresser, Paul, 1190
Drifting into War, 498
Drug law, 831
Duckworth, Edward A., 1931
Dudley letter, 729; (reproduction of),
736
Dudley, William W., 739; (portrait).
739*
Duffey, Luke W., 1951
du Jaunay. Peter, 132
Duke (Basil), on Morgan Raid. 622
Dumb, instruction of, 990
Dumont, Ebenezer, 584, 1392
Dumont, John, 878
INDEX
xvii
Dumont, Julia L. (portrait), 871; char-
acteristic letter of, 874
DuMoulin, John, 217, 232
Duning, William H., 1478
Dunlap, James B., 1036
Dunmore, Earl of, 137
Dunmore's War, 139, 142
Dunn, Benjamin F., 1335
Dunn, Catherine T., 1185
Dunn, Ernest G., Jr., 1385
Dunn, Ernest G., ST., 1386
Dunn, George G., 2095
Dunn, George H., 2102
Dunn, Jacob P., 2289
Dunn, William M., 550, 875; (portrait),
876
Dunn, Williamson, 875
Dunning, Paris C., 434; (portrait), 433
Durbin, Winfield T., 763; (portrait),
764; economies, 764
Durham, James H., 1957
Durret, R. T., 141, 146, 171
Dye, Augustus T., 1804
Dye, Charity, 1694
Dye, Edward R., 2089
Dynes, Eldon L., 2039
Eads, James B., 1210; (portrait), 603
Eads, William H., 296
Eagle, The, 323
Earl of Dunmore, 137
Earlham College, 886; first building (il-
lustration), 892; (illustration), 899
Early American literature, 1209
Early banks, 323
Early courts, 334, 338
Early domestic medicine, 788
Early elections, 233, 242, 263, 337
Early fauna of Indiana, 75
Early financial condition of the United
States, 177
Early industries, 941
Early medical practice, 801
Early missionaries at Vincennes, 131
Early politics, 286, 374
Early Surveys and Land Grants (map),
216
Earth Mounds Near Anderson (map), 26;
Randolph County (map), 11
Earth works, 1, 12
East Chicago, 87, 952
Eastern Tndiana Hospital for the Insane,
749, 823, 826
Easthaven, 1020
Eastman, Joseph, 1646
Eberhardt, Arthur W., 1689
Eberhardt, George J., 1688
Eberhart, Frederick G., 1825
Edenharter, George F., 825, 2051
Edgar, John, 217, 223, 227, 232, 239
Edgerton, Jonathan O., 2117
Edible lichen, 73
Editorial attack on the administration,
1861, 593
Education, 860; general system of, 310;
committee on, 488, 867; vocational,
779; agricultural, 909; of the blind,
1003
Educational journal, 881
Educational papers, 920
Edwards, Richard A., 2076
Eel river, 88
Effigy Bowls (illustration), 33
Egglesfon, Edward, 1309
Eggleston, George C., 1309
Eichholtz, George W., 2025
Eighty-sixth Indiana Regiment, 600
Elder, John R., 2033
Elder, Joseph G., 2274
Elder, William L., 2034
Electoral votes in 1817, 340
Election frauds, 452
Election of 1908, 769
Election of 1916, 783; plea for honest,
730, 771; scandals, 741
Electioneering in early days, 337
Elections, early, 233, 242, 263, 337;
changes in, 447; after war, 694; after
the Civil war, 708; 1876-1886, 703:
1886-7, 721; honest, 726, 771
Elkhart, 88, 953
Elliott, Byron K., 1857; (portrait), 486
Elliott, C. Edgar, 1904
Elliott, Charles J., 1940
Elliott, Ebenezer N., 874
Elliott, George A., 1341
Elliott, George B., 1275
Elliott, Herbert M., 1933
Elliott, Jehu T., 1341
Elliott, Joseph T., 1275
Elliott, Robert, 2047
Elliott, William H., 1342
Ellis, Frank, 2001
Ellis, Horace, 2072
Ellison, Oscar E., 1493
Ellsworth, John C., 1332
Elmore, James B., 1336
Elston, Isaac C., 1435
Elwood, 953
Emancipation, 682; gradual, of slaves,
252
Emancipation Proclamation. 641
Emerson, Charles P., 814, 1504
Emslie, John P., 1470
Enabling Act, 867
"English Conquest of the Northwest,"
173 .
"English Dialect Dictionary," 1146
English, William E., 2158 '
English, William H., 146, 711, 731, 2154;
(portrait), 714
Epidemics, 903
Equipment, Civil war, 595
Era of reform, 728
Erb, Frederick H.. Jr.. 1453
xvin
INDEX
Esarey, Sol H., 1716
Escape of Morgan, 624
Espy, Josiah, 244, 382, 422
European claimants, 98
European grant, first covering Indiana,
98
Evans, Edgar H., 1608
Evans, John, 811, 994, 999; (portrait),
995
Everett, Edward, 1208
Ewing, Nathaniel, 329; (portrait), 328
Expedition against Clark, 153
Experiments in alleys, 949
Explanation -of Feast of the Dead, 21
Exposition building, 972
Face of an Oolitic Quarry (illustration),
964
Facsimile title page of first Indiana
Medical Book, 807
Fadely, Lewis E., 1407
Fahnley, Frederick, 2008
Fairbank, Calvin, 524; (portrait), 523
Fairbanks, Charles W., 758; 1221; (por-
trait), 757
Fair, first at Indianapolis, 972
"Fair God, The," 429
Fallen Timbers, Battle of (illustration),
209
Falls of the Ohio, 383
Family mounds. 22
"Family Visitor," 1043
Farmers Library, 243
Farmers & Mechanics Bank of Madison.
332
"Farmers and Mechanics Journal," 347
Farnham, John H., 877
Farragut, 629
Farwell, Hart F.. 2165
Farwig. Henry H., 1482
Fasig. Daniel. 2249
Fate of Mound Builders, 35
Father of American Geology, 1084
Fauna of Indiana, early, 75
Fauntleroy, Constance, 1107
Faust, William A., 1414
Fauvre, Frank M.. 1439
Feast of the Dead, explanation of, 21;
(illustration), 20
Federalists, 218, 220; oppose admission
of the state, 219
Fee, John, 1288
Fee system, 749
Fenstcrmaker, J. Ralph. 1934
Ferguson. Thomas. 2016
Ferree, William M., 1639
Ferris, Ezra. 296
Feuerlicht, Morris M., 1846
Fifer, Claude, 1995
Fifth mayor of Indianapolis, 889
Financial conditions during the Civil
war. 642
Financial history, 764
Financial system, provision for State,
322
Findlay, James, 230
Fink, E. J. W., 1826
Finley, George, 60, 65
Finley, Ida D., 1564
Finley, John, 1122, 1129, 1156; (por-
trait), 1147, 2264; reputation as a
poet, 1148
Finley, Robert W., 223
"Fire Lands," 214
First automobile (illustration), 948
First book known to have been printed
in Indiana, 1209
First Building of Indiana University
(illustration), 862
First call in Civil war, 594
First Chancellor of Indiana, 245
First Constitution, 334
First District Medical Society of In-
diana, 798
First European grant covering Indiana,
98
First Fair, Indianapolis, 972
First fort built by white men, 109
First geological survey of Indiana, 959
First Indiana deed of land, 48
First Masonic Temple, Built 1848-50 (il-
lustration), 496
First medical practitioners, 794
First medical society, 798
First move for Statehood, 219
First native Hoosier to produce a book
of literary merit, 1210
First Ohio Company Colony (illustra-
tion), 195
First person operated on for gall stones
in the world, 852
First Presbyterian Church of Indianap-
olis, 1181
First priest ordained from the West,
1209
First regiment called into service in
Civil war. 596
First schools. 860
First State Fair, 504
First State Fair Grounds (illustration),
505
First State House of Indiana, located at
Corydon (illustration), 294
First Sunday School at Indianapolis,
1003
First temperance paper, 1043
First Temperance Society, 1003
First Thanksgiving proclamation in In-
diana. 421
First Union soldier killed in oattle after
Fort Sumter was taken, 599
Fishback. Frank R., 1572
Fisher, Isaac, 994
Fisher, William F., 1618
Fitch, Graham, 557, 849; (portrait),
849
INDEX
xix
Five Nations, 52, 53
Flag of Society of Colonial Wars, for
Indiana (illustration), 129
Flat-boats, 239, 925
Fleming, James R., 1455
Fletcher, Calvin, 896, 933, 1425
Fletcher, James C., 1210
Fletcher Sanatorium, 817
Fletcher, Stoughton A., 1236
Fletcher, Stoughton A., Jr., 1430
Fletcher, William B., 817, 1658; (por-
trait), 825
Flour mill and grist mill products, 945
Flower, Edward, 1083
Flower Mission Training School for
Nurses, 1020
Floyd, Davis, 235, 298
Flying Squadron Foundation, 1065
Flynn, William, 853
Foltz, Frederic, 1590
Foltz, Herbert W., 1589
Foltz, Howard M., 1590
Food and drug law, 831
Foods, Indian, 72, 76
Foorman, Amos N., 1277
Foote vault, 962
Foote, Winthrop, 961
Fordney, Josepn W., 1843
Foreign immigration, 439
Foreign vote, 452
Forests, 1166
Forrest, J. Dorsey, 2225
Forrey, George C., Jr., 1592
Fort Azatlan, description of, 1; springs
at, 2: map of, 3
Fort Chartres, 111; Ruins of Powder
Magazine (illustration), 111
Fort Defiance built. 211
Fort Greenville, 210
Fort Hamilton, 207
Fort Harrison. 499; attack on, 268; De-
fense of (illustration), 267
Fort Jefferson, 207; difficulty of main-
taining, 180
Fort Miamis, 59, 122
Fort Pitt. 137
Fort Pontchartrain, 106
Fort Recovery, 207, 210
Fort Saekville captured. 160; Vincennes,
1779 (illustration), 156
Fort Stanwix, treaty of, 187
Fort of Vincennes, 130
Fort Wayne, 89 ; post at, 113 ; Site of in
1790 (illustration). 206; built, 211:
in state of siege, 268
Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, 1000
"Fort Wayne Medical Journal-Maga-
zine." 815
"Fort Wayne Medical Magazine," 815
Forts, 207
Forts, stone, 5; first built bv white men,
109
Fortune, Charles M., 160<J
Fortune, William, 1415
Fosdick, William, 1379
Fosler, John, 1873
Foster, Craven T., 1798
Foster, Family, 1798
Foster, John W., 1882
Foster, Robert S., 610, 1748; (portrait),
611
Foster, Ronald A., 1799
Foster, Samuel, 1798
Foster, Samuel M., 2282
Four prominent war leaders of the Dem-
ocratic party, 592
Fourteen Mile Creek, 7
Fourth of July, 1863, 648
Foucher, Anthony, 132, 1209
Fowke, Gerard, 24, 27, 35
Fox, William F., 2169
Francis, Charles W., 1507
Francis Family, 1504
Francis, Joseph M., 1981
Franklin, Benjamin, 187, 191
Franklin College, 886; first building (il-
lustration), 892
Frazier, John S., 1414
Fred, Samuel, 1904
Free banks, 446
Free kindergartens, 1020
"Free Labor Advocate and Anti-Slavery
Chronicle," 510
Freeman, John, 506
Freeman, Thomas, 355
Freeman's Corners, 355
Free schools, 483, 877, 891, 893
Free Silver Democrats, 756
Free silver issue, 756
Free Soil vote, 499
Free Soiler, prominent, 542
Free Soilers, 498
French and Indian war, 122
French, Burton L., 1838
French Grant, 214
French Lick, 853; (illustration), 969
French Relation of 1718, 109
French settlers. 213; Congress of 178
confirms land titles, 201; Clearing
Land at Galliopolis ( illustration i. 213
Frenzel, John P., 743
Friedley, Harmon H., 1614
Friends, 509
"Friends to Humanity," 253
Friends Yearly Meeting, 513
Frontier characters, 121
Frontier influences, 1164
Frontier life, 1169
Frontier Life (Turner), 1158
Frontier political oratory, 1174
Frontier settlements, 1156
Frontier towns, 1164
Frontier women, 1169
Fugitive Slave law. 500, 506
Fugitive slaves, 521"
XX
INDEX
Fuller, Hector, 2214
Funeral customs, Indian, 69
Funk, Walter A., 1318
Furniture and refrigerators, 947
Fur traders, rivalry of, 118
Furs, 957
Gable, Orlo H., 1466
Gabriel's Rock, 1078; (illustration), 1079
Gage, General, 137
Gallagher, William D., 1207
Galliher, Charles W., 1958
Games and sports of Mound Builders, 32
Garber, M. C., 544
Gardner, Clyde W., 1872
Gardner, Fred C., 1582
Gardner, Jared, 2005
Gardner, Joseph C., 1498
uarrett, John J., 1930
Garrison Marching Out (Vincenries) (il-
lustration), 152
Gartside, Forrest J., 2038
Gas wells, 959
Gates, Alfred B., 1700
Gates, Austin B., 1756
Gates, Edward E., 1702
Gates, Frederick E., 1756
Gates, Glen W., 2112
Gates, Harry B., 1701
Gates, William N., 1702
Gavisk, Francis H., 2192
Geddes, Robert, 1680
General system of education, 310
Geographer of the Main Army, 191
Geographer of the Southern Army, 191
Geological survey of Indiana, first, 959
George, Eliza E., 613
Georgia mounds, 22
Gerard, R. H., 1320
Gernstein, Bernard, 1659
Ghost, Dance, 124
Gibault, Father, 133, 148, 171, 180;
reaches Vincennes, 134
Gibson. John, 228, 283
Gillespie, Bryant W., 1448
Gillespie, Laura A.. 1449
Gillespie, Mrs. B. W., 1449
Gillilan, Strickland W., 1150, 1712
Gillman, Joseph, 196
Gilmer. Frank, 1315
Gilmore, Allan E., 1463
Gilmore, Russell A., 1463
Gilmore, Wallace L., 1463
Gilmore, William G., 1463
Girard. William T., 599
Girls' Reformatory, 1016
Gist, Christopher, 121
Glass manufacturing, 947
Glasscott, John, 1636
Glasscott, Thomas, 1637
Glossary of Indiana names, 86
Glossbrenner, Alfred M., 2056
Goble, Daniel S., 1742
Godfrey, Francois, 43, 89, 271
Godfrey, Gabriel, 43, 65, 75, 80, 96;
(portrait), 46
Gold Democrats, 756
Golden, Dale D., 1986
Golightly, William J., 1979
Goodell, Charles E., 2167
Goodrich, James P., 785; (portrait), 784
Good Roads Movement, 783
Goodwin, Thomas A., 900, 1140
Gookins, J. ., 599, 600
Gordon, John N., 2010
Gordon, Jonathan W., 1404; (portrait).
472
"Gore, The," 226
Goslee, Mary O., 2022
Gossora, James M., 2167
Gougar, John D., 1311
Gough, John B., 1039
Gould (B. A.) on Indiana Men, 1199
Government carried on by War Gov-
ernor, 642
Government House of the Territory of
Indiana, Vincennes (illustration), 23S
Governor of Indiana, proclamation from,
1185
Governor's Mansion, Corydon (illustra-
tion), 308
Governors Mansion in the Circle (illus-
tration), 438
Governors, controversy of, 376
Gradual emancipation of slaves, 252
Graham, Archibald C., 1237
Graham, John K., 298
Graham, William, 299
Grain Mill, Primitive (illustration). 927
Grand-daughter of The Little Turtle, 79
Grand jury system, objection to, 446
Grant, U. S., 629, 630, 648
Gravier, Father, 32
Gray, Isaac P., 709, 718; (portrait), 723
Great Conflagration at Pittsburgh, Pa.
(illustration), 1143
Great Hare, 63
Greathouse, Frank M., 1975
Greek fire, 661
Green, Alonzo P., 1456
Green, Conant L., 1457
Green River Island, controversy over,
759
Greenbackism, 702
Greenville Treaty line, 224
Gresham. Walter Q., 1565
Grist mills, 939; products, 945
Grenfell, St. Leger, 657
Griffin, John, 228
Griffith, Thomas J., 1326
Griffon, 61; (illustration), 62
Griswold, Edward H., 2104
Gronendyke, Oliver J.. 1438
Gross, Luther M.. 2018
INDEX
xxi
Grossart, Frederick C., 1887
Grover, Arthur B., 1534
Grover, Ira, 1533
Grow, Galusha A., 536
Guerrillas, 640
Gurley, Phineas, 406
i Justin. Amos N., 1774
Guthrie, William A., 1548
Gutzwiller, Carl, 1536 .
Gwathmey, John, 382
Gwin, William, 612; (portrait), 635
Habits of Indians, 47
Hack, Elizabeth M., 1420
Hack, Oren S., 1419
Hackedorn, Hillis F., 1510
Hackelman, Pleasant A., 565, 606; (por-
trait), 607
Hackman, Frederick, 1483
Haerle, George C., 2120
Haerle, William, 2120
Hagelskamp, George, 1886
Haimbaugh, Frank D., 2108
Haimbaugh, Mary C., 1476
Haines, Matthias L., 1389
Hall, Arnold A. B., 1594
Hall, Arthur F., 1395
Hall, Basil, 1168
Hall, Baynard R., 873
Hall, Columbus H., 1592
Hamill, Chalmers M., 1831
Hamilton, Henry, 140; preparing expe-
dition against Clark, 153; (portrait),
164
Hamilton, William L., 1530
Hammerschmidt, Louis M., 1906
Hammond, 952
Hammond, Abram A., 567; (portrait),
565
Hammond. Edwin P., 1314
Hamtramck, John F., 198; ordinances,
198; letter to Gen. Wayne, 198; gov-
ernment, 199; Signature, 199; Tomb
(illustration), 199; service to people
of Vincennes, 203; at Detroit, 212
Hand, Edward, 140
Haner, Frank H.. 1875
Haney, William E., 2064
Hanley, Michael T., 2130
Hanly, J. Frank, 765, 767, 1065; (por-
trait), 768
Hanna, Charles A., 101
Hanna, John, 1953
Hanna, Robert, 296
Hanna, Samuel, 388, 413
Hannegan, Edward A., 1523
Hannum, James M.. 1378
Hanover College. 911; first building (il-
lustration), 892
Hanover, John T., 529; (portrait), 531
Hansen, John. 527
Hanson, Sarah, 1536
Hardin, Harley F., 1355
Hardin, Newton, 1820
Harding, Stephen S., 512
Hardy, Horace G., 2059
Harmar, Josiah, 198
Harmonists, 1075
Harney, John H., 874
Harper, H. Frank, 5
Harper, Ida H., 1706
Harper, Samuel A., 2236
Harrington, John J., Jr., 1638
Harris, Addison C., 1689
Harris, Bert H., 1988
Harris, James W., 1954
Harrison, Alfred, 1536
Harrison, Benjamin, 564, 728; (portrait),
730
Harrison, Caroline S., 1411
Harrison, Christopher, 375, 384
Harrison, Hugh H., 1536
Harrison, John, 382
Harrison, John S., 728
Harrison, Joseph W., 1443
Harrison, J. C. S., 352
Harrison, William H., 218, 221, 248, 268;
in command at Fort Washington, 228;
secretary of Northwest Territory, 228;
arrives at Vincennes, 229; (portrait),
229; preparing for operations for war,
271
Harsh, Abraham, 2124
Hart, F. E., 1765
Harting, William E., 2021
Hartley, Clarence A., 2145
Hartloff, Charles W., 2145
Hartman, George W., 2213
Harvey, Jonathan S., 454
Harvey, Lawson M., 1558
Harvey, Thomas B., 1553; (portrait),
829
Haskett, Orlando D., 1615
Havelick, Pearl A., 1847
Havens, Ben, 1674
Havens, C. H., 1990
Haworth, C. V., 2011
Hay, Frank M., 1369
Hay, John. 1530
Hayden, Walter B., 1249
Hayes, Charles E., 1761
Hayes, Halbert R., 1767
Haynes Auto Company, 949
Haynes, Elwood, 948, 1215
Haynes, Paul P., 1494
Hays, Meade S., 1357
Hay wood, George P., 1302
Health laws, 830
Health of State in early days, 371
Health resorts, 969
Hearsey. Harry T., 1704
Heath, Frederick W., 2029
Heatwole, Joel P., 1918
Heckewelder, John. 163
Heitschmidt, August C., 2118
Heller, F. G., 1693
XXII
INDEX
Hemenway, James A., 1761
Henderson, Albert, 1399
Henderson, Charles K.. 1400
Hendren, Gilbert H., 2237
Hendricks, Thomas A., 569, 626, 665,
697, 704, 705, 708, 730, 726, 903, 1858;
(portrait), 590
Hendricks, William, 302, 374, 384, 704
Henneman, John B., 1138
Hennings, Joseph K., 1847
Henry, Albert J., 2104
Henry, Charles L., 1780
Henry, James H., 893
Henry Phippe Institute for Tuberculosis,
835
Henshaw, Frederic R., 1738
Herman and Bebee cases, 1052
Heron, Alexander, 2199
Heron, Helen M., 2199
Herz, Adolph, 1871
Herz, Milton, 1872
Hesler, Jennie M., 1305
Hester, Lincoln, 1304
Hess, Michael, 2012
Hetherington, Benjamin F., 1366
Hetherington, Frederick A., 1367
Hiatt, Julius E., 1537
Hiatt, Thomas, 1994
Hibbard, James F., 1639; (portrait), 855
Hides and furs, 957
Hielscher, Theodore, 553
Hilburt, Frank, 1808
Hileman, Alonzo J., 2073
Hilgemeier, Frank, 1529
Hines, Thomas H., 617, 656, 658; (por-
trait), 618
Hitt, Mrs. George C., 1349
Hoag, William G., 2016
Hobbs, Barnabas C., 331, 870, 1009;
(portrait), 896
Hobson's Choice, 209
Hodges, Mrs. Edward F., 1431
Hoffman, Edward G., 1400
Hogan, William J., 1888
Hogston, Alfred, 1531
Hogue, John L., 2070
Hoke, Jacob F., Jr., 1943
Holaday, Alpha L., 1346
Holland, J. G., 1182
Holliday, F. C., 1195
Holliday, John H., 584, 1225
Hollis, Charles C., 2117
Holloway, David P., 681; (portrait), 680
Holloway, William A., 2014
Hollweg, Louis, 1517
Holman, Jesse L., 334
Holman, Joseph, 296
Holman, Sidney L., 2132
Holman, William S., 564
Holmes, Henry A.. 2007
Holmes, Ira M., 1464
Holmes, Oliver W.. 855
Holmes, William H., 2008
Holt, Sterling R., 2200
Home industries, 412
Homestead bill, 536
Honest elections, 726, 771
I lousier, 1160; origin of name, 1121;
early use of word, 1155; first native
to produce book of literary merit,
1210
"Hoosier Year, The," 1185
"Hoosier's Nest, The, 1122, 1123, 1161;
facsimile of opening lines. 1124; (re-
production of painting), 1132; (illus-
tration), 1138
Hoosier's War Record, A, 2214
Hoozier, William, 1152
Hopkins, Samuel, 268
Hord, Oscar B., 665, 714
Hornaday, William T., 1741
"Horsehead," 228
Horsley, William E., 2149
I Ins hour, Samuel K. (portrait), 885
Hospital Board, 819
Hospital for treatment of tuberculosis,
1025
Hospital stewards, 849
Hospitals, 821
Hospitals for the insane, 823
Hoss, P. E., 1910
Houser, James A., 1291
Houses of Correction, 1005
Houses of Refuge, 1008
Housing law, 779
Hovey, Alfred R., 1535
Hovey, Alvin P,, 481, 486; (portrait),
483
Hovey, Benjamin, 382
Hovey, Otis, 911
Howard, James, 953
Howard Ship Yard, 953
Howard, Tilghman A., 1166, 1959; (por-
trait), 1167
Howard, Timothy E., 1700
Howat, William F., 2244
Howe, Daniel W., 1745
Hubbard, Erastus W., 1778
Hubbard, R. M., 1360
Hubbard, Walter J., 1779
Hubbard, Willard W., 1779
Hudson, Grant L., 1360
Huffman, Gideon, 1540
Hull, Matthew R., 1151
Humphrey, Louis, 794, 811
Hundred Associates, 99
Hunt, Nathaniel, 297
Hunter, Charles R., 1601
Hunter. James W., 2013
Huntington, 89, 953
Hurst, Henry, 145
Hurty, John N., 1606
Hurty. Josiah, 493
Hussbn, Peter, 1474
Huston, Frank C., 1551
Hutchins, Thomas. 191
.
INDEX
XXlll
Hutchinson, David, 820
Hutchinson family, 1039
Hydrophobia law, 831
Iberville, Pierre L., 106
Iddings, Mary C., 819
Idols, Mound Builders, 34
Iglehart, John E., 1986
lies, Orlando B., 1930
Illinoia, 188
Illinois Company, 187
Illinois General Hospital of the Lakes,
1000
Illinois Grant, 236
Immigration, 439
Improvements, bill for internal, 393;
history of bill for internal, 394; in-
ternal, 410
Increase of manufactures, 951
Indenture law, 246
Independent property rights for married
women, 454
Indian agriculture, 74
Indian corn, 73
Indian council at Vincennes, 264
Indian employment, supervisor of, 82
Indian land grant, 381
Indian mounds, description, 18
Indian names, glossary, 86
Indian potatoes, 77
Indian Signatures (illustration), 51
Indian Springs, 969
Indian system, beginning of present, 355
Indian Territory, separate, 361
Indian traders, 187, 228
Indian women, life of, 81
Indiana about 1819, direct interest in
Northwest Territory, 224; First State
Governor, 289; "Walking history of,"
479; quota in Civil war, 601; War-
den's description of, 1158; in 1828,
Hall's description of, 1161; first book
known to have been printed in, 1209
Indiana Asbury University, 900
Indiana Board of State Charities, 824
Indiana Boys' School, 1010
Indiana Business College, 2138
Indiana camp meeting, 1177
Indiana Canal Company, 245, 382
Indiana Central Medical College, 812
Indiana Central University, 912
Indiana Company, 187
Indiana delegation to President, 676
Indiana Good Roads Association, 939
Indiana Harbor, 952
Indiana Historical Commission, members
of (illustration), 782
Indiana Historical Society, 877
Indiana Hoosier (boat), 1155
Indiana Hospital for Insane Criminals,
1004
Indiana in 1811 (map), 224
Indiana in 1817. showing effect of La-
Salle's report of his route from Lake
Erie to the Illinois (map), 351
Indiana Journal of Medicine, 814
Indiana lands, main survey of, 355
Indiana Library Association, 920
Indiana limestone, 965
Indiana Medical College, 853
Indiana Medical College of Laporte, 811
Indiana Medical College, Indianapolis,
811
Indiana Medical Journal, 814
Indiana nurses, 818
Indiana School for the Blind, Indianap-
olis (illustration), 1006
Indiana State Board of Health, 828
Indiana State Farm, 1025
Indiana State Library, 823
Indiana State Medical Association, Jour-
nal of, 806
Indiana State Medical Society, 805, 828
Indiana State Medical Society and Asso-
ciation, presidents of, 808
Indiana State Prison, Michigan City (il-
lustration), 991
Indiana State School for the Deaf, 992
Indiana State Soldiers' Home, Lafayette,
1012
Indiana State Wesleyan Anti-Slavery
Convention, 518
Indiana survey system, 354
Indiana Teachers' Reading Circle, 921
Indiana Territory, 226, 933; population
in 1800, 226; government begun, 228;
difficulty of communication between
different parts, 239; free negroes in
1810, 244; Centennial Anniversary of
Establishment of, 759
"Indiana, The," 391
Indiana troops (Civil war) return and
public reception, 670
Indiana Tuberculosis Hospital, Rockville
(illustration), 1026
Indiana Union of Literary Clubs, 920
Indiana University, 853, 865; first build-
ing (illustration), 862
Indiana University School of Medicine,
812
Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends, 1844
(illustration), 516
Indianapolis, 89 ; new capital, 363 ; origin
of name, 364; route from Lake Michi-
gan to, 382; chief source of water
supply to, 402; city charter, 891;
early schools, 894; in'l855, 503; inter -
. urban lines, 955
Indianapolis and Her Railroad Connec-
tions (map), 973
Indianapolis Benevolent Society, 1003,
1020
Indianapolis Boys Club, 1278
Indianapolis Commercial Club, 974
Indianapolis Flower Mission, 819
''Indianapolis Journal," 569
XXIV
INDEX
Indianapolis Medical Journal, 815
Indianapolis Medical Society, 805
"Indianapolis News," 1647
Indianapolis, Ralston's plat of 1821
(map), 362
Indianapolis, Second State House (illus-
tration), 455
"Indianapolis Sentinel," 737
Indianapolis Water Company, 598
Indians, 28, 43-85; religion, 34, 61, 67;
traditions, 39; languages, 40, 47, 60;
habits, 45, 47; tribes, 52; wars, 53, 59,
205; mythology, 61, 124; customs,
69; food of, 72, 76; Perrot's descrip-
tion of, 75; domestic wants of, 80;
tribal organization, 81; removal of,
82; sail for France. 112; troubles, 118;
uprising, cause of, 134; lawlessness,
204; titles, 264; treaties, 264, 354,
388; hostilities, 268; titles in Indiana,
extinguishment of, 354; schools, 358
Indians Driving off Eclipse of Moon
(illustration), 71
Indigent deaf and blind, 988
industrial domination, 699
Industries, canning and preserving, 954;
hides and furs, 957; home, 412; ter-
rapin, 958
Infant blindness law, 831
Innes, Judge, 204
Insane hospitals, 823, 980, 993, 1018
Insane, statistics on, 982
Insley, William H., 2066
Instruction of deaf and dumb, history
of, 990
International bimetallism, 757
Internal improvements, 382, 410; bill for,
393; history of bill, 394
Interurban railroads, 955
Itinerant preachers, 1176
Intoxication, Wayne's order regarding,
227
Invasion of Indian country, 179
Investigating Committee, 1022
Iron and steel, 945
Iroquois, 52, 53
iroquois Captives (illustration), 57
Iroquois Fort, Attack on (illustration),
54
Irvin, Arthur B., 2261
Iserman, Edmund F., 1475
Isgrigg, David M., 2064
"Jacobin clubs," 222
Jacoby, Elias J., 1945
James, John H., 2181
Janert, Albert, 2000
Jarrard, Thomas E., 2261
Jay, John, treaty, 212
Jefferson and Johnston petitions, com-
parison of, 257
Jefferson County mounds, 9; stone fort,
9
Jefferson County, Stone fort (map), 8
Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia," 257
Jefferson, Thomas, 188, 220, 222, 252,
254; proposed states in Northwest
Territory (map), 188; opinion on slav-
ery, 247
Jeffersonville, 953
eff ergon ville Township Public Library,
2152
Jenkins, D. C., 2002
Jennings, Augustus, 1611
Jennings County mounds, 9; stone forti-
fications, 9
Jennings, Harry E., 1651
Jennings, John, 1610
Jennings, Jonathan, 262, 286, 297, 354,
376, 383, 386; candidate for Governor,
292; (portrait), 289
Jerry Collins and Doctor Cool (illustra-
tion), 1036
Jessup, Jennie B., 1434
Jessup, Maria A., 816
Jesuit "Relations," 21, 24, 28, 30, 33, 38,
55, 56, 58, 64, 72
Jewett, Charles W., 1301
Jillson, William M., 1246
John Jay treaty, 212
John, Robert, 388
Johnson, Alexander (portrait), 1023
Johnson, Andrew, 536, 693; inaugurated,
676
Johnson, Benjamin B., 1467
Johnson, Emsley W., 1588
Johnson, Henry W., 1457
Johnson, Honest F., 230
Johnson, John, 299, 334
Johnson, John W., 1472
Johnson, J. Wallace, 2036
Johnson, Mary E., 1137
Johnson, Richard O., 1519
Johnson, William, 52, 121, 122, 126
Johnston and Jefferson petitions, com-
parison of, 257
Johnston, Annie F., 779, 2184
Johnston, Harriet M., 2125
Johnston, Washington, 256
Joliet, Louis, 67
Jones, A., 1340
Jones, Aquilla, 758, 1956
Jones, Arthur H.,^648^ """
Jones, Charlea-e^lO, 22
Jones, Daniel A., 2253
Jones, Eronk M., 2221
Jones, /Gabriel, 183
Jones, XJeorge W., 1513
Jones, (A Edwin, 2253
Jones, John R., 179, 235, 258; (portrait),
259
Jones, Oliver P., 1238
Jones, Thomas M., 1883
Jones, Walter, 1853
Jones, William A., 909
Jones, William M., 1833
,
INDEX
XXV
Jordan, Arthur, 1489
Jordan, David S., 905
Joss, Frederick A., 1931
Jouett, Matthew H., 141
"Journal of tne Indiana State Medical
Association," 806, 816
"Journal of the Medical Sciences," 815
Judah, Mrs. John M., 1139
Judah, Samuel, 317; portrait, 316
Judges, 334; early, 196
Judicial decisions, Roosevelt's plan for
recall of, 774
Julian, George W., 534, 542, 546, 564,
624, 632, 678, 698, 1150; (portrait),
538; speech on slavery, 632
Julian, Isaac, 550; speech, attacking ad-
ministration of 1865, 682; speech of
October 25, 1868, 694
Jungclaus, William P., 1711
Jury trial, 450
Kahn, David, 1544
Kahn, Henry, 1678
Kahn, I. Ferdinand, 1545
Xankakee, 89
Kankakee portage, 45
"Kansas City Star," 737
Kaskaskia, capture of, 148
Kast, Marie, 816
Kattman, Frank A., 1869
Kaufman, Rex ])., 2046
Kautz, John A., 1969
Kean, John, 192
Keely cures, 1037
Keightley, Edwin W., 2090
Keller, Amelia R., 816, 1881
Kern, Omer M., 1421
Kemper, G. W. H., 820, 1670; (portrait),
786
Kennedy, Dumont, 1305
Kennington, Robert E., 1440
Kenyon, Clarence A., 939
Kern, John W., 769
Kerr, Michael C., 564, 651, 1534
Ketcham, Jane M., 816
Kidnaping case, atrocious, 352
Kidnaping free negroes, 341, 506
Kidnaping of slaves, 532
Kilgore, David, 394; (portrait), 395
Killikelly, Sarah H., 1196, 1433
Kilsokwa, The Setting Sun, 90; (por-
trait), 79
Kimball, Nathan, 609
Kindergartens, free, 1020
King (Rufus) on Ordinance of 1787, 193
King, W. F., 831
Kinnard, George S., 1965
Kinney, Amory, 346
Kinsey, Carl D., 2235
Kinsey, Oliver P.. 911
Kiper, Roscoe, 1575
Kirk, Alvin T., 1408
Kirk, Clarence L., 1350
Kirkpatrick, Lex J., 1402
Kitchell, Jirah A., 1296
Kittredge, Jonathan, 1031
Kizer, Robert P., 1436
Klausmann, Henry W., 1624
Klumpp, John F., 2126
Klute, George E., 1875
Klute, John H., 1879
Knabe, Helene (portrait), 817
Knapp, Frank H., 2238
Knauff, Henry, 1992
Knights of Elvas, 37
Knights of the Golden Circle, 434, 640
Knightstown Springs, 1011
Knollenberg, Everard B., 1876
Knollenberg, Henry W., 1875
Know Nothingism, 537, 543
Knox county mounds, 13
Knox County Seminary, 317
Koehler, Charles F., 1684
Koelln, Henry, 2084
Kokomo, 90, 953
Koons, Martin L., 1676
Kop, Peter, 1199
Korbly, Bernard, 1641
Korbly, Charles A., Jr., 1641
Korbly, Charles A., Sr., 1640
Koss, Louis, 1720
Kramm, Harry D., 1710
Kreimeier, Elmer, 1575
Krietenstein, George W., 2118
Kroh, Cora E., 2140
Kroh, James H., 2139
Krout, Caroline V., 1924
Krout, Mary H., 1922
Kuchenbuch, Herman, 2137
Kuessner, A malm (Mrs. Charles duPont
Coudert), 1204; (portrait), 1205
Kuhn, Charles, 1299
Kuhn, John A., 1299
Kuhn, William F., 1299
Kuhner, Godlip C., 1983
Kyle, John J., 819
LaBalme, 175
Laboratory Law, 830
Lacy, Flay S., 1946
Lafayette, 953
Lafltau, 23, 54, 57, 71
Lagle, William H., 1837
Lagro, 90
LaHontan, 21, 71
Lake Maxinkuckee. 91
Lake Michigan, route from to Indian-
apolis. 382
Land act, 191
Land chief wealth of the country, 217
Land claims, boundaries of. 231
Land deed, first Indiana. 48
Land grant, Indian, 381
Land grants, early (map), 216
Land, Harry, 1467
Land. Walker E., 1486
XXVI
INDEX
'
Landers, Pierce J., 1498
Landis, Kenesaw M., 1849
Landon, George W., 1664
Lane, Daniel C., 298, 367
Lane, Henry S., 547, 550, 564, 1174;
(portrait), 551
Lane, James H., 1548; (portrait), 432
Lane, Joseph, 1540
Langsenkamp, Frank H., 1845
Langsenkamp, William, 1934
Languages, Indian, Algonkin, 40; Mus-
cogean, 41
Lanier, James F. D., 333, 403, 419, 643,
1032; (portrait), 418
Lapenta, Vincent A., 1590
Laporte, 953
La Potherie, 45, 70
LaSalle, 56; letter of August 22, 1682,
56; discoveries, 99; (portrait), 100;
description of Ohio district, 101 ; writ-
ings of, 103; (map), 105; Colony, 106
Lasher, Norman J., 1349
Lasselle, Hyacinthe, 346
Last Union soldier killed in battle, 599
Lauck, John, 1755
Laughlin, C. E., 827
Lauter, Herman, 1944-
Lauter Company, H., 1944
Law concerning negro slaves, 237
Law concerning servants, 237
Law, John (portrait), 115
Law schools, 744
Lawrence, John F., 2252
Law-son, Charles G., 2105
Lawton, Henry W., 761
Leakey, Joseph K.. 1672
Leathers, James M., 1274
Leathers, William W., 1273
le Drou, Pierre, 272
Lee, Richard H., 192
Lee's surrender, 670
Leeds, Frank R,, 2136
Leedy, Ulysses G., 1691
Leeson, Colonel K., 1966
Leeson, Richard L., 2033
Legend of origin of Miami*. 44
Legg Brothers, 1811
Legg, Charles D., 2195
Legg, Christopher E., 1811
Legislation, 1864, 670
Legislation for charitable institutions,
996
Legislation, temperance work effect on,
1041
Legislative Reference work, 749
Legislature of 1889. 1021
Legrande, Pacome, 131
Le Gras, M., 181
Lehmanowsky, John J., 1132. 1145
LeJeune, Father, 21, 64, 69
Lemaux, George, 1242
Lemcke, Julius A., 1343
Lemcke, Ralph A., 1345
Lemen diary, 247
Lemen, James, 298, 352
Lemen, John, 247
LeMercier, Father, 28
Lenfestey, John R., 2232
Lensmann, John H., 2193
LePetit, Father, 34, 38
Lerman, Meyer, 1655
LeRoy, John W., 1377
Lesh, Charles P., 1603
LeSueur, 30, 245
"Letters of Decius," 242
Levering, Julia H., 1399
Levering, Mortimer, 1400
Levi Coffin House, Fountain City (illus-
tration), 509
Levy, Henry, 1354
Levy, Leopold, 1353
Levy, Marie C., 1355
Levy, Theresa, 1354
Lewis, Dio, 1057
Lewis, George B., 1549
Lewis, Thomas R., 2182
Lewis, Walter H., 2116
Lewis, Walter L., 2120
Lexington, 323
Libby, Charles L., 1997
Liberia, colonization, 470
Library, 709, 914; medical, 822; Sun-
day School, 914; township school, 916;
conditions of the state, 916; juvenile
fiction, 917 ; rural, 920 ; traveling, 920 ;
public, 921; school, 921
Library Commission, 920
Library provision, 918
Library Society, 1118
License system, 703
Lieber, Herman, 1736
Lieber, Otto R., 1737
Lieber, Richard, 2219
Lieutenant Governor, duration of office,
720; contest for, 721
Lilly, Eli, 1888
Lilly, James W., 1401
Lilly, William H.. 339
Limestone, Brown's report on Indiana's.
962; statistics, 968
Lincoln, Abraham, 581, 631, 655; speecli,
582; assassination, 670; remains in
the Capitol, 670; Emancipation, 682
Lindey, Carl S.. 1661
Lindley, Jonathan, 315
Line, John, 1376
Linn, William, 142
Linthicum, Edward, 2175
Linthicum, Porter H., 2175
Liquor decision, 1054
Liquor law, local option, 492
Liquor League. 781, 1061
Liquor legislation, 1052
Liquor licenses, 748, 1042
Liquor question, 767
Lister, Joseph, 833
INDEX
XXVll
Literature, 1185; fund, 475; western,
1306; of the Great Valley, 1206; early
American, 1209; first native Hoosier
to produce book of literary merit, 1210
Little, Abraham, 254
L,ittle Turtle, 37, 47, 52, 84, 175, 205,
207, 210; granddaughter of, 79, 90;
Indian name of, 92; (portrait), 270;
grave of, 271
Livezey, John C., 1561
Local option liquor law, 492, 1042
Lockwood, Bertha G., 1397
Lockwood, George B., 1071; (portrait),
1072
Lockwood, Kufns A. (portrait), 567, 2266
Lockwood, Virgil H., 1396
Logan (Chief), 228
Logan, Robert J., 2043
Logansport, 90, 955
"Logansport Pharos," 742
'Log Convention," 262
Log Schoolhouse in Wayne County (il-
lustration), 868
Logsdon, Edwin D., 1410
Lomax, William, 811, 853, 1653; (por-
trait), 834
Long, Benjamin F., 1955
Long, Clara, 812; (portrait), 813
Long, Crawford W., 833
Long, Robert W., 812; (portrait), 813
Long Hospital, 906; (illustration), 810
Longcliff, 1018
Komi, Edward J., 1849
"Looking Back from Sunset Land," 522
Lookout Mountain, 648
Loramie, Peter, 121
Loramie's Station, 121
Lorenz, John W., 2030
Losantiville, 197
Louisiana purchase, 239
Louisville and Portland Canal, subscrip-
tion to, 385, 1135
Lowe, Richard, 1636
Lowe, William. 299
Lowry, James H., 1272
Loyd. Creth J., 1878
Luecke, Martin, 1334
Luhring, Oscar R.. 1974
Lupear, Alic J., 1727
Lyell, Sir Charles, 30
Lyon, Matthew, 243
Maag, Bernard J., Jr., 1484
Maas, George L., 1791
Macadamized road, 393
Maclure, William, 481, 1084, 1114:
estate, 1118
Macluria, 1105
Madden, John J., 1785
Madden, Thomas. 1784
Maddox. John W., 349
"Madison Courier," 544
Madison, James, 165, 220
Madison Preceptoral Institute, 884
Madison railroad scheme, 400
Madstone, 792
Magee, Rufus, 1961
iviagnetic Telegraph, 425
Major, Charles, 1194, 1366
Main Market Highways to Be Built in
Indiana (map), 940
Main survey of Indiana lands, 355
Malarial disease, 371
Malott, Volney T., 1585
Malott, William P., 1751
Mancourt, Charles P., 1832
Manhattan, 91
Manitos, prayer to, 62
Mann, Charles B., 2090
Manning, Frank R., 1689
Manson, Mahlon D., 720, 1504
Manufactures, 944; increase of, 951,
pioneer, 939
Manwaring, Solomon, 296
Marest, Father, 114
Marietta, 195
Marion, 953
Marion County Medical Society, 822
Markle, Major, 344
Marott, George J., 2086
Marple, E. A., 2135
Marquette, Father, 65, 67, 80
Marquette's Monster (illustration), 66
Married women, independent property
rights for, 454
Marsee, Joseph W., 796
Marshall, Henry W., 2270
Marshall, John, 214
Marshall. Thomas R., 321, 769, 776. 1226;
(portrait), 772
Martin, Asinae, 613
Martin (Betsey) on Temperance, 1034
Martin, Charles E., 1835
Martin, Evan J., 2179
Martin, Harry A., 1670
Martin, Henry R., 1893
Martin, William A., 1386
Martindale, Charles A., 1788
Martinsville, 854, 969
Mason. Augustus L., 1799
Masonic Temple, Built 1848-50, (illus-
tration), 496
Masons, change of customs, 1039
Massie, Nathaniel. 223
Masters, M. I., 1770
Mathew, Theobald, 1039
Matthews, Claude, 755; (portrait), 754;
Administration, 758
Matzke, Julius, 1822
Maumee river, 74, 91
Maxwell. David H.. 297
Maximilian, Prince, 30
May, Edward R., 465
May, Edwin. 709
May, Ray, 1662
Mayer, Herman A., 1918
XXV111
INDEX
Mayhew, Royal, 491, 886, 893
McAbee, Daniel II.. 1947
McAdams, William, 66
McArthur, Dunca.ii 354
McArthur, General, 276
McBride, Bert, 2162
McBride, Robert W., 1899
McCabe, James, 746
McCarty, Enoch, 296
McCarty, Nicholas, 500
McClellan, George B., 597
McClung, John A., 1182
McClure, Robert G., 1516
McConaha, Everett R., 1479
MeCormick, O. N., 1394
McCormick Theological Seminary, 901
McCoy, Cassius C., 1882
McCoy, Christiana, (portrait), 356
McCoy, Eliza, 361; (portrait), 360
McCoy Indian school, 358
McCoy, Isaac, 82, 84, 355, 1030, 1182;
(portrait), 356
McCracken C. J., 2122
McCulloch, Hugh, 412, 413, 1165; (por-
trait), 414
McCulloch, Oscar C., 748, 1020
McCullough, Thomas, J772
McCutcheon, George B., 1818
McCutcheon, John T., 1877
McDaniel, Charles M., 2246
McDonald, Joseph E., 669, 704, 705, 714;
letter, 663; (portrait), 664
McDowell, Ephraim, 788
McElheny, Franklin K., 1980
McFall, George, 1764
McGettigan, John E., 1597
McGilliard, M. V., 1278
McGuire, William M., 2180
Mcllvaine, W. A., 1994
Mclntire, J. S., 1769
Mclntire, Robert, 299
Mclntosh, Sarah N., 2240
Mclntosh, William, 260
McKamy, Anna T., 817
McKee, Edward L., 2190
McKee, Robert S., 2188
McKinsey, William P., 2037
McMahan, Adah, 816, 1828
McMahan, Herbert B., 1809
McMurtrie, Uz, 1783
McRae, Emma Mont., 921; (portrait),
922
McShirley, Ella B., 1944
McWhirter, Felix T., 1734
McWilliams, Nannie E., 1468
Mears, George W., (portrait), 822
Mears, J. Ewing. 822
Meat packing, 945
Meats, artificial cooling of, 943
Mechling, Jacob E., 1252
Medical and surgical discoveries. 831
"Medical and Surgical Monitor," 814
Medical authors. 819
Medical book, facsimile title page of
first, 807
Medical Colleges, 811
Medical Convention of 1849, 802
Medical fads, 790
Medical History of Indiana's first cen-
tury, 787
Medical journals, 814
Medical libraries, 822
Medical officers in Volunteer regiments,
Civil war, 848
Medical practice, early, 801
Medical registration, 793
Medical schools, 794
Medical society, first, 798
Medical teachers, 821
Medicine, early domestic, 788; laws reg-
ulating practice of, 792; laws of 1897,
793
Meeker, Thomas S., 1454
Mees, Carl L., 1526
Meier, Lewis, 1728
Meigs, Return J., 196, 223
Meister, Doris, 818, 1816
Mellett, Jesse II., 1412
Mellor, Walter H., 2074
Meloy, Alfred O., 1359
Members of the Convention for Admis-
sion as State, 296
Memorial for statehood, 290
Memorial of early convention of 1801,
235
Memorial on Care of the Unfortunate,
979
Menard, Pierre, 233
Mendenhall, William, 1665
Menominee, 359
Mercer, William S., 1999
Merchants associations, 974
Mercuric, Phillip B., 1475
Mercy Hospital, 1000
Meredith, Henry C., 1457
Meredith, Solomon, 893; (portrait), 691
Meredith, Virginia C., 1457
Mermet, Jean, 131
Merrill, Catharine, 818, 1440
Merrill, Samuel, 364, 380, 412; (por-
trait), 368
Merrimac, 600
Methodist Book Concern, 1000
Methodist church discipline, 1028
Methodists, 518, 1195
Metropolitan Police bill, 716
Metzger. Albert E., 1538
Meurin, Father, 133, 135
Meuser, Robert J., 1645
Mexican war, 429, 835
Meyer, Frederick J.. 1715
Meyer, Henry. 1350
Miami Ax. with Mound Builder Sto
Head, (illustration) 20
Miami chiefs, 84
Miami Company, 212
INDEX
XXIX
Miamis, 39, 45, 92; legend of origin of
tribe, 44; origin of, 47; dialect, 60;
theory of creation, 63; food of, 72;
agricultural, 74; hostile, 120
Michigania, 188
Michigan City, 92, 953
Michigan City prison, 1004
Michigan Road, 380
Military hospital, Civil War, 596
Military arrests, 638
Military Commission, 665
Military situation in the west, (1780),
176
Military supplies, (1812), 272
Military usurpation, 667
Militia, Civil war, 641; War Governor's
control over, 641
Miller, Abram O., 845, 849
Miller, Calvin S., 2106
Miller, Clem, 1899
Miller, Dick, 1568
Miller, Edward C., 1598
Miller, Enrique C., 1392
Miller, Fred, 2017
Miller, George F., 661
Miller, Joaquin, 1192; early life. 1183;
tribute to pioneers, 1157; (portrait),
1159
Miller, John F., 610; (portrait), 630
Miller, Robert F.. 1371
Miller Ryell T., 2285
Miller, Samuel D., 1503
Miller, William H. H., 1501
Milligan, James W., 827
Millikan, Frank M., 1867
Millikan, Lynn B., 1783
Millikan, Thomas B., 1380
Milling, 941
Mills, Caleb, 474, 494, 891, 894. 911
Milroy, Robert H.. 607; (portrait), 637
Milroy, Samuel. 299, 376
Minear, S. P., 1896
Mineral waters, 853, 968, 1018
Mineral wealth, 958
Mineral wells, 970
Minerva Club, first women's club in the
United States, 1112
Minnick, Ira A., 1726
Minor, Benjamin B., 1558
Minor, John R., 744
Minshall, Levi. 797
Minute men. Civil war, 623
Misener, Richard H., 1935
Mishawaka, 92. 953
Missionary Ridge, 648
Missionaries, at Vincennes, 131
Mississinewa, 92
Mississippi Company, 111
Mississippi river, 604 ; navigation on, 628
Mississippi Valley in 1801, (map), 234
Missouri Compromise, 347, 504, 539
Missouri Enabling Act 348
Moccasin from Mammoth Cave, (illustra-
tion), 31
Moccasin from Salts Cave, (illustration),
31
Mogle, Alvah E., 1838
Mogg, Millard E., 1771
Money contributions for Civil war pur-
poses, 613
Money difficulty, 402
Money question. 715
Monger, Ora. 1479
Monitor, 600
"Monitor and the Merrimac," 1192
Monninger, Gottfried, 1975
Montgomery, Chester R., 2213
Montgomery, Edwin R., 2140
Montgomery, Hugh T., 2212
Monument to Col. Richard Owen, (illus-
tration), 616
Moodey, John W., (portrait), 799
Moody, William V., 1191, 1213; (por-
trait), 1193
Mooney, James E., 124; (portrait), 123
Moore, Asa, 388
Moore, Benjamin F., 1990
Moore, Harry C., 1869
Moore, Henry, 2110
Moore, John W., 2208
Moore law, 1064
Moore, Otto N., 2111
Moore, Roll W., 1895
Moorehead, W. K., 33
Moores, Charles W., 1461
Moorhead, George A., 1921
Moredock, John. 233
Moreland, John R., 1177
Morgan, Otho H., 2234
Morgan raid through Indiana. 619; map
of route, 621; Basil Duke account of,
622; claims for damages in, 623
Morgan's escape, 624
Morris Canal and Banking Company, 404
Morris, John, 1422
Morris, Robert A., 1356
Morris, Judge John, 1422
Morris, Thomas A.. 597; (portrait), 598
Morrison, Charles B., 1513
Morrison, John 1.. 487; (portrait), 488
Morrison-Reeves Library, 2208
Morrison, Bbbert, 233, 239
Morrison, Sarah P., 905, 915
Morrison, William. 217, 232
Morrow. Carl F., 1762
Morse, Elijah A., 2084
Morse, Prof., 422
Morss, Samuel E., 737, 757; (portrait),
751
Morton. Oliver P.. 536. 544. 546, 564,
580. 593 625. 629. 631. 641. 662. 678.
1011; speech for secession. 573; mes-
sage to special session of the legis-
lature in 1861, 587; letter to Lincoln,
627; (portrait), 645; as a lawyer.
INDEX
646; assumption of power, 648; "Ma-
sonic Hall speech," 692
Moser, Newton A., 1488
Mote, Marcus, 206, 515, 1132; Quaker
Artist, 515
Motor speedway, 939
Mott, Frederick R., 2247
Mouch, Charles W., 1531
Mound Builders, 1. 11, 17, 25, 31,; Fab-
rics from Kentucky Caves, (illustra-
tion), 31; dwelling, 31; games and
sports, 32; idols, 34; origin and fate,
35
Mound Builder Stone Head, (illustra-
tion), 29
Mound Building Nation, center of, 13
Mounds, 1-42; Indian, description, 18;
Jefferson County, Clark County, Jen-
nings County, 9; Knox County, 13;
purpose of, 38; Randolph County, 12
Mount Evans, 1001
Mount Jackson Tavern, 999
Mount, James A., 759, 1306; (portrait),
760
Movements of Indiana troops in Civil
war, 599
Mudlavia, 854
Mueller, J. George, 1992
Mueller, Lillian B., 817
Mulattoes, 471; status of, 465
Muncie, 90, 93, 953
Murphy, Charles J., 2107
Murphy, Edward, 823
Murphy, Francis, 1060
Murray, Amelia M., 503, 1136
Murreil, John, 342
Muscogean languages, 41
Muscogees, 39
Museum, 709
Muskrats, 399
Musseling, 958
Mussel -shells, collecting of, 958
Mustard, Daniel F., 1289
Mustard, Fred E., 2028
Mythology, Indian, 61
Xackenhorst, William, 1363
Nappanee, 93
Nashoba, Frances Wright's Colony, (il-
lustration), 1087
National Conventions, 544
"National Enquirer," 1065
National highway, 783
National prohibition, 1065
"National Republican," 1072
National Road, 936
National Road Bridge (Old) over White
River, (illustration). 937
National Temperance Convention, 1037
Natural gas. 961
Nave, Joseph S., 1313
Navigable streams, 930
Navigable waters common highways, 194
Needham, Harry S., 1921
Neff, Charles H., 2023
Xeff, Joseph E., 1458
Negley, David D., 1620
Xegley, Harry E., 1622
Negro question, 632
Negro suffrage, 466, 676, 686, 694
Negroes, 471 ; act concerning introduc-
tion of into Indiana Territory, 243;
in Indiana Territory in 1810, 244; kid-
naping of, 341 ; status of, 465
Nemeth, Desiderius D., 1336
Nesbit, Wilbur D., 2239
Netz, Benjamin F., 1667
Neu, John B., 2091
Neu, William J., 2091
New Albany, 953
Newby, Leonidas P., 1858
New Constitution, 497; movement for,
438
New, Robert A.. 298, 338
Newell, (James) Journal, 139
New Foundland banks, 98
New Harmony, 14, 481, 1071; colony, 35;
first community at, 1074; industries,
1081; labyrinth, 1083; women, 1086;
Pelham's description of, 1093 ; com-
munity, failure of. 1100; schools, 1114
Workingmen's Institute and Library,
1117
Newman, Omer L.. 2020
"New Moral World." 1084
"New Purchase. The," 354
Newspapers, 550, 1128, 1202; anti-slav-
ery, 347
New York great fire, 1151
Nichol. George E., 1775
Nicholas, war chief, 118
Nichols, Clarence W., 1272
Nicholson law, 1061, 1064
Nicholson, Meredith. 1121, 1138. 1526
Nicholson Remonstrance law, 767
Nicholson, Timothy, 1022
Nightingale, Florence, 818
Niles, William, 1383
Noble, James, 296, 367, 374
Noble, Noah, 412, 420; (portrait), 421
Noel, James W., 1480
Noel, S. V. B.. 891
Non-commissioned schools. 913
Normal School opened, 908
Normal schools, 907; 908
Norris, Roy, 1487
North Bend, 197
Northern Indiana Hospital for the In-
sane, 749, 823, 826; (illustration). 998
Northern Indiana Normal School. 911
Northrup, Leonard E., 1699
Northwest Territory, 182, 222; proposed
states in, 188; slavery in. 215; In-
diana's direct interest in, 224; divided,
226
"Northwestern Christian Advocate," 1000
INDEX
XXXI
Northwestern Christian (Butler) College,
illustration), 892
Northwestern University, 1000
Norton, Thomas M., 1786
Norton. William J., 1787
Notre Dame University, 911; first build-
ing, (illustration) 892; (illustration)
912
Nowlin, H. L., 1583
Nullification message, 579
Nuner, J. F., 1543
Nurses, 818; Civil war, 613
Nusbaum, Oliver P., 1585
Oakes, John D., 1532
O'Bannon, Lew M., 2283
O'Brien, Michael G., 2049
Observation mounds, 10
O'Connor, Michael, 1713
O'Connor, William L., 1713
Ohio Company, 187, 192, 194, 212; lands,
194
Ohio county, 94; smallest in State, 307
Ohio district, LaSalle's description, 101
Ohio river, 94, 101
Ohio Steamboat Navigation Company,
928
Oil wells, 959; (illustration), 960
Olcott, John M., 908
Old Bacon Home, Station on the Under-
ground Railroad, (illustration), 545
Old Bates House, where Lincoln spoke,
(illustration), 581
Old Capitol Hotel, 295; (illustration),
305
Old City Hospital, Indianapolis, (illus-
tration), 795
Old Constitutional Elm, Corydon, (illus-
tration), 300
"Old Lemen fort," 247
Old Rappite cemeterv, 1117
Old State Bank Building, Brookville, (il-
lustration 1 , 324
Olds, Lee M., 2148
Olds. Walter, 2147
Oliver, James, 1473
Oliver, Joseph D., 1641
Ontario, 93
Oolitic limestone, advantage of, 965;
block of. (illustration), 967
Oolitic quarry, face of, (illustration),
964
V'ppenheim. W. S.. 750
Orbison. Charles J.. 1817
Order of American Knights. 649, 663
Order of Good Templars, 1039
Ordinance of 1787. 193. 233. 251, 340,
787. 929, 1073: Facsimile of the Sixth
Article of. 192; modification of, 236
Ordinance for the survey and sale of the
public lands, 190
Oregon nuestion. 498
Origin of Mound Builders, 35
Origin of name Indianapolis, 364
Origin of the Miamis, 47; legend of, 44
Orth, Godlove S., 708
Osborn, Charles. 517
Osborn, John W., 344; (portrait), 345
Osborne, Clarence E., 1509
Osborne, V. H., 1346
Osborne, William C., 2199
Osceola, 94
Oswego, 94
Ottawas, 60
Otto, William T.. 565
Ouiatanon post, 113, 122
Owasco, 94
Owen-Campbell debate, 1102; Mrs. Trol-
lope's account of, 1102; (illustration),
1103
Owen, David D., 35, 959, 1071. 1081
Owen, Robert D., 398, 458. 575, 1073,
1083, 1085. 1111; Memorial to, 461;
religious belief, 1091 ; Monument to,
(illustration), 1106
Owen, Richard, 6-15; Monument to, 616
Owen, William, 1079; diary. 260
Owens, John, 254
Pack horses, 924
Packet "Governor Morton" at Old Na-
tional Bridge, (illustration), 931
Painted Monsters, 67
Painting, 1203
Palmer, John M., 756
Palmer, J. Lewis, 1769
Panic of 1819-20, 325; of 1873, 701; of
1893, 755
Parke, Benjamin, 240. 242, 254. 301. 329,
331, 354, 869; Home of, (illustration),
332
Parker, Charles T.. 1357
Parks, Beaumont. 874
Parrott, Burton E., 1534
Parry Family, 1367
Parry, St. Clair, 1368
Parsons, Samuel H.. 191. 196
Parsons. William W., 909
Parvin. Theophilus, 814, 819, 822. 1634;
(portrait). 832
Pasteur. 835
Patoka river. 94
Pattison, Joseph H.. 1796
Paul, Joseph O., 1853
Paul, W. B.., 1497
Payne, Gavin L.. 2249
Payne, George W., 1820
Peart. Morlev W.. 1787
Peck, John M.. 249: (portrait), 250
Peck, Mrs. Edwin H.. 1494
Pelham. William. 1093; description of
New Harmony, 1093
Pelieipia, 189
Penal farm. 779
Penal institutions, 982
Pennington, Dennis, 298
xxxn
INDEX
Pennington, Joel, 801
Pension money, 330
People's Party, 542
Peoria, Baptiste, 83
Perkins, James 11., 1202
Perkins letter, 492
Perkins, Samuel E., 1240
Perrey, Jean F., 233
Perrot, memoir, 61; description of In-
dian customs, 73-79; description of In-
dians, 75
Perry, Charles C., 1686
Perry, John C., 1765
Perry, Col. Oran, 673; (portrait), 675
Perry's victory on the lake, 282
Personal prejudice in politics, 697
Peru, 94
Pestalozzi's school, 1085
Petering, Carl F., 1377
Peters, John C., 1612
Peters, John II.. 2066
Peterson, Classon V., 1937
Petroleum, 959
Pettit, John, 445, 490,; (portrait), 449
Pfaff, Orange G., 1281
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sci-
ences, founder of, 1084
"Philadelphia Gazette," 1091
"Philanthropist, The," 517
Phillips, Samuel G., 1996
"Philo Parsons," 660
Phipps Institute for Tuberculosis, 835
Physicians, early, 788, 794, 797; pioneer,
794, 798, 806; women, 816
Piasa Bird (illustration), 66
1'msa Rock, 66
Piatt claims, 278
Piatt, John H., 273; (portrait), 276
Piatt, John J., 1694
Piatt Relief Bill, 277
Picken, William N., 1690
Pickens, Samuel <>.. 1681
Pickering, Timothy, 190
Pictured rocks, 65
Picturesque old stone mill 941
Piehl, W. Clifford, 1469
Piel, Charles F., 1244
Piel, William F., 1243
Pine, Milton B., 2251
Pinnell, Julius W.,.1758
Pioneer advocate of women's rights in
America, 1089
Pioneer temperance society, 1030
Pioneers, 1156; labor of, 1168; religious
sentiment of, 1171
Pittsburgh big fire, 1151
Place, Dixon W., 1865
Plank of Democratic platform, 667
Plank road, 938
Playgrounds law, 831
Plea for honest elections, 730
Plot to release Confederate- prisoners,
654
Plummer, Mary W., 1674
Pluto's Well, 1018
Poem, Anti-slavery, Ryland T. Brown,
1046
Poindexter, Bertha F., 2153
Police force, control of, 716
Political, affairs of 1817, 334; history in
1854, 537; campaign of 1860, 563;
legislation, 720; corruption, 729; ora-
tory, frontier, 1174
Political parties, 440; strength of, 703
Politics, territorial, 262; early, 286, 374;
before Civil war, 558; after Civil war,
676
Polk Milk Plant (illustration), 956
Polke, William, 301
Pollock, Oliver, 178 ; commercial agent at
New Orleans, 179
Polypotamia, 189
Pontiac's conspiracy, 124
Pool, W. W., 1552
Poor, care for, 976
Pope, Frederick J., 1675
Population, 411; 1815, 787; 1880, 828;
1910, 951
Pork-house, largest, 943
Pork packing, 941
Portages, 388
Porter, Albert G., 564, 715, 716; (por-
trait), 717
Porter, Edwin M., 1834
Porter, Gene Stratton, 1196, 1754
Porter, H. R.. 1742
Porter, Moses, 212
Posey, Gen. Thomas, 284; (portrait), 279
Post Ouiatanon, 122
Post Vincennes, 127, 128, 131; estab-
lished. 129
Potawatomi Treaty, 380; celebration
of ratification of, 1033
Potawatomi tribe, 82, 94
Potter, Merritt A., 1682
Potter, Theodore, 819
Potter, William S., 1940
Pottlitzer, Edward L., 1939
Pottlitzer, Leo, 1938
Potts, Alfred F., 1918
Powell, A. P., 1877
Powell, Hannah, 613
Powell, Major, 47
Powell, Nettie B., 817
Powell, Perry E., 1897
"Practicability of Indian Reform," 361
Prange, Anthony, 1694
Prange. Fred, 1703
Pratt, Daniel D.. 565. 1496
Prayer Stick, 126; (illustration), 125
Prayer to the Manitos. 62
Preachers, itinerant, 1176
Prehistoric Hoosier. 1
"Prehistoric Men of Kentucky," (Young),
32
Prehistoric population, 30
INDEX
XXXlll
Preparation of American lotus by Miami
women, 77
Presbyterian Education Society, 877
Preserving industry, 954
Presidential campaign of 1888, 740
Presidential nominations, 713
Presidential vote in 1864, 670; in 1893,
1758
Presidential voting, 339
Priest, first ordained from the West,
1209
Primitive Grain Mill (illustration), 927
Primitive medical fads, 790
Prince, William, 235
Prior, Abner, 215
Prison, Michigan City, 1004 (illustra-
tion), 991
Prisons and prison discipline, 1012
Pritchett, Willis S., 2235
Private schools, 886
Prominent slave cases, 525
Proclamation forbidding spirituous liq-
uors to Indians, 230
Proclamation from the Governor of In-
diana, 1185
Production of coal, 1912-15, 959
Prohibition, 1042; law, contested, 1066;
law, overthrow of, 1056; national,
1065; of 1855, 1046
Prominent slave cases, 519, 527
Property, taxable, 411
Prophet, Tracy W., 1409
Prophet. The, 266, 269
Prophet's town, 94, 266
Proposed ballot law, 745
Props, John C., 2190
Propst, James M., 1572
"Protectionist, The," 509
Provision for a state financial system,
322
Prunk. Byron r.. 1991
Public Depository law, 767
Public instruction. Superintendent of,
487; report of superintendent, 913
Public ownership of western lands,
182
Public lands, ordinance for the survey
and sale of, 190
Public libraries, 921
Public playgrounds law, 831
Public Savings Insurance Company of
America. 2169
Public schools, 867, 896, 912
Public water supply law, 831
Pulse. William C., 1879
Pulszky, Francis. 1135
Pu's/ky, Mme. Theresa, 1135; visit to
Indianapolis, 502
Punishment of bribery, 746
Purdue Engineering Building (illustra-
tion). 919
Purdue. John 1252
Purdue University. 812, 909
Pure food and drug law, 831
Purpose of mounds. 38
Puterbaugh, Roy H., 1950
Putnam, Frederic W., 1
Putnam, Rufus, 191
Pyatt, Jacob, 121
Pyramid, The, 13
Quaker Artist, 515, 1132
Quakers, 509; reception to Henry Clay,
513
Qualifications for admission to the bar,
770
Quarantine law, 831
Questions submitted to candidates, 500
Quigg, Eugene K., 1480
Quigley, James A., 1483
Quinine, prohibitive price of, 803
Quinlan, John R., 1421
Kabb, Joseph M.. 2071
Race prejudice, 638
Rafinesque, 1090
Rafts. 924
Raid through Indiana. 619
Railroad assessment. 752
Railroads, 380. 391, 401, 410; in 1856.
955; interurban. 955; steam, 955
Railroad track, first in Indiana, 391
Raitano, Harry E., 1655
Ralston, Alexander. 363; plat of In-
dianapolis, 1821 (map), 362
Ralston, Samuel M., 778. 1187. 1228:
(portrait), 777
Randolph County, Earth mounds (map).
11
Randolph County mounds, 12
Randolph. John.' 235
Randolph. Thomas. 261
Rankin. William H., 2215
Rapp, Frederick. 302, 1074
Rapp. George. 1074
Rappite cemetery, 1117
Rappite Church (illustration). 1098
Rasles. Sebastian, 24
Ratcliffe, Charles D.. 1293
Rathert. William. 2194
Ratification of Potawatomi treaty, cele-
bration of. 1033
Rau. John. 1970
Rauch, George W.. 1965
Ray, James B.. 374, 379; (portrait), 381
Ray, James M., 412. 1002
Read, Ezra (portrait), 800
Reading circles, 921
Reavis, William J., 2096
Rebel invasion. 616
Recall of judicial decisions, Roosevelt's
plan for, 774
Recker. Gustav A., 1714
Reconstruction. 676; legislation. 681
"Record of Ancient Races in the Mis-
sissippi Valley." 66
XXXIV
INDEX
Record of Three Months Soldiers, Civil
war, 598
Records, Walter G., 1981
Reed, Alfred L., 2031
Reed, Frank I., 1580
Reed, F. T., 2279
Reed, Isaac, 1180
Reed, Myron W., 1260
Reehling, Peter J., 2077
Reese, Samuel, 988
Reformatory influences, 987
Reform legislation, 779
Reform of Common School system, 473
Reform record, legislature of 1889, 1021
Reform School, 1009
Reforms, 748
Refrigerators, 947
Reichart, Frederick, 302
Reisner, George A., 1799
"Relation of 1679-80" (LaSalle), 52
"Relation of 1695" (Cadillac), 59
"Relation of 1718," French, 109
"Relations," Jesuit, 21, 24, 30, 33, 38,
55, 56, 58, 64, 72
Religion of Indians, 34, 61
Religious establishment in Indiana dur-
ing the French and British dominions,
131
Religious mouifds, 13
Religious oratory, 1174
Religious sentiment in 1819, 1180
Religious sentiment of pioneers, 1171
Removal act, 367
Removal of capital,' actual work of, 367
Removal of Indians, 82
Remster, Charles, 1949
Repeal bill, 264
'Report of the Bureau of Ethnology for
1892-3," 124
Republican party, 556
Republican Tariff Commission, 729
Reserved lands. 314
Reticule from Salts Cave (illustration),
31
Return of Indiana troops from Civil war.
670
Revenue, separation of State and Munic-
ipal, 750
Reynolds, David, 429; (portrait), 430
Reynolds, Joseph J., 1277
Reynolds, Myron G.. 2060
Reynolds. Robert. 233
Rhodes, Clarence R., 1358
Rhodes, Samuel S., 1358
Rice. Luther V., 2278
Richardson, Benjamin A., 2053
Richardson, Nathan H., 2055
Richardville, Jean B., 94
Richardville, John Baptiste. 84
Richey, James C., 1667
Richmond, 953
Ridgway, Nathan, 1649
Ridpath, John C., 1491
Riesenberg, Henry, 1491
Riley, James, 386
Riley, James E., 1352
Riley, James Whitcomb, 1133, 1185,
1683; (portrait), 1186
Riley, Reuben A., 550
Rinne, Charles H., 1935
Risk, Charles M., 1658
Ristine, Joseph, 903
Ritchey, James, 995
Ritter, Dwight S., 1262
Ritter, Eli F., 1062, 1262; (portrait),
1063
Ritter, Mary T., 817
Ritter, Ralph, 1807
River transportation, 929
Rivers, 101, 194
Roach, Joseph R., 2116
Roach, William A., 1618
Road law, 935
Roads, 371. 393, 933; early, 936
Roanoke, 95
Robb, Charles J., 1958
Robb, David, 301
Robb, J. S., 1141
Roberts, James E., 2198
Roberts, John, 2198
Robertson, Robert, 254
Robinson, Arthur R., 2165
Robinson, Woodfin D., 2241
"Rock houses," 30
Rock-Spring Seminary, 250
Rockwood, George O." 2203
Rockwood, William E., 2203
Rockwood, William O., 2202
Roehm, Frank E., 2083*
Roesener, Charles F., 1972
Roeske, Arthur, 2081
Rogers, George P., 1297
Rogers, Jesse B., 2069
Rogers, Joseph G., 826, 1018
Roland, Charles W., 1602
Romey. William H., 1870
Roof, Robert M., 2098
Roosevelt, Theodore, 163; plan for re-
call of judicial decisions, 774
Root, Henry A., 2099
Rose. Benoni S., 1982
Rose, Chauncey, 1485
Rose. David G., 615
Rose, Franklin M., 2151
Rose, Jacob W., 1810
Rose Polytechnic Institute, 1526
Roseberry. John D., 1817
Rosecrans, General, 652
Rosenthal, Albert M.. 2210
Rosenthal. Moses, 2209
Rosey, Frank, 1289
Ross, John A., 2121
Rothley. Victor H., 2204
Roush, Wilbur C., 1839
INDEX
XXXV
Route from Lake Michigan to Indian-
apolis, 382
Route of Celoron, 1749, (map) 119
Routh, Estle C., 1625
Roy, Pierre G., 107, 108; (portrait), 109
Royse, James T., 2082
Ku'tmsh. Preston C., 2240
Rubush, William A., 1567
Ruckle, Nicholas R., 1909
Ruddy, Howard S., 1683
Ruddell, Rieliard, 1220
Ruff, George W., 1668
Ruing of Powder Magazine Fort Char-
tres, (illustration), 111
Runeie, Constance F.. story of her con-
version, 1107; (portrait), 1109
Runeie, James, 987
Rural libraries, 920
Rush. Benjamin. 1030
Russell, John F.. 1882
Russiaville, 95
Ryan, John H., 1757
Sacred Enclosure mounds, 27
Saffer, Mendle, 2134
St. Ange de Bellerive, 118
St. Clair, Arthur, 115, 194, 204, 207. 218,
227; loses office, 220; (portrait), 221;
last years of, 222
St. Clair Society for the Prevention of
Slavery, 352 "
St. Clair, William 217, 232
St. Francis Xavier Church, erected 1786,
134; (illustration), 135
St. John, John P., 1901
St. Joseph County Savings Bank
St. Joseph river, - 45, 95
St. Louis, 214
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. 912
St. Mary's river, 95
St. Mery, Moreau, 117
Salaries of State officers, 310
Sale of lands, 316
Saline Fund, 478
Sallee, Alva C., 1283
Saloon license, 767
Sandage, William L., 1740
Sanders, John, Clark's guide, 147; (por-
trait), 146
Sanders. Thurman C., 1979
Sanitary Commission. Civil war, 596, 613
Sanitary schoolhouse law, 831
Sansberry, Charles T., 1411
Saratoga, 188
Sargent. Winthrop, 114. 181, 194, 196,
201, 220
Sargent's reply to citizens of Vincennes,
202
Saw mills, 939
Say, Thomas, 1085
Schauer, George S., 1724
Scheibler. Frank S., 1748
Schlegel, Fred J., 1726
Schlosser Brothers, 954, 1550
Schlosser, Henry, 1551
Schmidt, Gustave G., 1643
Schneider, Jacob U., 1984
Schoenberger, Frank A., 2097
Schoolbook trust, 748
Schoolcraft, 1080
School for Feeble-minded Youth, Fort
Wayne, (illustration). 1019
School for the Blind, Indianapolis, (il-
lustration), 1006
School fund, refunding, 749
School funds, 477
School law of 1852, 480
School libraries, 916, 921
School of Industry, 1117
School question. 887
School teachers, 906
School tuition, 494
Schools, 877, 912; McCoy Indian. 358:
reform of Common School system, 473 ;
free, 483 ; unuorm system of, 487 ; first.
860; bill to establish, 869; common.
877;; special, 878; superintendent of.
879; private, 886; illustrations of first
buildings, 892; early Indianapolis.
894; tax-supported, 895; of territorial
period, 900; normal, 907. 908: in 1817,
(Darby), 1201
Schortemeier, Henry E., 1522
Schrader, Christian F., 1499
Schrader, Christian A., 1500
Schroeder, Henry C., 1942
Schurman, Edward, 2170
Schurmann, Gustavus, 2169
. chuster. Jacob. 2131
Schutz, Leon B., 2043
Schweitzer, Ada E.. 817
Schweitzer, Richard H., 1654
Scioto Company, 212
Scoggan. David- B.. 1528
Scott, Charles, 206
Scott, Emmet H.. 1631
Scott. Homer H., 1340
Scott, James, 297. 334. 865
Scott, Samuel T., 862
Scott, William, 1995
Scudder, Janet. 1726
Sculpture. 1203
Searles. Ellis, 1800
Seaward, Harry B., 2001
Secession, opinions on 569, 573
Seeker, William R., 1646
Second Constitutional convention. 350
Second Indiana Regiment at Buena Vis-
ta, 431
Second State House, Indianapolis, (illus-
tration), 455
Secret political orders, 648
Sectarian colleges, 897
Seeburger, Louis P,. 1964
Seeds, Russel M., 1248
Seiberling. A. G.. 1657
XXXVI
INDEX
Sell, Charles II., 2051
Seminaries, 886
Senat, Antoine, 131
Senate Committee on Education, 867
"Sentinel," 758
Separation of State and municipal rev-
enue, 750
Seramur, John F., 1683
Servant, objection to word, 1162
Sessions, Kenosha, 817
.Setting Sun Kilsokwa, 79
Settlements, mixed, 1165
Settlers ordered off lands, 291
Seventy ninth Indiana Regiment, 600
Sewall" Mary W., 1679
Seybert, D. L., 1594
Shafer, John C., 1815
Sharpe, Joseph K., 1432
Sharpe, Joseph K., Jr., 1432
Sharts Benjamin F., 1960
Shea, John G., 131
Sheets, William, (portrait), 444
Sheerin, Simon P., 742; (portrait), 741
Shields, Clarence V., 1465
Shields, Frank B., 1348
Shields, Patrick, 298
Shipbuilding, 928, 953; during Civil war,
605
Shipshewana, 95
Shirk, Elbert H., 1985
Shirley, B. E., 1809
Shively, Benjamin F,, 769
Shooting oil well, (illustration), 960
Shortridge, Abram C., 918, 920
Shumaker, Edward S., 1064
Shurtleff College, 250
Siddall. J. P., 602
Siegert, Julius G., 1333
Sifers, "Doc,' 794
Signal mounds, 1
Signatures, Indian, 51 ,
Silver Creek church, 253
Silver, demonetization of, 755
Simmons, Edgar A., 1973
.Simon. Milton N.. 1842
Sims, Fred A., 1720
Sims, Thetus W., 1138
Singer Sewing Machine Company, 951
Sinking Fund, 478
Sioux, 59
Sipe. Richard V., 1461
Sixth Article of the Ordinance of 1787.
(illustration), 192
Sixty-ninth Infantry in Mobile, 672
Skinner. John H., 1913
Slack, Lemuel E., 1735
Slade, William, 493
Slaughtering and meat packing, 945
Slave cases, 344, 347, 472, 506, 519, 525,
527
Slavery, 341. 468, 632; admission of,
190; established, 216; proviso, 214,
235, 303; modification of, 217; trou-
bles, 241; petitions, 246, 256; Thomas
Jefferson's opinion on, 247; in the ter-
ritories, 500; debate, 512; question,
223, 226, 231, 247, 292, 471, 500, 504,
548, 1208; test case, 346
Slaves, law concerning, 237; gradual
emancipation of, 252; kidnaping of,
532
Slocum, Frances, 81, 93
Sluss, John W., 819
Small, John, 224
Small, Orange L., 1840
Smart, James H., 909; (portrait), 910
Smith, Andrew, 1688
Smith, A. G., 750
Smith, Caleb B., 565, 1610
Smith, Charles, Steam Mill Company,
329
Smith, Charles I., 2069
Smith, Charles W., 2277
Smith, Dwight, 1475
Smith, Edward A., 1565
Smith, George H., 1677
Smith, Harry B., 1754
Smith, Hiram L., 1675
Smith, Hubbard M., 798, 1624
Smith, James, 301
Smith, Jesse D., 1663
Smith, Louis F., 1581
Smith, Oliver H., 334. 336, 1122, 1603
Smith, Oscar C., 1989
Smith, Samuel E., 826
Smith, W. Edwin, 1600
Smith, William G., 1405
Smither, Henry C., 1576
Smithsonian Institution, 1107
Smock, Samuel, 297
Smogor, Clement, 1261
Smythe, G. C., 820
Snider, Albert G., 1831
Snider, George W., 1830
Snider, L. A., 1270
Social conditions in 1794. 341
Society of Friends, 517, 1009
Soldier's and Sailor's Monument, 749
Soldier's and Sailor's Orphans Home. 749
Soldier's and Seamen's Home. 1010
Soldier's Friend, The, 596
Soldiers' Home, 595
Soldiers, height of, 1199
Solitude, 1168
Soltau, John A., 1685
Sons of Liberty, 648; number in Indiana,
656; governor's stand on, 662
Sons of Temperance, 1039, 1041. 1043
Sorin, Edward. 911
South Bend, 45, 95, 951
South Hanover College. 875 ,
South Sea bubble, 326 )
Southeastern Hospital for the pisane,
823, 827; Madison, 1020; Evdnsville
(illustration), 1013 )
Southern Indians, religion. 34
INDEX
XXXVll
Southern Insane Hospital, 749
' . Spahr, John O., 1553
Spanish- American War, 760; surgeons,
848
Spaulding. Andrew J., 1777
Special schools, 878
Special session of the legislature in 1861,
Morton's message to, 587
Speech on slavery, 632
Speier, Nathan, 1288
Spink, Mary A., 817, 1872
Spink, Urbane, 818
Spirit Panther, 64
Spirituous liquors, proclamation forbid-
ding to Indians, 230
Spooner, John C., 2262
Sports of Mound Builders, 32
Spraker, David C., 1959
Springs, 2; chalybeate, 970
"Squatter sovereignty," 254
"Squaw Campaign," 141
Stafford, Earl E., 1635
Stalnaker, Frank D., 1687
Staley, Joseph H., 1447
Stanley, Lewis E., 1469
Stanley, Mary C., 819
Stansbury. Ele. 1406
Stanton, "Harry L., 1541
Staples. Alexander, 2243
Star Publishing Co., 1745
Starr, John 2258
State Anti-Slavery Society, 511
State Archaeological Society, 15
State Bank, 479
State Bank of Indiana, 412, 413, 446
State Bank. Vincennes, 324
State Board of Agriculture, 504, 972
State Board of Charities and Corrections,
748, 1022
State Board of Health, 828
State bonds, 393
State Capitol, 598; first, 370
State Chamber 01 Commerce, 974
State charities, 1005
State conventions, 549
State debt reduced. 763
State Educational Society, 895
State equality, 583
State Exposition, 702
State Fair, 702; first, 504
State financial system, provision for, 322
State Geologist of Indiana, 1, 36
State Hospital, 812
State House. Commission to erect new,
709; April 30. 1865, (illustration),
668; (illustration), 710
State Librarian. 749
State Housing Association, 779
State Library. 709, 749; inaugurated,
310; cost of moving, 371
State Library Commission, 920
State Medical Convention of 1849, 802
State Museum, 709
State Normal School, (illustration), 902
State Offices at Corydon, (illustration),
312
State Printer, 442
State prison, establishment of, 984
State roads, 371
State school tax, 481
State seal, 378; (illustration), 379
State seminary, 314, 873
State Tax Board, 752
State Teachers' Association, 907
State Temperance Alliance, 1056
State temperance convention, 1044
State Temperance Society, 1032
State University, 474, 476, 897, 901, 903 ;
disposition of, 486; appropriations,
904
Statehood, first move for, 219; moves
for, 240; convention, 295
Station on the Underground Railroad,
(illustration), 545
Statistics law, 830; Civil war, 601;
limestone, 968
Status of negroes and mulattoes, 465
Staub. Michael W., 1993
Steamboats, 928
Steam Boiler Incrustation, 1018
Steam railroad travel, 955
Steamers seized by Confederate soldiers,
660
Steel, 945
Steele, Alvah C., 2200
Steele, Theodore C., 1843
Stein, Theodore, 2100
Stein. Theo Jr., 1968
Stembridge. Mary, 2075
Stempfel, Theodore, 1617
Stephens, Josiah. 382
Stephenson, Edward E.. 1547
Stephenson, John E.. 1546
Stephenson, Joseph M., 2179
Stephenson, MacCrea. 1547
Stephenson, Robert H., 1547
Stephenson, Rome C., 1268
Stephenson, William H. H., 1546
Sterne, Albert E., 1718
Stevens, Ambrose A.. 615
Stevens, Thaddeus M., 1665
Stevenson, William E., 1580
Stewart, Alexander M., 1271
Stewart, Oliver W., 1785
Stewart, Robert R., 1271
Stewart, W. T., 1816
Stidger, Felix G.. 652; (portrait), 653
Still (Peter). Story of. 519
Stilson, Edmund R.. 1730
Stimson, Fred J., 1568
Stimson, Samuel C., 2271
Stimson. Stella C., 2272
Stitea, Benjamin, 196
Stockman, George W., 943
Stockton, Sarah, 818
Stoddard, Amos, 67
XXXV111
INDEX
Stoddard, James M., 2164
Stolle, Anton, 1486
Stone, Barton W., 1176
Stone fort, Clark County. 5
Stone Fort in Jefferson County, (map),
8
Stone fortifications, Jennings County, 9
Stone mill, picturesque old, 941
Stone mounds, Clark County, 9
Stone quarries, 962
Stone, R, French, 819
Stone, Winthrop E., 910
Storen, Mark, 1692
Stormon, David, 519
Story of Peter Still. 519
Stott, William T., 2113
Stout, Edward E., 2102
Stout, Floyd W., 1455
Stout, Harry, 2102
Stoy, Mary C., 1329
Stoy, William V., 1329
Strange, John, 1029. 1032, 1174, 1178
Strange, John T.. 1347
Stratton. Stephen. 2271
Stratton- Porter, Gene, 1196
Strauss. Isaac R., 1889
Strauss. Juliet -V., "the Country Con-
tributor," 1196, 1890; (portrait), 1197
Street improvements, 748
Street railroad strike, Indianapolis, 778
Streetor. Catherine A., 1523
Streight. Abel D., 571; (portrait). 572
Stuart, Gilbert, 270
Stuart. William /., 1343
Stuckmeyer, Charles H., 1362
Stuekmeyer, Edward A.. 1974
Studebaker, Clement, 1235
Studebaker, Henry, 1235
Studebaker Plant", South Bend (illustra-
tion), 952
Surgeons in Civil war, 836; in colored
regiments, Civil war, 847; in Minute
Men regiments, Civil war, 847; Span-
ish-American war, 848; Volunteer
Navy, Civil war, 848; appointed by
the President in the Volunteer Army,
849
Surgical/discoveries, 831
Surplus; Revenue Fund. 478
Survey of Vincennes tract, 355
Survey, main, of Indiana lands, 355
survey system, 354
Survey and sale of public lands, ordi-
nance for, 190
Surveys and land grants, early (map),
216
Surveys, canal, 387
Sutton, George (portrait), 820
Swamp lands, 933
Swain, David F., 1497
Swain, Joseph, 905; (portrait), 906
Swain, William M., 1813
Sweet, B. J., 660
Sweitzer, Clara M.. 1638
Switzer, George W.. 2206
Swygart. John A., 1257
Sylvania, 188
Symmes, John C., 196, 223. 1092
System of education. 310
Taggart, Alexander, 1777
Taggart, James E., 2151
Taggart, Thomas. 742
Talbot, Henry H., 1310
Talcott, Thad M., Jr., 1318
Talon, General, 101
Tamm, August, 1698
Tanner, Gordon, 577; ( portrait ). 579
Tarkington, Booth, 1194, 1232
Tarascon, Louis A., 928
Student Building. Indiana University (il- Tardiveau, Bartholomew. 214
lustration), 864
Sturm. August D.. 1792
Sudhoff. Charles H., 1478
"Sufferers Lands." 214
Suffrage, 439, 451, 684
Suffrage act, 261
Sufirar Loaf Moui.d. 13, 25
Sulsrove, Berry. 569, 580. 589, 1122
Sullivan. Jeremiah, 877, 893. 364, 389.
1032; (portrait), 365
Sunday school libraries, 914
Sunday Schools, 1177; first at Indian-
apolis. 1003
Sun-worshipers, 34
253
Tariff, 714. 729. 737
Tapscott, Walter A., 1660
Tarrant, James, 253
"Tarrant's Rules Against Slavery."
Tauer. Paul O., 2210
Taxable property, 411
Taxation, 750; commission to investi-
gate, 753; system, 448
Tax commissioners, 750
Tax investigations. 750
Tax laws, violation of, 751
Tax-supported schools, 895
Taylor, Henry A., 2127
Taylor, James H., 1731
Superintendent of Public Instruction. Taylor, Samuel J., 2041
487: report of. 913
Superintendent of schools, 879
Supervisor of Indian Employment. 82
Supplies. Civil war, 595
Supposed Human Footprints 'in Lime-
stone (illustration), 1079
Supreme Court, 776
Taylor, Silas E., 1638
Taylor, Waller, 245
Taylor, William, 2127
Taylor, William F., 2129
Taylor, Zachary, 268
Teachers, 494; medical, 821; pioneer, 870
Teal. Angeline. 1326
INDEX
XXXIX
Teal, Norman, 1326
Tecumseh (P. O.), 96
Tecumseh, Death of (illustration), 282
Tecumtha, 264, 282; (portrait), 272
Teeple, David H., 1744
Tee-total, origin of word, 1037
Telegraph line, 423
Temperance, 227, 492, 537, 715, 766, 776,
1027; advocate of, 700
"Temperance Advocate, The," 1043
"Temperance Chart," 1043
Temperance convention, 1044
Temperance organization, first, 1029
Temperance paper, first, 1043
Temperance singers, 1039
Temperance Society, first, 1003; pioneer,
1030
Temperance Society of Marion County,
1032
Temperance work, effect on legislation,
1041
"Temperance Wreath," 1043
Templars of Honor and Temperance,
1039
Temple mounds. 1, 13
Temporary government of Western Ter-
ritory, 188
Tennessee Manumission Society, 517
Terninger, Frederick W., 826
Terraced Mound, 14
Terrapin industry, 958
Terre Haute, 952
"Terre Haute Evening Tribune," 1072
Terrell, Charles H., 1351
Territorial Judges 228; legislature, 218;
schools, 900; politics, 262
Test slavery case, 346
Thanksgiving Day, 422
Thanksgiving, first proclamation in In-
diana, 421
"The Griffon," 106
"The Indiana," 391
Theological debate. 458
Thieme, Theodore F., 1891
Third Wesley Chapel (illustration), 802
Thirteenth Indiana Regiment, 600
Thomas, Burtis P., 2171
Thomas, Earl A., 2211
Thomas, Henry H., 2091
Thomas. Jesse B. (portrait), 255
Thomas, Martha V., 1256
Thomas, William, 2244
Thompson, Charles B., 1673
Thompson, Charles F., 2255
Thompson, Edward R. 2058
Thompson, Edwin E., 1258
Thompson, John. 1860
Thompson, Maurice, 1598
Thompson, Richard W., 893, 2117
Thomson certificate, facsimile of, 791
Thomson. Samuel, 790
. Thomsoniasn, 790
Thornton, William W., 1619
Thorntown, 96
Tiedeman, Christopher G., 1067
Tiffin, Edward, 223
Tillett, Joseph X., 2058
Timmons, Benjamin F., 1880
Tippecanoe, 96
Tippecanoe Battleground near LaFayette
(illustration), 263
Tippecanoe, Battle of, 266
Tippecanoe Camp and Battle (map), 265
Tippecanoe County, 96
Tippecanoe .Lake, 96
Tippecanoe River, 96
Tipton, Ernest L., 1599
Tipton, John, 387, 1591
'lobacco, 69
Todd, John, 169, 181
Todd, Robert N., 1661
Todd, S. S., 811
Todd, W. Newell, 1485
"Tom Marshall Constitution," 776
Tonty, 47
Topeka, 96
Total abstinence, 1031
Total call for men in 1861, Civil War,
594
Totems, 23
Township school libraries, 916
Tracy, J. Ross, 2248
Training School for Nurses, 1020
Trainer, Felix J., 1452
Transportation, 392, 924; by water, 924
Traveling libraries, 920
"Travels of Jonathan Carver," 15
Treason organizations, 649
Treaties, 212
Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 187
Treaty of October, 1818, 354
Treaty of Utrecht, 110
Treaty with Potawatomis at Chippewa-
nung, 1836; (illustration), 74
Trees, Fred L., 1977
Trial by jury, 450
Tribal mounds, 22
Tribal organization, Indian, 81
iribal organization in Indiana, 85
Tribe of Ben Hur, The, 1320
Tribes, Indian, 52
Trinity Springs, 969
Trollope (Mrs.), account of Owen-Camp-
bell debate. 1102
Troost, Gerard. 1086
Trouble between Julian and Morton, 679
Troubles between French and English,
Dongan's discussion of. 104
Trueblood, Benjamin F., 1743
Trueman. Major, 209
Tuberculosis hospital, 779
Tuberculosis, hospital for treatment of,
1025
Tubesing, Harry H.. 1474
Tunnel mill, 941; (illustration), 942
Tupper, Benjamin, 191
xl
INDEX
Turkey Run (illustration), 1173
Turner, F. J., 1156
Turpie, David, 564, 589, 704, 706, 1211;
(portrait), 626
Tuttle, Joseph F., 911; (portrait), 915
Twenty-first Indiana Regiment, 600
"Twin State" process, 290
Twining, William, 882; (portrait), 881
Tyner, James N., 1617
Uhl, Jessie M., 2064
Umphrey, William A., 1703
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," 500, 504
"Uncle Tom," Indianapolis negro, 506
Underground Railroad, 526, 529, 882;
Station on (illustration), 545
Underground Railroad Lines in Indiana
(map), 541
Uniform system of common schools, 482
Union Literary Institute, 914
Union spirit, 585
Union Theological Seminary, 405
Union Railway, 598
Union victories, 669
United States, early financial condition,
177
United States Geological Survey, 1071
University, 897; appropriations. 904:
first woman student, 905
University Fund, 477
University of Denver, 1000
University, State, 865
Urban population, 951
Usher, John P., 1583
Utrecht, treaty of, 110
Vail, Joshua, 243
\ail. Samuel, 243
Vajen, Caroline C., 2095
Vajen, John H., 2094
Valparaiso University, 911
Van Briggle. Lilburn H., 1605
Van Buren, Martin, 498
Van Camp, Cortland, 2267
Vance, Samuel C., 382
Vandalia Company's claim. 187
Vanderburgh, Henry, 115, 215, 218, 228:
tragic death of son, 116; report to Sar-
gent, 116
Van Dpusen. Orritt S., 2142
Van Kirk, John P., 1370
Van Mntre, Howard M., 1854
Van Osdol. James A.. 2045
Vainer, George W., 2229
Varnum, James M., 196
Vawter. Charles B., 1601
Velpeau, 833
Veneman. Albert J., 2009
Venesection, 791
Vermillion County, 96
Vigo, Francois, 178, 235 ; advanced money
for army supplies, 177; (portrait), 178
Vigran, Benjamin, 1904
Vincennes, City of, 181, 197; post at,
113; foundation of, 113; origin of
name, 116; defense of, 117; early
missionaries at, 131; description of
mission at, 132; cathedral, 134; cap-
ture of, 151; capitulation of, 160;
oath of inhabitants of, 151 ; Crarrison
Marching Out (illustration), 152; In-
dian account of the capture of, 163;
memoir, 173; address of inhabitants,
201; Sargent's reply to citizens. 202;
Hamtramck's service to people of, 203 ;
capital, 225; population in 1800, 226;
in 1801, 230; injury by pestilence, 373
Vincennes Fort, 130; fort abandoned, 170
Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian
Society, 113
Vincennes Post, 127. 128. 129, 131
Vincennes, Sieur de, 107, 109, 117
Vincennes tract, survey, 355
Vincennes University, 315 861, 866:
bonds, 320; claim, 318. 448. 767; (il-
lustration), 319
Vinton, Henry H., 1939
Virginia Baptists 253
Virginia cession, 185
Virginia law "concerning servants," 237
Virginia Peace Congresw. 580, 583
Vital statistics law, 830
Vivier, Louis, 132
Vocational education 779. 913
Volney, Count, 72 ; on Indiana natives.
1199
Vonnegut, Clemens, 2173
Vonnegut, Franklin, 2174
Voorhees, Daniel W., 565. 663, 704, 706:
(portrait), 559
Vote buying, 746
Vote, foreign, 452
\\ abash. 96
Wabash and Erie Canal, 388, 393, 403;
aqueduct over the St. Mary's at Fort
Wayne (illustration), 386; repudiation
of debt, 404; value to agriculture. 411 :
bonds, 713
Wabash and Erie debt, 886
Wabash Cemetery, 33
Wabash College, 911: first building (il-
lustration), 892
Wabash County, 96
Wabash Land Company, 187
Wabash River, 96
Wacker, August, 1806
Wacker. Charles J., 2089
Waco, 97
Wade, Harry. 1739
Wade, Will H., 1464
Wadsworth. Sarah, 77; (portrait). 68
Wapons, 946
Waits. Charles J., 1617
Wakarusa, 97
Wales, Ernest De W., 819
INDEX
xli
Walker, Edwin, 1962
"Walking history" of Indiana, 479
Wallace, David, 420, 445, 1059; (por-
trait), 423
Wallace, James B., 1311
Wallace, Lew, 429, 499, 579, 586, 596,
599, 1059, 1194, 1867; (portrait). 585
Wallace, Zerelda G., 1059; (portrait),
1058
Walled enclosure, largest in the state,
12
Wallick, John F., 1708
Walton, William M., 1645
"Walum Olum," 1090
Wampler, Frank, 2101
War conditions, 631
War Department factory, 953
War governor, control over militia, 641
War nurses, 613
War of 1812, 268
War spirit, 585
War with Mexico, 429
Warder, Robert B., 10
Warren, Josiah, 1088
Wars: French and English, 118; French
and Indian, 122; Indian, 53, 59
Warships, Civil war, 605
Washington, George, 122, 215
Washington County launched. 196
Washingtonian Society. 1038
Watelsky, Nathan, 1446
Water routes, 835
Waterman, Luthor D.. 853. 2221
Water supply, chief source to Indian-
apolis', 402
Water supply law, 831
Water transportation, 924
Water-ways, 933
Watkins, Ernest R., 1814
Watson, David E., 1282
Watson, (Thomas E.), comment on
George Rogers Clark, 166
Watt, Harry W., 2263
Wayne County, population of, in 1800,
226; separate territorial government,
239
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, ("Mad An-
thony,") 74, 208; order regarding in-
toxication, 227; Orderly Book, 208
Webb, Charles E., 1491
Webb, Fred G., 1960
Weber, George H., 2183
Weber, John, 2183
Weber, Joseph F., 1773
Weber Milk Company, 2183
Webster, Daniel, 478
Weeks, Raymond, 1139
Weer, Frank W., 1768
Weidely, George A., 1695
Weinshank, Theodore, 1364
Weinstein, Joseph H., 2170
Weir, Ellsworth E., 1382
Weisor, Conrad. 121
Weiss, Anna, 1581.
Weist, Jacob R., 820
Welborn, James Y., 2106
Welborn, William C.. 2197
Weller, Charles E., 1387
Wells, Arthur T., 1393
Wells, oil and gas, 959
Wells, William, 86
Werwinski, Joseph A., 2186
Wesley Chapel, 805
Wesley. John, 1178
West Baden, 853, 969
West Baden Hotel (illustration). 971
West, Henry F., 887, 889, 896; (por-
trait), 889
Western Eagle, The, 302
Western Literary Institute and College
of Professional Teachers, 873
Western literature, 1206
"Western Register and Terre Haute Ad-
vertiser," 347
Western Territory, temporary govern-
ment of, 188
Whigs, 498
Whisler, Ralph P., 1471
Whitcomb, James. 427; (portrait), 428
White, Charles, 911
White, Haffield, 195
White, John H.. 1284
White River. 97. 932
White, William M., 1462
Whiteley, Amos. Jr.. 2143
Whitewater Canal. :\m. :!!9
Wliittington, Elva 1)., 1295
Whittington. William T., 1294
Wickemeyer. Raymond H., 1585
Wilcox, George H., 1643
Wild onion, 78
Wilder, John T., 2270
Wiley, Charles F., 2032
Wiley, Harriet, 818
Wiley, Harvey W.. 1733
Wiley, Ulric Z., 1626
Wilkinson, James. 207
Willard, Ashbel P., 536, 559. 562, 1008;
(portrait), 563
Willard school, 992
Williams, Alice B., 817
Williams, "Blue Jeans." 708
Williams, Francis M., 1596
Williams, James D., 1017, 1894; (por-
trait), 707
Williams, Jesse L., (portrait), 390
Williams, John F., 1951
Williams, John J., 599
Williams, Josephus, 1661
Williams. Samuel, narrative, 274
Wilson, George R., 354, 1264
Wilson, Henry L.. 1721
Wilson, John'L., 1722
Wilson, John R., 743, 756; (portrait),
743
Wilson. M.'ilford B.. 1723
xlii
INDEX
Wilson, William T., 2003
Wilson, Woodrow, 776
Wimmer, Vaughn. 1668
Winaniac, 97
Winn, Homer V., 1750
'^Winning of the West, The" (Roosevelt),
163
Winona, 97
Winona Assembly and Schools. 1072
Winslow, Jennie 'l., 1867
Winslow, Lanier & Co., 419
Winslow, William W.. 1866
Wintersteen, diaries H., 2057
Wishard, William H., 811, 849, 1627;
(portrait), 793
WUhard, William X., 1629
Woleott, Eben H., 1781
Wolfe, Norman F., 1371
Wolff, Charles, 2019
Wolfson, Aaron, 1707
Woman suffrage, 454
Women Crusaders in Saloon (illutrn-
tion), 1050
Women, independent property rights for
married, 454
Women physicians, 816
Women's Christian Temperance Union,
1058 '
Women's Clubs, Minerva first in the
United States, 1112
Women's Crusade, 1057
Women's Prison and Girls' Reformatory,
1016
Women's Prison Board, 1017
Women's rights, 456; pioneer advocate
of, in America, 1089
Wood, Aaron, 1132, 1140
Wood, Charles A., 1358
Wood, John G., 1607
Wood, Thomas. 104
Woodard, Horace G., 1658
Woodard, Walter C., 2289
Woodmere. 1020
Woods, William A., 738
Woods, William D., 1696
Woollen. Herbert M., 2085
Woollen, Milton A., 2085
Woollen, William W., 2255
\Voolverton, Jacob. 1265
Workmen's Compensation Law, 771
Workingmen's libraries, 916
Works on Hill North of Hardinsbuif;
Dearborn County (map), 16
Worthington, B. A"., 1911
U'orthington, Thomas, 223
Wright, Anna M., 1283
Wright, Bert L., 1852
Wright, C. A., 1484
Wright, Frances, 462, 1086; (portrait i
463, 1089
Wright, Frank J., 1916
Wright, Fred D., 1790
Wright, Isaac, 2035
Wright, Jacob T., 1282
Wright, Joseph A. (portrait), 501
Wright, Trevor D., 1675
Wrigley, Sarah, 1122
Writers, 1185
Wyandotte, 97
Wyckoff, Stanley, 1717
Wylie, Andrew, 874, 877, 879
\Vylie, Arthur, 1616
\Vyman, Clara L., 1257
\Vyman, George, 1256
\\ynn, Frank B., 2280
Wynne, Thomas A., 1246
X-ray, 832
Yatiky. Henry C., 1452
Yellow river, 97
Young, Bennett H., 32
Young, George M., 1953
Young Men's Temperance Society, 1037
Young People's Reading Circle, 921
\ oung. William T., 1248
Yount, Warren J., 1823
Zeigler, R. A., 1763
'/Aon, William R.. 1656
Zoercher, Philip. 2046
Zollman. Charles K./2149
Zorn. Robert P., 1253
Zuttermeister, Charles E., 1478
Zuver, John H., 2177
Zwick, Charles, 1730
Zwick, Henry F., 1729
.
.
Indiana and Indianans
CHAPTER I
THE PREHISTORIC HOOSIER
.ii
"Marley was dead to begin with", and so were the Mound Builders
of Indiana; but unhappily these left no such adequate and satisfactory
records as there were in Marley 's case. In consequence it has not been
possible to organize any society of Sons or Daughters of the Mound
Builders because of the dearth of genealogical material. It is generally
assumed that all of the prehistoric men of this region were Mound
Builders, but there is no assurance of this. Indeed, unless it be assumed
that they were fighting among themselves, it is certain that they had
hostile contemporaries, for their extensive fortifications show a state
of "preparedness" that is inconsistent with anything but a well-
grounded fear of attack.
Their mounds, or earth works, have been divided by some authorities
into four classes, viz. 1, Defensive mounds; 2, Observation or Signal
mounds; 3, Temple or Religious mounds; and 4, Burial mounds. Of
these the last named are by far the most numerous ; and the first named
are the more impressive. All four -classes are found in Indiana, and
some of the more remarkable ones are worthy of detailed description.
One of the most notable is known as Fort Azatlan, near Merom. It was
so named by Prof. John Collett, the Indiana geologist, from Aztlan, the
legendary place of origin of the Aztecs. In 1871, Mr. Frederic Ward
Putnam, the noted anthropologist, in company with Prof. Cox, then
State Geologist of Indiana, Prof. Collett, and others, examined this
work, and Mr. Putnam said of it :
"The fort is situated on a plateau of loess, about one hundred and
seventy feet in height above low water, on the east bank of the river.
Vol. I 1
2 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
On the river side, the bank, which principally consists of an outcrop of
sandstone, is very steep, and forms the western line of the fortification,
while deep ravines add to its strength on the other sides; the weak
points being strengthened by earth works. The general course of the
work is from the north, where it is very narrow (not over 50 feet)
owing to the formation of the plateau, south along the river bank about
725 feet to its widest portion (at H) which is here about 375 feet east
and west. From this point it follows a deep ravine southerly about 460
feet to the entrance end of the fort. The bank traversed by the entrance
road is here much wider than at other portions, and along its outer wall,
running eastward, are the remains of what was evidently once a deep
ditch. The outer wall (A, B) is about 30 feet wide and is now about
1V2 feet high ; a depressed portion of the bank, or walk way, then runs
parallel with the outerwall, and the bank (C, D) is then continued for
about 20 feet further into the fort, but of slightly less height than the
front. Through the center of these banks there are the remains of a
distinct roadway about ten feet in width.
"Prom the northeastern corner of this wide wall the line continues
northwesterly about 350 feet along the eastern ravine to a point where
there is a spring, and the ravine makes an indenture of nearly 100 feet
to the southwest. The mouth of the indenture is about 75 feet in width
and the work is here strengthened by a double embankment (E, F).
The natural line of the work follows this indenture and then continues
in about the same northerly course along the banks of the ravine to
the narrow portion of the plateau about 550 feet to the starting point.
There is thus a continued line, in part natural and in part artificial,
which if measured in all its little ins and outs would not be far from
2,450 feet.
"Besides the spring mentioned as in the indenture of the eastern
ravine, there is another spring in the same ravine about 175 feet to
the north of the first, and a third in the southwestern ravine about 125
feet to the west of the southwestern corner of the work.
"Looking at all the natural advantages offered by this location, it
is the one spot of the region, for several miles along the river, that
would be selected today for the erection of a fortification in the vicinity,
with the addition of the possession of a small eminence to the north,
which in these days of artillery would command the fort. Having this
view in mind a careful examination was made of this eminence men-
tioned, to see if there had ever been an opposing or protective work
there, but not the slightest indication of earthwork fortification or of
mounds of habitation was discovered.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 3
"The interior of this fortification contains much of interest. On
crossing the outer wall a few low mounds are at once noticed, and all
around are seen large circular depressions. At the southern portion of
FORT AZATLAN, NEAR MEROM, IND.
the fort these depressions, of which there are forty-five in all, are most
numerous, thirty-seven of them being located south of a line drawn
from E on the northern side of the indenture of the eastern ravine to
the projecting extreme western point of the fort at H.
"These depressions vary in width from ten to twenty-five or thirty
feet, and are irregularly arranged, as shown by the accompanying en-
2
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
On the river side, the bank, which principally consists of an outcrop of
sandstone, is very steep, and forms the western line of the fortification,
while deep ravines add to its strength on the other sides; the weak
points being strengthened by earth works. The general course of the
work is from the north, where it is very narrow (not over 50 feet)
owing to the formation of the plateau, south along the river bank about
725 feet to its widest portion (at H) which is here about 375 feet east
and west. From this point it follows a deep ravine southerly about 460
feet to the entrance end of the fort. The bank traversed by the entrance
road is here much wider than at other portions, and along its outer wall,
running eastward, are the remains of what was evidently once a deep
ditch. The outer wall (A, B) is about 30 feet wide and is now about
l l /2 feet high ; a depressed portion of the bank, or walk way, then runs
parallel with the outerwall, and the bank (C, D) is then continued for
about 20 feet further into the fort, but of slightly less height than the
front. Through the center of these banks there are the remains of a
distinct roadway about ten feet in width.
"From the northeastern corner of this wide wall the line continues
northwesterly about 350 feet along the eastern ravine to a point where
there is a spring, and the ravine makes an indenture of nearly 100 feet
to the southwest. The mouth of the indenture is about 75 feet in width
and the work is here strengthened by a double embankment (E, F).
The natural line of the work follows this indenture and then continues
in about the same northerly course along the banks of the ravine to
the narrow portion of the plateau about 550 feet to the starting point.
There is thus a continued line, in part natural and in part artificial,
which if measured in all its little ins and outs would not be far from
2,450 feet.
"Besides the spring mentioned as in the indenture of the eastern
ravine, there is another spring in the same ravine about 175 feet to
the north of the first, and a third in the southwestern ravine about 125
feet to the west of the southwestern corner of the work.
"Looking at all the natural advantages offered by this location, it
is the one spot of the region, for several miles along the river, that
would be selected today for the erection of a fortification in the vicinity,
with the addition of the possession of a small eminence to the north,
which in these days of artillery would command the fort. Having this
view in mind a careful examination was made of this eminence men-
tioned, to see if there had ever been an opposing or protective work
there, but not the slightest indication of earthwork fortification or of
mounds of habitation was discovered.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 3
"The interior of this fortification contains much of interest. On
crossing the outer wall a few low mounds are at once noticed, and all
around are seen large circular depressions. At the southern portion of
' 100 FT ' *00 fT
FORT AZATLAN, NEAR MEROM, IND.
the fort these depressions, of which there are forty-five in all, are most
numerous, thirty-seven of them being located south of a line drawn
from E on the northern side of the indenture of the eastern ravine to
the projecting extreme western point of the fort at H.
"These depressions vary in width from ten to twenty-five or thirty
feet, and are irregularly arranged, as shown by the accompanying en-
4 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
graving, where they are represented by the black circles. One of the
six depressions opposite the indenture of the eastern ravine is oval in
shape, and is the only one that is not nearly circular, the others varying
but a foot or two in their diameters.
' ' Two of these depressions were dug into and it was found that they
were evidently once large pits that had gradually been filled by the
hand of time with the accumulation of vegetable matter and soil that
had been deposited by natural action alone. In some instances large
trees are now growing in the pits and their many roots make digging
difficult. A trench was dug across one pit (J) throwing out the soil
carefully until the former bottom of the pit was reached at a depth
of about five feet. On this bottom ashes and burnt clay gave evidence
of an ancient fire, and at a few feet on one side several pieces of pottery,
a few bones of animals, and one stone arrowhead were found. A soot
had evidently been struck where food had been cooked and eaten, and
though there was not time to open other pits there is no doubt but that
they would tell a similar story, and the legitimate conclusion to be
drawn from the facts is that these pits were the houses of the inhabi-
tants or defenders of the fort, who were probably further protected
from the elements, and the arrows of assailants, by a roof of logs and
bark or boughs. The great number of the pits would show that they
were for a definite and general purpose and their irregular arrangement
would indicate that they were not laid out with the sole idea of acting
as places of defence, though those near the walls of the fort might
answer as covers from which to fire on an opposing force beyond the
walls, and the six pits near the eastern indenture, in front of three
of which there are traces of two small earth walls, and the two com-
manding the entrance of the fort, would strengthen this view of the use
of those near the embankment.
"In many of the ancient fortifications that have been described by
Mr. Squier and others, pits have been noticed, but they have been only
very few in number and have been considered as places for the storage
of food and water. The great number in this small earthwork, with
the finding that one at least was used for the purpose of cooking and
eating food, is evidence that they were used for some other purpose
here, though some of the smaller ones may have answered for store-
houses.
"The five small mounds were situated in various parts of the en-
closure. The largest (G) was nearly fifty feet in diameter and was
probably originally not over ten feet in height. It had been very
nearly dug away in places, but about one-fifth of the lower portion had
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 5
not been disturbed. From this was exhumed one nearly perfect human
skeleton and parts of several others that had been left by former ex-
cavators. This mound also contained several bones of animals, princi-
pally of deer, bear, opossum and turtles; fragments of pottery, one
arrowhead, a few flint chips, and a number of thick shells of unios two
of which had been bored near the hinge. This mound has yielded a
number of human bones to the industry of Dr. H. Frank Harper.
"The second mound (I) which was partly opened, was some twenty-
five feet in diameter and a few feet in height, though probably once
much higher. In this a number of bones of deer and other animals
were found, several pieces of pottery, a number of shells and a few
human fx>nes. The other three mounds, one of which is not over ten
or twelve feet in diameter and situated the furthest to the north, were
not examined internally.
"The position of all the mounds within the enclosure, which are
indicated by the white circles on the cut, is such as to suggest that they
were used as observatories, and it may yet be questioned if the human
and other remains found in them were placed there by the occupants
of the fort, or are to be considered under the head of intrusive burials
by a later race. Perhaps a further study of the bones may settle the
point. That two races have buried their dead within the enclosure is
made probable by the finding of an entirely different class of burials
at the extreme western point of the fortification, indicated on the en-
graving by the three quadrangular figures at H. At this point Dr.
Harper, the year previous, had discovered three stone graves, in which
he found portions of the skeletons of two adults and one child. These
graves, the stones of one being still in place, were found to be made
by placing thin slabs of stone on end, forming the sides and ends, the
top being covered by other slabs, making a rough stone coffin in which
the bodies had been placed. There was no indication of any mound
having been erected, and they were placed slightly on the slope of the
bank. This kind of burial is so distinct from that of the burials in the
mound that it is possible that the acts may be referred to two distinct
races who have occupied the territory successively, though they may
prove to be of the same time and simply indicate a special mode adopted
for a distinctive purpose. ' ' 1
Even more striking is the "stone fort" in Clark County. Prof. E.
T. Cox, who, after surveying it, pronounced it "one of the most re-
markable stone fortifications which has ever come under my notice",
gave the following description of it:
Bulletin of Essex Institute, Vol. 3, No. 2, November, 1871.
on fhp Ohio Kh-er.'l MilrvEniit of CluufoaUrwB. Clarke .,.,
Iiiiliuna.
T. C OX JXlute ffeotyr/*/
anif
..-/ititlanf .
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 7
"The locality selected for this fort presents many natural advantages
for making it impregnable to the opposing forces of pre-historic times.
It occupies the point of an elevated narrow ridge which faces the Ohio
river on the east, and is bordered by Fourteen Mile Creek on the west
side. This creek empties into the Ohio a short distance below the
fort. The top of the ridge is pear shape, with the part answering to
the neck at the north end. This part is not over twenty feet wide and
is protected by precipitous natural walls of stone. It is two hundred
and eighty feet above the level of the Ohio, and the slope is very
gradual to the south. At the upper field it is two hundred and forty
feet high and one hundred steps wide. At the lower timber it is one
hundred and twenty feet high. The bottom land at the foot of the
south end is sixty feet above the river. Along the greater part of the
Ohio river front there is an abrupt escarpment of rock entirely too
steep to be scaled, and a similar natural barrier exists along a portion
of the north west side of the ridge facing the creek. This natural wall
is joined to the neck by an artificial wall made by piling up, mason
fashion, but without mortar, loose stone, which had evidently been
pried up from the corniferous layers at the point marked D. This
made wall at this point is about one hundred and fifty feet long. It
is built along the slope of the hill and had an elevation of about
seventy-five feet above its base, the upper ten feet being vertical. The
inside of the wall is protected by a ditch. The remainder of the hill
is protected by an artificial stone wall built in the same manner but not
more than ten feet high. The elevation of the side wall above the
creek bottom is eighty feet. Within the artificial walls are a string
of mounds which rise to the height of the wall and are protected from
the washing from the hill sides by a ditch twenty feet wide and four
feet deep. The position of the artificial walls, natural cliffs of bedded
stone, as well as that of the ditch and mounds will be better understood
by a reference to the accompanying map.
"The top of the enclosed ridge embraces ten or twelve acres, and
there are as many as five mounds that can be recognized on the flat
surface, while no doubt many others existed which have been obliterate
by time and through the agency of man in his efforts to cultivate a
portion of the ground. A trench was cut into one of these mounds in
search of relics. A few fragments of charcoal and decomposed bones
and a large, irregular diamond-shaped boulder, with a small circular
indentation near the middle of the upper part that was worn quite
smooth by the use to which it was put, and a small piece of fossil coral
favorites goldfussi comprised all the articles of note which were re-
N
;. - ..?;
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 9
vealed by the excavation. The earth of which the mound is made
resembles that seen on the side of the hill and was, probably, in most
part taken from the ditch. The margin next to the ditch was protected
by slabs of stone set on edge and leaning at an angle corresponding to
the slope of the mound. This stone shield was two and a half feet
wide and one foot high. At intervals along the great ditch there are
channels formed between the mounds that probably served to carry
oif surplus water through openings in the outer wall.
"On the top of the enclosed ridge, and near to the narrowest part
(D) there is one mound much larger than any of the others and so
situated as to command an extensive view up and down the Ohio River,
as well as affording an unobstructed view east and west. There is near
this mound a slight break in the cliff of rock which furnished a narrow
passage way to the Ohio River. Though the locality afforded many
natural advantages for a fort or stronghold, one is compelled to admit
that much skill was displayed and labor expended in rendering its
defense as perfect as possible at all points. Stone axes, pestles, arrow
heads, spear points, totems, charms and flint flakes have been found in
great abundance in plowing the field at the foot of the old fort. ' ' 2
There is another stone fort of about the same size as this a little
farther up the Ohio valley in Jefferson County. It stands on the bank
of Big Creek, eighty feet above the creek bed, and incloses about ten
acres. On the north and south sides of this bluff there are steep stone
cliffs from sixty to eighty feet in height, which converge at the west
side, leaving only a narrow strip there without natural protection.
This point is covered by an artificial stone wall similar to those of the
preceding fortification; and so is the east side, where the north and
south lines are about four hundred feet apart. This long stretch of
made wall was originally about ten feet thick at the base, and is so
curved as to plainly indicate its defensive purpose. 3 There are some
other stone fortifications in Indiana, but they are smaller. One in
Jennings County is 75 feet in diameter, and stands on a cliff 75 feet
above an adjacent stream. 4
There are also several stone mounds in the southern part of the
State. Two of these, in Clark County, are unique. They are made
of flat stones, methodically piled up so as to leave a small opening in
the interior, and connecting with these are long, low entrance ways
2 Ind. Geol. Report, 1873, pp. 126-7.
3 Ind. Geol. Report, 1874, p. 32.
Ind. Geol. Report, 1875, p. 174.
10 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
of stone, arched over, somewhat resembling Eskimo igloos. Some of
the people in the vicinity believe that there were underground passages
connecting these mounds with a cave near by. 5 The other stone mounds
that have been described are solid. Of these three are near the town
of Deputy, in Jefferson County. One of them is oval in shape, 135
feet long and 60 feet wide. The other two are much smaller, and so
are similar mounds elsewhere, as in Ripley and Scott counties. 6 All of
these mounds that have been opened have been found to contain human
bones, and usually bones of animals, and other matter. It is hardly
questionable that these are burial mounds. Old writers mention this
mode of sepulture among the Southern tribes, especially when the dead,
for some reason or other, could not be taken to the customary places of
burial for interment with the usual rites. Adair says: "In the woods
we often see innumerable heaps of small stones in those places where,
according to tradition, some of their distinguished people were either
killed or buried, till the bones could be gathered : there they add Pelion
to Ossa, still increasing each heap, as a lasting monument and honour
to them, and an incentive to great actions." 7 Bartram noted "vast
heaps of stones", marking the graves of Cherokee warriors who had
fallen in a disastrous battle with the whites. 8 Dr. Brickell mentioned
at a much earlier date the custom of the Carolina Indians to make such
monuments. 9 Mr. Charles C. Jones, the learned Georgia anthropologist,
says: "In order to designate the grave of a remarkable warrior, who
had fallen in battle, and whose body could not at the time be brought
home by his companions, the Cherokees and other nations inhabiting
hilly regions were wont to cover the body of the slain with stones
collected on the spot. Every passer-by contributed his stone to the
pile, until it rose into a marked and permanent memorial of the
dead." 10
In the descriptions of the first two forts above, mention is made
of "observation mounds", and it is probable that these were made at
other points for defensive purposes. In a report on Ohio and Switzer-
land counties, Mr. Robert B. "Warder says: "Dr. J. W. Baxter, of
Yevay, gives me the following account of a series of mounds or signal
Ind. Geol. Report, 1874, p. 29.
"See Ind. Geol. Report, 1874, pp. 35, 197-9; 8th Kept. Peabody Mus., Vol. 1,
p. 47; Bulletin No. 1, Brookville Soc. of Nat. Hist. (1885) p. 35.
i History of the American Indians, p. 184. London, 1775.
* Travels through North and South Carolina, etc., p. 346. London, 1792.
Natural History of North Carolina, p. 380. Dublin, 1737.
10 Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 201. N. Y. 1873.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
11
stations, occupying prominent points along the Ohio river, and so
located that each may be seen from the next above and below. These
command nearly the whole bottom. From the station below Patriot the
observer may look across Qallatin County, Kentucky, and the valley
of Eagle creek to the bight of land in Owen County. Both this mound
and one near Rising Sun exhibit traces of fires that were doubtless
used as telegraphic signals by the Mound Builders. The mounds at the
EARTH MOUNDS IN RANDOLPH COUNTY
*
following places form a complete series, though others may have been
used when the country was timbered: Rising Sun; near Gunpowder
creek, Kentucky; the Dibble farm, two miles south of Patriot; the
'North Hill", below Warsaw, Kentucky; the Taylor farm, below
Log Lick creek; opposite Carrollton, Kentucky; below Carrollton. A
greater number of wild grapes, plums, crabapples and onions are
found near the mounds than elsewhere." ll
" Ind. Geol. Report, 1872, p. 413.
12 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
In addition to the stone forts, there are several earth works whose
defensive character is obvious. The most extensive of these is on
White River in Randolph County, and is described by Prof. Cox as
follows: "The largest walled enclosure in the State is situated near
the town of Winchester, in Randolph County. It is figured in Squier
and Davis' Antiquities of the Mississippi Valley, but as that plat was
inaccurately made it is reproduced here from actual measurements
made by Dr. G. M. Levette. It contains thirty-one acres, and a good
portion of it lies within the boundary of the Randolph County fair
ground, the remaining portion, with the exception of the public road-
way on the west end, lies in cultivated fields, so that the whole work
is in a fair way to be obliterated. There are two gateways, one on the
eastern end, twelve feet wide, and has no defenses, Sugar Creek and the
intervening bluff probably being deemed sufficient; but at the west
end there is an embankment in the shape of a half circle which overlaps
the gate and complicates . the passage-way. The enclosure is in the
shape of a parallelogram with curved angles; the sides are 1,320 feet
long, and the ends 1,080 feet. There is a mound in the centre 100 feet
in diameter and nine feet high. When the horses are trotting, at fair
times, this mound is covered with spectators, as it commands a view
of the entire track. I once had the pleasure of witnessing a spirited
trot from the top of this mound. The walls of the enclosure are from
eight to nine feet high where they have not been disturbed by the plow.
A cross section of the half-circle at the west gate is shown on the plate ;
it has a slight ditch on the inside ; also a cross section of the main wall,
which has no fosse. You will perceive that the location for this large
and remarkable work was selected with due regard to protection against
the sudden attack of an enemy. It is at the junction of Sugar Creek
and White River, which affords protection on two sides, and the mound
in the centre served as a look-out station." 12
I am inclined to doubt the conclusion of Prof. Cox as to the purpose
of the mound, as its elevation would make it no higher than the walls,
and there is no indication that it was higher originally. I think it
more probable that this was a walled town, and that the mound was
for the residence of the chief, or cacique, and the temple; but that is
a matter of conjecture, based on facts which will appear later. The
fact that no large quantity of Mound Builder relics and refuse have
been found in the immediate vicinity of so large an establishment,
whether a town or merely a fort, would indicate that it was not occupied
for a great length of time.
d. Geol. Report, 1878, J>. 134.
'
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS 13
Near Vincennes, in Knox County, there are three large works of a
different character, which were described by Prof. Collett. It is neces
sary to remember that he was a believer that the Mound Builders were
the ancestors of the Aztecs, and that he was one of those enthusiastic
scientists to whom a plausible theory assumed the character of a
demonstrated fact, in order to appreciate the assurance of the following
description : ' ' Temple Mounds. This region was well to the center
of the Mound Building Nation. Remote from the dangers incident
to a more exposed situation and encircled by a bulwark of loving hearts
forts, walled enclosures, and citadels were unnecessary, and not
erected as it exposed points on their frontier. Perhaps the seat of a
Royal Priesthood, their efforts essayed to build a series of temples
which constituted at once capitol and holy city The Heliopolig of
the West. Three sacred mounds thrown upon or against the sides of
the second terrace or bluff east and southeast of Vincennes are the
result, and in size, symmetry and grandeur of aspect, rival if not excel
any prehistoric remains in the United States. All three are truncated
cones or pyramidal; and without doubt, erected designedly for sacred
purposes, the flat area on the summit was reserved for an Oratory and
Altar as in the Teocalli of Mexico.
"The Pyramid, one mile south of Vincennes, is placed on a slightly
elevated terrace surrounded by a cluster of small mounds. It is oblong,
with extreme diameter from east to west at the base of three hundred
feet, one hundred and fifty feet wide, and is forty -seven feet high. The
level area on the summit fifteen by fifty feet is crowded with intrusive
burials of a later race.
"The Sugar Loaf Mound on Mr. Fay's land, just east of the city
line, is built against and upon the side of the bluff, but stands out in
bold relief with sharply inclined sides. Diameter from east to west two
hundred and sixteen feet, from north to south one hundred and eighty
feet, and towering aloft one hundred and forty feet above Vincennes
Plain, it commands by twenty-seven feet the high plateau to the east.
Area on top sixteen by twenty-five feet. The following section was
developed by sinking a shaft centrally from the top:
14 INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
STRUCTURE OF SUGAR LOAF MOUND
Loess sand 10 ft. 00 in.
, Ashes, charcoal and bones 10 in.
Loess sand 17 ft. 00 in.
Ashes, charcoal and bones 10 in.
Loess sand 9 ft. 00 in.
Ashes, charcoal and bones 2 ft. 00 in.
Red altar clays, burned 3 ft. 00 in.
42 ft. 8 in.
"This shaft closely approached or actually reached the former
surface of the hill. It settles decisively the artificial origin of the
mound, and indicates a temple three stories high.
"The Terraced Mound on Burnett's land, one mile E. N. E. of
Vincennes court house, has an east and west diameter of three hundred
and sixty-six feet, from north to south two hundred and eighty-two
feet, and rises to an elevation of sixty-seven feet above the plain, with
a level area on top ten by fifty feet. A winding roadway from the east
furnished the votaries of the sun easy access to the summit."
Prof. Collett seems to have been under the impression that the
Aztecs burned their human sacrifices on the summits of their teocallis,
but this is not the case. The victims heart was cut out, and consumed
in a censer before the idol, but his body was taken away to be eaten.
Whoever made the Sugar Loaf Mound, it can hardly be considered a
sacrificial mound. That would involve the supposition that they began
sacrificing when it was only three feet high, and immolated such a num-
ber of victims as to make a deposit of ashes, charcoal and bones two
feet deep; that on this they put nine feet of soil, and then immolated
to the extent of ten inches more of ashes; then seventeen feet more of
earth, followed by ten inches of sacrificial remains ; and finally a cover-
ing of ten feet of earth. You must also suppose the sacrificial priests
wading around in these layers of ashes until the deposits attained the
thickness named. The tax on imagination is too great. Some more
plausible explanation is needed, and one will be suggested further on.
It may be mentioned here, however, that the Aztec temples had on their
tops huge stone idols, which could not well be removed from the vicinity,
or concealed ; and nothing of that sort has ever been found in Indiana.
It is also due to Prof. Cox to say that he was also a doubter. In
fact his scientific training at New Harmony made him so cautious that
he said that all efforts to define the purposes of the mounds, "beyond
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 15
the fact substantiated by exploration, that some of the mounds were
used as sepulchers for the dead, is, in my opinion sheer guesswork."
In 1877 Prof. Cox delivered an address on Archaeology before a newly
organized State Archaeological Society. In this he refers to Prof.
Collett's report, quoted above, in which the Knox County mounds had
been classified as "mounds of habitation, sepulchral and temple
mounds", and said: "Archaeologists have, as I think, without due con-
sideration, classified the mounds into altar and sacrificial mounds,
sepulchral or burial mounds, lookout mounds and mounds of habita-
tion. When we dig into a mound and find that it contains human bones,
it may then with propriety be called a sepulchral or burial mound. But
to speak of others as altar mounds or mounds of worship, mounds of
habitation or lookout mounds, is assigning to them a purpose which can
not be sustained unless fortified by some better proof than the mythical
writings of Spanish historians. It is a common occurrence to find in
mounds some ashes and charcoal mixed with human bones, and for this
reason the builders have been accused of cremating their dead. So far
I have not been able to find any charred human bones, though charred
wood and charcoal are of common occurrence. A few fragments
of charred bones are reported by Squier and Davis in their so-called
sacrificial mounds at Mound City, Ohio. My own opinion is that
mounds were simply erected as burial places for the bones of dead
chiefs or other persons high in authority. The bones were sprinkled
over with ashes and, finally, with earth. Where ashes and charcoal are
found in mounds, but no bones, it is possible that the latter disappeared
from decay. Charcoal, as is well known, is the most durable of all
known substances." 13
The opinion of Prof. Cox is the same as that of the Indians of the
Ohio Valley, when the whites came in contact with them. None of them
pretended to any knowledge of the origin of these mounds, but re-
garded them as burial places of past generations. All the Indians I
have talked with on the subject regard the exploration of the mounds
by the whites as desecration. The Indians never disturbed them except
to make additional burials. This, and the fact that burial mounds
wre the only kind reached by the early missionaries of this region, fur-
nishes the explanation of the remarkable lack of mention of mounds in
the early French chronicles of the Northwest. The earliest notice of any
in this region that I have ever found is in the Travels of Jonathan
Carver, in 1768, 14 as follows:
is Ind. Geol. Report, 1878, p. 149.
" London, 1779, p. 56.
.
16
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
"One day having landed on the shore of the Mississippi, some miles
below Lake Pepin, whilst my attendants were preparing my dinner,
I walked out to take a view of the adjacent country. I had not pro-
ceeded far before I came to a fine, level, open plain, on which I per-
ceived at a little distance a partial elevation that had the appearance
of an intrenchment. On a nearer inspection I had greater reason to
suppose that it had really been intended for this many centuries ago.
WORKS ON HILL NORTH OF HARDINSBURG, DEARBORN COUNTY
Notwithstanding it was now covered with grass, I cbuld plainly discern
that it had once been a breast-work of about four feet in height, extend-
ing the best part of a mile, and sufficiently capacious to cover five
thousand men. Its form was somewhat circular, and its flanks reached
to the river. Though much defaced by time, every angle was distin-
guishable, and appeared as regular, and fashioned with as much mili-
tary skill as if planned by Vauban himself. The ditch was not visible,
but I thought on examining more curiously, that I could perceive there
certainly had been one. From its situation also, I am convinced that
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 17
it must have been designed for this purpose. It fronted the country,
and the rear was covered by the river ; nor was there any rising ground
for a considerable way that commanded it; a few straggling oaks were
alone to be seen near it. In many places small tracks were worn across
it by the feet of the elks and deer, and from the depth of the bed of
earth by which it was covered, I was able to draw certain conclusions
of its great antiquity. I examined all the angles and every part with
great attention, and have often blamed myself since for not encamping
on the spot and drawing an exact plan of it. To show that this descrip-
tion is not the offspring of a heated imagination, or the chimerical talk
of a mistaken traveler, I find on enquiry since my return, that Mons.
St. Pierre and several traders have, at different times, taken notice of
similar appearances, on which they have formed the same conjectures,
but without examining them so minutely as I did. How a work of this
kind could exist in a country that has hitherto (according to the general
received opinion) been the seat of war to untutored Indians alone,
whose whole stock of military knowledge has only, till within two cen-
turies, amounted to drawing the bow, and whose only breast-work even
at present is the thicket, I know not. I have given as exact an account
as possible of this singular appearance, and leave to future explorers
of these distant regions to discover whether it is a production of nature
or art. Perhaps the hints I have here given might lead to a more
perfect investigation of it, and give us very different ideas of the
ancient state of realms that we at present believe to have been from the
earliest period only the habitations of savages."
Carver was a well read man, and of an inquiring mind. His state-
ment demonstrates the prevailing ignorance of such mounds at that
time, and this ignorance was natural. It will be noted that his discovery
was in a prairie, where he could view the entire work from one point.
At that time most of the great works of the Ohio Valley were covered
by dense forests, the trees on the mounds not differing from the sur-
rounding trees. A person going through the woods at that time might
cross such a fortification as that in Randolph County, and never dream
that he had crossed anything more than two small natural ridges. It
was not until the Americans began the settlement and survey of this
region that the remains of the Mound Builders began to be known ;
and among the first to attract attention were those at Cincinnati. It has
been stated that "the eminent naturalist, C. A. LeSueur, of New Har-
mony, was the first to make mention of mounds in this State
(Indiana)." 15 This is erroneous. LeSueur did not come to Indiana
"Ind. Geol. Report, 1878, p. 126.
Vol. 12
18 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
until 1826, and there is at least one very interesting mention of mounds
before that date. Mr. Samuel R. Brown visited the State ten years
earlier, and in 1817 published his Western Gazeteer, in which are
several mentions of Indiana mounds, the most interesting being the
following as to those in the Whitewater Valley :
"The traces of ancient population cover the earth in every direction.
On the bottoms are a great number of mounds, very unequal in point
of age and size. The small ones are from two to four feet above the
surface, and the growth of timber upon them small, not being over one
hundred years old; while the others are from ten to thirty feet high,
and frequently contain trees of the largest diameters. Besides, the
bones found in the small ones will bear removal, and exposure to the
air, while those in the large ones are rarely capable of sustaining their
own weight; and are often found in a decomposed or powdered state.
There is a large mound in Mr. Allen's field, about twenty feet high,
sixty feet in diameter at the base, which contains a greater proportion
of bones than any one I ever before examined, as almost every shovel
full of dirt would contain several fragments of a human skeleton.
When on Whitewater, I obtained the assistance of several of the inhabi-
tants, for the purpose of making a thorough examination of the internal
structure of these monuments of the ancient populousness of the
country. We examined from fifteen to twenty. In some, whose height
was from ten to fifteen feet, we could not find more" than four or five
skeletons. In one not the least appearance of a human bone was to be
found. Others were so full of bones as to warrant the belief that they
originally contained at least one hundred dead bodies; children of
different ages, and the full grown, appeared to have been piled together
promiscuously. We found several scull, leg and thigh bones which
plainly indicated that their possessors were men of gigantic stature.
The scull of one skeleton was one fourth of an inch thick ; and the teeth
remarkably even, sound and handsome, all firmly planted. The fore
teeth were very deep, and not so wide as those of the generality of
white people. Indeed, there seemed a great degree of regularity in
the form of the teeth, in all the mounds. In the progress of our
researches we obtained ample testimony that these masses of earth
were formed by a savage people, yet doubtless possessing a greater
degree of civilization than the present race of Indians. We discovered
a piece of glass weighing five ounces, resembling the bottom of a
tumbler, but concave; several stone axes, with grooves near their heads
to receive a withe, which unquestionably served as helves; arrows
formed from flint, almost exactly similar to those in use among the
present Indians; several pieces of earthern ware; some appeared to be
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 19
parts of vessels holding six or eight gallons; others were obviously
fragments of jugs, jars and cups; some were plain, while others were
curiously ornamented with figures of birds and beasts, drawn while
the clay or material of which they were made was soft and before the
process of glazing was performed. The glazier's art appears to have
been well understood by the potters who manufactured this aboriginal
crockery. The smaller vessels were made of pounded or pulverized
muscle shells, mixed with an earthern or flinty substance, and the large
ones of clay and sand. There was no appearance of iron; one of the
sculls was found pierced by an arrow, which was still sticking in it,
driven about half way through before its force was spent. It was
about six inches long. The subjects of this mound were doubtless killed
in battle, and hastily buried. In digging to the bottom of them we
invariably came to a stratum of ashes, from six inches to two feet thick,
which rests on the original earth. These ashes contain coals, fragments
of brands, and pieces of calcined bones. From the quantity of ashes
and bones, and the appearance of the earth underneath, it is evident
that large fires must have been kept burning for several days previous
to commencing the mound, and that a considerable number of human
victims must have been sacrificed by burning on the spot! Prisoners
of war were no doubt selected for this horrid purpose. Perhaps the
custom of the age rendered it a signal honor for the chieftains and
most active warriors to be interred, by way of triumph, on the ashes
of their enemies, whom they had vanquished in war. If this was not
the case, the mystery can only be solved by supposing that the fanaticism
of the priests and prophets excited their besotted followers to voluntary
self-devotion. The soil of the mounds is always different from that of
the immediately surrounding earth, being uniformly of a soft vegetable
mould or loam, and containing no stones or other hard substances, to
'press upon the dead and disturb their repose.'
"Almost every building lot in Harrison village contains a small
mound; and some as many as three. On the neighboring hills, north
east of the town, are a number of the remains of stone houses. They
were covered with soil, brush, and full grown trees. We cleared away
the earth, roots and rubbish from one of them, and found it to have
been anciently occupied as a dwelling. It was about twelve feet square;
the walls had fallen nearly to the foundation. They appeared to have
been built of rough stones, like our stone walls. Not the least trace
of any iron tools having been employed to smooth the face of them could
be perceived. At one end of the building we came to a regular hearth,
containing ashes and coals; before which we found the bones of eight
persons of different ages, from a small child to the heads of the family.
20
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
The positions of their skeletons clearly indicated that their deaths were
sudden and simultaneous. They were probably asleep, with their feet
towards the fire, when destroyed by an enemy, an earthquake or
pestilence." 16
THE FEAST OP THE DEAD
From Lafitau's Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, Paris, 1724
The statement of facts in this extract is so careful and intelligent
as, indeed, all of Mr. Brown's observations were that one wonders
why it did not occur to him that the occupants of the stone house may
i Ind. Hist. Coll. Indiana as Seen by Early Travelers, pp. 152-4.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 21
have been placed there after death, and that the incinerated occupants
of the mounds might have been corpses. The probable explanation is
that he was not familiar with Indian mortuary customs, and had the
common American idea of that time that the chief occupation of the
Indians was burning prisoners. Most of the Indian tribes gave a great
deal of attention to the care of their dead. The custom of placing
bodies on scaffolds was preliminary to burial or cremation, the object
being to get rid of the flesh, as the bones were considered the essential
portion of the remains. La Hontan's account of his journey to "the
Long River" may be fictitious, but he gave a correct statement of the
custom of some tribes when he wrote: "The savages that live upon the
long River burn their Corps, as I insinuated before ; but you must know
that they keep them in vaults or Cellars till they have a sufficient
number to burn together, which is performed out of the village, in a
place set apart for that Ceremony." 17 Some tribes that buried instead
of cremating had the same custom of accumulating corpses before bury-
ing. Thus, Father Jouvency, one of the earliest missionaries, says:
"Every eight or ten years the Hurons, which nation is widely extended,
convey all their corpses from all the villages to a designated place, and
cast them into an immense pit. They call it the day of the Dead." 18
In his Relation of 1636, Father Le Jeune, speaking of the Huron Feast
of the Dead, gives this explanation of their custom :
"Returning from this 'feast with a Captain (chief) who is very
intelligent, and who will some day be very influential in the affairs of
the country, I asked him why they called the bones of the dead atisken
(i. e. souls literally "in the bones"). He gave me the best explana-
tion he could, and I gathered from his conversation that many think
we have two souls, both of them being divisible and material, and yet
both reasonable; the one separates itself from the body at death, yet
remains in the Cemetery until the feast of the Dead after which it
either changes into a Turtledove, or, according to the most common
belief it goes away to the village of souls. The other is, as it were,
bound to the body, and informs, so to speak, the corpse; it remains in
the ditch of the dead after the feast, and never leaves it, unless someone
bears it again as a child. He pointed out to me, as a proof of this
metempsychosis, the perfect resemblance some have to persons deceased.
A fine Philosophy, indeed. Such as it is, it shows why they. call the
bones of the dead atisken 'the souls'." 19
" Thwaite 's La Hontan, p. 473.
is Jesuit Relations, Vol. 1, p. 267.
i Jesuit Relations, Vol. 10, p. 287.
20
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
-
The positions of their skeletons clearly indicated that their deaths were
sudden and simultaneous. They were probably asleep, with their feet
towards the fire, when destroyed by an enemy, an earthquake or
pestilence." 16
THE FEAST OF THE DEAD
From Lafitau's Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains, Paris, 1724
The statement of facts in this extract is so careful and intelligent
as, indeed, all of Mr. Brown's observations were that one wonders
why it did not occur -to him that the occupants of the stone house may
i IuJ. Hist. Coll. Indiana as Seen by Early Travelers, pp. 152-4.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 21
have been placed there after death, and that the incinerated occupants
of the mounds might have been corpses. The probable explanation is
that he was not familiar with Indian mortuary customs, and had the
common American idea of that time that the chief occupation of the
Indians was burning prisoners. Most of the Indian tribes gave a great
deal of attention to the care of their dead. The custom of placing
bodies on scaffolds was preliminary to burial or cremation, the object
being to get rid of the flesh, as the bones were considered the essential
portion of the remains. La Hontan's account of his journey to "the
Long River" may be fictitious, but he gave a correct statement of the
custom of some tribes when he wrote : ' ' The savages that live upon the
long River burn their Corps, as I insinuated before ; but you must know
that they keep them in vaults or Cellars till they have a sufficient
number to burn together, which is performed out of the village, in a
place set apart for that Ceremony." 17 Some tribes that buried instead
of cremating had the same custom of accumulating corpses before bury-
ing. Thus, Father Jouvency, one of the earliest missionaries, says:
' ' Every eight or ten years the Hurons, which nation is widely extended,
convey all their corpses from all the villages to a designated place, and
cast them into an immense pit. They call it the day of the Dead." 18
In his Relation of 1636, Father Le Jeune, speaking of the Huron Feast
of the Dead, gives this explanation of their custom :
"Returning from this feast with a Captain (chief) who is very
intelligent, and who will some day be very influential in the affairs of
the country, I asked him why they called the bones of the dead atisken
(i. e. souls literally "in the bones"). He gave me the best explana-
tion he could, and I gathered from his conversation that many think
we have two souls, both of them being divisible and material, and yet
both reasonable ; the one separates itself from the body at death, yet
remains in the Cemetery until the feast of the Dead after which it
either changes into a Turtledove, or, according to the most common
belief it goes away to the village of souls. The other is, as it were,
bound to the body, and informs, so to speak, the corpse; it remains in
the ditch of the dead after the feast, and never leaves it. unless someone
bears it again as a child. He pointed out to me, as a proof of this
metempsychosis, the perfect resemblance some have to persons deceased.
A fine Philosophy, indeed. Such as it is, it shows why they call the
bones of the dead atisken 'the souls'." 19
if Thwaite 's La Hontan, p. 473.
is Jesuit Relations, Vol. 1, p. 267.
is Jesuit Relations, Vol. 10, p. 287.
1
22 INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
The Southern Indians generally collected decaying bodies of their
dead in "bone houses" or "charnel houses", as the DeSoto chroniclers
called them, to save them for burial ; and there are a number of descrip-
tions of these places, and of the horrible old custodians who cleaned
the flesh from the bones, by early chroniclers. After citing and quoting
extensively from early observers, Mr. Charles C. Jones sums up the
Georgia field as follows:
"Tumuli filled with numerous skeletons may be regarded as Family
or Tribal Mounds. The Indians of Southern Georgia frequently burnt
their dead. This custom, however, was not universal, and it obtained
to a very limited extent among the tribes resident in the middle and
upper portions of the State. The practice of reserving the skeletons
until they had multiplied sufficiently to warrant a general cremation
or inhumation seems to have been adopted. It was no easy task for
the aborigines to erect a tumulus. Hence, saving the construction of
grave mounds in honor of distinguished personages, the labor of
sepulchral mound-building was postponed until the accumulations of
the bone-house claimed the attention of an entire community. * *
Upon the islands and headlands along the coast, the skeletons, with a
requisite amount of wood, were first placed in a pile upon the ground.
Fire was then applied, and, above the smouldering remains carelessly
heaped together, a mound of earth was erected. The charred bones and
partially consumed fragments of wood are seldom seen until we have
reached the level of the plain upon which the tumulus stands. With
rare exceptions, tribal mounds of this description contain but a single
stratum of bones, showing that when the cremation was ended and the
tumulus finished, it was never reopened. As may well be expected, the
bones in these mounds are disposed without order. Being at best but
fragmentary in their character, they are intermingled with ashes,
charred pieces of wood, broken pottery, cracked pipes, and other relics
sadly impaired by the action of fire. The fires kindled in solemnization
of these funeral customs were so intense as in some instances to crack
the stone celts deposited with the dead. Shell ornaments entirely dis-
appear, and the ordinary clay pipes are generally broken to pieces." 20
Such is the only adequate explanation that has ever been offered for
those mounds in which, as Mr. Brown stated, he "invariably came to
a stratum of ashes, from six inches to two feet thick, which rests on
the original earth." His "stone residence" was apparently an
abandoned "bone house.", from whose vicinity the relatives of the
occupants had been driven away without time to bury their dead. The
zo Antiquities of the Southern Indians, pp. 191-2.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
23
skeletons found above the basic layer of ashes were probably the results
of "intrusive burials" by the Indians. In the mound in which no
remains were found, the fire had presumably been sufficient to reduce
everything .to ashes. Of course this explanation will not apply to
mounds that have no layer of ashes at the bottom, for there were Indian
BONE HOUSE
(After Lafitau)
tribes that did not cremate, as well as tribes that did. And not only
did tribes with differing burial customs live in close contact, as is stated
above in regard to the Georgia Indians, but in some cases even parts
of the same tribe had different customs. Thus, among the Ottawas
those of the Great Hare totem, or clan, cremated their dead while those
of the other two clans, of the Bear and the Carp totems, buried without
cremating.
22
INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
The Southern Indians generally collected decaying bodies of their
dead in "bone houses" or "charnel houses", as the DeSoto chroniclers
called them, to save them for burial ; and there are a number of descrip-
tions of these places, and of the horrible old custodians who cleaned
the flesh from the bones, by early chroniclers. After citing and quoting
extensively from early observers, Mr. Charles C. Jones sums up the
Georgia field as follows:
"Tumuli filled with numerous skeletons may be regarded as Family
or Tribal Mounds. The Indians of Southern Georgia frequently burnt
their dead. This custom, however, was not universal, and it obtained
to a very limited extent among the tribes resident in the middle and
upper portions of the State. The practice of reserving the skeletons
until they had multiplied sufficiently to warrant a general cremation
or inhumation seems to have been adopted. It was no easy task for
the aborigines to erect a tumulus. Hence, saving the construction of
grave mounds in honor of distinguished personages, the labor of
sepulchral mound-building was postponed until the accumulations of
the bone-house claimed the attention of an entire community. * * *
Upon the islands and headlands along the coast, the skeletons, with a
requisite amount of wood, were first placed in a pile upon the ground.
Fire was then applied, and, above the smouldering remains carelessly
heaped together, a mound of earth was erected. The charred bones and
partially consumed fragments of wood are seldom seen until we have
reached the level of the plain upon which the tumulus stands. With
rare exceptions, tribal mounds of this description contain but a single
stratum of bones, showing that when the cremation was ended and the
tumulus finished, it was never reopened. As may well be expected, the
bones in these mounds are disposed without order. Being at best but
fragmentary in their character, they are intermingled with ashes,
charred pieces of wood, broken pottery, cracked pipes, and other relics
sadly impaired by the action of fire. The fires kindled in solemnization
of these funeral customs were so intense as in some instances to crack
the stone celts deposited with the dead. Shell ornaments entirely dis-
appear, and the ordinary clay pipes are generally broken to pieces." 20
Such is the only adequate explanation that has ever been offered for
those mounds in which, as Mr. Brown stated, he "invariably came to
a stratum of ashes, from six inches to two feet thick, which rests on
the original earth." His "stone residence" was apparently an
abandoned "bone house", from whose vicinity the relatives of the
occupants had been driven away without time to bury their dead. The
20 Antiquities of the Southern Indians, pp. 191-2.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
23
skeletons found above the basic layer of ashes were probably the results
of "intrusive burials" by the Indians. In the mound in which no
remains were found, the lire had presumably been sufficient to reduce
everything to ashes. Of course this explanation will not apply to
mounds that have no layer of ashes at the bottom, for there were Indian
BONE HOUSE
(After Lafitau)
tribes that did not cremate, as well as tribes that did. And not only
did tribes with differing burial customs live in close contact, as is stated
above in regard to the Georgia Indians, but in some cases even parts
of the same tribe had different customs. Thus, among the Ottawas
those of the Great Hare totem, or clan, cremated their dead while those
of the other two clans, of the Bear and the Carp totems, buried without
cremating.
24 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
The reason for this was given by Father Sebastian Basics in his
letter of Oct. 12, 1723. The Great Hare was the Algonkin demiurge,
otherwise known as Michaboo, Manabozho, Nanaboush, or Wisakatca-
kwa, and Rasles gives their tradition that: "Before quitting the earth
he directed that when his descendants should die, their bodies should
be burned, and their ashes scattered to the winds, so that they might
be able to rise more easily to the sky." The verity of this had been
established by the fact that they had left a member of the clan unburned
during a protracted and distressing cold spell, until an old woman
pointed out their offense, and his cremation was followed by a thaw
q. e. d. 21 Squier and Davis mention 22 three mounds, one of them "nine
feet high and forty feet in diameter" that appeared to be composed
entirely of "something resembling long exposed and highly compacted
ashes, intermingled with specks of charcoal, small bits of burned bones
and fragments of sandstone much burned." Gerard Fowke thinks this
was "made up of the material gathered on a village site, and containing
all the debris of culinary and other domestic occupations. " 23 It is
rather difficult to imagine savages indulging in so tremendous a sanitary
clean-up ; and the facts may be explained on the theory that, for some
reason, the builders were prevented from completing these mounds by
covering them with earth.
Cremation also furnishes the reasonable explanation of what are
called "altar mounds", which have at the base a raised structure of
clay, usually with a sort of basin at the top. As the name indicates,
these have been considered places where human beings were sacrificed,
and this idea is still, widespread, although its absurdity has often been
pointed out. As Morgan puts it:
"Wherever human sacrifices are known to have occurred among the
American aborigines, the place was an elevated mound platform and
the raised altar or sacrificial stone stood before the idol in whose wor-
ship the rites were performed. There is here neither a temple nor HM
idol ; but a hollow bed of clay covered by a mound raised in honor over
the ashes of a deceased chief, for assuredly such a mound would not
have been raised over the ashes of a victim. Indians never exchange i
prisoners of war. Adoption or burning at the stake was the alternative
of capture; but no mound was ever raised over the burned remains.
Another use suggests itself for this artificial basin more in accordance
with Indian usages and customs, namely, that cremation of the body
21 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 67, pp. 153, 157.
P. 180.
2* Archaeological History of Ohio, p. 320.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 25
of a deceased chief was performed upon it, after which the mound was
raised over his ashes." 24
One of the most interesting features of the Mound Builder problem,
from the historical point of view, is this sacrificial theory. Among the
early settlers of the Ohio Valley there were dozens of men who were
well read and intelligent, as learning went at that time ; and most of the
speculations as to the Mound Builders came from them. It was natural
that they should adopt the sacrificial idea, because they commonly
believed that the Mound Builders were the ancestors of the Aztecs, and
they were familiar with the Spanish chronicles of the conquest of
Mexico through English translations. Thus, Gen. Harrison, who had
given the subject much attention, in his discourse on the Aborigines of
the Ohio Valley, indorses the view of Bishop Madison, of Virginia, that
the Aztecs and the Mound Builders "are one and the same people",
and avers that, "There were a numerous priesthood, and altars often
smoking with hecatombs of victims". Harrison, like many others, was
familiar with the classics and knew that the Greeks and Romans offered
portions of their ordinary food to the gods, before eating. They were
in general better acquainted with the Bible than the present residents
of the Ohio Valley, and knew about the reservation of parts of the
Jewish sacrifices as food for the priests and their families; and they
were familiar with the Apostolic troubles over eating "meats offered
to idols". But they did not catch the fact, as they might have done
from the Spanish chronicles, that the Aztecs were cannibals, and that
only the hearts of the victims went to the gods, while the bodies were
eaten by the worshippers; and they did not know that when the
Europeans came in contact with them, all of the American Indians
were cannibals. Anyone who harbors the idea that a tribe of cannibals
would waste, by burning them up, enough perfectly good captives to
make a layer of ashes two feet thick, or even two inches thick, is sadly
deficient in knowledge of human nature; especially when the high cost
of cannibal living is considered.
After the publication of Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, which was
widely read, and accepted as conclusive, the belief in the sacrificial
theory was even more firmly established; and it is not surprising that
a man like Prof. Collett, educated in that period, should have held the
views above quoted as to the mound at Vincennes. The probable expla-
nation of Sugar Loaf Mound is that it is the result of three general
cremations, one superimposed on another. It may be suggested also,
2 Lewis H. Morgan, Houses of the Mound Builders ; in Contributions to North
American Ethnology, Vol. 4, p. 217.
!
- / M = 250 FT
EARTH MOUNDS NEAR ANDERSON
(Plate E.)
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 27
as to cases of unusually large ash deposits, that the exigencies of war
may at times have called for the cremation of numbers of corpses, with-
out waiting for the flesh to decay, and in that case there would have
been a large increase in the amount of fuel required for consumption
of the remains.
There is another class of mounds sometimes called "sacred enclo-
sures", and to this class some have referred the remarkable mounds
near Anderson, which are the best preserved of the large' works in
Indiana. "The principal work in a group of eight, shown on plate E,
is a circular embankment with a deep ditch on the inside. The central
area is one hundred and thirty-eight feet in diameter, and contains
a mound in the center four feet high and thirty feet in diameter. There
is a slight depression between the mound and the ditch. The gateway
is thirty feet wide. Carriages may enter at the gateway and drive
around the mound, as the ditch terminates on each side of the gateway.
The ditch is sixty feet wide and ten and a half feet deep ; the embank-
ment is sixty-three feet wide at the base and nine feet high, and the
entire diameter of the circle is three hundred and eighty-four feet." 25
The work marked H is 181 feet long, and its wall was originally six
feet high. The walls of the other works were two to three feet high.
These mounds were covered with trees not distinguishable from those
of the surrounding forest, some trees on the walls being four feet in
diameter. These works are located on the south side of White river,
on a bluff seventy-five feet above the water. At the foot of the bluff
are several fine springs. The purpose of such mounds presents a wide
field for conjecture; and without any material danger of being proven
wrong or right.
The extent of these structures in the Ohio Valley has usually been
taken as a demonstration of a large population. This has been disputed
in recent years, but the estimates of those who argue for a small popula-
tion seem to prove the opposite. For example, Mr. Fowke gets this con-
clusion from an elaborate estimate: "On the estimate of 30,000,000
cubic yards for the prehistoric works of the State, one thousand men,
each working three hundred days in a year, and carrying one wagon
load of earth or stone in a day, could construct all the works in Ohio
within a century." What a bagatelle! Perhaps it would seem more
impressive in the equivalent terms of one hundred thousand men for
one year, or ten thousand men for ten years. And who was providing
food for these laborers! The Indians often went hungry even when all
hands were giving their time to procuring food. Such an estimate
zslnd. Geol. Report, 1878, pp. 129-32.
28 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
implies a population far in excess of any Indian population known in
the Ohio Valley in historic times.
But more impressive than these earth-works, both as to the amount
of population and as to the antiquity of the Mound Builders, are the
artifacts that are found scattered over the soil everywhere. When the
white men first knew this region, Ohio and the southern two-thirds of
Indiana were covered by dense forests. When the forests were removed,
and cultivation began, the plows began turning up arrow-heads, spear-
heads, stone hoes, mortars, pestles, discoidal stones, and other remains
of prehistoric man 's occupancy. The Indians could not have left them,
for there were not enough of them, and they did not live in the forested
country. The forest feature of the problem is usually discussed on the
basis of a removal of the forest by prehistoric man, and a subsequent
reforestation; but this is impossible. No savage nation could have
cleared all of Ohio and Indiana, and these artifacts are found every-
where. The only possible explanation is that they were scattered before
the forest existed.
Caleb Atwater thought that these remains were to be credited to the
Indians, and not to the Mound Builders. He says: "They consist of
rude stone axes and knives, of pestles used in preparing maize for food,
of arrowheads, and a few other articles so exactly similar to those found
in all the Atlantic States, that a description of them is deemed quite
useless." And after giving his reasons for believing that the Indian
population was much greater on the sea coast than in the interior, he
proceeds: "Hence the numerous other traces of Indian settlements,
such as the immense piles of the shells of oysters, clams, &c. all along
the sea shore, the great number of arrowheads and other articles belong-
ing to them, in the eastern states, and their paucity here." 2e
This seems a strange statement now, but when it was written the
forests had not been removed sufficiently to permit knowledge of the
quantity of such remains. Moreover it was not then known that the
Mound Builders used stone implements not materially different from
those of the Indians, though they used some that the Indians did not.
A curious case of this is one of a stone ax, found on the site .of a Miami
village on the Wabash, the head of which was an unfinished Mound
Builder ceremonial stone, which some Indian had found, and fitted with
a hickory handle. 27 There is no question that the Indians gladly used
Mound Builder arrow and spear heads, axes, and other implements
whenever they found them. An interesting illustration of this is given
by Father Le Mercier, in the Relation for 1667-8, as follows :
20 Arch. Amer., Vol. 1, pp. Ill, 113.
T Moorehead. The Stone Age in North America, Vol. 1, p. 394.
INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
29
"Arriving (over Lake Champlain) within three quarters of a league
of the Falls by which Lake St. Sacrement (Lake George) empties, we
all halted at this spot, without knowing why, until we saw our savages
at the water-side gathering up flints, which were almost all cut into shape.
We did not at the time reflect upon this, but have since then learned
MIAMI Ax, WITH MOUND BUILDER STONE HEAD
Found in Indiana
the meaning of the mystery; for our Iroquois told us that they never
fail to halt at this place, to pay homage to a race of invisible men who
dwell there at the bottom of the lake. These beings occupy themselves
in preparing flints, nearly all cut, for the passers-by, provided the latter
pay their respects to them by giving them tobacco. If they give these
beings much of it, the latter give them a liberal supply of these stones.
28
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
implies a population far in excess of any Indian population known in
the Ohio Valley in historic times.
But more impressive than these earth-works, both as to the amount
of population and as to the antiquity of the Mound Builders, are the
artifacts that are found scattered over the soil everywhere. When the
white men first knew this region, Ohio and the southern two-thirds of
Indiana were covered by dense forests. When the forests were removed,
and cultivation began, the plows began turning up arrow-heads, spear-
heads, stone hoes, mortars, pestles, discoidal stones, and other remains
of prehistoric man's occupancy. The Indians could not have left them,
for there were not enough of them, and they did not live in the forested
country. The forest feature of the problem is usually discussed on the
basis of a removal of the forest by prehistoric man, and a subsequent
reforestation ; but this is impossible. No savage nation could have
cleared all of Ohio and Indiana, and these artifacts are found every-
where. The only possible explanation is that they were scattered before
the forest existed.
Caleb Atwater thought that these remains were to be credited to the
Indians, and not to the Mound Builders. He says: "They consist of
rude stone axes and knives, of pestles used in preparing maize for food,
of arrowheads, and a few other articles so exactly similar to those found
in all the Atlantic States, that a description of them is deemed quite
useless." And after giving his reasons for believing that the Indian
population was much greater on the sea coast than in the interior, he
proceeds : ' ' Hence the numerous other traces of Indian settlements,
such as the immense piles of the shells of oysters, clams, &c. all along
the sea shore, the great number of arrowheads and other articles belong-
ing to them, in the eastern states, and their paucity here." 28
This seems a strange statement now, but when it was written the
forests had not been removed sufficientl-y to permit knowledge of the
quantity of such remains. Moreover it was not then known that the
Mound Builders used stone implements not materially different from
those of the Indians, though they used some that the Indians did not.
A curious case of this is one of a stone ax, found on the site .of a Miami
village on the Wabash, the head of which was an unfinished Mound
Builder ceremonial stone, which some Indian had found, and fitted with
a hickory handle. 27 There is no question that the Indians gladly used
Mound Builder arrow and spear heads, axes, and other implements
whenever they found them. An interesting illustration of this is given
bv Father Le Mercier, in the Relation for 1667-8, as follows:
Arch. Amer., Vol. 1, pp. Ill, 113.
Moorehead. The Stone Age in North America, Vol. 1, p. 394.
.
INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
29
"Arriving (over Lake Champlain) within three quarters of a league
of the Falls by which Lake St. Sacrement (Lake George) empties, we
all halted at this spot, without knowing why, until we saw our savages
at the water-side gathering up flints, which were almost all cut into shape.
We did not at the time reflect upon this, but have since then learned
MIAMI Ax, WITH MOUND BUILDER STONE HEAD
Found in Indiana
the meaning of the mystery; for our Iroquois told us that they never
fail to halt at this place, to pay homage to a race of invisible men who
dwell there at the bottom of the lake. These beings occupy themselves
in preparing flints, nearly all cut, for the passers-by, provided the latter
pay their respects to them by giving them tobacco. If they give these
beings much of it, the latter give them a liberal supply of these stones.
30 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
The occasion of this ridiculous story is that the Lake is, in reality, often
agitated by very frightful tempests, which cause fearful waves,
especially in the basin where Sieur Corlart, of whom we have just
spoken, met his death; and when the wind comes from the direction of
the Lake, it drives on this beach a quantity of stones which are hard,
and capable of striking fire. ' ' 28 This story may have another value. The
locality can probably be identified ; and a flint workshop in the soil
under the waters of Lake Champlain may furnish some geologist data
for estimating the antiquity of man in America.
Another evidence of large prehistoric population that has come to
light since Mr. Atwater wrote is extensive shell heaps, of which he knew
nothing because they were covered with earth, some of them ten feet
deep. 29 There are also stone fire places, often in connection with shell
heaps. Some of these occur in river terraces, which makes their
antiquity questionable; but others are far above high water mark as
in the case of the celebrated "Bone Bank", -on the Wabash, which has
been described by LeSueur, Prince Maximilian, Sir Charles Lyell, and
others. These shell heaps show that fresh water mussels and snails
were very largely used for food by prehistoric man; but the Indians
did not eat them. 'I have been assured by old Indians that their people
never ate snails or mussels, and I have never found a statement by any
person who had been with the Indians that they did eat them.
That these people were largely agricultural is obvious. The
numerous stone hoes could have been used only for cultivation, and the
numerous mortars and pestles could have been used only for grinding
grain. Permanent mortars have been found in connection with what
are called "rock houses", i. e. projecting rock strata which form
cavernous shelters. 30 But how came these various stone weapons and
implements to be scattered so widely over the face of the country ? Such
implements are made much more easily than is commonly supposed, by
workmen who are skilled, 31 but still the labor is considerable, and the
materials often had to be procured at long distances. That they were
much valued is shown by the fact that caches of them have been found
where they were hidden away as treasure. It is certain that their
owners would not throw them away, or lose them if they could avoid
it. The hunter would recover the arrow he had shot, or the spear he
had thrown, if he could do so. Presumably then these articles were
zs Jesuit Relations, Vol. 51, pp. 182-3.
2Ind. Geol. Report, 1872, pp. 142, 408, 414; 1873, pp. 125, 185, 371; 1878, pp.
127, 128.
so Ind. Geai. Report, 1872, pp. 82, 88.
i Archaeological History of Ohio, pp. 524-6, 636-45.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
31
lost by the owners, and this necessarily implies a large number of people
to lose them.
It is not known how the Mound Builders were housed. That some
of them lived in caves in Kentucky, and Tennessee is clearly shown;
but most of the caves of Indiana would be uninhabitable on account of
inundation, and the evidences of any temporary occupation would soon
disappear for the same reason. Marengo cave would have been
MOCCASIN
' From Salts Cave
MOCCASIN'
From Mammoth C:iv.
RKTICfLlv
.From SuhsCavi- .
MOUND BUILJJER FABRICS FROM KENTUCKY CAVES
habitable, but there is no indication that it was known either to the
Mound Builders or to the Indians. Wyandotte cave was occupied to
some extent, but apparently only for the purpose of mining the stalag-
mite formations. What was done with the material is not known, but
it may have been used for making those stone ornaments which are
ordinarily called "marble." It is not credible that there were not some
sort of houses in connection with their extensive earth works, and the
absence of any remains of habitations presumably means that the habita-
-
30
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
The occasion of this ridiculous story is that the Lake is, in reality, often
agitated by very frightful tempests, which cause fearful waves,
especially in the basin where Sieur Corlart, of whom we have just
spoken, met his death ; and when the wind comes from the direction of
the Lake, it drives on this beach a quantity of stones which are hard,
and capable of striking fire. ' ' - 8 This story may have another value. The
locality can probably be identified ; and a flint workshop in the soil
under the waters of Lake Champlain may furnish some geologist data
for estimating the antiquity of man in America.
Another evidence of large prehistoric population that has come to
light since Mr. Atwater wrote is extensive shell heaps, of which he knew
nothing because they were covered with earth, some of them ten feet
deep. 29 There are also stone fire places, often in connection with shell
heaps. Some of these occur in river terraces, which makes their
antiquity questionable ; but others are far above high water mark as
in the case of the celebrated "Bone Bank", on the Wabash, which has
been described by LeSueur, Prince Maximilian, Sir Charles Lyell, and
others. These shell heaps show that fresh water mussels and snails
were very largely used for food by prehistoric man; but the Indians
did not eat them. 'I have been assured by old Indians that their people
never ate snails or mussels, and I have never found a statement by any
person who had been with the Indians that they did eat them.
That these people were largely agricultural is obvious. The
numerous stone hoes could have been used only for cultivation, and the
numerous mortars and pestles could have been used only for grinding
grain. Permanent mortars have been found in connection with what
are called "rock houses", i. e. projecting rock strata which form
cavernous shelters. 30 But how came these various stone weapons and
implements to be scattered so widely over the face of the country ? Such
implements are made much more easily than is commonly supposed, by
workmen who are skilled, 31 but still the labor is considerable, and the
materials often had to be procured at long distances. That they were
much valued is shown by the fact that caches of them have been found
where they were hidden away as treasure. It is certain that their
owners would not throw them away, or lose them if they could avoid
it. The hunter would recover the arrow he had shot, or the spear he
had thrown, if he could do so. Presumably then these articles were
28 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 51, pp. 182-3.
2Ind. Geol. Report, 1872, pp. 142, 408, 414; 1873, pp. 125, 185, 371; 1878, pp.
127, 128.
so Ind. Geol. Report, 1872, pp. 82, 88.
i Archaeological History of Ohio, pp. 524-6, 636-45.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
31
lost by the owners, and this necessarily implies a large number of people
to lose them.
It is not known how the Mound Builders were housed. That some
of them lived in caves in Kentucky, and Tennessee is clearly shown;
but most of the caves of Indiana would be uninhabitable on account of
inundation, and the evidences of any temporary occupation would soon
disappear for the same reason. Marengo cave would have been
-
^ '-.
i
MOCCASIN
I'nilil Sails Cavi-
MOCCASIN
From Mammoth Ca\v
kinrici I.K
From S.ili> C.ivi-
MOUND BUILDER FABRICS FROM KENTUCKY CAVES
habitable, but there is no indication that it was known either to the
Mound Builders or to the Indians. Wyandotte cave was occupied to
some extent, but apparently only for the purpose of mining the stalag-
mite formations. What was done with the material is not known, but
it may have been used for making those stone ornaments which are
ordinarily called ' ' marble. " It is not credible that there were not some
sort of houses in connection with their extensive earth works, and the
absence of any remains of habitations presumably means that the habita-
32 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
tions were of very perishable material. Mr. Morgan advanced the
ingenious theory that some of the inclosures were of villages, in which
joint-tenement houses, similar to the long houses of the Iroquois were
ranged along the inside of the walls. This is possible, but the lack of
remains both of houses and of the naturally looked for contents of
houses, in such locations, makes the theory improbable.
Remains of Mound Builders work, other than in metal and stone,
are better preserved in the Kentucky caves than elsewhere, probably
on account of the saltpeter deposits. Among them are cloth, moccasins,
bags, cords, and other articles made of vegetable fiber; pieces of melon
and squash rinds, corn-cobs, tobacco, seeds of watermelons, grapes, sun-
flowers; numbers of gourd cups and bottles; and one entire gourd con-
taining seeds, some of which grew, and furnished a present supply of
Mound Builder gourds. The story of all this, and much more is tolii
in a most interesting way in Col. Bennett H. Young's Prehistoric Men
of Kentucky. Among other curious things he mentions a small bag
or reticule, apparently intended for a child's plaything.
In this connection, it may be noted that the Mound Builder has
probably been taken too seriously. All known savage tribes have their
games and sports, and there is no reason why prehistoric man should
not have indulged in amusements. It is now generally accepted that the
discoidal stones, which so long puzzled antiquarians, were used in some
game similar to the chungke game of the southern Indians; which was
described by Adair, DuPratz, and other old writers. It was played
on a carefully leveled plot of ground, something like a croquet ground
but longer, by two players, who have specially prepared poles about
eight feet long. One of them rolls a round, flat stone, three or four
inches in diameter, and both follow and throw their poles. The one
who lodges his pole closest to the stone wins; and winning was impor-
tant, for it was a great gambling game. There was found on a ridge
in the northeastern part of Vanderburgh County "an area, the surface
level and apparently paved with plastic clay 500 by 200 feet", which
is believed to be a prehistoric chungke yard ; and on which six discoidal
stones were found. 32
Many of these stones are too small for this game as played by adults ;
but there may have been other games. Father Gravier mentions one
among the Houmas as follows: "In the middle of the Village is a fine
and very level open space, where, from morning to night, young men
exercise themselves. They run after a flat stone, which they throw in
the air from one end of the square to the other, and try to Make it fall
az Ind. Geol. Report, 1875, 'p. 299.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
33
On two Cylinders, which they roll wherever they think the stone will
fall. " 33 It is also possible that these smaller stones may have been toys
for children. Indians are very indulgent to their children, and they
had home-made dolls and other toys, as well as playthings of their own
construction. In the Relation of 1634, Father LeJeune says: "The
little savages play at hide-and-seek as well as the little French children.
They have a number of other childish sports that I have noticed in our
Europe; among others I have seen the little Parisians throw a musket
ball into the air and catch it with a little bat scooped out; the little
montagnard savages do the same, using a little bunch of Pine sticks,
which they receive or throw into the air on the end of a pointed stick. ' ' 34
THREE EFFIGY BOWLS
From the Wabash Cemetery
Mound Builder children were like other children. In 1898 repre-
sentatives of Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., made extensive investi-
gation of a prehistoric cemetery in Indiana at the mouth of the Wabash
river. In the report of it, Mr. W. K. Moorehead says: "There is a
pathetic interest in the fact that many children skeletons were found
during the course of the explorations. The mothers placed alongside
the little bodies clay toys, such as rattles, miniature dishes, bowls and
bottles. These served the same purpose in ancient times as do the toy
dishes and playthings used by our children. There were also pendants,
small shells, shell discs and other ornaments buried by the head or at
the wrists of these infants and children. The toy dishes are crudely
s Jesuit Relations, Vol. 65, p. 147.
s< Jesuit Relations, Vol. 7, p. 97.
Vol. I
32
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
tions were of very perishable material. Mr. Morgan advanced the
ingenious theory that some of the inclosures were of villages, in which
joint-tenement houses, similar to the long houses of the Iroquois were
ranged along the inside of the walls. This is possible, but the lack of
remains both of houses and of the naturally looked for contents of
houses, in such locations, makes the theory improbable.
Remains of Mound Builders work, other than in metal and stone,
are better preserved in the Kentucky caves than elsewhere, probably
on account of the saltpeter deposits. Among them are cloth, moccasins,
bags, cords, and other articles made of vegetable fiber; pieces of melon
and squash rinds, corn-cobs, tobacco, seeds of watermelons, grapes, sun-
flowers ; numbers of gourd cups and bottles ; and one entire gourd con-
taining seeds, some of which grew, and furnished a present supply of
Mound Builder gourds. The story of all this, and much more is tolJ
in a most interesting way in Col. Bennett H. Young's Prehistoric Men
of Kentucky. Among other curious things he mentions a small bag
or reticule, apparently intended for a child's plaything.
In this connection, it may be noted that the Mound Builder has
probably been taken too seriously. All known savage tribes have their
games and sports, and there is no reason why prehistoric man should
not have indulged in amusements. It is now generally accepted that the
discoidal stones, which so long puzzled antiquarians, were used in some
game similar to the chungke game of the southern Indians; which was
described by Adair, DuPratz, and other old writers. It was played
on a carefully leveled plot of ground, something like a croquet ground
but longer, by two players, who have specially prepared poles about
eight feet long. One of them rolls a round, flat stone, three or four
inches in diameter, and both follow and throw their poles. The one
who lodges his pole closest to the stone wins; and winning was impor-
tant, for it was a great gambling game. There was found on a ridge
in the northeastern part of Vanderburgh County "an area, the surface
level and apparently paved with plastic clay 500 by 200 feet", which
is believed to be a prehistoric chungke yard ; and on which six discoidal
stones were found. 32
Many of these stones are too small for this game as played by adults :
but there may have been other games. Father Gravier mentions one
among the Houmas as follows: "In the middle of the Village is a fine
and very level open space, where, from morning to night, young men
exercise themselves. They run after a flat stone, which they throw in
the air from one end of the square to the other, and try to Make it fall
3= Ind. Geol. Report, 1875, p
. 299.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
.'{3
On two Cylinders, which they roll wherever they think the stone will
fall." 33 It is also possible that these smaller stones may have been toys
for children. Indians are very indulgent to their children, and they
had home-made dolls and other toys, as well as playthings of their own
construction. In the Relation of 1634, Father LeJeune says: ''The
little savages play at hide-and-seek as well as the little French children.
They have a number of other childish sports that I have noticed in our
Europe ; among others I have seen the little Parisians throw a musket
ball into the air and catch it with a little bat scooped out; the little
montagnard savages do the same, using a little bunch of Pine sticks,
which they receive or throw into the air on the end of a pointed stick. ' ' 34
THREE EFFIGY BOWLS
From the Wabash Cemetery
Mound Builder children were like other children. In 1898 repre-
sentatives of Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., made extensive investi-
gation of a prehistoric cemetery in Indiana at the mouth of the Wabash
river. In the report of it, Mr. W. K. Moorehead says: "There is a
pathetic interest in the fact that many children skeletons were found
during the course of the explorations. The mothers placed alongside
the little bodies clay toys, such as rattles, miniature dishes, bowls and
bottles. These served the same purpose in ancient times as do the toy
dishes and playthings used by our children. There were also pendants,
small shells, shell discs and other ornaments buried by the head or at
the wrists of these infants and children. The tov dishes are crudelv
Jesuit Relations, Vol. 65, p.
Jesuit Relations, Vol. 7, p.
Vol. I S
147.
97.
34 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
made, some of them not even baked. Often small, waterworn pebbles
had been placed within the toys. " 33 It is quite possible that many of
the problematic articles found in mounds are merely playthings of the
children. And, so, probably were the pebbles found with these toys.
The Ottawas had a tradition of four Indians who picked up some pieces
of copper on the shore Lake Superior, and were rebuked by a manito
who cried, "Who are those robbers carrying off from me my children's
playthings?" Father Dablon explains: "Those little pieces of Copper
that they were carrying off are the toys and playthings of the Savage
children, who play together with little stones. ' ' 36
The southern Indians furnish the explanation for some of the figure
pottery of the Mound Builders. In speaking of the Natchez temple,
Father LePetit says: "Another separate shelf supports many flat
baskets, very gorgeously painted, in which they preserve their idols.
These are figures of men and women made of stone or baked clay, the
heads and the tails of extraordinary serpents, some stuffed owls, some
pieces of crystal, and some jaw-bones of large fish. In the year 1699
they had there a bottle and the foot of a glass, which they guarded as
very precious." 37 These little clay images are quite common among
Mound Builder relics, and so are crystals of various sorts. Such idols
indicate the temperament of the worshipers. There is something
somber in the character of people that can worship an idol like the
Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli, with his insatiate craving for the life
of men, that does not exist in a people with a comfortable lot of small
idols which can be laid -on the shelf between periods of worship.
Moreover, the religion of the southern Indians furnishes the explana-
tion of another Mound Builder characteristic. In spite of all attempts
to ridicule the idea, the extensive prehistoric works, and especially large
mounds erected over only one or two bodies, do indicate a centralized
authority of which there is no record among the northern Indians. In
the southern tribes the caciques had despotic authority, as is witnessed
by all chroniclers, from those with De Soto to the French missionaries.
The masses not only fought the Spaniards to the death at the cacique's
command, but also at his command went into slavery to the same
Spaniards. At the death of a cacique, numbers of his subjects volun-
tarily offered themselves for death, in order to accompany and serve
him. They were sun-worshipers, and the cacique, as the "Brother of
the Sun" combined divine attributes with temporal power. Their
35 Bulletin 3, Phillips Academy, p. 65.
3 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 54, p. 155.
37 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 68, p. 125.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 35
governments were theocracies, in which the ruler was not merely ' ' God 's
anointed", but also was himself divine. >
The questions of the origin and the fate of the Mound Builders
have been discussed for more than a century without decision. Some
conclusions have been fairly established, but more of a negative than
of a positive character. The questions involve to some extent the ques-
tion of the antiquity of man in America, and this has always colored
the discussion. In the earlier part of the last century, most writers
felt themselves bound by Bible chronology, and the dispersion of man-
kind from a common source after the deluge. In the last half century
there has been an equally slavish subserviency to the Darwinian Theory.
Mr. Darwin decided that man must have originated in the old world,
because he was descended from the catarhine apes, and there were only
platyrhine monkeys in America; and in consequence everything show-
ing antiquity of man in America has been assailed and belittled in
every possible way. But after all this assault, what may be taken as
the latest unprejudiced summary of the matter concedes man's exist-
ence here in the Glacial period. 38
But even on that basis, immigration is the only possible solution for
the evolutionists. As Mr. Fowke puts it : "If the existence of a 'glacial'
or ' paleolithic ' man in this country can be proven, or if it can be shown,
as Powell contends, that America was inhabited while man was still
but little beyond the stage of a wild beast, his presence can be accounted
for in only three ways: He gradually developed here from a lower
stage into a human being; there was a land connection between the
eastern and western hemispheres which no longer exists ; or there were
islands, or possibly continents, now destroyed, so distributed that he
could be accidentally carried from one to another. ' ' 39 The literature
of the subject has grown to appalling proportions, and Mr. Fowke 's
book is one of the most satisfactory compendiums of it that has been
made ; but his bias causes him to attack statements of fact by observers
as well as statements of opinion. He assails the description of the stone
fort in Clark County, quoted above from Prof. Cox, with almost pre-
historic ferocity. 40 Nothing could be more uncalled for. Edward
Travers Cox was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, and when four
years old was brought to Indiana by his father, who joined the New
Harmony colony. He grew up in that most intellectual atmosphere
in America; studied chemistry and geology under David Dale Owen,
38 Henry W. Haynes, in Winsor 's Narr. and Crit. Hist, of Am., Vol. 1, Chap. 6.
39 Archaeological History of Ohio, p. 43.
>Ib. pp. 65-6.
36
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
whose assistant he became through all the years while New Harmony
was the headquarters of the United States Geological Survey of the
Mississippi Valley, until Dr. Owen's death in 1859. He was then engaged
in mining investigations for private parties, for the national govern-
ment and for the state of Illinois, until 1868, when he was made State
Geologist of Indiana. He held that position until 1880, and was of
PROF. EDWARD TRAVERS Cox
immense benefit through his work on the coal fields, and other economic
geological research. Later he was an authoritative mining expert on
the Pacific slope, in New York City, and in Florida, where he was in
charge of large phosphate interests, until his death, on Jan. 7, 1907.
It is equally absurd to question his ability, his veracity, or his conserva-
tism. If the statements of Prof. Cox as to matters of fact cannot be
accepted, we may as well burn up all past records and provide by
statute that hereafter no person shall examine a mound unless accom-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 37
panied by two hostile witnesses, of opposing political parties, who shall
be examined under oath as to the results of the work.
When Count Volney visited this country, in 1795, he met and inter-
viewed at length the great Miami chief, The Little Turtle. Volney
explained to him his theory that the Indians were descendants of
Tartars who had made their way to this continent. The Little Turtle
inquired what was to prevent the Indians from going over to Asia, and
becoming the ancestors of the Tartars, and Volney replied that he knew
of no objection except that the Black Gowns would not allow it. With
true Hoosier independence, The Little Turtle expressed his opinion that
the Black Gowns did not know any more about it than other people.
The situation is not greatly changed today. Among ethnologists the
general tendency is to the belief that the Mound Builders were the
ancestors of some of the Indian tribes, probably the Muscogeans. This
faith is largely based on the mention of Indian mound building by the
De Soto chronicles, but it must be confessed that the claims that they
record any earth work approaching that of the Mound Builders in
extent is not well founded.
The strongest statement in them is that of the Knight of Elvas, as
to the town of Ucita: "The chief's house stood near the beach, upon
a very high mount made by hand for defense." 41 De Biedma, speak-
ing of the town of Icasqui, says: "It is the custom of the Caciques to
have near their houses a high hill, made by hand, some having the
houses placed thereon." 42 Ranjel says: "This Talimeco was a village
holding extensive sway, and this house of worship was on a high mound
and much revered." 43 He also says of the town of Athahachi, "The
chief was on a kind of balcony, on a mound at one end of the
square." 44 Garcilaso de la Vega, "the Inca", says these Indians built
mounds to escape floods, which would have been a "thoughtful
Gretchen" performance in a country with as many superfluous hills
as the United States. But he was not with the expedition, and he says
that only the caciques and their attendants had houses on the mounds.
This is the sum of the mounds mentioned and there is not a word about
any of them being used for defense in any way. This is very significant,
for the chroniclers were all soldiers, and they described all the defenses
they met in their repeated conflicts. Thus, the Knight of Elvas says
of the town of Ullibahali: "The place was enclosed, and near by ran
a small stream. The fence, which was like that seen afterwards to other
4i Bourne 'e Narratives of De Soto, Vol. 1, p. 23.
42 Ib. Vol. 2, p. 27.
<3 Ib. p. 101.
44 Ib. p. 120.
36
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
whose assistant he became through all the years while New Harmony
was the headquarters of the United States Geological Survey of the
Mississippi Valley, until Dr. Owen's death in 1859. He was then engaged
in mining investigations for private parties, for the national govern-
ment and for the state of Illinois, until 1868, when he was made State
Geologist of Indiana. He held that position until 1880, and was of
PROP. EDWARD TRAVERS Cox
immense benefit through his work on the coal fields, and other economic
geological research. Later he was an authoritative mining expert on
the Pacific slope, in New York City, and in Florida, where he was in
charge of large phosphate interests, until his death, on Jan. 7, 1907.
It is equally absurd to question his ability, his veracity, or his conserva-
tism. If the statements of Prof. Cox as to matters of fact cannot be
accepted, we may as well burn up all past records and provide by
statute that hereafter no person shall examine a mound unless accoin-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 37
panied by two hostile witnesses, of opposing political parties, who shall
be examined under oath as to the results of the work.
When Count Volney visited this country, in 1795, he met and inter-
viewed at length the great Miami chief, The Little Turtle. Volney
explained to him his theory that the Indians were descendants of
Tartars who had made their way to this continent. The Little Turtle
inquired what was to prevent the Indians from going over to Asia, and
becoming the ancestors of the Tartars, and Volney replied that he knew
of no objection except that the Black Gowns would not allow it. With
true Hoosier independence, The Little Turtle expressed his opinion that
the Black Gowns did not know any more about it than other people.
The situation is not greatly changed today. Among ethnologists the
general tendency is to the belief that the Mound Builders were the
ancestors of some of the Indian tribes, probably the Muscogeans. This
faith is largely based on the mention of Indian mound building by the
De Soto chronicles, but it must be confessed that the claims that they
record any earth work approaching that of the Mound Builders in
extent is not well founded.
The strongest statement in them is that of the Knight of Elvas, as
to the town of Ucita: "The chief's house stood near the beach, upon
a very high mount made by hand for defense. " 4 1 De Biedma, speak-
ing of the town of Icasqui, says: "It is the custom of the Caciques to
have near their houses a high hill, made by hand, some having the
houses placed thereon." 42 Ranjel says: "This Talimeco was a village
holding extensive sway, and this house of worship was on a high mound
and much revered." 43 He also says of the town of Athahachi, "The
chief was on a kind of balcony, on a mound at one end of the
square." 44 Garcilaso de la Vega, "the Inca", says these Indians built
mounds to escape floods, which would have been a "thoughtful
Gretchen" performance in a country with as many superfluous hills
as the United States. But he was not with the expedition, and he says
that only the caciques and their attendants had houses on the mounds.
This is the sum of the mounds mentioned and there is not a word about
any of them being used for defense in any way. This is very significant,
for the chroniclers were all soldiers, and they described all the defenses
they met in their repeated conflicts. Thus, the Knight of Elvas says
of the town of Ullibahali : ' ' The place was enclosed, and near by ran
a small stream. The fence, which was like that seen afterwards to other
"Bourne's Narratives of De Soto, Vol. 1, p. 23.
42 Ib. Vol. 2, p. 27.
Ib. p. 101.
Ib. p. 120.
38 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
towns, was of large timber sunk deep and firmly into the earth, having
many long poles the size of the arm, placed crosswise to nearly the
height of a lance, with embrasures, and coated with mud inside and
out, having loop-holes for archery. ' ' 48 And Ranjel says : ' ' They came
to an old village that had two fences and good towers, and these walls
are after this fashion: They drive many thick stakes tall and straight
close to one another. These are then interlaced with long withes, and
then overlaid with clay, within and without. They make loop-holes at
intervals and they make their towers and turrets separated by the
curtain and parts of the wall as seems best. And at a distance it looks
like a fine wall or rampart and such stockades are very strong. ' ' 46 He
also says as to the town of Pacaha : ' ' This town was a. very good one,
thoroughly well stockaded; and the walls were furnished with towers
and a ditch round about, for the most part full of water which flows
by a canal from the river. * * * In Aquixo and Casqui and
Pacha, they saw the best villages seen up to that time, better
stockaded and fortified." 47
It is quite safe to assume that the real purpose of these mounds was
the same as that stated by Father LePetit as to similar mounds in the
villages of the Natchez. He says: "The Sun is the principal object
of veneration to these people ; as they cannot conceive of anything which
can be above this heavenly body, nothing else appears to them more
worthy of their homage. It is for this reason that the great Chief of
this nation, who knows nothing on the earth more dignified than him-
self, takes the title of brother of the Sun, and the credulity of the people
maintains him in the despotic authority which he claims. To enable
them better to converse together, they raise a mound of artificial soil,
on which they build his cabin, which is of the same construction as the
temple. When the great Chief dies, they demolish his cabin,
and then raise a new mound, on which they build the cabin of him who
is to replace him in this dignity, for he never lodges in that of his prede-
cessor." 48 It is much more probable that the mound in the Randolph
County inclosure, previously described, which is 100 feet in diameter
and only 9 feet high, was intended for the Chief's cabin and the temple
than that it was designed for observation purposes.
But the fact that the southern Indians did not build fortifications
of earth is no more argument that they were not descendants of the
Mound Builders than would be the fact that we build houses of brick
Vol. 1, p. 85.
< Ib. Vol. 2, p. 115.
Tlb. p. 139.
a Jesuit Relations, Vol. 68, pp. 127, 129.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 39
and stone, instead of the log houses of a century ago, an argument that
we were not descendants of the log house builders. The defences they
did build were the same as those commonly built by the northern
Indians, except that their stockades were coated with clay, which pro-
tected them from fire. They may have learned from their enemies that
stockades were more easily constructed and more easily defended than
earth walls. The fact that they built mounds, and that the building
was connected with their religion; coupled with the fact that their
mortuary customs furnish the rational explanation of our burial
mounds, and their games furnish an explanation for our discoidal
stones, puts them in closer relation to the Mound Builders than any
other living people. Of course it is possible that the Mound Builders
were entirely exterminated ; or, what would be more probable by Indian
custom, that the adults were killed, and the children adopted by the
conquerors; but if not exterminated, their most probable descendants
are among these tribes of the southern states.
With our present light, which may never be increased, the origin
and fate of these people are merely matters of conjecture; and in that
line there is an interesting suggestion in the tribal legends of the
southern Indians. The Muscogees and the Choctaws have traditions
that their ancestors came out of a hole in the ground not a lone father
and mother of a future people, but, as Captain Romans recorded it:
"their whole, very numerous nation, walked forth at once, without so
much as warning any neighbor." All traditions have some sort of
foundation, and Indian traditions are commonly based on a perversion
of some word. This is due to the fact that instead of compounding
entire words, as we do, they make compounds of syllables of the primary
words, or even represent them by a single letter. In consequence a very
slight change in the pronunciation of a compound word may make as
startling a change in the meaning as was made in the historic poem
when the printer dropped the "r" from "friend", and the poet
lamented that "so slight a change should change a friend into a fiend."
It would be simple and natural for a tribe that had formerly lived in
caves to develop such a tradition as that above from the fact that they
had come out of the caves for future residence. An exactly similar
perversion of this concept, "coming out", will be found in the following
chapter in a legend of the origin of the Miamis. If we assume that the
Mound Builders of Ohio and Indiana were driven into Kentucky and
Tennessee, where part or all of them took refuge in caves; and that
centuries later they migrated or were driven into the Gulf States, we
have at least a basis for explanation of a large part of the known facts.
40 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
But more forcible than all of these considerations is the considera-
tion of language. The most astounding delusion as to Indian languages
is the idea, constantly repeated by ethnologists and anthropologists,
that they <; are not inflected as European languages are." In reality
the Algonkin languages are more highly inflected than any existing
European language, as may be shown by two simple Miami sentences,
as follows:
na-wa'-ka wa-pi'-si-ta lam'-wa, I see a white dog.
na-ma'-ni wa-pi'-ki sa'-ni, I see a white stone.
It will be noted that each of these words ends with a vowel, and in
the Miami every word ends in a vowel sound when fully pronounced,
although these vowel endings are commonly dropped in many cases in
ordinary conversation. The basic grammatical distinction of the lan-
guage is between the animate and the inanimate, the animate including
those things that have, or are supposed to have, sentient life. Things
of the vegetable world are not animate unless personified for some suffi-
cient reason. To coordinate it with Gender, Number and Person, we
will call this quality, or distinction "Sentience". The ending "a" of
lam'-wa indicates that the object named is animate; the ending "i" of
sa'-ni indicates that the object named is inanimate; and these two
objects control the inflection of the remaining words in the sentences.
In Miami no verb is transitive unless the action actually passes over
to some other person or thing, and when transitive, the inflection indi-
cates the Sentience, and usually the Person and Number of the object.
Na-wa'-ka, of itself, means I see him, or her, i. e. something animate,
third Person, singular Number. Na-ma'-ni, of itself, means I see it,
something inanimate, and therefore necessarily third Person. All ad-
jectives are verbs in form, conjugated as other intransitive verbs.
Wa-pi'-si-ta, of itself, means he or she is white. Wa-pi'-ki, of itself,
means it is white. If I wish to say "I am white", I cannot use either
of these forms, but must say wa-pi'-si-a'-ni.
The distinguishing characteristic of most of the languages of North
and South America is not "agglutination", or "polysynthesis", which
exist to some extent in all languages, but this basic grammatical dis-
tinction of Sentience. In all inflected Old World languages, Aryan,
Semitic, or any other, the basic grammatical distinction is of sex. Any-
one who has attended a high school is familiar with the "hie, haec, hoc,"
and "meus, mea, meum," of the Latin, and the others are similar.
After wide investigation, and inquiry of missionaries, I have been un-
able to find any Old World language that has this distinction of Sen-
tience not even the Eskimo, which is common to both continents. It
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 41
is an universally recognized rule of philology that no language ever loses
its grammar on account of contact with other languages. Thus, English
has changed in words and pronunciation until the original Anglo-Saxon
is like a foreign language. It has adopted thousands of words from
Latin and various other languages, but it has naturalized them, and
English grammar is still Teutonic. Under this rule, it is impossible
that a people having the 'basic grammatical distinction of sex should
change it to a basic distinction of Sentience ; and this appeals to common
understanding, for it is impossible to conceive how such a change could
occur in a language handed down from father to son.
The most notable exception to this American characteristic is in the
Muscogean languages. The Choctaw, for example, has no inflection
whatever, its place being supplied by adjuncts. The Choctaw word
ha-tak means man or men, with no change of form for Person, Number
or Case, and Gender shown only by the meaning of the word itself.
Neither does it affect in any way the form of the verb. On the principle
stated, such a language could not be derived from an Algonkin source,
or vice versa. We have then at least two independent origins of lan-
guage on this continent, both independent of the Old World; and this
would be accounted for on the hypothesis that the southern Indians were
descendants of the Mound Builders. It is to be regretted that the exist-
ing records of Indian languages do not furnish sufficient material for
the full development of this theory. Max Muller expressed his surprise
that Americans had not given more attention to the record and study
of Indian languages, and so have a few Americans; but the work has
made little progress, and the opportunity for it is rapidly passing away,
all for the lack of money by those who see its importance. If any
American of wealth desires a monument more imperishable than stone
or brass, he could not secure it more certainly, or more economically,
than by endowing a Society for the Preservation of Indian Languages.
But an independent origin of language on this continent implies an
independent origin of man; and here we come into opposition to both
the Black Gown and the Darwinian. What of it? Both of them ought
to concede the Divine origin of at least one teaching of the Bible, and
that is: "The truth shall make you free." In this case the difference
between the Old and the New Worlds is even deeper than language. It
reaches to the habits of thought of the people. Whether you regard the
Old Testament as a Divine revelation or a compilation of tradition, you
must admit its antiquity. From the first it is full of the sex idea
"male and female created he them"; "male and female" they went
into the ark; the promise "Thou shalt be blessed above all people:
there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your
42 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
cattle ' ' ; and the curse of childlessness which caused the mother of John
the Baptist to speak of ' ' my reproach among men ' '. On the other hand,
the Indian, without domestic animals, cared little for the sex of the
animal he pursued for food. The important thing to him was what was
alive and what was not. There is a large, and probably growing, class
who, with conscious superiority, dismiss any suggestion of a direct ac*
of creation with the statement that it is not scientific. Very well. To
all such I offer this nut to crack. On what scientific principle will you
account for the unquestionable fact that from the Hebrews, whose lan-
guage, religion, and daily habit of thought were saturated with the
sex idea, there suddenly developed the three unprecedented and ab-
solutely unique concepts of a Sexless Trinity, a Sexless Heaven, and a
Virgin Birth ?
CHAPTER II
.
THE INDIANA INDIANS
In the last quarter of a century, the best Miami interpreter in Indiana
was Gabriel Godfrey. He was a son of Francois Godfrey, a French
Miami half blood and his wife Sakwata, a Miami woman. It is stated
in local histories that Francois Godfrey 's Indian name was Pah-lons'-wa,
but he had no Indian name, and this is merely the Miami effort to pro-
nounce his French name. They have no sound of "f ", "r", or "v" in
their language, and substitute "p" for "f", and "1" for "r". Gabriel
was born near Hartford City, in Blackford County, January 1, 1834,
and a few days later his mother asked an old Indian friend to give him
a name, as is often done by the Indians. The old man gave him his own
name, "Wa'-pa-na-ki'-ka-pwa, or White Blossoms. The old man held
the tribal office of Ka'-pi-a, which they usually translate "overseer",
but which is more nearly equivalent to umpire or judge. His chief
function was, in case of a receipt of annuity goods, or on a joint hunt,
to see that an equitable distribution was made of the proceeds. Gabriel
was sometimes called Ka'-pi-a on this account, but the title did not be-
long to him. Neither was he a chief, but simply an amiable, honorable
gentleman, who bore adversity bravely, and was universally respected.
Indeed his good-heartedness was his financial" ruin. His father's
family was one of those left in Indiana when the rest of the tribe was
moved to Kansas, and was given several reservation tracts, one half
section of which was in the Mississinewa valley, opposite Peru, near
which Francois had a trading house. To this Gabriel succeeded, and on
it he erected a fine brick home, where he kept open house for all his
Indian and white acquaintances ; and he never lacked for company. He
held one office that of road supervisor and he blamed politics for his
reverses. Politicians persuaded the Indians that they had the right of
suffrage, and ought to vote; and after they began voting the County
Commissioners decided that they ought to be taxed, and put the Indian
lands on the tax-duplicate. At that time the national government was
not giving as much care to its "wards" as it does now, and the Indians
had to look out for themselves. The brunt of the litigation fell on God-
frey ; and after the case had dragged along for thirteen years, and what
43
44
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
was left of his property had gone for costs and attorney's fees, it was
dismissed.
He had no schooling. When he was about ten years old his father
sent him to Vincennes for instruction by M. Bellier, the village peda-
gogue, but within a week the youthful student was so homesick that he
was packed back home. However he had a bright mind and a fine
memory. The book of nature was very attractive to him, and he be-
came an encyclopedia of forest lore and local history. His excellence
as an interpreter was due to his general information and the fact that
he knew English so well that he could think in it as well as in Miami.
No Indian interpreter is "vtfry reliable until he reaches that point. I
did considerable language work with him in the last five years of his
life he died on August 14, 1910 and one day, when we were talking
about the early history of the Miamis, he gave me the following legend
of the origin of the tribe, which he had learned from Ki-tun'-ga (i. e.
Sleepy, commonly known to the whites as Charley.) who used to take
the boys fishing at night, and tell them stories while waiting for a
bite:
A-HON'-DJI KIN-DO'-KI PI-A'-WATC MI-A'-MI-A'-KI.
WHENCE FIKST THEY CAME THE MIAMIS.
Mi-ta'-ml Mi-a'-mi-a'-ki
In the beginning the Miamis
sa-ka'-tci-wft-tclk'. A-hon'-dji
they came out.
ni-pln-gon'-dji
from the water
sa-ka'-tci-wfi-wate'
From where they came out
Sa'-ki-wa-yun'-gi
Coming Out Place
nfi-wfi-yo'-sa-tcik'
the first ones
sa-ka'-kwe-lo'",
catch hold of",
I-ta'-mmg.
it is named.
Ni-pln-gon'-dji
From the water
'Pa-mit'-ta-nok
'Limbs of trees
nun -gi
now
sa-ka'-tci-wi-tcik'
they came out
Ni-an'-dji ma'-tci-ka-tik' ;
From there they went away
mo-ki-tci'-ki.
they came to the top.
il-H'-ti-tcik'. Na'-hi
they told each other. And when
ni-a'-hi a-mm-o'-ta-tclk'.
there they made a town.
min-o'-ta-ni
the town
na-ka-tan'-gik.
they left it.
Ka-pot'-wa"
After a while
kwi-ta-ka'-kl
other
n'go'-ti
one
a-pwa'-yat.
he went back
A-pwft'-pi-at
When he came
to-s&n'-i-a'-ki
Indians
na-wa'-kik
he saw them
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 45
Sa'-ki-wa-yun'-gi. Na-pa'-sa na'-pi
(at) Coming Out Place. He was surprised but
fl-la-ta'-wa-tcik' il-la-ta'-wai-ang'. Na-hi'-sa wen' -da-watc'
they talked (as) we talk. And then he called them
Ma-ta'-kis-sa'-na-ka'-na il-la-tci'-ki i'-na to-san'-i-a'-kl.
Old Moccasins he named them those Indians.
Mot'-yi n 'gi'-ka-li'-ma-so' wan'-dji-na-ko'-si-watc'.
Not I do not know of what tribe they were.
Mot'-yi-wa-yak kl-ka-li'-ma-wat' a'-hi i-a'-watc. O-ni'-nl
Nobody he knows where they went. This
nm-gi'-ki i-ci'-mi-wa'-tci, ran'-gi-a Sa'-ka-kwat'
my mothers they told me, my mother .She Takes Hold
a-ml-sa'-H Wa-pan'-gl-kwa. Tca'-kl to-san'-l-a'-kl
her elder sister Swan woman. All the Indians
ki-o'-ca-ki a-lam'-tan-gik'. Si-pi'-wi Sa'-ki-wa-sl-pi'-wi
old they believe it. The river Coming Out River
wen'-dan-gik' a-hon'-dji sa'-ka-tcl-wfi-watc'. I-ni'-m
they call it. from where they came out. That
wi-on-gon'-dji mn'-ji wen-di'-tcl-tci'-ki Sa'-ka-kwat',
on account of often they give names She Takes Hold,
Sa-ka'-ko-nang' Sa-ka'-ko-kwfi.
He Grasps It, Holding Woman.
The river referred to is the St. Joseph's, of Lake Michigan, and
Sa-ki-wa-yun-gi is the name of South Bend. This fable teaches many
things, and first the tendency of mankind to make stories to fit names.
The obvious source of the story is the fact that in the early period the
site of South Bend was the beginning of the portage to the Kankakee,
and consequently the coming out place for travelers going that way,
while the chief distinction of the river was that it was the way to
reach the portage. Godfrey started with the statement that he got
the story from Ki-tun'-ga; but he winds up with the statement that
his mother and aunt told him about it, and that all the old Indians be-
lieved it. It was a general tradition, and yet the common use of the
portage had not been discontinued as much as a century when Godfrey
was a boy. It was not used by the Miamis after they settled in Indiana,
for they were never a ' ' canoe people ' '. La Potherie says of them :
"They travel by water very rarely but are great walkers, which has
.
46 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
caused them to be called Metousceptinioueks, or Pilgrims". They did
not use birchbark canoes in Indiana, partly because suitable birch did
not grow here, and partly because a boat of that kind would soon be
made useless by the stones and snags of our rivers. An Indiana Indian
GABRIEL GODFROY
(Wa'-pa-na-ki'-ka-pwa or "White Blossoms)
had little use for a boat except for hunting and fishing, and a dug-out
was entirely satisfactory for these purposes. The French fur traders
used bateaux or the large dug-outs called pirogues. In emergency, In-
dians, French and pioneer Americans would make a raft of logs tied
together with vines, which the Canadians called a "cajeu. "
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 47
The story also illustrates a habit of mind of the Indian. The first
essential of wood-craft is to know "the reason of things", and he was
constantly seeking them. An Indian will revert to anything unusual or
strange again and again, until he works out some explanation for it.
In this case the story is confirmed not only by the names of the place
and the river, but also by the personal names. Indian babies were
often named on account of some little peculiarity manifested in the
first few days of their lives, and such names as these were originally
adopted for infants that showed a disposition to clutch at objects, as
many babies do, and later were still more widely spread by the practice
of naming for relatives and friends. But all this was forgotten when
such a fine theory of the name was presented. Such stories are common
everywhere. Within fifty years the Winnebagoes invented a story that
the name of Chicago originated from a monster manito skunk being seen
to land at that place, whence the name "Place of the Skunk." In reality
the name means "Place of garlic or wild onions", the same stem,
ci-kag, occurring in both words, as is conclusively shown by the testimony
of Tonty, LaMothe Cadillac, and other early writers. In like manner
the Romans made the story of Romulus and Remus to fit the name of
Rome; and we have half-a-dozen wholly unfounded stories to explain
the word "Hoosier".
As to the words of the story, it wiE be noted that some of them do
not end with a vowel. This is due to the common practice of the Miami
to abbreviate in ordinary conversation, just as we use can't and don't,
when the context shows all that the ending would show. As to spelling,
all Indian words in this book are in the uniform orthography recom-
mended by Major Powell, of the Bureau of Ethnology, which may be
briefly stated as follows: All unmarked vowels have the "Continental"
force, which is, e as a in fate or ey in they ; a as in far ; i as in pique,
or e in me ; o as in note ; u as in rule ; w and y are always consonants,
as in wet and yet. The short vowels are a as in bat ; e as in bet ; I as in
bit, and u as in but. Others are a as in law, and u as in pull. The
diphthongs are ai as i in pine ; au as ou in out ; ai as oi in boil. The
consonants have their usual English force, with these exceptions: g is
always hard as in gig ; c is always soft as sh in shall ; tc is sounded as
ch in chin ; j is as z in azure ; dj is as j in judge ; q represents a rare
sound of gh, similar to German ch.
Finally, the story comes as near accounting for the origin of the
Miamis as any offered elsewhere. In his speech to Gen. Wayne at the
treaty of Greenville, The Little Turtle, the Miami head chief, said:
"It is well known by all my brothers present, that my forefathers
kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence he extended his lines to
46
INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
caused them to be called Metousceptinioueks, or Pilgrims". They did
not use birchbark canoes in Indiana, partly because suitable birch did
not grow here, and partly because a boat of that kind would soon be
made useless by the stones and snags of our rivers. An Indiana Indian
GABRIEL GODFROY
(Wa'-pa-na-ki'-ka-pwa or "White Blossoms)
had little use for a boat except for hunting and fishing, and a dug-out
was entirely satisfactory for these purposes. The French fur traders
used bateaux or the large dug-outs called pirogues. In emergency, In-
dians, French and pioneer Americans would make a raft of logs tied
together with vines, which the Canadians called a "eajeu. "
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 47
The story also illustrates a habit of mind of the Indian. The first
essential of wood-craft is to know "the reason of things", and he was
constantly seeking them. An Indian will revert to anything unusual or
strange again and again, until he works out some explanation for it.
In this case the story is confirmed not only by the names of the place
and the river, but also by the personal names. Indian babies were
often named on account of some little peculiarity manifested in the
first few days of their lives, and such names as these were originally
adopted for infants that showed a disposition to clutch at objects, as
many babies do, and later were still more widely spread by the practice
of naming for relatives and friends. But all this was forgotten when
such a fine theory of the name was presented. Such stories are common
everywhere. Within fifty years the Winnebagoes invented a story that
the name of Chicago originated from a monster manito skunk being seen
to land at that place, whence the name ' ' Place of the Skunk. ' ' In reality
the name means "Place of garlic or wild onions", the same stem,
ci-kag, occurring in both words, as is conclusively shown by the testimony
of Tonty, LaMothe Cadillac, and other early writers. In like manner
the Romans made the story of Romulus and Remus to fit the name of
Rome; and we have half-a-dozen wholly unfounded stories to explain
the word "Hoosier". , :
As to the words of the story, it will be noted that some of them do
not end with a vowel. This is due to the common practice of the Miami
to abbreviate in ordinary conversation, just as we use can't and don't,
when the context shows all that the ending would show. As to spelling,
all Indian words in this book are in the uniform orthography recom-
mended by Major Powell, of the Bureau of Ethnology, which may be
briefly stated as follows: All unmarked vowels have the "Continental"
force, which is, e as a in fate or ey in they ; a as in far ; i as in pique,
or e in me ; o as in note ; u as in rule ; w and y are always consonants,
as in wet and yet. The short vowels are a as in bat ; e as in bet : I as in
bit, and u as in but. Others are a as in law, and u as in pull. The
diphthongs are ai as i in pine ; au as ou in out ; ai as oi in boil. The
consonants have their usual English force, with these exceptions: g is
always hard as in gig ; c is always soft as sh in shall ; tc is sounded as
ch in chin ; j is as z in azure ; dj is as j in judge ; q represents a rare
sound of gh, similar to German ch.
Finally, the story comes as near accounting for the origin of the
Miamis as any offered elsewhere. In his speech to Gen. Wayne at the
treaty of Greenville, The Little Turtle, the Miami head chief, said:
"It is well known by all my brothers present, that my forefathers
kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence he extended his lines to
48 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
the headwaters of the Scioto; from thence to its mouth; from thence
down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash ; and from thence to Chicago,
on Lake Michigan". This may possibly be true, but it certainly is not
true, as he farther asserted, that the territory described "has been en-
joyed by my forefathers, time immemorial, without molestation or dis-
pute". Of assertions of title to this region, that can be considered
historical, the one that reaches farthest back into the past is in a deed
given by the Iroquois sachems to King William of England in 1701,
and it is here presented as the starting point in Indiana history.
THE FIRST INDIANA DEED OP LAND 1
To All Christian & Indian People in This Paarte of the World and
in Europe Over the Great Salt Waters, to Whom These Presents Shall
Come Wee the Sachims Chief men, Captns and representatives of the
Five nations or Cantona of Indians called the Maquase Oneydes Onnan-
dages and Sinnekes living in the Government of New Yorke in America,
to the north west of Albany on this side the Lake Cadarachqui sendeth
greeting Bee it known unto you that our ancestors to our certain
knowledge have had, time out of mind a fierce and bloody warr with
seaven nations of Indians called the Aragaritkas whose chief comand
was called successively Chohahise 2 The land is scituate lyeing and
being northwest and by west from Albany beginning on the south west
side of Cadarachqui lake and includes all that waste Tract of Land
lyeing between the great lake off Ottawawa (Lake Huron) and the lake
called by the natives Sahiquage and by the Christians the lake of Swege
(Lake Erie) and runns till it butts upon the Twichtwichs (Miamis) and is
bounded on the right hand by a place called Quadoge (near Chicago) con-
teigning in length about eight hundred miles and in bredth four hundred
miles including the country where the bevers the deers, Elks and such
beasts keep and the place called Tieugsachrondio, alias Fort de Tret or
wawyachtenok (Ouiatanon) and so runs around the lake of swege till you
come to place called Oniadarondaquat which is about twenty miles from
the Sinnekes Castles which said seaven nations our predecessors did four
score years agoe totally conquer and subdue and drove them out of that
1 N. Y. Col. Docs. Vol. 4, p. 909. In his encyclopedic Narrative and Critical
History of the U. 8., Winsor, in discussing British claims based on this transfer,
says: "No treaty exists by which the Iroquois transferred this conquered country
to the English." Vol. 5, p. 564. He does not mention this deed, though he quotes
documents that refer to this transaction, presumably not having noticed its existence.
2 The chiefs of "the Neutral Nation" were called "Tsohahissen" (Jesuit Bela-
tions, Vol. 21, p. 207) and the author of the Relation of 1641-2 expresses his belief
that "the Neutral Nation" originally meant "all the other nations which are wrath
and southwest of our Hurons. "
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 49
country and had peaceable and quiet possession of the same to hunt
bevers (which was the motive caused us to war for the same) for three
score years it being the only chief place for hunting in this parte of the
world that ever wee heard of and after that wee had been sixty years
sole masters and owners of the said land enjoying peaceable hunting
without any internegotion, a remnant of one of the seaven nations
called Tionondade (Hurons) whom wee had expelled and drove away
came and settled there twenty years agoe disturbed our beaver hunting
against which nation wee have warred ever since and would have sub-
dued them long ere now had not they been assisted and succoured by
the French of Canada, and whereas the Governour of Canada aforesaid
hath lately sent a considerable force to a place called Tjeughsaghronde
the principall passe that commands said land to build a Forte there
without our leave and consent, by which means they will possess them-
selves of that excellent country where there is not only a very good
soile but great plenty of all manner of wild beasts in such quantities
that there is no maner of trouble in killing of them and also will be sole
masters of the Boar ( ?beaver) hunting whereby wee shall be deprived
of our livelyhood and subsistance and brought to perpetual bondage and
slavery, and wee having subjected ourselves and lands on this side of
Cadarachqui lake wholy to the Crown of England wee the said Sachims
chief men Captns and representatives of the Five nations after mature
deliberation out of a deep sence of the many Royall favours extended
to us by the present great Monarch of England King William the third,
and in consideration also that wee have lived peaceably and quietly with
the people of albany our fellow subjects above eighty years when wee
first made a firm league and covenant chain with these Christians that
first came to settle Albany on this river which covenant chain hath, been
yearly renewed and kept bright and clear by all the Governoure suc-
cessively and many neighbouring Governmts of English and nations
of Indians have since upon their request been admitted into the same.
Wee say upon these and many other good motives us hereunto moving
have freely and voluntary surrendered delivered up and forever quit
claimed, and by these presents doe for us our heires and successors
absolutely surrender, deliver up and for ever quit claime unto our
Great Lord and Master the King of England called by us Corachkoo
and by the Christians William the third and to his heires and successors
Kings and Queens of England for ever all the right title and interest
and all the claime and demand whatsoever which wee the said five
nations of Indians called the Maquase, Oneydes, Onnondages, Cayouges
and Sinnekes now have or which wee ever had or that our heires or suc-
cessors at any time hereafter may or ought to have of in or to all that vast
Tract of land or Colony called Canagariarchio beginning on the north-
Vol. 14
50 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
west side of Cadarachqui lake and includes all that vast tract of land
lyeing between the great lake of Ottawawa and the lake called by the
natives Cahiquage and by the Christians the lake of Swege and runns
till it butts upon the Twiohtwichs and is bounded on the westward by
the Twichtwichs by a place called Quadoge contenting in length about
eight hundred miles and in breath four hundred miles including the
County where Beavers and all sorts of wild game keeps and the place
called Tjeughsaghrondie alias Fort de tret or Wawyachtenock and so
runns round the lake of Swege till you come to a place called Oniagar-
umlaquat which is about twenty miles from the Sinnekes castles includ-
ing likewise the great falls oakinagaro, (Niagara) all which (was)
formerly posest by seaven nations of Indians called the Aragaritka
whom by a fair warr wee subdued and drove from thence four score
years agoe bringing many of them captives to our country and soe
became to be the true owners of the same by conquest which said land
is scituate lyeing and being as is above expressed with the whole soyle
the lakes the rivers and all things pertaining to the said tract of land
or colony with power to erect Forts and castles there, soe that wee the
said Five nations nor our heires nor any other person or persons for
us by any ways or meanes hereafter have claime challenge and demand
of -in or to the premises or any parte thereof alwayes provided and it
is hereby expected that wee are to have free hunting for us and the
heires and descendants from us the Five nations for ever and that free
of all disturbances expecting to be protected therein by the Crown of
England but from all the action right title interest and demand of in
or to the premises or every of them shall and will be utterly excluded
and debarred for ever by these presents and wee the said Sachims of
the Five Nations of Indians called the Maquase, Oneydes, Onnandages,
Cayouges and Sinnekes and our heires .the said tract of land or Colony,
lakes and rivers and premises and every part and parcell thereof with
their and every of their appurtenances unto our souveraigne Lord, the
King William the third & his heires and successors Kings of England
to his and their proper use and uses against us our heires and all and
every other person lawfully claiming by from or under us the said
Five nations shall and will warrant and for ever defend by these
presents In Witness whereof wee the Sachims of the Five nations
above mentioned in behalf of ourselves and the Five nations have
signed and sealed this present Instrument and delivered the same as
an Act and deed to the Honble John Nanfan Esqr Lieutt Govr to our
Great King in this province whom wee call Corlaer in the presence of
all the Magistrates officers and other inhabitants of Albany praying
our Brother Corlaer to send it over to Carachkoo our dread Souveraigne
Lord and that he would be graciously pleased to accept of the same.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
51
Actuin in Albany in the middle of the high street this nineteenth day
of July in the thirteenth year of His Majty's reign Annoque Domini
1701.
SlNNBKJBS
Tehonwaren
Sooahao
Tocoquat
genie (ia).
wanne (L a).
(L.).
Sodsio
Thodiino/*
Nijuch
MAQCASB SACHIMB
V^, gO (LS.
Onoeher QJl**~~*L^ anorum (L a).
Teoni ty^ "*"% ahigarawe
alias Hendrik (L a).
Tirogareo *T - ^W a '' as Cornelia (L a).
Siaen (^_^j S^f*"* (*)
^^
Tuoch v_J/ rachbou(La).
Ach
CATOUOBS SACHUM
wanne (La.).
jago (L a).
sagentigquoa (La.).
ONMAMDAOB SACHIMS
nawadiqua (La.)
wadochon (LO).
/
* A taehede (L a),
ganaattie (L a)
rirebo (L a).
ONEYDE SACHIMS
ronda (L a).
Sealed and delivered in the presence of us
Pr Schuyler
J Jansen Bleeker Mayor
Johs Bleeker Recorder
John Abeel Alderman
Johannes Schuyler Aldern
David Schuyler Aldermn
Wessells ten Broek Alderman
Dyrk "Wessels justice
James Weenies
Jonathan Broadhurst high Sheriff
M. Clarkson Secretary
S Clows Surveyor
Rt. Livingston Secretary for the
Indian affares
Johannes Roseboom Alderman John Baptist van Eps) .
Johannes Cuyler Alderman r-ir<. rn= t *
this is a true Copy
Lawrence Claese ^
(Signed) John Nan fan.
52 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
This deed was drawn, of course, by a representative of the British
government, probably Nanfan, as he was the active agent in the matter,
and is designed to make the Iroquois claim as strong as possible. The
assertion of "peaceable and quiet possession" is as unfounded as the
similar claim of The Little Turtle. But the general statement of the
extent of the Iroquois conquest is confirmed by all English and French
chroniclers who had any information on the subject, and its historical
truth is beyond question. It is to be regretted that no more explicit
information is given as to the "seaven nations of Indians called the
Aragaritkas ", but even that was made more clear by others. In his
letter of Nov. 13, 1763, when the interior of the country was very much
better known than in 1700, Sir William Johnson said: "The Five
nations having in the last Century subdued the Shawanese, Delawares,
Twighties (Miamis) & western Indians so far as lakes Michigan &
Superior, * * * In right of conquest, they claim all the Country
(comprehending the Ohio) along the grearRidge of Blew Mountains at
the back of Virginia, thence to the head of Kentucke River, and down
the same to the Ohio above the Rifts, thence Northerly to the South end
of Lake Michigan, then along the eastern shore of said lake to Missili-
mackinac thence easterly across the North end of Lake Huron to the
great Ottawa River (including the Chippawae or Missisagey Country)
and down the said River to the Island of Montreal". 3
Among the French, no one was better acquainted with the situation
than LaSalle, and in his relation of 1679-80 he said of the Iroquois:
"They are shrewd, tricky, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel to their
enemies, whom they burn in little fires with torture and cruelty incred-
ible. Although there are among them only about 2,500 warriors, as
they are the best armed and most warlike of all North America, they
have defeated and then exterminated all their neighbors. They have
carried their arms on all sides to 800 leagues around, that is to say
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to Hudsons Bay, to Florida, and even to
the Mississippi. They have destroyed more than thirty nations, brought
to death in forty years more than 600,000 souls, and have made desert
most of the country about the great lakes". 4 In his letter to Frontenac,
of Aug. 22, 1682, he says of the Iroquois: "Those- who wish to hunt
beaver, finding few north of the lake (Ontario) where they are com-
paratively rare, go to seek them towards the south, to the west of Lake
Erie, where they are in great abundance; because, before the destruc-
tion of the Illinois, and of the Kentaientonga and Ganeiensaga, whom
the Iroquois defeated a year since, and of the Chaouanons, Ouabachi,
Tistontaraetonga, Gandostogega, Mosopolea, Sounikaeronons and Ochi-
N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol, 7, p. 572.
Margry, Vol. 1, p. 504.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 53
tagonga, with whom they have also been contesting for several years,
they dared not hunt in these parts infested by so many enemies who
had the same fear of the Iroquois, and little habit of profiting by the
skins of these animals, having commerce with the English but very
rarely, because they could not without great labor, time and risk. ' ' 3
This is the most explicit statement of the situation as to Indiana,
for this beaver land is necessarily northern Indiana, and probably these
seven tribes named by LaSalle are "the seaven nations". The Chaou-
anons (Shawnees) and Mosopolea (or Monsoupolea) had fled into Ken-
tucky and Tennessee, and are so located on the map of Father Mar-
quette in his voyage down the Mississippi, in 1673. He says in his
journal the Shawnees "are the people the Iroquois go far to seek in
order to wage an unprovoked war upon them". 6 The Gandostogega
were the Conestogas. By the Ouabachi he evidently means the people
living on the Wabash river, and by the Tistontaraetonga the people
living on the Maumee, for he says elsewhere that the Iroquois called the
Maumee " Tiotontaraeton ". 7
This extraordinary war, which so profoundly affected Indiana, be-
gan before the year 1600, between the Adirondacks, who were the tribe
specifically called Algonkitts by the French, and the Iroquois. It was
in progress when the French made their first settlement in Acadia,
lasted for a century; and affected the attitude of the Indians in all of
our early wars. Golden gives a long account of it, beginning: "The
Adirondacks formerly lived three hundred Miles above Trois Rivieres,
where now the Utawawas are situated ; at that time they employ 'd them-
selves wholly in Hunting, and the Five Nations made planting of Corn
their Business. By this Means they became useful to each other, by
exchanging Corn for Venison. The Adirondacks , howeyer, valued
themselves as delighting in a more manly Employment, and despised the
Five Nations, in following Business, which they thought only fit for
Women". The Adirondacks treacherously murdered five Iroquois
youths, and this brought on a quarrel, which led the Adirondacks to
make war on the Iroquois. Golden continues: "The Five Nations then
lived near where Mont Real now stands ; they defended themselves at first
but faintly against the vigorous Attacks of the Adirondacks, and were
forced to leave their own Country, and fly to the Banks of the Lakes
where they live now. As they were hitherto Losers by the War, it
obliged them to apply themselves-to the Exercise of Arms, in which they
became daily more and more expert. Their Sachems, in order to raise
their People's Spirits, turned them against the Satanas, a less warlike
s Margry, Vol. 2, p. 237.
Shea 's Disc, and Exp. of the Miss., p. 42.
^ Margry, Vol. 2, p. 243.
54
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Nation, who then lived on the Banks of the Lakes; for they found it
was difficult to remove the Dread their People had of the Valour of the
Adirondacks". 8
The Iroquois soon subdued and drove out the Satanas, which is their
ATTACK ON IROQUOIS FORT
(After Lafitau)
name for the Shawnees, and then turned their attention to the Adiron-
dacks, whom they finally overcame. As refugees from a defeated tribe
took refuge with another tribe, the Iroquois attacked their host and so
the war spread from tribe to tribe. The chief cause of Iroquois success
s Hist, of the Five Nations. London, 1748, p. 22.
.
.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 55
was that they obtained fire-arms from the Dutch before the other tribes
secured them ; but even with this advantage they could not have endured
their losses in battle but for their practice of adopting captive children
and bringing them up as Iroquois. The statement of Colden is confirmed
on the French side by the Jesuit Relation of 1659-60, which states that
the war began in the preceding century, and that the Iroquois had the
worst of it until the Dutch settled at Manhattan, and furnished them
with fire-arms. It says that by virtue of these weapons "they actually
hold dominion for five hundred leagues around, although their number
is very small". It estimates their warriors at only 2,000, and adds : "If
anyone should compute the number of pure-blooded Iroquois, he would
have difficulty in finding more than twelve hundred of them in all the
Five Nations, since these are, for the most part, only aggregations of
different tribes whom they have conquered, as the Hurons; the Tion-
nontatehronnons, otherwise called the Tobacco Nation ; the Atiwendaronk,
called the Neutrals when they were still independent ; the Riquehronnons,
who are the Cat Nation (Erie) the Ontwagannhas, or fire Nation; the
Trakwaehronnons, and others, who, utter Foreigners although they are,
form without doubt the largest and best part of the Iroquois". 9
This concurrent testimony fairly establishes the Iroquois declaration
that they drove all of the inhabitants out of Indiana about the year 1621 ;
and it is certain that when the French first came in contact with the
tribes known as Indiana Indians they were located far to the west.
In a description of "the recently discovered nations" in 1657-8, and
their location with reference to the new missionary establishment of
St. Michel, which was on the Bay of the Puans, or Green Bay, on the
west side of Lake Michigan, the following passages occur :
"The fifth nation, called the Aliniouek (Illinois) is larger; it is com-
puted at fully 20,000 men and sixty villages, making about a hundred
thousand souls in all. It is seven days journey westward from St.
Michel.
"The sixth nation, whose people are called Oumamik (Miamis) is
distant sixty leagues, or thereabout, from St. Michel. It has fully eight
thousand men, or more than twenty-four thousand souls". 10
Even here the Iroquois followed them, and within a few years part
of them were driven beyond the Mississippi, where the Illinois and
the "Wawiatanons (Weas) are located on Joliet's map of 1674. There
was one Miami tribe, however, known as the Miamis of Maramech, which
remained throughout this period on the Wisconsin river with the Kick-
apoos and Mascoutins, and of this joint settlement the Relation of 1671
says: "They have together more than three thousand souls, being able
Jesuit Eel., Vol. 45, p. 203-7.
10 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 44, p. 247.
TV i
54
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Nation, who then lived on the Banks of the Lakes; for they found it
was difficult to remove the Dread their People had of the Valour of the
Adirondacks". 8
The Iroquois soon subdued and drove out the Satanas, which is their
ATTACK ON IROQUOIS FORT
(After Lafitau)
name for the Shawnees, and then turned their attention to the Adiron-
dacks, whom they finally overcame. As refugees from a defeated tribe
took refuge with another tribe, the Iroquois attacked their host and so
the war spread from tribe to tribe. The chief cause of Iroquois success
* Hist, of the Five Nations. London, 1748, p. 22.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
55
was that they obtained fire-arms from the Dutch before the other tribes
secured them ; but even with this advantage they could not have endured
their losses in battle but for their practice of adopting captive children
and bringing them up as Iroquois. The statement of Colden is confirmed
on the French side by the Jesuit Relation of 1659-60, which states that
the war began in the preceding century, and that the Iroquois had the
worst of it until the Dutch settled at Manhattan, and furnished them
with fire-arms. It says that by virtue of these weapons "they actually
hold dominion for five hundred leagues around, although their number
is very small". It estimates their warriors at only 2,000, and adds: "If
anyone should compute the number of pure-blooded Iroquois, he would
have difficulty in finding more than twelve hundred of them in all the
Five Nations, since these are, for the most part, only aggregations of
different tribes whom they have conquered, as the Hurons; the Tion-
nontatehronnons, otherwise called the Tobacco Nation ; the Atiwendaronk,
called the Neutrals when they were still independent ; the Riquehronnons,
who are the Cat Nation (Erie) the Ontwagannhas, or fire Nation; the
Trakwaehronnons, and others, who, utter Foreigners although they are,
form without doubt the largest and best part of the Iroquois". 9
This concurrent testimony fairly establishes the Iroquois declaration
that they drove all of the inhabitants out of Indiana about the year 1621 ;
and it is certain that when the French first came in contact with the
tribes known as Indiana Indians they were located far to the west.
In a description of "the recently discovered nations" in 1657-8, and
their location with reference to the new missionary establishment of
St. Michel, which was on the Bay of the Puans, or Green Bay, on the
west side of Lake Michigan, the following passages occur :
"The fifth nation, called the Aliniouek (Illinois) is larger; it is com-
puted at fully 20,000 men and sixty villages, making about a hundred
thousand souls in all. It is seven days journey westward from St.
Michel.
"The sixth nation, whose people are called Oumamik (Miamis) is
distant sixty leagues, or thereabout, from St. Michel. It has fully eight
thousand men, or more than twenty- four thousand souls". 10
Even here the Iroquois followed them, and within a few years part
of them were driven beyond the Mississippi, where the Illinois and
the "Wawiatanons (Weas) are located on Joliet's map of 1674. There
was one Miami tribe, however, known as the Miamis of Maramech, which
remained throughout this period on the Wisconsin river with the Kick-
apoos and Mascoutins, and of this joint settlement the Relation of 1671
says: "They have together more than three thousand souls, being able
s Jesuit Eel., Vol. 45, p. 203-7.
10 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 44, p. 247.
56 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
to furnish each four hundred men to defend themselves from the Iro-
quois, who come to seek them even in these distant lands".
In the Relation of 1672-4, Father Allouez describes this joint settle-
ment on the Wisconsin as composed of "twenty cabins of ilinoues
(Illinois) thirty large cabins of Kikabou (Kickapoos) fifty of Mas-
koutench (Mascoutins) over ninety of miamiak (Miamis) and three of
ouaouiatanoukak (Ouiatanons or Weas) ". Later in the same document,
having mentioned the mission to the Potawatomis at Green Bay, and
that to the Outagamis west of it, he says: "Still farther to the west-
ward, in the woods, are the atchatchakangouen ll , the Machkoutench,
Marameg, Kikaboua, and Kitchigamich ; the village where the atchat-
chakangouen are, and whither come the Ilinoue, the Kakackioueck (Kas-
kaskias), Peoualen (Peorias), ouaouiatanouk, memilounioue, pepikoukia,
kilitika, mengakoukia, some for a short time, others for a long time.
These tribes dwell on the Banks of the Mississippi, and all speak the
same language". 12
The changes of location of these tribes in the next thirty years were
due to French influence, and the only record of any of them being
within Indiana in that time is LaSalle's statement of finding a mixed
village of Miamis, Mascoutins and Ouiatanons at the west end of the
South Bend portage in 1679 ; and he says of them : ' ' The Miamis lived
formerly at the west of the Lake of the Illinois ; whence, from fear of
the Iroquois, they fled beyond the Mississippi, where they established
themselves. The Jesuit fathers sent them presents for several years to
induce them to return to their old homes, and they concluded finally to
detach a party who located at the head of the Teatiki (Kankakee)
river". 13 LaSalle recurs to this in his letter of Aug. 22, 1682, as
follows :
"The Miamis had formerly been forced to abandon their ancient
territory by fear of the arms of the Iroquois, and had fled to that of
the river Colbert (Mississippi) towards the West, among the Otoutanta
(Otoes), the Paote (lowas) and the Mascoutins Sioux who "received
them four years ago. Having made their peace with the Illinois, a part
of these same Miamis, invited by presents from the Jesuits who live at
Green Bay, moved nearer them, under the conduct of Ouabichagan,
which is to say the White Necklace, chief of the principal tribe named
Tchatchakigoa, which is to say in their language the Crane, and of one
named Schaouac, which is to say the Eagle. This nation established
1 1 Elsewhere called Tchatohakigoa, who were the Crane clan of the Miamis, called
Twigh-twighs, or Twightwees by the Iroquois and English, who were later located at
Fort Wayne; and who were called "Elder Brothers" by the other Miamis.
12 Jesuit Belations, Vol. 58,. pp. 23, 41.
is Margry, Vol. 1, p. 505.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
57
itself to the West of the lake of the Illinois, on this side of the great
river and had much commerce for several years with the Jesuit
Fathers". 14
The return movement to the east will be considered in connection
..-*
\
IROQUOIS CAPTIVES
(After Latitau. Above, at night; below, by day)
with the French establishments, but it may be mentioned here that
LaSalle's activities aroused the Iroquois to more vigorous efforts. When
they were taken to task by M. de la Barre, in council, in 1684, for attack-
Margry, Vol. 2, p. 215.
56
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
to furnish each four hundred men to defend themselves from the Iro-
quois, who come to seek them even in these distant lands".
In the Relation of 1672-4, Father Allouez describes this joint settle-
ment on the Wisconsin as composed of "twenty cabins of ilinoues
(Illinois) thirty large cabins of Kikabou (Kickapoos) fifty of Mas-
koutench (Mascoutins) over ninety of miamiak (Miamis) and three of
ouaouiatanoukak (Ouiatanons or Weas) ". Later in the same document,
having mentioned the mission to the Potawatomis at Green Bay, and
that to the Outagamis west of it, he says: "Still farther to the west-
ward, in the woods, are the atchatchakangouen 11 , the Machkouteuch,
Marameg, Kikaboua, and Kitchigamich ; the village where the atchat-
chakangouen are, and whither come the Ilinoue, the Kakackioueck (Kas-
kaskias), Peoualeu (Peorias), ouaouiatanouk, memilounioue, pepikoukia,
kilitika, mengakoukia, some for a short time, others for a long time.
These tribes dwell on the Banks of the Mississippi, and all speak the
same language". 12
The changes of location of these tribes in the next thirty years were
due to French influence, and the only record of any of them being
within Indiana in that time is LaSalle's statement of finding a mixed
village of Miamis, Mascoutins and Ouiatanons at the west end of the
South Bend portage in 1679; and he says of them: "The Miamis lived
formerly at the west of the Lake of the Illinois ; whence, from fear of
the Iroquois, they fled beyond the Mississippi, where they established
themselves. The Jesuit fathers sent them presents for several years to
induce them to return to their old homes, and they concluded finally to
detach a party who located at the head of the Teatiki (Kankakee)
river". 13 LaSalle recurs to this in his letter of Aug. 22, 1682, as
follows :
"The Miamis had formerly been forced to abandon their ancient
territory by fear of the arms of the Iroquois, and had fled to that of
the river Colbert (Mississippi) towards the West, among the Otoutanta
(Otces), the Paote (lowas) and the Mascoutins Sioux who received
them four years ago. Having made their peace with the Illinois, a part
of these same Miamis, invited by presents from the Jesuits who live at
Green Bay, moved nearer them, under the conduct of Ouabichagan,
which is to say the White Necklace, chief of the principal tribe named
Tfhatehakigoa, which is to say in their language the Crane, and of one
named Schaouac, which is to say the Eagle. This nation established
11 Elsewhere called Tchatchakigoa, who were the Crane clan of the Miamis, called
Twigh-twiglis, or Twightwees by the Iroquois and English, who were later located at
Fort Wayne: anil who were called "Elder Brothers" by the other Miamis.
i- Jesuit Relations, Vol. 08, pp. 23, 41.
i-iMargry, Vol. 1, p. 505.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
57
itself to the West of the lake of the Illinois, on this side of the great
river and had much commerce for several years with the Jesuit
Fathers". 14
The return movement to the east will be considered in connection
IROQCOIS CAPTIVES
(After Lafitau. Above, at night; below, by day)
.
with the French establishments, but it may be mentioned here that
LaSallc's activities aroused the Iroquois to more vigorous efforts. AVhen
they were taken to task by M. de la Barre, in council, in 1684, for attat-k-
'Olargry, Vol. 2, p. 215.
58 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
ing the French, the Iroquois chief Grangula replied: "We have robbed
no Frenchmen but those who supply 'd the Illinese and the Oumamis
(our enemies) with fusees, with powder, and with ball; these indeed we
took care of because such arms might have cost us our life. * * *
We fell upon the Illinese and the Oumamis because they cut down the
trees of peace, that serv'd for limits or boundaries to our Frontiers.
They came to hunt Beavers upon our lands ; and contrary to the customs
of all the savages, have carried off whole Stocks, both Male and
Female". 15
After the destruction of LaSalle's establishment on the Illinois,
Father Jean de Lamberville reported from the Iroquois: "Last year
they brought 700 Illinois captives, all of whom they keep alive. They
killed and ate over 600 others on the spot, without counting those whom
they burned on the road. They saved the children who could live
without the milk of their mothers, whom they had killed ; but the others
were cruelly roasted and devoured. * * * They are beginning to
attack some of our allies called the Oumiamis, a nation of the bay des
Puants, and they have already burned 6 or 7 of these, without counting
those whom they have massacred". 16 On Nov. 4, 1686, he wrote: "The
army of 200 Senecas returns this month of September to the country
of the Omiamicks, 500 of whom they say they brought away or
took prisoners". 17
In 1687, in reply to Gov. Dongan's appeal to them to make peace
with the Western tribes, and secure the beaver trade for the English,
the Iroquois replied: "As for the Twichtwicks Indians, who are our
mortal enemies, and have killed a great many of our people a Beaver
hunting, wee know not whether wee can effect a peace with them ; never-
theless upon our Excellency's desire wee will try and doe our en-
deavour". 18 But peace was not to come from their efforts. That same
year Gov. Denonville of Canada with a 'French force, to which were
joined a hundred and eighty coureurs de bois and a large body of
western Indians, including Miamis and Illinois, invaded the Seneca
country and inflicted a severe defeat on them. His Indian allies cele-
brated the victory by eating twenty-five of their Iroquois enemies, and
it is probable that no other meal ever served in the state of New York
gave greater satisfaction to the guests. This banquet marked the ter-
mination of Iroquois terrorism in the western regions. The Iroquois
turned on the French, and in the war that raged along the St. Lawrence
their strength was so broken that they became cautious about attacking
Thwaite-'s La Hontan, pp. 81-2.
i Jesuit Relations, Vol. 62, p. 7.
"N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 3, p. 489.
is N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 3, p. 443.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 59
the western tribes, who were now as well armed as themselves; and
with the exception of an unsuccessful attack on Fort Miamis in 1695,
there was no further trouble from them in the western country.
This Fort Miamis was at the site of Chicago. At that time La
Mothe Cadillac was the French commander in the west, and in his Re-
lation of 1695, after describing the Indian locations west of Lake
Michigan, he says: "The post of Chicagou comes next. This word
signifies the River of Garlic, because a very great quantity of it is
produced naturally there without any cultivation. There is here a
village of the Miamis, who are well-made men; they are good warriors
and extremely active. "We find next the river of St. Joseph. There was
here a fort with a French garrison, and there is a village of this same
nation of Miamis. This post is the key to all the nations which border
the north of Lake Michigan, for to the south there is not any village
on account of the incursions of the Iroquois; but in the depths of the
north coast country and looking toward the west there are many, as
the Mascoutins, Piankeshaws, Peorias, Kickapoos, lowas, Sioux and
Tintons". 19 In other words, the Miamis had begun moving to the east,
but had not ventured farther than these two posts at Chicago and La-
Salle's old fort at the mouth of the St. Joseph, and south of these,
"there is not any village". In 1696 Father Pierre Francois Pinet
established his mission of L'Ange Gardien just north of Chicago, and
there were said to have been two villages of Miamis in its vicinity,
numbering three hundred cabins. 20
In the meantime the Miamis had become involved in war with the
Sioux, and LaMothe Cadillac states that in 1695 the Sioux treacherously
attacked them, and killed three thousand of them. 21 This prolonged
and destructive warfare makes somewhat credible the large early esti-
mates of the numbers of these tribes, as compared with those of later
date. In 1718, M. De Vaudreuil reported the strength of the Miamis,
Ouiatanons, Piankeshaws and Pepikokias, then composing the Miamis
nation proper, at fourteen to sixteen hundred warriors. The French
estimates of 1736 gave the Miamis only 550 warriors and the Illinois
600. 22 The English estimates of 1763 gave the Miamis 800 warriors,
and the estimate of Col. Bouquet and Capt. Hutchins, in 1764, gives the
Miami tribes one thousand warriors.
As Father Allouez says, all of these tribes of the Illinois and Miamis
spoke the same language, but with one material dialect difference which
divided them into two nations, as named ; but the dialects are commonly
i Margry, Vol. 5, pp. 123-4.
20 Shea's Catholic Church in Colonial Days, p. 537.
21 Margry, Vol. 5 p. 323.
22 N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 9, p. 1052.
60 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
known as the Miami and the Peoria, the latter word having become
synonymous with "Illinois". In the Peoria (properly Pi-o'-ri-a) there
is no sound of "1", and where that sound occurs in the Miami it is
replaced by the sound of "r"; while in the Miami there is no sound of
"r", and the substitution is reversed. The cities of Peoria, in Illinois,
and Paoli, in Kansas, are continuing memorials of this difference in
dialect. The names given by Father Allouez are in the Miami form.
Ilinioue means "he is a man", but what a member of that nation called
himself was I-ri'-ni-wa. The name Miami is used by the other division
but it is not of their language, for they cannot give any meaning for
it. It is most probably the name given them by the Delawares, Wemi-
amiki, which means "all beavers", or figuratively, "all friends or
relatives". The tribes that were located in Illinois during the English
and American periods used the Peoria dialect, and those located in In-
diana used the Miami dialect. Of the tribal names, Mascoutin is prac-
tically translated in the English name "Fire Nation", and Kickapoo is
derived by Schoolcraft from n 'gik'-a-boo, or "otter's ghost". These
two tribes were not members of the Illinois-Miami nation, but were
closely related to it.
Marameg, otherwise written maramak or maramech, is the Peoria
word for catfish. The old chroniclers usually made the Miami form
malamak, and the Chippewa form manamak. This was a common Algon-
quian name for streams, which we have preserved in the Merrimac of
New England, and the Maramec of Missouri. Kitchigami means great
water, and probably implies residence near one of the great lakes.
Kaskaskia is kak-kak'-kl-a, which is their name for the katydid.
Pi-o'-ri-a, Pe-o-li-a or Pe-wa-li-a, which are forms of the same word, is
the Miami pa-wa'-li-a, or prairie-fire. Ouaouiatanon is presumably wa-
wi'-a-tan'-wi, an eddy, literally "it goes in a round channel", with the
terminal locative. It is necessarily a place name, but it might refer to
any place where there was an eddy, and there is no tradition of what
place is meant. George Finley, who is of Piankeshaw descent, thinks
that Piankeshaw is from pi-an-gi'-sa, which means "they separated, or
went apart, unwittingly", which is very plausible. But the Gravier
mss. dictionary, which is preserved in the Watkinson library at Hart-
ford, Conn., gives the meaning, "slit ears"; and Godfroy said the idea
it conveyed to him was of "something scattered about the ears". Pos-
sibly it refers to an old Miami custom of hair-dressing. In the Relation
of 1670-1, Father Allouez says that the Ottawas wear their hair "short
and erect", and that the Illinois "clipping the greater part of the head ;
as do the above named people, they leave four great mustaches, one on
each side of each ear, arranging them in such order as to avoid incon-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 61
venience from them". 23 The meaning of Pepikokias is lost, as is their
identity. They united with the Miamis of Maramech in locating on the
Kalarnazoo river, in Michigan, about 1700, and it is probable that these
two constituted what were known as the Eel Eiver Indians in Indiana.
The Miamis of today have lost even the tradition of their ancient
mythology, though they retain some of its ideas and customs. It is
known historically that they had the same general beliefs as the other
Algonquian tribes; and these are set forth most satisfactorily by Nicolas
Perrot, who was almost constantly with these tribes, and especially with
the Miamis, from 1665 to 1699. Father Charlevoix took most of his
material on this subject from Perrot 's memoir. As there is a very
general misconception of their beliefs, it is worth while to reproduce
here a part of Perrot's statement:
"It cannot be said that the Indians profess any doctrine; it is un-
questionable that they do not follow, so to speak, any religion. They
observe merely some Judaic customs, for they have certain feasts in
which they do not use a knife to cut cooked meats, but devour them with
the teeth. The women have also the custom when they give birth to
children, to be for a month without entering the lodge of their hus-
band, and they cannot during this time eat with men, or of what has
been prepared by men. For them special cooking is done.
"The Indians have, for their principal divinities, the Great Hare,
the sun, and the manitos (diahles), I mean those who are not converted.
They invoke most often the Great Harte, because they respect and adore
him as the creator of the land, and the sun as the originator of light
but if they put the manitos in the number of their divinities, and invoke
them, it is because they fear them, and ask life of them when they make
their invocations. Those among the Indians whom the French call
medicine-men (jongleurs) speak to the demon that they consult con-
cerning war and the chase.
"They have many other divinities, to whom they pray and which
they find in the air, on the earth, and in the earth. Those of the air
are the thunder and the lightning, and, in general, all that they can
see but are unable to comprehend, as the moon, eclipses, and the whirl-
winds of unusual winds. Those which are on the earth consist of all evil
and harmful creatures, particularly the serpents, panthers, and other
animals or birds similar to griffons. 24 They also include those which
are extraordinary for beauty or deformity among their kind. Those
which are in the earth are the bears, which pass the winter without eat-
23 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 55, p. 217.
2* Cham plain reported and pictured the griffon in the fauna of the country, from
the descriptions of the natives.
62
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
ing, nourishing themselves only by the substance which they draw from
the navel by sucking. They regard in this way all the animals that
sojourn in caverns and holes, which they invoke when, in sleeping, they
have dreamed of any of them.
"They make for these kinds of invocations a feast of food or tobacco,
to which the old men are invited, and relate in their presence the dream
THE GRIFFON
(From Oeuvres de Champlain, Quebec Ed. 1870)
which they have had as the cause of the feast, which they owed to the
one of whom they had dreamed. Then one of the old men acts as spokes-
man, and, naming the creature to which the feast is given he addresses
to him the following words: 'Have mercy on him who offers to thee
(mentioning each thing offered by name) ; have mercy on his family;
grant to him whatever he needs'. All the assistants respond in unison
'0! 0!' many times, until the prayer is concluded; and this word 'O'
signifies the same with them as it does with us".
This illustrates the only kind of prayer to the manitos (ma-net'-o-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 63
wa'-ki) that the Miamis use at present, or probably used at that time,
i. e. supplication accompanying an offering. The fundamental concept
of the Miami faith is that there is "no getting something for nothing".
This is due to the character of the manitos, for outside of the ideas in-
culcated by Christian teaching, they have no conception of any super-
natural being that is absolutely good or absolutely bad. All of them
can be placated, and will treat you well if placated, but are liable to do
you an injury if not placated. And these prayers, invocations and
feasts are not to the earthly animals named by Perrot but to the spirit,
or manito animals of the same name. The earthly animals are regarded
as the descendants of the spirit animal, or as under its special protection,
and may receive consideration on that account, but they are not objects
for prayer or invocation, and never were. Neither are there now any
of the formalities of assemblage mentioned by Perrot. The modern
practice, for it still continues to some extent with the old people, and
this without regard to their professions of Catholic or Protestant faith,
is for the person making the offering to address the manito direct, calling
him Ni-ma'-co-mi'-na (our grandfather) or, in abbreviated form, Ma'-ca.
In the address, however, they use "secret words", that I have never
been able to learn.
The Great Hare, otherwise known as Michaboo, Manabozho, Nana-
bozho Nanaboush, Messou, Oisakedjak, etc., was perhaps the nearest
approach to a beneficent supernatural in the Miami theogony. They
have lost all trace of him now except in their legends of Wi-sa'-ka-
tcak'-wa, who was the incarnation of Michaboo, and who was not a.
worshipful character as presented in these legends. This is no doubt
the result of a prolonged debasement of the original conception. As
Brinton aptly puts it: "This is a low, modern and corrupt version of
the character of Michaboo, bearing no more resemblance to his real
and ancient one than the language ind acts of our Savior and the
apostles in the coarse Mystery Plays of the Middle Ages do to those
revealed by the Evangelists". 28
The Miami theory of creation start* with the proposition that "there
was nothing but water before the earth (i. e. the visible earth, the dry
land) was created; and that on this vast expanse of water floated a
great raft of logs, on which were all the animals of all kinds that are
on the earth, of which the Great Hare was chief". The Great Hare told
the animals that if he could get some earth from beneath the water,
he could make a land large enough for them to live on. The beaver
was first induced to dive for this purpose, but after a long stay came
up insensible from exhaustion, and unsuccessful. The otter then tried,
ze The Myths of the New World, p. 194.
62
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
ing, nourishing themselves only by the substance which they draw from
the navel by sucking. They regard in this way all the animals that
sojourn in caverns and holes, which they invoke when, in sleeping, they
have dreamed of any of them.
"They make for these kinds of invocations a feast of food or tobacco,
to which the old men are invited, and relate in their presence the dream
THE GRIFFON
(From Oeuvres de Champlain, Quebec Ed. 1870)
which they have had as the cause of the feast, which they owed to the
one of whom they had dreamed. Then one of the old men acts as spokes-
man, and, naming the creature to which the feast is given he addresses
to him the following words: 'Have mercy on him who offers to thee
(mentioning each thing offered by name) ; have mercy on his family;
grant to him whatever he needs'. All the assistants respond in unison
'O! 0!' many times, until the prayer is concluded; and this 1 word 'O'
signifies the same with them as it does with us".
This illustrates the only kind of prayer to the manitos (ma-net'-o-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 63
wa'-ki) that the Miamis use at present, or probably used at that time,
i. e. supplication accompanying an offering. The fundamental concept
of the Miami faith is that there is "no getting something for nothing".
This is due to the character of the manitos, for outside of the ideas in-
culcated by Christian teaching, they have no conception of any super-
natural being that is absolutely good or absolutely bad. All of them
can be placated, and will treat you well if placated, but are liable to do
you an injury if not placated. And these prayers, invocations and
feasts are not to the earthly animals named by Perrot but to the spirit,
or manito animals of the same name. The earthly animals are regarded
as the descendants of the spirit animal, or as under its special protection,
and may receive consideration on that account, but they are not objects
for prayer or invocation, and never were. Neither are there now any
of the formalities of assemblage mentioned by Perrot. The modern
practice, for it still continues to some extent with the old people, and
this without regard to their professions of Catholic or Protestant faith,
is for the person making the offering to address the manito direct, calling
him Ni-ma'-co-mi'-na (our grandfather) or, in abbreviated form, Ma'-ca.
In the address, however, they use "secret words", that I have never
been able to learn.
The Great Hare, otherwise known as Michaboo, Manabozho, Nana-
bozho Nanaboush, Messou, Oisakedjak, etc., was perhaps the nearest
approach to a beneficent supernatural in the Miami theogony. They
have lost all trace of him now except in their legends of Wi-sa'-ka-
tcak'-wa, who was the incarnation of Michaboo, and who was not a
worshipful character as presented in these legends. This is no doubt
the result of a prolonged debasement of the original conception. As
Brinton aptly puts it : " This is a low, modern and corrupt version of
the character of Michaboo, bearing no more resemblance to his real
and ancient one than the language a"nd acts of our Savior and the
apostles in the coarse Mystery Plays of the Middle Ages do to those
revealed by the Evangelists". 25
The Miami theory of creation starts with the proposition that "there
was nothing but water before the earth (i. e. the visible earth, the dry
land) was created; and that on this vast expanse of water floated a
great raft of logs, on which were all the animals of all kinds that are
on the earth, of which the Great Hare was chief". The Great Hare told
the animals that if he could get some earth from beneath the water,
he could make a land large enough for them to live on. The beaver
was first induced to dive for this purpose, but after a long stay came
up insensible from exhaustion, and unsuccessful. The otter then tried,
28 The Myths of the New World, p. 194.
64 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
but with no better success. Then the muskrat went down, and after
a stay of twenty-four hours came up insensible; but in one of his
clenched paws they found a grain of sand, from which Michaboo made
an island.
They proceeded to occupy this island, which was increased from
time to time by Michaboo until it became the continent; and when one
of the animals died Michaboo would take its body and make a man of
it, as he did also with the bodies of fish and animals found on the shores.
This was the ascribed reason for the animal totems of the various clans,
and their claimed descent from various animals. It will be noted that
Michaboo required matter with which to create anything. The Indians
had no conception of creation by fiat, or of making something from
nothing. They believed that matter was eternal, and, as Perrot says,
' ' In regard to the ocean and the firmament, they believe that these were
from eternity". This creation legend had numerous variant forms. 20
In several of these the story of Michaboo appears to be a flood legend
instead of a creation legend ; and this is true of one recorded even
earlier than that of Perrot. In his Relation of 1633, Fatlier LeJeune
records the Montagnaise legend of Messou, their Michaboo, who offended
certain water manitos; and they brought on the flood, from which He
restored the earth. 27 But in all of these the deluge was prior to the
creation of man by Michaboo; and this fact must be kept in mind in
considering the Indian conception of divinity.
It is singular that Michaboo and Mi-ci-bi-si are confused in some
authoritative works, 28 as they were not only distinct, but also enemies,
and both of them are frequently mentioned by travelers. Mi'-ci-bi-si is
the Chippewa name of the panther, or as La Hontan puts it: "The
Michibichi is a sort of Tyger, only 'tis less than the common Tyger, and
not so much speckl'd". 29 The Spirit Panther, which bears this same
name of Mi'-cl-bi'-si (i. e. the big cat) was "the god of the waters" or
"the manito of the waters and the fishes". 80 He was supposed to dwell
in deep places where the water seems to boil up in lakes and rivers, and
this motion of the water is caused by moving his tail. The Indiana
offered him gifts to secure his aid in fishing, and to secure protection
"See Journal of Am. Folk Lore, Vol. 4, p. 193; Report Bur. of Ethnology,
1892-3, pp. 161-209; Emerson's Indian Myths, pp. 336-71; Peter Jones and the
Ojibway Indians, p. 33; Kohl's Kitchigami, p. 386; Algic Tales, Vol. 1, p. 166.
2T Jesuit Relations, Vol. 5, p. 155; Vol. 6, p. 157.
2Brinton's Myths of the New World, p. 197; Jesuit Relations, Vol. 50, p. 328.
Thwaite 'a La Hontan, p. 345.
so Jesuit Relations, Vol. 50, p. 289; Vol. 54, p. 155; Vol. 67, p. 159; Blair '
Indian Tribes, Vol. 1, p. 59,
'. '--'.-:.:
: : --'-' :.*', :
.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 65
from the dangers of navigation. These dangers were frequent in the
use of birch-bark canoes, and whenever the lakes were rough the mis-
sionary passengers were grieved by the idolatry of the Indians, who
believed in "safety first" when it could be obtained by throwing a
little tobacco to Mi'-ci-bi'-si. The French travelers sometimes called
this manito L'Homme Tyger, because he was represented as having the
face of a man.
The Miami name of this manito is Len'-m-pm'-ja, or the Man-Cat,
and a pool where he is residing is called Len'-ni-pin'-ja-ka'-mi. There
is one of these places on the Mississinewa river, and there are some
startling legends concerning events there. He is also the "spirit" that
was supposed to inhabit Lake Manitou, in Fulton County ; and he gives
the name to the Shawnese clan to which Tecumtha belonged of Manetuwi
Msi-pessi, of which it is said: "The Msi-pessi, when the epithet mi-
raculous (manetuwi) is added to it, means a 'celestial tiger,' i. e., a
meteor or shooting star. The manetuwi msi-pessi lives in water only, and
is visible hot as an animal, but as a shooting star." 31 But the activities of
this manito are not confined to the water. He corresponds to the "Fire
Dragon" of other mythologies; and when they see a meteor, the old
Miamis say that it is Len'-ni-pin'-ja going from one sea to another.
Godfrey said that the reason he stayed in deep waters was to avoid
setting the world on fire; but Finley said that it was to avoid danger
of being harmed by Tcing'-wi-a, the Thunder, who is a sort of American
Thor. Although not now worshipped, Tcing'-wi-a is still regarded as a
manito, but the lightning is considered the effect of his blows. Hence,
the Miamis do not say that anything has been struck by lightning, but
by Thunder. Finley says that one of Lenm-pin-ja 's horns is white, and
one blue.
In this connection, it is of interest to refer to the celebrated pictured
rocks which were formerly on the Mississippi river just above Alton,
but which have now been quarried away. When Father Marquette
made his nrst trip down the Mississippi he had been warned against
it by the Menominees, who told him that the great river was "full of
horrible monsters, which devoured men and canoes together", and that
at one point there was a demon that barred navigation. 32 He made
light of the warning, but apparently was on the lookout for them ; and
he saw one, for he says: "We saw on the water a monster with the head
of a tiger, a sharp nose like that of a wildcat, with whiskers and straight
erect ears. The head was gray and the neck quite black; but we saw
31 Report Bureau of Eth. 1892-3, p. 682.
32 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 59, p. 97.
Vol. 15
66 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
no more creatures of this sort". 33 A little later, when he reached the
pictured rocks, he wrote: "While skirting some rocks, which by their
height and length inspired awe, we saw upon one of them two painted
monsters which at first made us afraid, and upon which the boldest
savages dare not long rest their eyes. .They are as large as a calf : they
have horns on their heads like those of a deer, a horrible look, red eyes,
a beard like a tiger's, a face somewhat like a man's, a body covered with
scales, and so long a tail that it winds all around the body passing above
the head and going back between the legs, ending in a fish's tail".
MABQUETTE'S MONSTER
(Len'-nl-pm'-ja, or Man-Cat of the Peorias and Illinois; Mi-ci-bi'-si, of
the Northern tribes.)
This rock, which had numerous other pictographs in addition, has
been quite a puzzle to antiquarians, and has been known as "the Piasa
Rock" since William McAdams published his "Record of Ancient
Races in the Mississippi Valley", in 1887, in which he said it was so
called. Mr. McAdams was a farmer of the vicinity, who took great
interest in prehistoric matters, and he performed a real service by pre-
serving two pictures of Marquette's monsters. The best one, which is
labeled "Flying Dragon", and inscribed "Made by Wm. Dennis, April
3d, 1825", is reproduced here. 34 McAdams says: "The name Piasa is
Indian, and signifies in the Illini 'The Bird which devours men' ".
33 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 59, p. 111.
a* Both pictures were reproduced in the Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, with
an extended discussion, in 1892-3, p. 640.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 67
" O , ' .;'
There is no such word in the Illinois, and it would not have that mean-
ing if there were. Amos Stoddard came nearer to it seventy-five years
earlier, when he wrote: "What they (Joliet and Marquette) call
Painted Monsters on the side of a high perpendicular rock, apparently
inaccessible to man, between the Missouri and Illinois, and known to
the moderns by the name of Piesa, still remain in a good state of preser-
vation. ' ' 35 That this was the early pronunciation is shown by the
following entry in the Executive Journal of Indiana Territory: "Jan-
uary 1st, 1807. A Liscence was granted to Eli Langford to keep a
ferry on the east side of the Mississippi in St. Glair County above the
mouth of the Missouri and two miles from Pyesaw Rock. ' ' 3e
The Illinois and Miami name is Pa-i'-sa, plural Pa-i'-sa-ki, which is
the name of a race of "little men" corresponding to the elves and ko-
bolds. They are rather friendly to men, and will not injure you unless
you intrude on their preserves. They live under the water usually, and
are the sarae people who were said to make arrow-heads for Indians in
the preceding chapter. When an Indian dies, two of them come to guide
his spirit over the Milky Way, which is the path of departed spirits to
the "happy hunting grounds". The monster represented is Len'-m-
pm'-ja, or Mi'-ci-bi'-si, and his picture was probably believed to have
been placed there as warning of the Len'-m-pm'-ja-ka'-ml, which Mar-
quette found at the mouth of the Missouri, five miles farther down. It
is probable that the stories of a race of dwarfs in this country originated
in Indian legends of the Pa-i'-sa-ki, just as the report of griffons came
from their Mi'-ci-bi'-si stories.
In the earliest Peoria and Miami texts and vocabularies, the word
used for "God" is Ki'-ci-ma-net'-o-wa (The Great Spirit varied in
other dialects to Gi'-tci-ma-ni'-to, etc.), and this is still used by some
of the Algonquian tribes for the white man 's God. With the Miamis it
has been dropped so completely that I have never found a Miami who
had heard the word, though they all understood its primary meaning at
once. In 1797, when Volney obtained his Miami vocabulary, he gave for
"God" the alternative, "Kitchi Manetoua or Kajehelangoua". The
latter word. Ka-ci'-hi-lan'-gwa, means literally "he who made us all",
and unquestionably in its original use referred to Michaboo. But both
of these words are now out of use, and K&-ci'-hi-wi-a, i. e. the Creator,
is now used for "God". The explanation of this is that Ki'-ci-ma-net'-
o-wa was the name of the Great Serpent, who was not a beneficent
spirit, but merely the most powerful of the manitos, and with rather a
" Sketches of Louisiana, Phila, 1812, p. 17.
Ind. Hist. Soc. Pubs. Vol. 3, p. 138.
68
INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
worse disposition than most of them. He was an enemy of Michaboo,
and altogether corresponded more nearly to the old world conception of
the devil than to the conception of God. The Miamis and Illinois were
more rapidly Christianized than any of the other western tribes, and,
no doubt, when the true character of Ki'-ci-ma-net'-o-wa was learned by
the missionaries, their influence was used to discontinue the use of the
SARAH WADSWORTH
(Wi-ka'-pi-min-dja, or The Linn Tree. A Wea woman, native of Indiana)
word. I am confident that the Miamis never had any conception of a
divine, omnipotent, beneficent spirit, similar to the Christian, Jewish,
or Platonic conceptions of God, until they got it from the missionaries ;
and I think this was true of all the Indians.
In his dealings with the manitos, the Miami took no chances; and
therefore, in addition to offerings and prayers, if he knows any charms
that will prevent injury, he uses them also. In proposing an offering
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 69
one says to another: "A-ko'-la (smoke) na-ma'-wa-ta'-wi (let us offer)
ki-ma'-co-mi'-na (our grandfather). Grandfather is the most respectful
and endearing term that can be used to an elder or superior ; in familiar
usage it is shortened to Ma'-ca. Tobacco, which is especially agreeable
to all intelligent manitos, is smoked and puffed out towards the location
of the manito, or sometimes thrown on the fire to ascend in smoke or
thrown into the water or the air. The word for sacrifice implies
throwing.
In addition to tobacco, the old Miamis use a mixture of the common
everlasting (Gnaphalium polycephalum), which the Weas call pa'-wfi-
ki'-ki, and the Miamis pat-sa'-ki (odorous), and the leaves of the red
cedar. These are dried, rubbed to powder in the hands, and thrown to
the manito. This is accompanied by a prayer: "Ni-ma'-co-mi'-na (our
grandfather) lam-pa'-na-ci'-so-la'-mfi (do not harm us) ki-ta'-ma-kl-a''-
li-mi-lo'-ma (have mercy on us)". Sarah Wadsworth (Wi-ka'-pa-
mm'-dja, or Linn Tree) informed me that one day an ugly cyclone cloud
was moving down from the North towards their house, in Oklahoma,
when she ran out on one side of the house and offered the above incense
and invocation ; and, unknown to her, Aunt Susan Medicine (Wa'-no-
kam'-kwa, or Fog Woman) went out on the other side and did the same.
They each also threw out a shovelful of hot coals, which the storm
manito cannot cross. The cloud broke in two, and the two parts went
around them without injury. The Miamis had a small variety of tobacco,
which they raised themselves, that was used for offerings.
Some of the most lasting of their old beliefs are in their funeral
customs. With little regard to their Christian affiliations, the Miamis
believe in the immortality of the soul; and they do not believe in the
existence of a hell. They believe in a "happy hunting ground", which
they call a-tci'-pai-a a'-hi wi-a'-ki-wa'-tci (where the spirit dwells)
This delightful spirit land is reached by a long road, including what we
call the Milky Way, and which the Miamis call a-tci'-pai-i-ka-na'-wS.
(the spirit path). This was the original Algonquian belief, as Father
Le Jeune recorded it in 1634: "They call the milky way Tchipai
meskanau, the path of souls, because they think the souls raise them-
selves through this way in going to that great village". 37 In their
funerals, at least until quite recently, they observed the Indian cere-
monial, whether accompanied by Christian services or not. In this
some prominent or old person takes position at the foot of the grave,
and delivers an address to the dead, which they call pS-ko'-ma-ta. A
typical form of this address, which is varied more or less at the will of
the speaker, is as follows:
87 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 6, p. 181.
.
68
INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
worse disposition than most of them. He was an enemy of Michaboo,
and altogether corresponded more nearly to the old world conception of
the devil than to the conception of God. The Miarais and Illinois were
more rapidly Christianized than any of the other western tribes, and,
no doubt, when the true character of Ki'-cl-ma-net'-o-wa was learned by
the missionaries, their influence was used to discontinue the use of the
SARAH WADSWORTH
(Wi-ka'-pi-min-dja, or The Linn Tree. A Wea woman, native of Indiana)
word. I am confident that the Miamis never had any conception of a
divine, omnipotent, beneficent spirit, similar to the Christian, Jewish,
or Platonic conceptions of God, until they got it from the missionaries;
and I think this was true of all the Indians.
In his dealings with the manitos, the Miami took no chances; and
therefore, in addition to offerings and prayers, if he knows any charms
that will prevent injury, he uses them also. In proposing an offering
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 69
one says to another: "A-ko'-la (smoke) na-ma'-wa-ta'-wi (let us offer)
ki-ma'-co-mi'-na (our grandfather). Grandfather is the most respectful
and endearing term that can be used to an elder or superior ; in familiar
usage it is shortened to Ma'-ca. Tobacco, which is especially agreeable
to all intelligent manitos, is smoked and puffed out towards the location
of the manito, or sometimes thrown on the fire to ascend in smoke or
thrown into the water or the air. The word for sacrifice implies
throwing.
In addition to tobacco, the old Miamis use a mixture of the common
everlasting (Gnaphaliurn polycephalum), which the Weas call pa'-wa-
ki'-ki, and the Miamis pat-sa'-ki (odorous), and the leaves of the red
cedar. These are dried, rubbed to powder in the hands, and thrown to
the manito. This is accompanied by a prayer: " N i-ma'-co-mi'-na (our
grandfather) lam-pa'-na-ci'-so-la'-ma (do not harm us) ki-ta'-ma-ki-a'-
li-mi-lo'-ma (have mercy on us)". Sarah Wadsworth (Wi-ka'-pa-
min'-dja, or Linn Tree) informed me that one day an ugly cyclone cloud
was moving down from the North towards their house, in Oklahoma,
when she ran out on one side of the house and offered the above incense
and invocation ; and, unknown to her, Aunt Susan Medicine (Wa'-no-
kam'-kwa, or Fog Woman) went out on the other side and did the same.
They each also threw out a shovelful of hot coals, which the storm
manito cannot cross. The cloud broke in two, and the two parts went
around them without injury. The Miamis had a small variety of tobacco,
which they raised themselves, that was used for offerings.
Some of the most lasting of their old beliefs are in their funeral
customs. With little regard to their Christian affiliations, the Miamis
believe in the immortality of the soul; and they do not believe in the
existence of a hell. They believe in a "happy hunting ground", which
they call a-tci'-pai-a a'-hi wi-a'-ki-wa'-tci (where the spirit dwells)
This delightful spirit land is reached by a long road, including what we
call the Milky Way, and which the Miamis call a-tci'-pai-i-ka-na'-wa
(the spirit path). This was the original Algonquian belief, as Father
Le Jeune recorded it in 1634: "They call the milky way Tchipai
meskanau, the path of souls, because they think the souls raise them-
selves through this way in going to that great village". 37 In their
funerals, at least until quite recently, they observed the Indian cere-
monial, whether accompanied by Christian services or not. In this
some prominent or old person takes position at the foot of the grave,
and delivers an address to the dead, which they call pa-ko'-ma-ta. A
typical form of this address, which is varied more or less at the will of
the speaker, is as follows^
37 Jesuit Relations, Vol. 6, p. 181.
70 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Ni'-ka I'-ci-non'-gi a-m'-gwi-lat'-kwi mi'-to-sa'-m-wi'-a-nl
Friend, as it is now you have come to the end you were living
I-a'-kwa-mi'-si-lo' a-i'-ci i'-a-i'-a-m. A-pwa-lap'-so-lo'. Wis'-sa
Make every effort where you are going. Do not look back. Many
ka'-tl ko-ta'-H-wa'-ki; ka'-ti sa'-ki-ha'-ki. I-a'-kwa-mi'-si-lo' ;
will they tempt you ; will they frighten you. Do your best ;
I'-ci-ka'-ti na-wa'-tci, a-wa'-man-gwi'-ki mm'-dji-ma'-ha
then will you see him, our relatives long ago
na-wa-tci'-ki. I-a'-kwa-mi'-si-lo' ; I'-ci-ka'-ti na-pil-sa'-tcl,
you see them. Do all you can ; then will you get to him,
ki-ma-co-mi'-na. Na-n&'-ta-w! mi-kwa'-li-ma-ka'-ni ki-ma'-co-mi'-na.
our grandfather. Always you think of him, our grandfather.
It will be noted that in this address the important personage of
the spirit world is not Ka-ci'-hi-wi-a, but Ki-ma'-co-mi'-na ; and this
originally meant Michaboo. Those in attendance at the funeral, who
so desire, throw bits of earth into the grave, the object of which is to
prevent the spirit from returning to trouble them. They dislike
spiritual visitations, and when apprehensive of them, they made a circle
of ashes about the lodge, or house, which the spirits cannot cross. They
also used a vegetable "medicine" called black root (ma-ka'-ta-wa-
tcip'-ki), 38 which they rubbed on a gun-barrel, and then fired the gun
at any strange noise which they suspected to be made by spirits, at the
same time asking m-ma'-co-mi'-na to make the bullet hit the mark.
This is a survival of an ancient and widespread faith. La Potherie
recounts how the Miamis fired guns, beat drums, and yelled vociferously
during an eclipse of the moon, and the chiefs gave the explanation :
' ' Our old men have taught us that when the Moon is sick it is necessary
to assist her by discharging arrows and making a great deal of noise, in
order to cause terror in the spirits who are trying to cause her death;
then she regains her strength, and returns to her former condition.
If men did not aid her she would die, and we would no longer see
clearly at night ; and thus we could no longer separate the twelve months
of the year ' *. 39 This unfailing remedy, as shown by Lafitau, was general
with the natives of America. Civilized man probably makes enough
noise to secure the result without any special effort.
I have not seen this plant, but imagine that it is Rudbeckia hirta, as the Indian
said, ' ' the Whites call it Bachelor 'a Button, because a button grows on the top, which
is in the midst of a brown flower. The stalks are from two to three feet tall."
Blair's Indian Tribes^ Vol. 2, p. 121.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
71
The general loss of their original religion myths by the Miamis is
due to their general early acceptance of Christianity. The pioneer
missionaries pronounced them "very docile", "the most civil and most
INDIANS DEIVING OFF ECLIPSE OF MOON
(After Lafitau. The lower part portrays the 12th Chapter of the Book
of Revelation, which Lafitau considered analogous)
liberal" of the western tribes, and having "a docility which has no
savor of barbarism". 40 Their conversion also had a material effect on
their habits and physical characteristics. La Hontan says of the west-
Jesuit Relations, Vol. 59, pp. 101-3 ; Vol. 55, p. 213.
-
70
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Ni'-ka I'-ci-non'-gi a-m'-gwi-lat'-kwi mi'-to-sa'-ni-wi'-a-ni
Friend, as it is now you have come to the end you were living
I-a'-kwa-mi'-si-lo' a-i'-ci I'-a-i'-a-m. A-pwa-lap'-so-lo'. Wis'-sa
Make every effort where you are going. Do not look back. Many
ka'-ti ko-ta'-li-wa'-ki ; ka'-ti sa'-ki-ha'-ki. I-a'-kwa-ml'-si-lo' ;
will they tempt you ; will they frighten you. Do your best ;
I'-ci-ka'-ti na-wa'-tci,
then will you see him,
a-wa'-man-gwi'-ki min'-dji-ma'-ha
our relatives long ago
na-wa-tci'-kl. I-a'-kwa-mi'-si-lo' ; I'-ci-ka'-ti na-pil-sa'-tcl,
you see them. Do all you can ; then will you get to him,
ki-ma-co-mi'-na. Na-na'-ta-wi mi-kwa'-li-ma-ka'-nl ki-ma'-co-mi'-na.
our grandfather. Always you think of him, our grandfather.
It will be noted that in this address the important personage of
the spirit world is not Ka-ci'-hi-wl-a, but Ki-ma'-co-mi'-na ; and this
originally meant Michaboo. Those in attendance at the funeral, who
so desire, throw bits of earth into the grave, the object of which is to
prevent the spirit from returning to trouble them. They dislike
spiritual visitations, and when apprehensive of them, they made a circle
of ashes about the lodge, or house, which the spirits cannot cross. They
also used a vegetable "medicine" called black root (ma-ka'-ta-wa-
tcip'-ki), 38 which they rubbed on a gun-barrel, and then fired the gun
at any strange noise which they suspected to be made by spirits, at the
same time asking ni-ma'-co-mi'-na to make the bullet hit the mark.
This is a survival of an ancient and widespread faith. La Potherie
recounts how the Miamis fired guns, beat drums, and yelled vociferously
during an eclipse of the moon, and the chiefs gave the explanation :
"Our old men have taught us that when the Moon is sick it is necessary
to assist her by discharging arrows and making a great deal of noise, in
order to cause terror in the spirits who are trying to cause her death;
then she regains her strength, and returns to her former condition.
If men did not aid her she would die, and we would no longer see
clearly at night ; and thus we could no longer separate the twelve months
of the year". 39 This unfailing remedy, as shown by Lafitau, was general
with the natives of America. Civilized man probably makes enough
noise to secure the result without any special effort.
S 8 I have not seen this plant, but imagine that it is Rudheckia hirta, as the Indian
said, ' ' the Whites call it Bachelor 's Button, because a button grows on the top, which
is in the midst of a brown flower. The stalks are from two to three feet tall."
Blair's Indian Tribes, Vol. 2, p. 121.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
71
The general loss of their original religion myths by the Miamis is
due to their general early acceptance of Christianity. The pioneer
missionaries pronounced them "very docile", "the most civil and most
.
..
INDIANS DRIVING OFF ECLIPSE OF MOON
(After Lafitau. The lower part portrays the 12th Chapter of the Book
of Revelation, which Lafitau considered analogous)
liberal" of the western tribes, and having "a docility which has no
savor of barbarism". 40 Their conversion also had a material effect on
their habits and physical characteristics. La Hontan says of the west-
o Jesuit Relations, Vol. 59, pp. 101-3 ; Vol. 55, p. 213.
72 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
ern Algonkins at the earliest period of contact with the French : ' ' They
are neither so strong nor so vigorous as most of the French in raising
of weights with their arms, or carrying burdens on their backs; but to
make amends for that they are indefatigable and inured to hardships,
insomuch that the inconveniences of cold and heat have no impression
upon them ; their whole time being spent in the way of exercise, whether
at running up and down, at hunting and fishing, or in dancing and
playing at foot ball, or such games as require the motion of the legs". 41
This was the result of a Spartan athletic training which was especially
characteristic of the Miamis; and La Hontan further speaks of their
sexual continence, in this connection, and their explanation that
excesses "so enervate them that they have not the same measure of
strength to undergo great fatigues, and that their hams are too weak
for long marches or quick pursuits".
In his letter to the Provincial, on Oct. 21, 1683, Father Beschefer
says of the conversion of these Indians by Father Allouez: "With
regard to the superstitions of the Miamis, he has not much trouble in
disabusing them about these, because nearly all consist in the very
strict observance of certain fasts, of several days duration which the
old men cause the youth to undergo, in order that they may discover
during their sleep the object upon which their good fortune depends
and no sooner had the father shown them the vanity of those dreams
than the young men, delighted to be freed from that obligation, which
to them seemed a very hard one, abandoned the fasts. The old men
have also been compelled to admit that their only reason which they
had nevertheless covered with specious pretext of religion was to inure
the young men to fatigue, and to prevent their becoming too heavy". 42
The food of the Miamis is a matter of ethnologic interest. Count
Volney, who was a firm believer in the influence of climate, soil and
food on the human race, said of the Indians on the Wabash: "They
have a good soil, with finer maize, and greater plenty of game than are
found east of the mountains. Hence it is that the natives are a stout,
well-formed race. The same may be said of the Shawanese, the stature
of those women astonished me more than their beauty". At that time
(1797) the Miamis had adopted some of the white man's food, for
William Wells told Volney: "They raise so"me corn and potatoes, and
even cabbages and turnips. Their captives have planted peach and
apple trees, and taught them to breed poultry, pigs, and even cows; in
short they are as much improved as the Creeks and the Choctaws". 48
<i Thwaite's La Hontan, p. 415.
z Jesuit Relations, Vol. 62, p. 205.
3 View of the Clhnate and Soil of the II. S., p. 360.
" V: .... '= " '..
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 73
If food had affected their physique, its effects must have begun
long before their contact with the whites; and they evidently had this
advantage at an early day. Perrot notes the difference between the
food supplies of the tribes of the wooded countries and those of the
prairies. Of the former he says : ' ' The kinds of food which the savages
like best, and which they make the most effort to obtain, are the Indian
corn, the kidney bean, and the squash. If they are without these they
think they are fasting, no matter what abundance of meat and fish they
may have in their stores, the Indian corn being to them what bread is
to Frenchmen. The Algonkins (i. e. the Canada tribe), however, and
all the northern tribes, who do not cultivate the soil, do not lay up
corn; but when it is given to them while they are out hunting, they
regard it as a special treat.
"Those people commonly live only by hunting or fishing; they have
moose, caribou and bears, but the beaver is the most common of all their
game. They consider themselves very fortunate in their hunting expe-
ditions when they encounter some rabbits, martens, or partridges, from
which to make a soup ; and without what we call tripe de roche which
you would say is a species of gray moss, dry, and resembling oublies, 44
and which of itself has only an earthy taste, and the flavor of the soup
in which it has been cooked most of their families would perish of
hunger. Some of these have been known who were compelled to eat
their own children, and others whom starvation has entirely destroyed.
For the northrn country is the most sterile region in the world, since
in many places one will not find a single bird to hunt; however they
gather there plenty of blueberries in the months of August and Septem-
ber, which they are careful to dry and keep for a time of need". 45
But passing from these wooded countries to the lands of the Miamis
and Illinois, Perrot continues: "The savage peoples who inhabit the
prairies have life-long good fortune ; animals and birds are found there
in great numbers, with numberless rivers abounding in fish. Those
people are naturally very industrious, and devote themselves to the
cultivation of the soil, which is very fertile for Indian corn. It also
produces .beans, squashes (both large and small) of excellent flavor,
fruits, and many kinds of roots. They have in especial a certain method
of preparing squashes with the Indian corn cooked while in. its milk,
* These are wafers, used to fasten paper together. The reference is to the
gelatinous character of the plant. Tripe de roche is the edible lichen, Umbilicaria
dillenii. It is used for food only as a last resort; and Father Andre well says of it:
"It is necessary to close one's eyes when one begins to eat it." (Jesuit Relations,
Vol. 55, p. 151.)
Blair 's Indian Tribes, Vol. 1, p. 102.
74
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
which they mix and cook together and then dry, which has a very sweet
taste. Finally, melons grow there which have a juice no less agreeable
than refreshing".
The Miamis were equally agricultural in their homes on the Wabash
and Maumee. 46 The expeditions of the whites against them made a
specialty of destroying their crops, and Wilkinson, Scott and others
call attention to the extent of their fields. Gen. Wayne wrote: "The
very extensive and highly-cultivated fields and gardens show the work
TREATY WITH POTAWATOMIS AT CHIPPEWANUNG, 1836
(From painting by Winters) .
of many hands. The margins of those beautiful rivers, the Miamis of
the Lake (Maumee) and Auglaize appear like one continued village
for a number of miles both above and below this place; nor have I ever
before beheld such immense fields of corn in any part of America, from
Canada to Florida". 47
It was noted by the French that the Miamis raised a kind of corn
differing from that raised by the Indians about Detroit, and it was said :
"It is whiter, of the same size as the other, the skin much finer, and
* Jesuit Relations, Vol. 55, p. 213; Vol. 69, p. 219; N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 9, pp.
891-2.
"Dillon's Indiana, p. 346.
-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 75
the meal much whiter". 48 This is probably what the Miamis called
no-kin'-gwa-mi'-ni, or soft corn, because it ground easily. It was used
for lye hominy, and was the favorite corn for parching, as it was easily
chewed. Parched corn, not ground, is called klt'-sa-min'-gi ; when
ground, as it usually was when carried for food, it is called
ki-ta'-sa-ka'-m. Corn in the milk was preserved by boiling and then
drying it. This is called min-dji'-pi co-ko'-sa-min'-gi. The favorite corn
of the Miamis of recent times is what the whites call "squaw corn",
and they call ik-ki'-pa-kin'-gwa-mi'-nl (blue corn), or sometimes
to-sa'-ni-a min-dji'-pi (Indian corn), or Mi-a'mi mln-dji'-pi (Miami
corn). This is an early variety, and sweeter than ordinary corn. The
Indians are very fond of a soup made of scraped green corn, which is
called min-dji'-pi n'po'-pi, or corn soup.
Perrot further says: "The various kinds of animals that the
(prairie) country furnishes are: buffaloes, elks, bears, lynxes, raccoons,
and panthers, whose flesh is very good for food. There are also beavers,
and black and gray wolves, whose skins serve as their garments; and
still other animals which also they use for food. The birds or fowls of
the rivers and swamps are : swans, bustards, wild geese, and ducks of all
kinds. Pelicans are very common, but they have an oily flavor, whether
alive or dead, which is so disagreeable that it is impossible to eat them.
The land birds are turkeys, pheasants, quails, pigeons, and curlews like
large hens, of excellent flavor. In that region are found still other birds,
especially innumerable cranes". 49
This translation is somewhat doubtful. If Perrot did not intend to
include deer in "cerfs", which is here translated "elks", he omitted
the most important food animal of the region. He certainly did not
mean what we cemmonly call lynxes (i. e. the Canadian lynx) by "chats
cerviers", for they are not found in the prairie country south of Canada.
What he probably intended was the common wildcat (bay lynx or bob
cat) which was common in the region referred to wherever woods were
found. Godfrey informed me, however, that the Indians ate only the
ribs of the wildcat, and believed that eating the legs would cause cramps.
Like other sensible people, the Indians would eat almost any animal or
bird in case of emergency, but they had preferences. They did not
ordinarily eat wolves, foxes, minks, or skunks ; nor the smaller animals,
such as ground squirrels, weasels, rats or mice. They ate groundhogs,
and considered porcupines a delicacy, except in the pine woods, where
the.ir flesh tastes of pine. Godfrey said he never knew an Indian to eat
N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 9, p. 891.
Blair's Indian Tribes, Vol. 1, p. 114.
74
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
which they mix and cook together and then dry, which has a very sweet
taste. Finally, melons grow there which have a juice no less agreeable
than refreshing".
The Miamis were equally agricultural in their homes on the Wabash
and Maumee. 46 The expeditions of the whites against them made a
specialty of destroying their crops, and Wilkinson, Scott and others
call attention to the extent of their fields. Gen. Wayne wrote: "The
very extensive and highly-cultivated fields and gardens show the work
.
TREATY WITH POTAWATOMIS AT CHIPPEWANUNG, 1836
(From painting by Winters)
of many hands. The margins of those beautiful rivers, the Miamis of
the Lake (Maumee) and Auglaize appear like one continued village
for a number of miles both above and below this place ; nor have I ever
before beheld such immense fields of corn in any part of America, from
Canada to Florida". 47
It was noted by the French that the Miamis raised a kind of corn
differing from that raised by the Indians about Detroit, and it was said :
"It is whiter, of the same size as the other, the skin much finer, and
Jesuit Relations, Vol. 55, p. 213; Vol. 69, p. 219; N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 9, pp.
QQ1 O .
O*7 -L 't,
*i Dillon's Indiana, p. 346.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 75
the meal much whiter". 48 This is probably what the Miamis called
no-kln'-gwa-nri'-ni, or soft corn, because it ground easily. It was used
for lye hominy, and was the favorite corn for parching, as it was easily
chewed. Parched corn, not ground, is called kit'-sa-mm'-gl ; when
ground, as it usually was when carried for food, it is called
kl-ta'-sa-ka'-ni. Corn in the milk was preserved by boiling and then
drying it. This is called mm-dji'-pi co-ko'-sa-mm'-gi. The favorite corn
of the Miamis of recent times is what the whites call "squaw corn",
and they call ik-ki'-pa-kin'-gwa-mi'-ni (blue corn), or sometimes
to-sa'-ni-a mm-dji'-pi (Indian corn), or Mi-a'ml min-dji'-pi (Miami
corn). This is an early variety, and sweeter than ordinary corn. The
Indians are very fond of a soup made of scraped green corn, which is
called min-dji'-pi n'po'-pi, or corn soup.
Perrot further says: "The various kinds of animals that the
(prairie) country furnishes are : buffaloes, elks, bears, lynxes, raccoons,
and panthers, whose flesh is very good for food. There are also beavers,
and black and gray wolves, whose skins serve as their garments; and
still other animals which also they use for food. The birds or fowls of
the rivers and swamps are : swans, bustards, wild geese, and ducks of all
kinds. Pelicans are very common, but they have an oily flavor, whether
alive or dead, which is so disagreeable that it is impossible to eat them.
The land birds are turkeys, pheasants, quails, pigeons, and curlews like
large hens, of excellent flavor. In that region are found still other birds,
especially innumerable cranes". 49
This translation is somewhat doubtful. If Perrot did not intend to
include deer in "cerfs", which is here translated "elks", he omitted
the most important food animal of the region. He certainly did not
mean what we cemmonly call lynxes (i. e. the Canadian lynx) by "chats
cerviers", for they are not found in the prairie country south of Canada.
What he probably intended was the common wildcat (bay lynx or bob
cat) which was common in the region referred to wherever woods were
found. Godfrey informed me, however, that the Indians ate only the
ribs of the wildcat, and believed that eating the legs would cause cramps.
Like other sensible people, the Indians would eat almost any animal or
bird in case of emergency, but they had preferences. They did not
ordinarily eat wolves, foxes, minks, or skunks ; nor the smaller animals,
such as ground squirrels, weasels, rats or mice. They ate groundhogs,
and considered porcupines a delicacy, except in the pine woods, where
their flesh tastes of pine. Godfrey said he never knew an Indian to eat
N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 9, p. 891.
Blair 's Indian Tribes, Vol. 1, p. 114.
76 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
a dog, though they certainly did in early times. Possibly this is a change
of custom due to a change of dogs, from their original wolf dogs to the
more valuable or less edible European varieties.
Of the water birds, it is not certain what Perrot meant by bustards
(outardes), for the European bustard is a land bird, more like a turkey
than any other American bird. Possibly he meant the American bittern,
which is eaten both by whites and Indians, and I can testify that a young
bittern is very palatable. He probably measured his ' ' curlews like large
hens" by extent rather than weight, as the northern curlew, the largest
of all, seldom weighs over a pound and a half, though it is two feet in
length. Godfrey said that the Indians ate all the water fowl except
those that taste fishy such as loons, fish-ducks and herons. Of land birds,
he thought they did not eat hawks and owls until they learned to do so
from the whites. They did not eat woodpeckers, as they say that eating
them will make one deaf. With these exceptions they ate all birds of any
size. They did not eat frogs, snakes, lizards, mussels or snails. Of turtles
they ate only the soft-shell and snapping turtles. They considered the
flesh of the water-dog (menobranchus) poisonous. Godfrey said his dog
bit one, and it made him sick, although he did not eat any of it.
As to edible roots Perrot says they, "have in their country various
kinds of roots. That which they call , meaning 'bear's root', is an
actual poison if it is eaten raw ; but they cut it in very thin slices, and cook
it in an oven during three days and three nights; thus by heat they cause
the acrid substance which renders it poisonous to evaporate in steam,
and it then becomes what is commonly called cassava root". This is a
good description of the Indian turnip (Arisaema triphyllum), but the
Miamis call it wi'-ko-pai'-si-a, which does not mean "bear's root".
I think that Perrot here confuses his omitted word with the meaning of
"macopin", which literally would mean bear root. The Miamis do not
now use this word, nor know to what it refers, but it was in common
use in Perrot 's time, and the Illinois river was called Macopin river.
Makopin is said to be the Chippewa name of the water-chinquepin ; but
micoupena was the Peoria name of the white water-lily, Nymphaea
tuberosa, and the name of the Illinois river was probably corrupted from
this word. The "oven" mentioned was a hole dug in the ground, and
heated by a fire in it, after which it was cleaned out, filled with food,
and covered over. Further mention of its use is made in connection with
the wild onion.
Perrot continues: "Also in winter they dig from under the ice, or
where there is much mud and little water, a certain root of better quality
than that which I have just mentioned ; but it is only found in the Louisi-
ana country, some fifteen leagues above (below) the mouth of the Wis-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 77
consin. The savages call this root in their own language pokekoretch;
and the French give it no other name because nothing at all resembling
it is seen in Europe. It has the appearance of a root, about half as thick
as ones arm, or a little more; it also has firm flesh, and externally
resembles an arm; in one word, you would say at sight of these roots
that they are certainly great radishes. But cut it across the two ends,
and it is no longer the same thing ; for you find inside it a cavity in the
middle, extending throughout its length around which are five or six
other and smaller cavities, which also run from end to end. To eat it,
you must cook it over a brazier, and you will find that it tastes like
chestnuts. The savages are accustomed to make provision of this root;
they cut it into pieces and string them on a cord, in order to dry them
in the smoke. When these pieces are thoroughly dry, and as hard as
wood, they put them into bags and keep them as long as they wish. If
they boil their meat in a kettle, they also cook therein this root, which
thus becomes soft ; and, when they wish to eat, it answers for bread with
their meat. It is always better with considerable grease; for although
this root is very sweet and has a good flavor, it sticks to the throat in
swallowing and goes down with difficulty, because it is very dry. The
women gather this root, and recognize it by the dried stem, which appears
sticking up above the ice. The shape (of the dry top) is like a crown,
of red color ; it is as large as the bottom of a plate, and is full of seeds
in every way resembling hazelnuts; and when these are roasted under
hot cinders they taste just like chestnuts".
This plant is plainly Nelumbium luteum the American, lotus, yellow
water-lily, water chinquepin, wankapin or yoncopin. Sarah Wadsworth
informed me that the common mode of its preparation by the Miami
women was to gather the roots (tubers), soak them in lye to loosen the
skin, and then peel and boil them. The seeds were likewise soaked in
lye, and shelled. Of these they made soup or cooked them as desired.
The Miami name of the plant is pok'-ci-kwal-ya'-ki, i. e. full of holes,
or nostrils, which will be appreciated by those who are familiar with
the plant.
Perrot continues: "That country also produces potatoes; some are
as large as an egg, others have the size of ones fist, or a little more. They
boil these in water by a slow fire during twenty-four hours ; when they
are thoroughly cooked you will find in them an excellent flavor, much
resembling that of prunes which are cooked in the same way in France,
to be served with dessert". This passage has caused no little worry to
students of Perrot, to know just what plant he refers to. Possibly he
meant more than one, for there are several "Indian potatoes". First
of these is the psoralea esculenta, or pomme de prairie, or navet de
78 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
prairie of the western plains, which I think may be excluded as foreign
to the Algonquian region, and probably unknown to Perrot. The Jeru-
salem artichoke (helianthus tuberosa) appears to me to meet his descrip-
tion more nearly than any other one plant, and its tubers were eaten by
the Indians. Possibly he may refer to the ground-nut, or ground-bean,
Apios tuberosa. The tubers of this plant were called "rosaries" by the
early Canadians, because they resembled beads, 30 and the Miami name,
a-pi-ka'-ni-ta is similar to a-pi-ka'-na-ki, which is their name for ' ' peace
beads". Another plant called Indian potato, is the " man-of-the-earth ",
Ipomea pandurata, which is of the morning-glory family."
Perrot continues: "The tribes of the prairies also find in certain
places lands that are fertile, and kept moist by the streams that water
them, whereon grow onions of the size of ones thumb. The root is like
a leek, and the plant which grows from it resembles the salsify. This
onion, I declare, is so exceedingly acrid that if one tries to swallow it,
it would all at once wither the tongue, the throat, and the inside of the
mouth ; I do not know, however, whether it would have the same injurious
effect on the inside of the body. But this difficulty hardly ever occurs,
for as soon as one takes it into his mouth he spits it out ; and one imagines
that it is a certain wild garlic, which is quite common in the same places,
and has also an insupportable acridness. When the savages lay in a
store of these onions, with which the ground is covered, they first build
an oven, upon which they place the onions, covering them with a thick
layer of grass; and by means of the heat which the fire communicates
to them the, acrid quality leaves them, nor are they damaged by the
flames ; and after they have been dried in the sun they become an excel-
lent article of food". The wild onion is still eaten by the Miamis as an
early vegetable, but without this formidable preparation. They are
washed, cut fine, and fried in grease until they wilt ; then a little water
is added, with salt, pepper, and enough flour to cream. This removes the
acrid taste.
Perrot continues: "The prairies inhabited by the Illinois produce
various fruits, such as medlars, large mulberries, plums, and abundance
of nuts, as in France ; and many other fruits. As for the nuts, some are
found as large as a hen ( 's egg) which are so bitter and oily that they
so Jesuit Relations, Vol. 6, p. 273.
i The mss. dictionary, ascribed to Le Boulanger, preserved in the John Carter
Brown Library, at Providence, gives the following definitions: " pokicorewafci,
hollow roots"; "micopena, large root in the water"; "apena, pi. apeniki, potatoes";
wicapisia, root for guarding themselves from death from serpents that they fear.
The bulb is white, and rises out of the ground. The stem is a foot high, the leaves
of four ribs (or on four sides), and a little red button on the top.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
79
are good for nothing for eating. There are also strawberries in
abundance, raspberries and potatoes. But the people farther north, as
far up as Wisconsin, have no longer these medlars, and those who are
KILSOKWA THE SETTING SUN
(Granddaughter of The Little Turtle)
still farther away are without these nuts like those of France". The
medlars are, no doubt, persimmons. The "bitter and oily" nuts are
more doubtful. He wrote "as large as a hen", and Father Tailhan adds
the "egg" explapation, but even that does not help much, unless Perrot
meant to include the outer covering when referring to the size ; in which
78
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
prairie of the western plains, which I think may be excluded as foreign
to the Algouquian region, and probably unknown to Perrot. The Jeru-
salem artichoke (helianthus tuberosa) appears to me to meet his descrip-
tion more nearly than any other one plant, and its tubers were eaten by
the Indians. Possibly he may refer to the ground-nut, or ground-bean,
Apios tuberosa. The tubers of this plant were called "rosaries" by the
early Canadians, because they resembled beads, 50 and the Miami name,
a-pi-ka'-ni-ta is similar to a-pi-ka'-na-ki, which is their name for "peace
beads". Another plant called Indian potato, is the " man-of-the-earth ",
Ipomea pandurata, which is of the morning-glory family. 51
Perrot continues: "The tribes of the prairies also find in certain
places lands that are fertile, and kept moist by the streams that water
them, whereon grow onions of the size of ones thumb. The root is like
a leek, and the plant which grows from it resembles the salsify. This
onion, I declare, is so exceedingly acrid that if one tries to swallow it,
it would all at once wither the tongue, the throat, and the inside of the
mouth ; I do not know, however, whether it would have the same injurious
effect on the inside of the body. But this difficulty hardly ever occurs,
for as soon as one takes it into his mouth he spits it out ; and one imagines
that it is a certain wild garlic, which is quite common in the same places,
and has also an insupportable acridness. When the savages lay in a
store of these onions, with which the ground is covered, they first build
an oven, upon which they place the onions, covering them with a thick
layer of grass; and by means of the heat which the fire communicates
to them the .acrid quality leaves them, nor are they damaged by the
flames; and after they have been dried in the sun they become an excel-
lent article of food". The wild onion is still eaten by the Miamis as an
early vegetable, but without this formidable preparation. They are
washed, cut fine, and fried in grease until they wilt ; then a little water
is added, with salt, pepper, and enough flour to cream. This removes the
acrid taste.
Perrot continues: "The prairies inhabited by the Illinois produce
various fruits, such as medlars, large mulberries, plums, and abundance
of nuts, as in France ; and many other fruits. As for the nuts, some are
found as large as a hen ( 's egg) which are so bitter and oily that they
so Jesuit Relations, Vol. 6, p. 273.
5i The mss. dictionary, ascribed to Le Boulanger, preserved in the John Carter
Brown Library, at Providence, gives the following definitions: "pokicorewaki,
hollow roots "; "micopena, large root in the water"; "apena, pi. apeniki, potatoes";
wicapisia, root for guarding themselves from death from serpents that they fear.
The bulb is white, and rises out of the ground. The stem is a foot high, the leaves
of four ribs (or on four sides), and a little red button on the top.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
79
are good for nothing for eating. There are also strawberries in
abundance, raspberries and potatoes. But the people farther north, as
far up as Wisconsin, have no longer these medlars, and those who are
KILSOKWA THE SETTING SUN
(Granddaughter of The Little Turtle)
still farther away are without these nuts like those of France". The
medlars are, no doubt, persimmons. The "bitter and oily" nuts are
more doubtful. He wrote "as large as a hen", and Father Tailhan adds
the "egg" explanation, but even that does not help much, unless Perrot
meant to include the outer covering when referring to the size ; in which
80 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
case he might have intended the pig-nut or the buckeye. Tailhan suggests
that he refers to a fruit described by Marquette, the size of an egg, which
he broke in two pieces, ' ' in each of which there were eight or ten seeds
inclosed. They have the shape of an almond, and are very good when
they are ripe. The tree, however, which bears them, has a very bad
odor, and its leaf is like that of the walnut". It is hard to imagine what
Marquette referred to unless it was the pawpaw, and it can scarcely be
called a bitter and oily nut. The Miamis ate pawpaws, but did not eat
may-apples. With the nuts may be included the acorns of several species
of oak, which they gathered and cooked.
The Miamis availed themselves of "greens" of various kinds, some
of which are not used by the whites, as, for example, the flowers of the
mulberry, which they gathered and cooked as a vegetable. Their prefer-
ence in greens is for the shoots of the common (purple) milkweed, which
is prepared much the same as asparagus. Godfrey said that milkweed
"has substance", and that it could be used in place of potatoes. They
do not eat the shoots of the smaller species of asclepias, or of the white-
flowered milkweed, which they call la-mon-das'-sa, or "pups", and pro-
nounce poisonous. They use the shoots of poke, but Godfrey 's belief was
that they did not use poke, mushrooms, or wild lettuce, until they learned
to eat them from the whites. He was probably wrong as to this, as the
instruction concerning the use of native plants came the other way. Of
mushrooms, the Miamia eat the morels and the two large gyromitras
esculenta and brunnea. They do not eat puff-balls, believing that they
cause dropsy in fact the name given to them, pa-sa'-to-wa-ka'-ni, means
"thing that causes dropsy". The edible sponge mushrooms, which they
used, as mentioned, are called mi-no-sa'-ka-i, which is the name given to
tripe.
Most of the domestic wants of the Indians were supplied without
much difficulty. For example, cordage of all kinds was obtained from
the inner bark of the linn tree. For temporary use this needed no prepa-
ration. When boys went hunting with men, jt was their first work to get
linn bark to hobble the horses, while the men hunted. When rope was
wanted for permanent use, the squaws boiled this bark, and twisted or
braided it while it was damp. If they wanted canoes lighter than dug-
outs, they made them of the bark of the water-elm or hickory, the pig-nut
hickory being considered best. They cut down a tree, and peeled off the
bark with flat sticks. In the spring, when the trees were beginning to
leave, the bark came off easily, and at other times they had to pound it
to loosen it. This kind of bark was also used for tables for drying corn,
berries and fruit. The strips of bark were pressed out flat till they dried,
and were then laid on poles placed in forked sticks. It was also used for
-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 81
sugar troughs, by bending the ends up and fastening them. The joints
in these and in canoes were stopped with gum from evergreen trees and
beeswax. When through with a season 's sugar-making, the troughs were
soaked, straightened out, and dried, after which they were piled up like
shingles for the next year ; and when thus cared for they would serve for
several years. They also made boxes of this kind of bark, and in gen-
eral used it for most of the purposes for which we use boards.
Although there is a general impression among white people that the
life of an Indian woman was one of drudgery, there is practical agree-
ment of all actual witnesses that her work was not so hard as that of the
average frontier white woman. It was also on a social basis that made
it much less trying. A typical testimony is the following from Mary
Jemison, a white captive among the Senecas: " Notwithstanding the
Indian women have all the fuel and bread to procure, and the cooking
to perform, their task is probably not harder than that of white women
who have those articles provided for them ; and their cares are certainly
not half as numerous nor as great. In the summer season we planted,
tended and harvested our corn, and generally had all our children with
us ; but we had no master to oversee or drive us, so that we could work
as leisurely as we pleased. * * * In the spring they chose an active
old squaw to be their driver or overseer, when at labor, for the ensuing
year. She accepts the honor, and they consider themselves bound to
obey her. When the time for planting arrives, and the soil is prepared,
the squaws are assembled in the morning, and conducted into a field,
where each plants one row. They then go into the next field and plant
once across, and 90 on till they have gone through the tribe. If any
remains to be planted, they again commence where they did at first (in
the same field) and so keep on till the whole is finished. By this rule
they perform their labor of every kind, and every jealousy of one having
done more than another is effectually avoided." 5Z
The tribal organization was managed by a head chief, a war chief
and band chief. The bands were merely communities, usually of rela-
tives. After the removals from the state, those who remained had
bands as follows: Ml-cm'-gwa-min'-dja 's band, near Jalapa, on the
Mississinewa were called Wis-sa'-ki-ha'-ki. The Slocum family, lower
down the Mississinewa, were called Ci-pa'-ka-na'-ki, from Ci-pa'-ka-
na (The Awl) the husband of Frances Slocum. Those of the settle-
ment at the mouth of the Mississinewa were called Na-ma'-tci-sin-wa'-ki ;
those on upper Eel River Ki-na-pi'-ko-ma-kwa'-ki ; those on Pipe Creek
Pwa-ka'-na-kl The Miamis about Port Wayne were called Ki-kai'-a-ki,
2 See collected authorities in Archeological Hist, of Ohio, pp. 481-5.
Vol. I
82 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
and those from Roanoke to Little River were called Na-kau'-wi-ka'-mi-
a'-ki, or people of the Aboite River. There could be no better illustration
of the way in which Indian tribal names were multiplied in earlier days.
The early settlement of Indiana did not call for any removal of
Indians, as they were in the northern part of the State, and the American
immigration was into the southern portion. The first to feel the demand
of the whites for more land were the Delawares, who had settled on White
River about 1750, by permission of the Miamis, and who by their treaty
of 1818 removed within three years thereafter. The other Indians
remained, but were gradually pushed into narrower limits. None of
them wished to leave, and for several years they successfully opposed
removal. In the report of the treaties at the mouth of the Mississinewa,
in 1826, the Commissioners, Lewis Cass, James B. Ray and John Tipton,
say: "It was impossible to procure the assent of the Pattawatamies or
Miamis to a. removal west of the Mississippi. They are not yet prepared
for this important change in their situation. Time, the destruction of
the game, and the approximation of our settlements are necessary before
this measure can be successfully proposed to them. It was urged as far
as prudence permitted, and in fact, until it became apparent that further
persuasion would defeat every object we had in view". 53
The removal of the Potawatomis began under the treaty of 1832, the
last of their removals being that of Menominee's band in 1838, under
circumstances of great hardship to them, and causing the death of Father
Petit, who accompanied them. 64 In 1840 the greater part of the Miamis
agreed to removal; and in 1844 a contract was made with Thomas
Dowling for their removal ; but they did not get started until 1846, the
first party reaching their destination, Osage River Agency, in November
of that year. There were three parties or sections in this removal, all
under charge of Christmas Dagenet, who died on the third trip.
Christmas Dagenet was a son of Ambrose Dagenet, an early French
settler, who was with Harrison in the Tippecanoe campaign. Ambrose
married Mi-cm'-gwa-min'-dja, (Burr Oak tree) a Wea woman, and their
son Christmas was born Dec. 25, 1799, at the old Wea town above Terre
Haute. On Feb. 16, 1819, Christmas was married by Rev. Isaac McCoy,
at his mission school in Parke County, to Mary Ann Isaacs, daughter
of Chief Joseph Isaacs of the Brotherton Indians. Their grandson,
Charles E. Dagenet, is now Supervisor of Indian Employment, for the
national government. He was born on the reservation in Kansas,
Sept. 17, 1873, and accompanied his parents to Oklahoma in 1882. He
Am. State Papers, Indians, Vol. 2, p. 684.
True Indian Stories, Dunn, p. 234.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
83
was educated at Carlisle, learning the printers trade ; edited The Miami
Chief, at Miami, Oklahoma, for two years ; and then entered the Govern-
ment service on Sept. 1, 1894, as a teacher among the Sioux, in South
Dakota. He was promoted successively to Disciplinarian, Clerk, and in
1905 to his present responsible position, which he has filled most
efficiently. He married Esther Miller (As-san'-zan-kwa, or Sunshine
CHARLES E. DAGENET
Woman) a daughter of Thomas Miller, or Ma'-to-sa'-m-a, the last of the
Miami head chiefs in Kansas. She was also a Carlisle graduate, and a
successful teacher in the Government service.
After the death of Christmas Dagenet his widow remained in Kansas,
where she married Baptiste, a full-blood Peoria, who is known historically
as Baptiste Peoria, and who was of notable service to the emigrant
Indians. While these were in Indiana and Illinois the havoc wrought
among them by whisky was shocking, but when they got to Kansas it was
82
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
and those from Roanoke to Little River were called Na-kau'-wi-ka'-mi-
a'-ki, or people of the Aboite River. There could be no better illustration
of the way in which Indian tribal names were multiplied in earlier days.
The early settlement of Indiana did not call for any removal of
Indians, as they were in the northern part of the State, and the American
immigration was into the southern portion. The first to feel the demand
of the whites for more land were the Delawares, who had settled on White
River about 1750, by permission of the Miamis, and who by their treaty
of 1818 removed within three years thereafter. The other Indians
remained, but were gradually pushed into narrower limits. None of
them wished to leave, and for several years they successfully opposed
removal. In the report of the treaties at the mouth of the Mississinewa,
in 1826, the Commissioners, Lewis Cass, James B. Ray and John Tipton,
say: "It was impossible to procure the assent of the Pattawatamies or
Miamis to a, removal west of the Mississippi. They are not yet prepared
for this important change in their situation. Time, the destruction of
the game, and the approximation of our settlements are necessary before
this measure can be successfully proposed to them. It was urged as far
as prudence permitted, and in fact, until it became apparent that further
persuasion would defeat every object we had in view". 53
The removal of the Potawatomis began under the treaty of 1832, the
last of their removals being that of Menominee's band in 1838, under
circumstances of great hardship to them, and causing the death of Father
Petit, who accompanied them. 54 In 1840 the greater part of the Miamis
agreed to removal; and in 1844 a contract was made with Thomas
Bowling for their removal ; but they did not get started until 1846, the
first party reaching their destination, Osage River Agency, in November
of that year. There were three parties or sections in this removal, all
under charge of Christmas Dagenet. who died on the third trip.
Christmas Dagenet was a son of Ambrose Dagenet, an early French
settler, who was with Harrison in the Tippeeanoe campaign. Ambrose
married Mi-cm'-gwa-mm'-dja, (Burr Oak tree) a Wea woman, and their
son Christmas was born Dec. 25, 1799, at the old Wea town above Terre
Haute. On Feb. 16, 1819, Christmas was married by Rev. Isaac McCoy,
at his mission school in Parke County, to Mary Ann Isaacs, daughter
of Chief Joseph Isaacs of the Brotherton Indians. Their grandson,
Charles E. Dagenet, is now Supervisor of Indian Employment, for the
national government. He was born on the reservation in Kansas,
Sept. 17, 1873, and accompanied his parents to Oklahoma in 1882. He
53 Am. State Papers, Indians, Vol. 2, p. 684.
True Indian Stories, Dunn, p. 234.
-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
83
was educated at Carlisle, learning the printers trade ; edited The Miami
Chief, at Miami, Oklahoma, for two years ; and then entered the Govern-
ment service on Sept. 1, 1894, as a teacher among the Sioux, in South
Dakota. He was promoted successively to Disciplinarian, Clerk, and in
1905 to his present responsible position, which he has filled most
efficiently. He married Esther Miller (As-san'-zan-kwa, or Sunshine
CHARLES E. DAGKNET
Woman) a daughter of Thomas Miller, or Ma'-to-sa'-ni-a, the last of the
Miami head chiefs in Kansas. She was also a Carlisle graduate, and a
successful teacher in the Government service.
After the death of Christmas Dagenet his widow remained in Kansas,
where she married Baptiste, a full-blood Peoria, who is known historically
as Baptiste Peoria, and who was of notable service to the emigrant
Indians. While these were in Indiana and Illinois the havoc wrought
among them by whisky was shocking, but when they got to Kansas it was
.
84 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
appalling. Not only "boot-leggers" but licensed traders, in open viola-
tion of law, supplied them with all the liquor they could pay for, and
that of the vilest quality. Everybody knows something of the crimes of
violence in civilized communities caused by intoxication, but on a lawless
frontier, among these uncivilized people, the deaths from violence due
to whisky, exceeded deaths from all other causes in proportion of more
than five to one. Isaac McCoy, who saw the work in progress, said: "Of
this murderous traffic one cannot think without horror, nor speak without
indignation tempting him to transcend the bounds of moderation. We
talk of Indians being distressed and destroyed by war; but we destroy
them much faster in times of peace than in times of war. If the bloody
history of the Spaniards in the West Indies and Mexico, in the sixteenth
century is revolting to the feelings of the reader, what must we say of
our own countrymen in this nineteenth century? They murdered by
slavery in the mines, or by cross-bows and blood-hounds ; but we murder
by poison, which if more slow in its effects, is more insidious, and certain,
and dreadful". 85
Baptiste had been in the government service much of the time for
thirty years, and under his leadership, the demoralized remnants of the
Peorias, Weas, Kaskaskias, and Piankeshaws confederated before their
treaty of 1854; and under his leadership they removed to Oklahoma in
1867, where Baptist* died, Sept. 13, 1873, at the age of 80 years. The
Western Miamis did not join this federation until 1873, and then not
fully. They held the land jointly, but had separate annuities, and
separate tribal organization.
After the death of The Little Turtle, in 1812, his nephew, John
Baptiste Richardville (Pm-ji'-wa, or The Wild Cat) was made head
chief and retained that office until his death, in 1841, when his son-in-law
To'-pi-a, or Francis Lafontaine, became head chief. He went west with
the removed Miamis in 1846; and on his return, took sick and died at
Lafayette, Ind., in the spring of 1847. After that there was no head
chief of the Miami Nation. The emigrant Miamis, however, had made
O-san'-di-a, or Poplar Tree, their chief; but this did not include the
Weas and Piankeshaws, who had preceded them. He was followed by
Na'-wi-lan-gwan'-ga, or Four Wings, called "Big Legs" by the whites,
until his death in 1858 ; then John Osandia until 1860 ; then N&p-cln'-ga,
or Lies in his Place, until 1862; then John Big Leg (Wan-za'-pT-a, or
Sunrise) until 1867. He died while east to make a treaty, at the home
of his sister-in-law Kfl-so'-kwa, in Indiana. Lam-ki-kam'-wa, or Stamps
Hard, was then made chief, but was soon impeached, and succeeded by
History of Baptist Missions, p. 564.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 85
John Roubideau (A-tci'-pan-gwi-a, or Snapping Turtle). In a short
time charges were made against Roubideau, and at his trial ruffians were
brought in to break up the council, which adjourned to avoid trouble;
but Roubideau resigned, and Thomas Miller and David Gibaut were
elected. They were joint chiefs when the Western Miami* who removed
to Oklahoma made this change, in 1873.
In Indiana, tribal organization was a mere formality after 1846
except that Mi-cin'-gwa-mm'-dja's band held their reserve in common
until it was partitioned, under the act of Congress of June 10, 1872,
among the sixty-three members then living, each of whom received a
patent for his share. With this the last remnant of Indian tribal title
to lands in this State was extinguished.
.
-
GLOSSARY OF INDIAN NAMES AND SUPPOSED INDIAN
NAMES, IN INDIANA
ABOITE. River and township in Allen County; corrupted from the
French name Riviere a Boitte, or a Bouette, meaning "River of
Minnows". The Miami name is Na-kau'-wi-ka'-mi, or "Sandy
Water".
AMO. Town in Hendricks County. Said to be the Potawatomi a'-mo, or
honey-bee; in reality the Latin amo, I love.
ANDERSON. County seat of Madison County, named for William Ander-
son, Delaware head chief, whose Indian name was Kok-to'-wha-nund,
or "Making a cracking Noise". The Delaware name of his town at
this point was Wa'^pi-mms'-kink, or "Chestnut Tree Place".
ANOKA. Town in Cass County. Said to be a "made-up" name, but is
also a Sioux adverb meaning "on both sides".
APIKONIT. Miami name of Capt. Wm. Wells ; abbreviated form of &-pi-
ka'-ni-ta, meaning the "groundnut", Apios tuberosa.
ASHKUM. Reservation and village of Potawatomi chief of that name, in
Miami County. Signifies "anything continuous".
ATCHEPONGQUAWE. See Butternut Creek.
AUBBEENAUBBEE. Township in Fulton County, and reservation of
Potawatomi chief, Aub'-bi-naub'-bi. Means "Looking Backward"
equivalent to our slang term "rubber-neck".
BLACK HAWK. Postoffice in Vigo County, named for celebrated Sauk
Chief Mfi-ka'-ta-mi'-ci-kiak'-kiak, or Black Sparrow Hawk.
BLACK LOON. Reservation in Cass County for Miami named MS.-ka'-ta-
mon'-gwa, or Black Loon.
BUCKONGEHELAS. Commonest form of name of Delaware war chief, and
his town on White River. Properly Pak-gant'-ci-hi'-las, or "Breaker
to Pieces".
BUTTERNUT CREEK. Tributary of the Salominee in Jay County. Indian
name, usually written Atchepongquawe, is Miami at-tci'-pang-
kwa'-wa or "Snapping Turtle Eggs".
86
,:-X
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 87
CAKIMI. Potawatomi woman, for whose children reservation known as
Burnett Reserve, on the Wabash below the Tippecanoe, was made
by the treaty of 1818. The name is Ka-ki'-mi, meaning Run Away
from Home.
CALUMET. Two streams in northwestern Indiana tributary to Lake
Michigan, the names of which were formerly written Calomick, Killo-
mick, Kenomick, or Kennoumic. These are dialect variations of the
same word, ranging from Ken-nom'-kia in the Potawatomi to
Ge-kel'-i-muk in the Delaware, and signifying a body of deep, still
water.
CAYUGA. Postoffice in Vermillion County. Corrupted from the Iroquois
Gwa-u'-geh, said to mean "the place of taking out"; i. e. the begin-
ning of a portage. .
CEDAR CREEK. Tributary of the St. Joseph, in Allen County. A literal
translation of its Potawatomi name, Mes-kwa'-wa-si'-pi. The town of
the Potawatomi chief Metea was at its mouth, and was called Mes-
kwa'-wa-si'-pi-o'-tan, or Cedar Creek Town.
CHARLEY. A Miami who had a reservation in Wabash County, adjoining
the City of Wabash. A creek emptying there is called Charley Creek.
His Indian name was Ki-tun'-ga, or Sleepy.
CHECHAUKKOSE. Reservation and village, in Marshall County, of
Potawatomi chief, Tci'-tca-kos, or Little Crane.
CHICAGO. (East) Town in Lake County. Means "Place of Wild Onions".
CHINQUAQUA. Reservation in Cass County. Corruption of Cin-gwa'-
kwa, the Miami term for all the smaller evergreen trees.
CHICHIPE OUTIPE. Given by Father Petit as the Potawatomi name of
the Catholic mission at Twin Lakes, in Marshall County. The first
word is ci-ci'-pa, or duck ; second word not identified.
CHIPPECOKE. Common form of name of Indian village at Vincennes,
also written Chipkawkay, etc. These are corruptions of the abbrevia-
tion of the Miami name, Tcip-ka'-ki-un'-gi, or Place of (edible) Roots.
The Delaware name, written Chuphacking, Chupukin, or Chub-
hicking, has the same meaning.
CHIPPEWANAUNG. Treaty ground in Fulton County, of treaties with
Potawatomis, in 1836. The name refers to the proximity of Chip-
wanic Creek.
CHIPWANIC. Tributary of the Tippecanoe, near Manitou Lake, in Fulton
County. The name is a corruption of Tcip'-wa-nuk', or Ghost Hole.
CHOPINE. French nickname, meaning a pint measure, applied to two
Miamis who had reservations in Whitley and Allen counties, respec-
tively. Old Chopine's name was Ma-kwa'-kia, or Beaver Head.
Young Chopine was Pi-kan'-ga, or Striking.
86 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
COESSE. Town in Whitley County. Corruption of Potawatomi nick-
name of a Miami band chief, pronounced Ku-wa'-zi by Potawatomis,
and Ko-wa'-zi by Miamis; and meaning "Old Man".
CORNSTALK. Postoffice in Howard County ; also Pete Cornstalk Creek, a
small stream in the same county. So called from the nickname of an
old Miami, whose real name was A-san'-zang, or Sunshine.
DEER CREEK. Tributary of the Wabash, emptying below Delphi. For-
merly called Passeanong Creek, and same name given to Deer Creek
prairie, opposite its mouth. This is the Miami name, meaning ' ' The
Place of the Fawn".
DELAWARE. Name of county, town, and several townships. This is an
English word, referring to the residence of the Delaware Indians on
Delaware River, which was named for Lord De La Warr, Governor
of Virginia. They call themselves Lenni Lenape, or True Men; and
the western Indians usually called them Wa'-pa-na'-kl, or Eastlanders.
DORM IN". Prairie in Laporte County. Corruption of m'da'-min, the
Potawatomi word for maize or corn.
DRIFTWOOD. Name of the East Fork of White River. Said to be a trans-
lation of the Miami name On'-gwa-sa'-ka, which means driftwood.
In the Reminiscences of Col. John Ketcham, p. 11, the name is given
Hangonahakwasepoo, which is evidently Delaware.
EAGLE CREEK. Tributary of White River, in Marion County. Chamber-
lain says: "Its Indian name was Lau-a-shinga-paim-honnock, or
Middle of the Valley".
EEL RIVER. Tributary of the Wabash, emptying at Logansport. This
and the French name, L'Anguille, are translations of the Miami name
of the stream which is Ki-na-pi'-kwo-ma'-kwa, literally snake fish.
EEL RIVER. Tributary of White River in Greene County. The Delaware
name was Cak'-a-mak, literally slippery fish.
ELKHART. Tributary of the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan ; also city and
county. The name was originally Elk Heart, or Elksheart, which,
like the French name Coeur de Cerf, is a literal translation of the
Potawatomi name, Mi-ceh'-weh-u'-deh-Ik'. The name refers to the
shape of an island at the mouth of the stream.
FALL CREEK. Tributary of White River in Marion County. Chamberlain
gives the Delaware name as " Soo-sooc-pa-hal-oc, or Spilt Water".
Sokpehelluk, . or sookpehelluk, is the Delaware word for a waterfall.
The Miami name of the stream is Tcank'-tun-un'-gT, or "Makes a
Noise Place". Both names refer to the falls at Pendleton, the only
material waterfall in central Indiana.
INDIANA AND INDIANAXS 89
FLAT BELLY. Reservation in Noble and Kosciusko counties for the band
of Pa'-pa-ki'-tcl, of which the English name is a literal translation.
His village was at what is now called Indian Village, in Noble
County.
PORT WAYNE. See Ki'-ki-un'-gi.
GODFHOY. Reservation of Francois Godfrey. He had no Indian name.
The name Pah-lons'-wah, given in local histories is the Indian effort
at pronouncing Francois.
HUXTINGTON. County seat of Huntington County. The Miami name is
Wi'-pi-tca'-ki-un'-gi, or Place of Flints, referring to a flint ridge
which crosses the limestone here.
ILE A L 'AiL. French name meaning Island of Garlic, for a small island
in the Wabash, in Carroll County. The name is used in the treaty of
St. Mary 's, in 1818, to locate a reservation to the children of Antoine
Bondie.
INDIANAPOLIS. On account of its location at the mouth of Fall Creek,
the Miamis called this place Tcank'-tun-un'-gi, or "Makes a Noise
Place".
ILLINOIS. The stem il-li'-m, .signifying "men", with French ending.
IROQUOIS. Charlevoix derives this from their word hiro, meaning "I
have spoken"; others as meaning "real serpents". In Indiana it is
the name of a river tributary to the Kankakee, and a township in
Newton County.
JOSINA CREEK. Corruption of To-san'-ia, common Miami abbreviation
of Met'-o-san'-ia, Miami chief whose village was at its mouth. It is
made Metocinyah Creek on some maps. See Metosania.
KANKAKEE. Father Charlevoix says the name is Theakiki, which the
Canadians had corrupted to Kiakiki. The Potawatomi name is Teh'-
yak-ki'-kl' or Swampy country. Father Marest wrote it Huakiki,
which is a corruption of the Miami name M 'wha'-ki-ki, or Wolf
Country. French map makers from these corruptions, developed
Qui-que-que, and Quin-qui-qui, which were Anglicized to Kan-ka-kee.
KEKIONGA. Common form of name of Indian town at Fort Wayne, and
now in use for Fort Wayne. It is a corruption of Kls'-ka-kon, or
Ki'-ka-kon, an Ottawa tribe that had a town there; the meaning is
"Clipped Head". The French called them Queues Coupees. The
Miamis corrupted this to Ki'-ki-un'-gi, and lost its meaning. They
now call Gen. Wayne Ki'-ki-a, because Ki'-ki-un'-gi would literally
mean Ki'-ki-a's place.
KENAPACOMAQUA. Common form of name of Miami town at site of
Logansport, destroyed by Gen. Wilkinson in 1791. The Indian
word is Ki-na-pi'-kwo-ma'-kwa. meaning eel, or snake fish. It is the
name given to Logansport, and to Eel River which empties there.
90 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
KENTUCKY. A stream in southern Indiana. Its meaning is uncertain,
as it is not known from what language it comes, and statements of
the original form vary from Kain-tuck to Cantuckey. The Kentucky
river in the State of Kentucky was formerly also called Cuttawa,
which probably is an Algonquian word for Cherokee. The Miami
name for a Cherokee is Ka-to'-wa.
KEWANNA. Postoffice in Fulton County, and reservation for Potawatomi
chief Ki-wa'-na, the Prairie Chicken. The word also means "lost".
KICKAPOO. Creek in Warren County. The meaning of the word is
uncertain; but Schoolcraft thought it a corruption of N'gikaboo,
meaning "Otter's Ghost".
KITHTIPPECANUNK. Common form of name of The Prophet's Town, at
the mouth of Tippecanoe river. It means Tippecanoe Town, or
Place. See Tippecanoe.
KILLBUCK. Creek in Madison County, named for Charles Killbuck, a
Delaware who lived there. It is the family name of the descendants
of a prominent Delaware who was converted by the Moravian mis-
sionaries.
KILSOKWA. Granddaughter of The Little Turtle. Born 1810; died
Sept. 4, 1915. Pronounced Kil-so'-kwa. Her father, Little Turtle's
son, was named Wak-cln'-ga, or The Crescent Moon, literally "Lying
Crooked". She married Antoine Revarre, and passed her later
years near Roanoke, in Huntington County.
KOKOMO. County seat of Howard County ; also small stream near there.
Named for a Thorntown Indian, whose name was Ko-ka'-ma, or The
Diver.
LAORO. Town in Wabash County, from Le Gros, the French nickname
of a Miami chief who lived there. The Miamis called him 0-sa'-
mo-ni, which means nothing, and is no doubt a corruption of On'za-
la'-mo-ni, the original name of the Salominie River, which empties
at this point, and which the Indians gave the same name. See Sala-
monie.
LITTLE DEER CREEK. Stream in Miami County. The Miami name is
a-pas'-si-a, which is their word for fawn.
LITTLE MUNSEE. A Delaware town four miles east of Anderson, on the
site of the old Moravian mission. For meaning see Muncie.
LITTLE RIVER. Tributary of the Wabash, through which the portage to
the Maumee was reached. Its Miami name is Pa-wi'-kam-si'-pi, or
"Standing Still River", i. e. with no current.
LOOANSPORT. County seat of Cass County, named for Captain Logan,
a Shawnee Indian. His Indian name was Spemica Lawba, or High
Horn. The Indians sometimes call Logansport Ki-na-pi'-kwo-ma'-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 91
i
kwa, because it is on the site of the old Miami Town of that name;
and sometimes call it Sa'-ki-wa'-ki, because it is at the mouth of Eel
River.
MACHESAW. Common form of name of reservation for a Potawatomi
named Ma'-tcis-sa, or Bleating Fawn.
MANHATTAN. Postoffice in Putnam County, named for Manhattan
Island, New York. The original form of the word was Manatte in
Hudson 's journal it is Mana-hata which is almost certainly intended
for the Delaware word "menatey", meaning an island.
MAJENICA. Postoffice, and creek, in Huntington County, named for a
Miami chief, Man-ji'-m-kia, or Big Frame.
MAKKAHTAHMOWAY. Common form of name of a Potawatomi chief, Ma-
ka'-ta-m'wa, or Black Wolf, who had a joint reservation with Menomi-
nee, at Twin Lakes, in Marshall County.
MANITOU. Lake in Fulton County. This is the Potawatomi ma-ni'-to.
referring to a spirit or monster said to inhabit the lake.
MAUMEE. River of northeastern Indiana, tributary to Lake Erie. The
name is a corruption of Mi-a'-mi. It was formerly called Ottawa
River from the residence of part of that tribe on its banks. John
Johnston gave " Cagh-a-ren-du-te, or Standing Rock" as the Wyandot
name of the stream.
MARAMECH. Old name of a bam] of Miamis. It is the Peoria word for
catfish, sometimes written maramek or maramak. The Miami form is
mi-al'-lo-mak, sometimes written malamak, and the Odjibwa form is
manamak, or manumaig. The Miamis of Maramech were probably
incorporated in what were known as the Eel Rivers at a later date.
MASCOUTIN. A tribal name, which is substantially translated in their old
name of the Fire Nation.
MAXINKUCKEE. Lake in Marshall County ; name corrupted from the
Potawatomi name, Mog-sin'-ki-ki, or Big Stone Country. The Miamis
called it Mang-san'-ki-ki, which has the same meaning. In the report
of the survey for the Michigan Road, the name is given Mek-sin-ka-
keek (Ind. Doc. Journal, 1835, Doc. No. 8.).
MAZAQUA. Reservation in Cass County for Miami chief Mi-zi'-kwa, mean-
ing hail or hailstone.
MEMOTWAY. Reservation in Fulton County for band of Potawatomi chief
Meh'-mot-we', or The Cat Bird. The literal meaning of the word is
"complaining", or "crying out from pain", referring to the bird's
note.
MENOMINEE. Potawatomi reservation in Marshall County, and village at
Twin Lakes, for band of Mi-nom'-i-ni. The name means wild rice.
92 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
MERRIAM. The Miamis call this town Tci'-kam-un'-gi, or Place of the
Twin, because McClure, who had a trading post there, had a twin
brother.
MESHINGOMESHIA. Most common corruption of name of reservation in
Wabash and Grant counties for band of Miami chief Mi-cm'-gwa-
mm'-dja, or Burr Oak Tre*.
MESQUABUCK. Reservation and village in Kosciusko County, at site of
town of Oswego, for Potawatomi chief Mes'-kwa-buk'. The name
means "reddish or copper colored".
METEA. Postoffice in Cass County, named for Potawatomi chief, Mi'-ti-a,
or "Kiss Me". His Village was at the mouth of Cedar Creek, q. v.
METOSANYAH. Reservation, same as Meshingomeshia, q. v., his father;
also a neighboring creek. The name M&'-to-san'-ia, commonly ab-
breviated to To-s&n'-ia means Indian, or literally, "the living".
MIAMI. Name of county, town, townships and streams, all named for the
Miami nation. The plural form is Mi-a'-mi-a'-kl, but the early
French chroniclers wrote it Oumiamiouek or Oumiamiak, which is
presumably their corruption of Wemiamik, the Delaware name of the
Miamis, as given in the Walum 01 urn, meaning literally "all
beavers", and figuratively "all friends".
MICHIGAN. Name of lake and city; probably of Odjibwa origin; com-
pounded of Mi'-ci, meaning "great", and sa'-gi-e'-gan, meaning
"lake".
MISHAWAKA. Town in St. Joseph County. The name is a corruption
of the Potawatomi m 'ce'-wa-ki'-ki, meaning "country of dead trees",
i. e. a deadening.
MISHIKINOQKWA. Name of the celebrated chief Little Turtle, also his
village on Eel River, pronounced mi'-ci-ki-noq'-kwa, the "q" repre
senting a sound of "gh" similar to German "x:h". The literal
meaning is "the Great Turtle's wife", but specifically it is the name
of the painted terrapin (chrysemys picta). It is commonly used as
a personal name by the Miamis.
MISSISSINEWA. Tributary of the Wabash, emptying at Peru. The name
is a corruption of the Miami name Na-ma'-tci-sin'-wi, which means
"it slants", or as applied to a stream, "it has much fall".
MODOC. Postoffice in Randolph County. The name is said to be the
Shasteeca word for ' ' enemy. ' '
MOHAWK. Postoffice in Hancock County, named for the Iroquois tribe.
The name is said to be corrupted from Maugwawogs, meaning "man-
eaters".
MONON. Postoffice, township and creek. This is a Potawatomi word,
equivalent to the word "tote" as used in the South.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 93
MOTA. Reservation and town in Kosciusko County. The name is pro-
nounced mo'-te, and means a jug, or big bottle.
MUKKONSQUA. Name given to the celebrated captive Prances Slocum.
It is pronounced muk-kons'-kwa, and means Little Bear Woman.
MTIKKOSE. Reservation and village in Marshall County, meaning Little
Beaver.
MUNCIE. County seat of Delaware County, formerly called Munseetown
or Muncey Town. This word, also spelled Monsy and Monthee, was
originally Mm'-si or Min'-thi-u, meaning "people of the stony coun-
try". The Delaware name of their town which stood here, or of the
old town just above it on the other side of the river, was Wa'-pi-ka-
mi'-kunk, or White River Town. The name Outainink, sometimes
applied to it, is the Delaware u'-ten-mk, which means "place of the
town", or "place where the town was".
MUSKACKITUCK. River in southern Indiana, often improperly written
Muscatatack. The Delaware name was Mosch-ach'-hit-tuk "ch"
sounded as in German or Clear River. In Ind. House Journal,
1820-1, p. 54, the name is given Muschachetuck.
MUSKELONGE. Lake in Kosciusko. The name means "the great pike".
The Odjibwa form of this word is maskinonge.
NANCY TOWN. Delaware village on White River, properly Nantikoke,
from an Indian of that name who lived there. The Nantikokes were
a sub-tribe of the Delawares, the name meaning ' ' tide- water people ' '.
NAPPANEE. Town in Elkhart County. The name is the Missisauga
n&'-pa-ni, meaning "flour".
NASWAWKEE. Reservation in Marshall County, of Nas-wa'-ka, a Pota-
watomi chief. The name means "The Feathered Arrow".
NEAHLONGQUAH. Reservation in Allen County, for a Miami named
Nfi-wi'-leng-won'-ga, meaning "Four Wings". He was called "Big
Legs" by the whites.
NOTAWKAH. Potawatomi chief who shared the Menominee reservation
in Marshall County. The name No-ta'-ka means "he hears", or "he
listens".
OKAWMAUSE. Potawatomi reservation, properly O'-ko-mouse, meaning
"Little Chief".
ONTARIO. Postoffice in Lagrange County. Schoolcraft says this is a
Wyandot word originally on-on-ta-ri-o meaning "beautiful hills,
rocks, waters".
OSAGE. Name of Miami town at mouth of the Mississinewa, given be
cause an Osage Indian lived there. The Miami name was Wa-ca'-ci,
which is their name for the Osage tribe.
94 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
OHIO. River and county. Ohio is an Iroquois exclamation signifying
"beautiful". The Miami name of the river is Kan-zan'-za-pi'-wi,
or Pecan River.
OSCEOLA. Postoffice in St. Joseph County, named for the Seminole chief.
The word, properly os'-y-o-hul'-la, is the name of the great "medfcine
drink" of the Creeks, called "black drink" by the whites, a decoc-
tion of the leaves of the cassena or yaupon (ilex vomitoria).
OSWEGO. Town in Kosciusko County, at the outlet of Tippecanoe Lake.
The word is Iroquois, meaning "flowing out". The town is on the
site of the Potawatomi village of Meskwabuk.
OTSEGO. Township in Steuben County. The name is Iroquois, from
the New York lake, and is said to refer to a rock in that lake.
OTTAWA. Early name of the Maumee River. This, or its short form,
Tawas, is said to mean "traders".
OUIATANON. Miami tribe, and French post on the Wabash, now short-
ened to Wea. It is from the Miami wa-wi'-a-tan'-wi, meaning "an
eddy", literally "it goes in a round channel"; and the terminal
locative; i. e. "Place of the eddy".
OWASCO. Postoffice in Carroll County. An Iroquois word meaning
"floating bridge".
PATOKA. River, tributary to the Wabash. Pa-to'-ka is the Miami word
for Comanche, a number of whom were held as slaves by the Illinois
and Miamis in early days. The French wrote it Padocquia or
Padouca.
PERU. The site of this city was called ik'-ki-pis-sm'-nung, or Straight
Place, by the Miamis, because the Wabash at this point is straight
for about two miles.
PIANKESHAW. Miami tribe. The name is pronounced Pi-un-gi'-ca ;
meaning uncertain.
PIPE CREEK. Stream and township in Cass County. The name is a
literal translation of the Miami name of the stream, Pwa-ka'-na.
PESHEWA. Common corruption of Pm-ji'-wa, the name of Jean Baptiste
Richardville, last head chief of the Miami nation. The word is the
name of the wildcat, but is now commonly used for the domestic
cat.
PONCEAU PICHOU. An American corruption of Panse au Pichou, the
French name of Wildcat Creek; a literal translation of the Miami
name, Pm-ji'-wa-mo'-tai, or Belly of the Wildcat. Written also
Ponce Passu.
POTAWATOMI. Indian tribe. The name means Makers, or Keepers, of the
Fire.
PROPHET'S TOWN. See Kithtippiekanunk.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 95
RACCOON CREEK. Tributary of the Wabash. The name is a translation
of the Miami name, a-se-pa'-na-si-pi'-wi.
KOANOKE. Town in Huntington County. The name is the word used
by the Virginia Indians for their shell-money ; written also roenoke,
rAwrenock, etc.
RUSSIAVILLE. Town in Howard County. The name is a corruption of
Richardville, the name originally given to the County, in honor of
the Miami chief.
ST. JOSEPH RIVER. Tributary of Lake Michigan. The Miami name is
Sa-ki-wa-si-pi'-wi, or Coming-out River, referring to the portage at
South Bend. The Potawatomi form of the name is Sag'-wa-si'-bi.
ST. JOSEPH RIVER. The north fork of the Maumee. The Miami name is
Ko-tci'-sa-si'-pi, or Bean River.
ST. MARY'S RIVER. South fork of the Maumee. The Miami name is
Ma-me'-i-wa si-pi'-wi, or Sturgeon Creek. John Johnson said the
Shawnee name was Cokotheke sepe, or Kettle River.
SALAMONIE. Tributary of the Wabash. This is a corruption of the
Miami name On'-za-la'-mo-ni, the Miami name of the blood-root
(sanguinaria Canadensis), literally "yellow paint", which is given
to this stream.
SHANKITUNK. Stream in southern Indiana. The word probably means
"Shady place".
SHAWNEE. Creek and township in Fountain County, named for the
Indian tribe. The name means "Southerner". The Miami form is
Ca-wan'-wa.
SHEPAHCANNAH. The Miami husband of Frances Slocum; and his
village on the Mississinewa. The word means "the awl"; and is
pronounced Ci-pa'-ka-na. In later years he became deaf, and was
called Ka-kip'-ca, or The Deaf Man ; and his village was called The
Deaf Man's Village.
SHIPSHEWANA. Postoffice in Lagrange County, also creek and lake,
named for a Potawatomi Indian, Ciip'-ci-wa'-no, or "Vision of a
Lion".
SOUTH BEND. The site of South Bend was called Sa'-ki-wa-yun'-gi, or
"Coming out place", i. e. the beginning of a portage.
SUGAR CREEK. Tributary of the Wabash, originally called Sugar Tree
Creek, which is the meaning of the Miami name Sa-na-mm'-dji si-
pi'-wi.
TATAPACHSIT. A Delaware chief, otherwise known as The Grand Glaize
King, and his. town on White River. Ta-ta-pach'-si-ta is the Miami
form of his name, and means "It splits in a circle or spiral". The
Delaware form is Ta-ta-pach-ski, recorded in a Pennsylvania treaty
96 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
as " Tatabaugsuy or The Twisting Vine". The word is probably
the name of the American Woodbine (lonicera grata), the one twist-
ing woody vine of the Delaware habitat.
TECUMSEH. Postoffice in Vigo County, named for the Shawnee Chief
Ti-kum'-tha. The name means "going across" or "Crossing over";
and as he belonged to the Spirit Panther clan, it indicates a meteor
crossing the sky.
THORNTOWN. In Boone County. Godfrey gave the name of the Indian
village here as Ka-wi-a-ki-un-gi or "Place of Thorns." Sarah Wads-
worth called it Ka-win-ja-ki-un-gi, i.e., "Thorn Tree Place."
TIPPECANOE. River, lake, county, town and townships. The name is a
corruption of the Potawatomi Ki-tSp'-I-kon-nong, meaning Ki-tap'-
i-kon place or town. Ki-tap'-i-kon is their word for the buffalo fish,
and was the name of the river. See Kithtappecanunk.
TOPEAH. Reservation in Allen County of Miami chief, known as Fran-
cois Lafontaine. His Miami name, To'-pi-a, means "Frost on the
Bushes".
TOPEKA. Postoffice in Lagrange County, named for city in Kansas. The
word is the Shawnee name of the Jerusalem artichoke (helianthus
tuberosus).
TRAIL CREEK. Tributary of Lake Michigan, at Michigan City. The
name, and the French name, Riviere du Chemin, are translations of
the Potawatomi name, Mi-e'-we-si-bi'-we.
TWIGHTWEES. English name for the Miamis, formerly written Twich-
twichs, Tawixtwis, or twigh-twighs, probably the Iroquois word for
"snipe"
VERMILLJON. Tributary of the Wabash, and County named for the river.
Hough gives the Indian name as Osanamon, which is an Algonquian
name for Verraillion paint, meaning "yellow-red". The French
called the river Vermilion Jaune. The Miamis use a-la-mo'-ni for
vermilion paint.
WABASH. River, county, city and townships. The Miami name of the
river is Wa'-ba-ci'-kl, or Wa'-pa-ci'-ki, "b" and "p" being convert-
ible in Miami. This is an adjective implying that the object to
which it is applied is pure or bright white, inanimate, and natural.
In this case it refers to the limestone bed of the upper part of the
stream.
WABASH. County seat of Wabash County. The Miamis called this
location Ta'-kmg-ga'-mi-un'-gi, or "Cold (running) Water Place",
referring to a fine spring, known as Paradise Spring, Hanna's
Spring, or Treaty Spring.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS :> 97
WACO. Postoffice in Daviess County. The name is that of a sub-tribe
of the Witchita Indians, pronounced We'-ko, and sometimes written
in the Spanish form Hueco. It is said to be their word for "heron".
WAKARUSA. Postoffice in Elkhart County, named for the Kansas stream.
It is said to mean "hip-deep".
WALUM OLUM. The celebrated record obtained from the Delaware
Indians on White River. The name is pronounced wa'-lum o'-lum,
and means "painted record".
WAPASEPAH. Reservation in Allen County, for Wa'-pa-se'-pa-na, or
The White Raccoon, a Miami.
WAWASEE. Lake and postoffice in Kosciusko County, named for a Pota-
watomi chief Wa'-wi-as'-si. This is the word for the full moon,
literally "the round one".
WAWPECONG. Postoffice in Miami County. Sarah Wadsworth says this
place was originally called Wa'-pi-pa-ka'-na, or shell-bark hickories,
from a number of these trees growing there.
WEA. Creek, postoffice and prairie in Tippecanoe County. The name
is an abbreviation of Ouiatanon, which see.
WESAW. Reservation and creek in Miami County named for the Miami
chief Wi'-sa. The name means the gall-bladder.
WHITE RIVER. The largest tributary of the Wabash. Its Miami name
is Wa'-pi-ka-mi'-ki, or "white waters". The Delawares some-
times used this name, and sometimes called it Wa'-pl-ha'-ni, or
White River.
WINAMAC. County seat of Pulaski County, named for a Potawatomi
chief, Wi'-na-mak'. The word means "cat-fish"; literally "mud
fish".
WINNEBAGO. An old Indian town, whose site is now in the suburbs of
Lafayette. The name means "people of Winnipeg", and Winnipeg
means "stinking water".
WINONA. Lake and Assembly ground near Warsaw. The name is the
same as the Wenonah of Longfellow's Hiawatha. It is a Sioux
proper name, given to a female who is a first-born child.
WYALUSINO. Stream in Jennings County, named for the Pennsylvania
stream. Heckewelder says that the word "properly M'chwihillu-
sink" means "at the dwelling-place of the hoary veteran".
WYANDOTTE. Postoffice in Crawford County, named for the Indian
tribe. The name probably means "People of One Speech". The
tribe is also known by its French name, Huron.
YELLOW RIVER. Tributary of the Kankakee, which Brinton identifies
with the Wisawana (Yellow River) of the Walum Olum. The Pota-
watomi name of this stream is We-thau'-ka-mik', or "Yellow
Waters".
Vol. I T
CHAPTER III
THE EUROPEAN CLAIMANTS
The first European grant covering Indiana quickly followed the dis-
covery of America by Christopher Columbus, for in 1493, Pope Alexander
VI, a Spaniard by birth, issued a bull granting to the crowns of Castile
and Aragon, "all lands discovered, and to be discovered," beyond a line
drawn from pole to pole one hundred leagues west from the Azores or
Western Islands, excepting only any lands that had previously been
occupied by any other Christian nation, of which, of course, there were
none on this continent. The other Christian monarchs paid little respect
to this title, however, and, in 1496, Henry VII of England issued a
patent to John Cabot and his sons, "to seek out and discover all islands,
regions and provinces whatsoever, that may belong to heathens and in-
fidels," and "to subdue, occupy and possess those territories, as his
vassals and lieutenants." Armed with this authority, Cabot and his
son Sebastian, in the next two or three years, probably discovered the
mainland of North America, and skirted the Atlantic coast from
Labrador to Florida.
Very little resulted from this except the resort of various European
nations to the New Foundland banks .for fishing. The principal object
of Columbus had been to find a direct route to the East Indies to trade
for spices, and especially for pepper. For the next century the explor-
ers were chiefly engaged in efforts to find a Northwest or Northeast
passage to "Cathay," for the same purpose, except that the Spaniards,
having found a more direct road to wealth by plundering the natives
of Mexico and Peru of their gold and silver, turned business enterprise
largely in that direction. In 1534 Jacques Cartier discovered the St.
Lawrence River, and later brought over two hundred colonists, who
abandoned their settlement after two years of hardship. In 1538-42,
De Soto made his eventful progress through the Gulf states, murdered
some thousands of Indians, and demonstrated that the natives of the
United States had no personal property that was worth taking. This
exempted those unfortunates from the advantages of civilization until
in 1607 the English settled in Virginia, in 1608 the French settled in
Canada, and in 1609 the Dutch discovered the Hudson River. The fur
98
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 99
trade now became the chief attraction in North America, and was the
controlling factor in our history for the next century and a half.
During this period, nobody in Europe attached any importance to
North America for any other purposes, except as a dumping ground for
penal colonies and other objectionables. Even Oliver Cromwell tried
to induce the New Englanders to remove to Jamaica. Trevelyan very
pertinently says: "So little was the Anglo-Saxon plantation of the
North American continent due to the deliberate action of statesmen,
or to any man's foreknowledge of the vast destinies, that Charles I gave
the New World to the Puritans by attempting to suppress them in the
Old ; while Cromwell in his greater eagerness to spread the Gospel and
the British race, attempted a State policy of removal, which, if it had
been carried through, would have ruined or at least diminished the
colonial expansion prepared by individual energy and religious perse-
cution. ' ' l
The French statesmen showed more appreciation of the importance
of their American possessions, but not very much. more. In 1627 Car-
dinal Richelieu organized the company of the Hundred Associates to
promote the colonization of New France ; and in 1663 Colbert sent over
new supplies of colonists and a strong detachment of troops ; but, with
the French as with the English, colonial expansion was chiefly due to
colonial effort. So far as the fur trade was concerned, the French had
the advantage in racial character. They accommodated themselves to
Indian life and customs much more readily. A witty French lady ob-
served that it was vastly easier to make an Indian of a Frenchman than
to make a Frenchman of an Indian. This distinction was obvious in the
clergy as well as in the colonists. The British made an effort to put
Anglican clergymen with the Iroquois in place of the Jesuit missionaries
of the French, but they could not endure Indian cooking and the uncon-
ventionality of Indian life, and soon retired in disgust. Of still more
importance was the fact that the company system of English coloniza-
tion did not offer the same opportunity to enterprising individuals that
the French governmental system offered. It is hardly imaginable that
an English LaSalle could have obtained the inducements in any British
colony that sustained the efforts of the great French expansionist, whose
explorations first brought knowledge of the lands of Indiana.
In the past few years there has been considerable activity among the
advocates of an early discovery of some of the headwaters of the Ohio
by English colonists, in the course of whose arguments it has been
thought desirable to question that LaSalle discovered the Ohio in 1669-70,
England Under the Stuarts, p. 324.
-
SIEUR DE LA SALLE
(From a painting by Leon Meyer, owned by Mme. Suchet de la
Buesnerie. Presents three reputed likenesses: Above, the Margry
portrait ; lower left, a medallion belonging to M. Edward Pelay of Rouen ;
lower right, profile, belonging to the Public Library at Rouen; center,
the La Salle arms.)
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 101
and followed it to a point below the mouth of the Wabash. The leader
in this assault is Mr. Charles A. Hanna, who says : ' ' The evidence as to
LaSalle having explored any other tributary of the Ohio than (possibly)
the Wabash bears so many marks of having been fabricated after 1684,
for the purpose of strengthening the French claim to the Ohio Valley,
that it seems to the writer only a question of time when that evidence
must be declared to be wholly false." 2 This has been followed by some
investigators who should have known better, 3 for there is an abundance
of evidence completely refuting any such theory. Mr. Hanna is pre-
sumably, not familiar with the literature on the subject, or he would not,
in his lengthy discussion of it, have omitted any mention of such contem-
poraneous records of LaSalle 's Ohio expedition as Sieur Patoulet's letter
of November 11, 1669, stating that "Messrs, de la Salle and Dolier,
accompanied by twelve men, had set out with a design to go and explore
a passage they expected to discover communicating with Japan and
China;" or Intendant General Talon's report of October 10, 1670:
' ' Since my arrival I have dispatched persons of resolution, who promise
to penetrate further than has ever been done ; the one to the West and
Northwest of Canada, and the others to the Southwest and South;" or
Colbert's reply in February, 1671: "The resolution you have taken to
send Sieur de la Salle towards the South, and Sieur de St. Luisson to
the North, to discover the South Sea passage, is very good." 4
Mr. Hanna 's argument is based on a misunderstanding of a frag-
mentary document quoted by Margry, which is an attempt of LaSalle to
reconcile the DeSoto accounts of the River Chucagoa with his own
acquaintance with the country, and an equal misunderstanding of other
documents quoted by him. The fragmentary document opens with a
reference to the Chickasaws, and continues: "The Chucagoa, which is
to say in their language the great river, as Mississippi in Ottawa, and
Mascicipi in Illinois, is the river which we call St. Louis. The River
Ohio is one of its branches, which receives two others quite large before
emptying into the River St. Louis, that is to say the Agoussake from the
north and the river of the Chaouenons from the south. This river flows
from east to west, and therefore it should empty into or join the Mis-
sissippi, for the Takahagane, who live on the banks of the Chucagoa, are
not more than three days from the Mississippi where we saw them coming
down and returning." 5
= The Wilderness Trail, p. 87.
3 Alvord and Bidgood, in First Explorations of the Trans- Allegheny Region,
j-p. 23-4.
N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. ix, pp. 787, 64, 789; Margry, Vol. 1, p. 81.
s Margry, Vol. 2, pp. 196-203.
iEi'R DE LA SALLE
'
(From a painting by Leon Meyer, owned by Mine. Suchet de la
Buesnerie. Presents three reputed likenesses: Above, the Margry
portrait ; lower left, a medallion belonging to M. Edward Pelay of Rouen ;
lower right, profile, belonging to the Public Library at Rouen ; center,
the La Salle arms.)
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 101
and followed it to a point below the mouth of the Wabash. The leader
in this assault is Mr. Charles A. Hanna, who says: "The evidence as to
LaSalle having explored any other tributary of the Ohio than (possibly)
the Wabash bears so many marks of having been fabricated after 1684,
for the purpose of strengthening the French claim to the Ohio Valley,
that it seems to the writer only a question of time when that evidence
must be declared to be wholly false." 2 This has been followed by some
investigators who should have known better, 3 for there is an abundance
of evidence completely refuting any such theory. Mr. Hanua is pre-
sumably, not familiar with the literature on the subject, or he would not,
in his lengthy discussion of it, have omitted any mention of such contem-
poraneous records of LaSalle 's Ohio expedition as Sieur Patoulet's letter
of November 11, 1669, stating that "Messrs, de la Salle and Dolier,
accompanied by twelve men, had set out with a design to go and explore
a passage they expected to discover communicating with Japan and
China;" or Intendant General Talon's report of October 10, 1670:
"Since my arrival I have dispatched persons of resolution, who promise
to penetrate further than has ever been done ; the one to the West and
Northwest of Canada, and the others to the Southwest and South;" or
Colbert's reply in February, 1671: "The resolution you have taken to
send Sieur de la Salle towards the South, and Sieur de St. Luisson to
the North, to discover the South Sea passage, is very good. ' ' 4
Mr. Hanna 's argument is based on a misunderstanding of a frag-
mentary document quoted by Margry, which is an attempt of LaSalle to
reconcile the DeSoto accounts of the River Chucagoa with his own
acquaintance with the country, and an equal misunderstanding of other
documents quoted by him. The fragmentary document opens with a
reference to the Chickasaws, and continues: "The Chucagoa, which is
to say in their language the great river, as Mississippi in Ottawa, and
Mascicipi in Illinois, is the river which we call St. Louis. The River
Ohio is one of its branches, which receives two others quite large before
emptying into the River St. Louis, that is to say the Agoussake from the
north and the river of the Chaouenons from the south. This river flows
from east to west, and therefore it should empty into or join the Mis-
sissippi, for the Takahagane, who live on the banks of the Chucagoa, are
not more than three days from the Mississippi where we saw them coming
down and returning. ' ' 5
- The Wilderness Trail, p. 87.
s Alvord and BSdgood, in First Explorations of the Trans-Allegheny Begion,
jp. 23-4.
< X. Y. Col. Does., Vol. ix, pp. 787, 64, 789; Margry, Vol. 1, p. 81.
Margry, Vol. 2, pp. 196-203.
102 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Ta-ka-ha-ka-ni is the Miami word for tomahawk, and this was pre-
sumably the band of some chief of that name. Obviously LaSalle did
not see them when he was descending or ascending the Mississippi, as
they were three days' journey from it. What he plainly means is that
he saw them when he descended the Ohio, and was forced to take to the
land on account of the "vast marshes." Mr. Hanna mis-translates
LaSalle 's statement of 1677, that he discovered the Ohio and followed it
to a place "ou elle tombe de fort haut dans de vastes marais." These
words do not mean "where it falls from very high into vast marshes,"
but "where it empties after a long course into vast marshes." 6 Mr.
Hanna takes an unwarranted liberty in translating the verb descendre
' ' explore, ' ' and making LaSalle say that he had been unable to explore the
"St. Louis." It is plain that he had in mind hi* descent of the Ohio,
which he explicitly says is a branch of the St. Louis, and means that he
had been unable to descend the latter.
LaSalle 's idea that the Ohio emptied into vast marshes can be ex-
plained only on the supposition that he came down the river in a time of
flood, when the low lands near its mouth, which were then covered with
canebrakes, would have had the appearance of a marsh. And this same
supposition is required to explain every other reference he makes to it.
In this same document he says that the Ohio "is much larger in all its
course than the Mississippi;" and in his letter of 1680 he says it is
"always as large and larger than the Seine at Rouen, and always deeper."
As Rouen is the head of sea navigation on the Seine, it is apparent that
LaSalle has seen the Ohio but once, and then in flood. That LaSalle was
completely puzzled is fully stated in this document. He says: "I am
not able to say certainly whether these two rivers (the Chucagoa and the
Mississippi) join;" and gives his reasons. He says that "surely the
relation of Fernand Soto is not a chimera," and yet the towns named by
him are unknown on the Mississippi, and the size of the Chucagoa is too
great for the Mississippi, which "is no larger than the Loire at its
mouth." Further, "unless all the maps are wrong" the mouth of the
Mississippi is near Mexico, and its discharge is to the East-South-East,
and not to the South ; which condition is only possible in the region where
the Escondido (the Rio Grande) is shown to empty. Another thing
which he says "makes me think the Chucagoa is other than the Missis-
sippi" is that no large tributary enters the Mississippi from the east.
He had seen the mouth of the Ohio, but it, being then at low water, would
not do for the Ohio that he had descended. And this state of mind is
shown in the Franquelin map of 1684, which was certainly based on in-
Indiana, in Am. Commo.nwealth Series, p. 10, and note.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 103
formation from LaSalle, and which carries the Ohio, also called Chucagoa
and Casquinambou, far to the west of the Mississippi, and then circling,
enters the Gulf of Mexico where the Escondido, or Rio Grande enters.
And that is probably why LaSalle took his colony to the mouth of the
Rio Grande instead of the mouth of the Mississippi (Espiritu Santo)
which on Franquelin's map is a short stream, heading south of the Ohio,
or Chucagoa.
It is not possible to understand the writings of LaSalle, or of anyone
else at this period, unless several things he kept in mind. And first, what
is now Ohio and Indiana was entirely uninhabited, on account of the
raids of the Iroquois. Second, this region was unexplored, because, aside
from the efforts to find a passage to the South Sea, the only exploration
was by fur traders; and they did not go where there were no Indians.
Third, there is no little confusion from the fact that different Indian
tribes had different names for the same stream. And fourth, both
writers and map-makers assumed the unknown to explain the known;
and occasionally made mistakes in so doing. One of LaSalle 's state-
ments that has been widely misunderstood, and especially as to his
acquaintance with Indiana, is his reference to the Maumee portage, in
which he says that he will not go to the beaver-hunting land "hereafter
except by Lake Erie, in which will end the navigation of my barques."
He continues: "The river which you have seen marked in my map on
the south side of this lake, and towards the end, called by the Iroquois
Tiotontaraeton is indeed the route to go to the river Ohio or Olighin-
sipou, which is to say in Iroquois and in Ottawa the Beautiful river.
The distance from one to the other being considerable, the communica-
tion is more difficult ; but at a day from its mouth into Lake Erie, where
it flows through beautiful prairies, in gunshot of its banks, there is a little
lake from which flows a stream six or eight yards wide, more than six
feet deep where it leaves the lake, and which soon changes to a river by
the junction of a number of similar streams which after a course of more
than a hundred leagues without rapids receives another little river which
comes from the neighborhood of that of the Miamis, and five or six other
considerable streams, and then flowing more rapidly along the foot of a
mountain it discharges into that of the Illinois two leagues below the
village, and from there into the Mississippi. It is called the Ouabanchi
or Aramoni. This route is the shortest of all. * This river,
called Ouabanchi or Aramoni, by which I expect to hold communication
between Fort Frontenac and the Illinois, has some veins of copper. ' ' 7
The Aramoni, as has long been known, is the Vermillion of Illinois.
'Margry, Vol. 2, pp. 243-5.
104 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
the name (Miami a-la-mo-m) meaning paint, and specifically vermilion
paint. Of course there is no such connection as LaSalle describes, and
he probably confused some Indian's account of an actual route of this
kind, which was in use then, and afterwards. It is to ascend the
Maumee, and its northern fork, the St. Joseph, to Fish Creek, and up
that to Fish Lake, in Steuben County, Indiana, near which heads Pigeon
River, a tributary of the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, a stream often
run by fishermen to this day. But, on account of LaSalle 's description,
this imaginary stream was represented on maps for years afterwards, or
the Kankakee was extended well over to Lake Erie. But this is always
entirely independent- of the Ohio, and there is no known map of this
period, or for some years later, that indicates any portage from the
Maumee to the Wabash. . -j. .,'
It is quite possible that Thomas Wood discovered the head waters of
the Great Kanawha before 1669, and also possible that Englishmen
reached the head waters of the Tennessee still earlier; but that does not
affect LaSalle 's discovery of the .Ohio. There was no secrecy about his
movements, and the idea that the accounts of them were fabricated after
1684 is an historical absurdity. Indeed his discoveries were soon known
in the English jcolonies, and freely admitted. In a discussion of the
troubles between the French and the English, in his report of February
22, 1687, Governor Dongan of New York says: "The great difference
between us is about the Beaver trade and in truth they have the advan-
tage of us in it @ that by noe other meanes than by their industry in
making discoveries in the country before us.
"Before my coming hither noe man of our Governmt. ever went be-
yond the Sinicaes country. Last year some of our people went a trading
among the farr Indians called the Ottawais inhabiting about three
months journey to the West @ W. N. W. of Albany from whence they
brought a good many Beavers. * * * It will be very necessary for
us to encourage our young men to goe a Beaver hunting as the French
doe.
"I send a Map by Mr. Spragg whereby your Lopps. may see the
several Governmts &c. how they lye where the Beaver hunting is @
where it will be necessary to erect our Country Forts for the securing of
beaver trade @ keeping the Indians in community with us.
"Alsoe it points out where theres a great river discovered by one
Lassal a Frenchman from Canada who thereupon went into France @
as its reported brought two or three vessels with people to settle there
which (if true) will prove not only very inconvenient to us but to the
Spanish alsoe (the river running all along from our lakes by the back of
Virginia @ Carolina into the Bay Mexico) @ its beleeved Nova Mexico
.
*v_\ vua6on<L*rjriMi>rrj*yg
**&g*&Si
^--2^5 Bh *** 1
in'?"" JJ
*+*<&$&
*^C^M^-
MAP OF LA SALLE'S COLONY
106 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
can not bee far from the mountains adjoining to it that place being in
36d North Latitude if your Lope, thought it fit I co\ild send a sloop or
two from this place to discover that river." 8
In 1679 LaSalle had built The Griffon, a bark of 60 tons, on the Upper
Niagara River, and in it sailed through the Great Lakes to Green Bay,
where he loaded it with furs, and sent it back east. Then, in bark canoes,
he made his way to the St. Joseph River, and by the South Bend portage
to the Eankakee, and on to the Illinois River. His first establishment
there; its destruction by the Iroquois; and his second fort on Starved
Rock, are primarily matters of Illinois history, but about the latter were
gathered all of the Indians that subsequently were located in Indiana.
These were in the villages of Oiatenon, Ouabona, Pepikokia, Peanghichia,
Miamy, and Marameeh, as shown in the accompanying section of the
Franquelin map, their total being over twenty-three hundred warriors,
as marked. There was no material change of location for several years
after the assassination of LaSalle, in 1687.
The next prominent figure among the French in the West, after
LaSalle, was Lamothe Cadillac, who was placed in command in 1694,
and continued until 1697. In that year the Treaty of Ryswick gave
Louis XIV some opportunity to look after his American possessions, and
he soon approved the plans of Cadillac for fortifying the Detroit River,
which was recognized as the key to the lakes. In 1700 Robert Livingston,
Colonial Secretary of Indian Affairs, urged the establishment of a post
at the same place by the English, 9 but Cadillac anticipated them, and
in the summer of 1701, came to the place with fifty soldiers and fifty
colonists and built Fort Pontchartrain, a picket inclosure sixty yards
square. A number of the western Indians located near the fort, and
others began moving eastward. At the same time another influence came
from the south. In 1699 Pierre Lemoyne Iberville was sent from France
to make an establishment at the mouth of the Mississippi. He built a
fort at Biloxi, which was removed to Mobile two years later. In 1700 the
Cahokias and Kaskaskias left the Illinois with Father Marest, and estab-
lished themselves on the Mississippi at their well known villages, and
these gradually developed into settlements of the frontier Frenchmen.
In 1702 Iberville asked for the removal of the Illinois Indians to the
lower Ohio, which was not attempted ; but in that year Sieur Juchereau,
"Lieutenant criminel de Montreal," came with thirty-five Canadians
and established a post at the mouth of the Ohio, to collect buffalo skins,
and a band of Mascoutins located there to aid in the hunting. Juchereau
N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 1, pp. 100-1.
N. Y. Col. Docs., Vol. 4, p. 650.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 107
died a few months later, and the fort was abandoned in 1704 by M.
de Lambert, who commanded there after Juchereau's death. 10 This
Juchereau has been confounded with Juchereau St. Denys, who has also
been mixed with other Juchereaus. They are "unscrambled" by M.
Pierre Georges Roy, in the Revue Canadienne for January, 1917, pp.
49-60.
Cadillac was appointed Governor of Louisiana in 1710, and left
Detroit the next year, being succeeded there by Capt. Joseph Guyoii
Dubuisson. In 1712 the Detroit post was attacked by the Mascoutins,
and the garrison was in dire straits until a large force of friendly
Indians was brought to the rescue by the Sieur de Vincennes. These
soon had the best of the Mascoutins, who begged for their lives ; but the
French and their Indian allies sternly refused any terms. The Mascou-
tins then fled to the Maumee, whither they were pursued, and there de-
feated with great slaughter. The Crane tribe of the Miamis then located
at the site of Fort Wayne, and the remainder of the Miamis, who were
generally grouped as "Ouyatanons" by the French, soon took up their
residence on the Wabash, in the locations which they retained for the
next century.
Vincennes had been in disgrace for furnishing liquor to the Indians
the Canadian authorities were trying to enforce prohibition as to
Indians at that time but his services had demonstrated how invaluable
he was on the frontier, so he was restored to favor, and stationed with
the Miamis at Kiskakon (later corrupted to Kekionga), their village at
the site of Fort Wayne, where he died in 1719. This was Jean Baptiste
Bissot, second Sieur de Vincennes, who hag often been mistaken for the
founder of the Indiana post on the Wabash. The fief of Vincennes is a
beautiful tract of land just below Quebec, on the south bank of the St.
Lawrence, opposite the lower end of the Isle of Orleans, with seventy
arpents front on the river, and a league in depth. It is high towards the
river with several small streams, one of which was used to run a grist
mill. It was granted to Francois Bissot (Byssot) on November 3, 1672.
He was a Norman who conducted a number of successful business enter-
prises in the colony, and his children intermarried with the best Canadian
families, one of his daughters being the wife of Joliet, the discoverer of
the Mississippi.
Jean Baptiste was declared of age in 1687 by the Sovereign Council,
and went to France to seek an appointment. He was admitted to the
military establishment, and thereafter spent most of his time in the West,
his wife, Marie-Marguerite Forestier, remaining at Quebec, to which her
10 Indiana, in Am. Commonwealth Series, pp. 36-40.
138 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
husband paid visits as his service permitted. The succession to his title
has long been a puzzle to students of Indiana history; and it was re-
served to M. Pierre Georges Roy, a descendant of the former owner of
the fief of Vincennes, and an accomplished scholar, to find the solution
in Indiana's centennial year. It is in a letter of Governor De Vaudreuil
to the Council of Marine, dated October 24, 1722, and preserved in the
Canadian archives, being, in part, as follows :
"I have received the letter which the Council did me the honor to
write on June 14, last, in which it had the kindness to mention the
approval of his Royal Highness of the efforts I have made to induce the
Indians at the River St. Joseph and on the Kankakee to form settlements,
and my action in sending Sr. Du Buisson, Captain, to establish a post at
the, home of the Miamis and to command at this post as well as at that of
the Ouiatanons, and to so manage the Miamis as to counteract the prac-
tices which the English continue to use to attract the Indians to Orange
(New York) * * * The stockade fort which h,e has had made, and
which was finished last May, is one of the best there is in the upper
country. It is strong indeed, and a shelter from the insolence of the
Indians. This post, which is considerable, ought to have a missionary.
It would be possible to send one in 1724 if the Council sends to Canada
next year the four Jesuits I have asked.
' ' The band of forty or fifty Ouiatanons who were established on the
Kankakee have decided to return to their ancient home since they have
seen that the majority of the nation did not wish to abandon it. The
Sieur de Vincennes, the son, who is only a cadet in the troops, commands
at the home of this tribe under the orders of Sieur Du Buisson; he has
been there since 1718, and he has become very useful for the great influ-
ence he has acquired among these Indians, who retain for him the same
attachment that they had for the Sieur de Vincennes, his father. His
services merit the careful attention of the Council. If I haid foreseen the
establishment which the King has made this year of a second ensign in
each of the twenty-eight companies which his Majesty maintains in Can-
ada, I should have proposed to the Council that he have one of the places
which were not filled by the petty ensigns. These are now filled, but as
there are three second ensigns with orders for active duty, who should
not be admitted to this rank except in places that happen to become
vacant, I humbly pray the Council to accord a similar order for active
duty to Sieur de Vincennes, so that he may receive the first place that
becomes vacant after Sieurs Le Verrier, Sabrevois and Lignery have been
promoted." n
11 Correspondance Generate, Can. Archives, Vol. 44. This, with much other valu-
able matter collected by M. Boy, is printed by him in Vol. 7, Ind. Hist. Soc.
Publications, under the title "Sieur de Vincennes Identified."
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
109
Jean Baptiste Bissot had but three sons ; and of these Pierre died in
infancy, and Michel when two years old. The remaining son, Francois
Marie, was born June 17, 1700, and was the Sieur de Vincennes who
figured in Indiana from 1719 to 1736. Judge Law says that he signed
his name "Francois Morgan de Vinsenne," which is explained by the
facts, first, that he did not know how to spell either his name or his title ;
second, that when christened, his godfather was Francois Margane de
PlERFE-GEORGES EOY
Batilly, his cousin ; and third, that being in the service at the same time
as his father, who signed his name ' ' Bissot Vensenne, ' ' he took his god-
father's family name for distinction, as was commonly done by the Cana-
dians; and writing it "Margan," it was mistaken by Judge Law for
"Morgan," which is not a French name. The letter is also valuable as
showing that the stockade fort at the site of Fort Wayne was completed
in May, 1722, and this was the first fort built by white men within the
bounds of Indiana. The "fort of the Ouiatanons" described in the
French relation of 1718, was an Indian stockade, such as they commonly
1)3 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
husband paid visits as his service permitted. The succession to his title
has long been a puzzle to students of Indiana history; and it was re-
served to M. Pierre Georges Roy, a descendant of the former owner of
the fief of Vincennes, and an accomplished scholar, to find the solution
in Indiana's centennial year. It is in a letter of Governor De Vaudreuil
to the Council of Marine, dated October 24, 1722, and preserved in the
Canadian archives, being, in part, as follows :
"I have received the letter which the Council did me the honor to
write on June 14, last, in which it had the kindness to mention the
approval of his Royal Highness of the efforts I have made to induce the
Indians at the River St. Joseph and on the Kankakee to form settlements,
and my action in sending Sr. Du Buisson, Captain, to establish a post at
the home of the Miamis and to command at this post as well as at that of
the Ouiatanons, and to so manage the Miamis as to counteract the prac-
tices which the English continue to use to attract the Indians to Orange
(New York) * * * The stockade fort which he has had made, and
which was finished last May, is one of the best there is in the upper
country. It is strong indeed, and a shelter from the insolence of the
Indians. This post, which is considerable, ought to have a missionary.
It would be possible to send one in 1724 if the Council sends to Canada
next year the four Jesuits I have asked.
' ' The band of forty or fifty Ouiatanons who were established on the
Kankakee have decided to return to their ancient home since they have
seen that the majority of the nation did not wish to abandon it. The
Sieur de Vincennes, the son, who is only a cadet in the troops, commands
at the home of this tribe under the orders of Sieur Du Buisson ; he has
been there since 1718, and he has become very useful for the great influ-
ence he has acquired among these Indians, who retain for him the same
attachment that they had for the Sieur de Vincennes, his father. His
services merit the careful attention of the Council. If I had foreseen the
.
establishment which the King has made this year of a second ensign in
each of the twenty-eight companies which his Majesty maintains in Can-
ada, I should have proposed to the Council that he have one of the places
which were not filled by the petty ensigns. These are now filled, but as
there are three second ensigns with orders for active duty, who should
not be admitted to this rank except in places that happen to become
vacant, I humbly pray the Council to accord a similar order for active
duty to Sieur de Vincennes, so that he may receive the first place that
becomes vacant after Sieurs Le Verrier, Sabrevois and Lignery have been
promoted." n
11 Correspomlance Generale, Can. Archives, Vol. 44. This, with much other valu-
able matter collected by M. Roy, is printed by him in Vol. 7, Ind. Hist. Soc.
Publications, under the title "Sieur de Vincennes Identified."
.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
109
Jean Baptiste Bissot had but three sons ; and of these Pierre died in
infancy, and Michel when two years old. The remaining son, Francois
Marie, was born June 17, 1700, and was the Sieur de Vincennes who
figured in Indiana from 1719 to 1736. Judge Law says that he signed
his name "Francois Morgan de Vinsenne," which is explained by the
facts, first, that he did not know how to spell either his name or his title ;
second, that when christened, his godfather was Francois Margane de
ROY
Batilly, his cousin ; and third, that being in the service at the same time
as his father, who signed his name "Bissot Yensenne," he took his god-
father's family name for distinction, as was commonly done by the Cana-
dians; and writing it "Margan," it was mistaken by Judge Law for
"Morgan," which is not a French name. The letter is also valuable as
showing that the stockade fort at the site of Fort Wayne was completed
in May, 1722, and this was the first fort built by white men within the
bounds of Indiana. The "fort of the Ouiatanons" described in the
French relation of 1718, was an Indian stockade, such as they commonly
110 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
put around their villages, or adjoining them, whenever they were located
in exposed positions. The letter also makes evident the hostile attitude
of the French and the British, which increased in intensity for the next
forty years.
The war of the Austrian Succession had closed with the treaty of
Utrecht, in 1713 ; and the 15th section of that treaty contained this pro-
vision : ' ' The subjects of France inhabiting Canada, and others, shall
give no hinderance or molestation to the five nations or cantons of
Indians, subject to the dominion of Great Britain, nor to other natives
of America who are friends to the same. In like manner, the subjects
of Great Britain shall behave themselves peaceably towards the Ameri-
cans who are subjects or friends to France ; and on both sides they shall
enjoy full liberty of going and coming on account of trade. As also the
natives of those countries shall, with the same liberty, resort, as they
please, to the British and French colonies, for promoting trade on one
side and the other without any molestation or hinderance, either on the
part of British subjects or of the French. But it is to be exactly and
distinctly settled by commissaries, who are, and who ought to be
accounted the subjects and friends of Britain or of France." 12
The treaty had similar provisions for free trade between France and
England, which were met with riotous objection by the protectionists of
England. On this side of the water the treaty, in this feature, was
treated as a " scrap of paper, ' ' except in so far as it aided either side to
get the Indian trade away from the other. This meant that each would
side with the Indians in any quarrel with the other, and furnish them
with arms and ammunition ; also, as rum was the most attractive com-
modity to the Indians, all restraint on its sale was soon thrown off, and
the Indian road to ruin was made smooth. On account of the energy
with which the English sought the Indian trade, our Indians were hardly
settled in Indiana before the French began trying to induce them to
move back to the west, where the English could not so easily reach them.
Meanwhile the English had secured the friendship of the southern
Indians, who were enemies of the Algonquian tribes, and incidentally
hostile to the French, who supplied them with arms ; and, in consequence,
trouble opened in that direction. Louisiana had been granted to
Anthony Crozat in 1712, but in 1717 he surrendered his charter, and
the Mississippi Valley was turned over to the Company of the Occident.
The Illinois country, including southern Indiana, was added to Louisiana
for governmental purposes, and Bienville was made governor. In 1718
Bienville sent his cousin. Pierre Dugue de Boisbriant, with one hundred
"McDonald's Select Charters, p. 232.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 111
men, to build a fort on the upper Mississippi for the protection of ' ' the
upper settlements" from the pacific English and their Indian allies. He
se^cted a point some sixteen miles above Kaskaskia and completed the
fort in 1720, naming it Fort Chartres in honor of the Due de Chartres.
This was a stockade fort of logs, which was replaced thirty-four years
later by a substantial stone fortress, under the command of the Chevalier
Macarty.
The year 1720 was eventful, for in addition to the completion of Fort
Chartres, which was the seat of government of Illinois and southern
Indiana during the French period, the Mississippi Company, into which
Rrixs OP POWDER MAGAZINE FORT CHARTRES
the Company of the Occident had merged, on September 15 of that year
asked the government to establish a post on the Ouabache (i. e. the
Wabash and the lower Ohio, treated as one stream) and place a company
of troops there "to occupy first the entire country, and prevent the
English from penetrating it. ' ' 13 Moreover, in this year Kaskaskia was
made a parish, and Father de Beaubois was located there as priest.
He was very ambitious to enlarge his jurisdiction by an Indian mission,
but being in Louisiana, and the dividing line between that province and
Canada crossing the "Wabash at about the site of Terre Haute, all of the
Indiana Indians were in Canada. He therefore united in the call for a
post on the Ouabache, and a missionary priest. Everyone who came
within his reach was duly impressed with the importance of a post on
is Margry, Vol. 5, p. 624.
"
110
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
put around their villages, or adjoining them, whenever they were located
in exposed positions. The letter also makes evident the hostile attitude
of the French and the British, which increased in intensity for the next
forty years.
The war of the Austrian Succession had closed with the treaty of
Utrecht, in 1713 ; and the 15th section of that treaty contained this pro-
vision : ' ' The subjects of France inhabiting Canada, and others, shall
give no hinderance or molestation to the five nations or cantons of
Indians, subject to the dominion of Great Britain, nor to other natives
of America who are friends to the same. In like manner, the subjects
of Great Britain shall behave themselves peaceably towards the Ameri-
cans who are subjects or friends to France ; and on both sides they shall
enjoy full liberty of going and coming on account of trade. As also the
natives of those countries shall, with the same liberty, resort, as they
please, to the British and French colonies, for promoting trade on one
side and the other without any molestation or hinderance, either on the
part of British subjects or of the French. But it is to be exactly and
distinctly settled by commissaries, who are, and who ought to be
accounted the subjects and friends of Britain or of France." 12
The treaty had similar provisions for free 4rade between France and
England, which were met with riotous objection by the protectionists of
England. On this side of the water the treaty, in this feature, was
treated as a "scrap of paper," except in so far as it aided either side to
get the Indian trade away from the other. This meant that each would
side with the Indians in any quarrel with the other, and furnish them
with arms and ammunition ; also, as rum was the most attractive com-
modity to the Indians, all restraint on its sale was soon thrown off, and
the Indian road to ruin was made smooth. On account of the energy
with which the English sought the Indian trade, our Indians were hardly
settled in Indiana before the French began trying to induce them to
move back to the west, where the English could not so easily reach them.
Meanwhile the English had secured the friendship of the southern
Indians, who were enemies of the Algonquian tribes, and incidentally
hostile to the French, who supplied them with arms ; and, in consequence,
trouble opened in that direction. Louisiana had been granted to
Anthony Crozat in 1712, but in 1717 he surrendered his charter, and
the Mississippi Valley was turned over to the Company of the Occident.
The Illinois country, including southern Indiana, was added to Louisiana
for governmental purposes, and Bienville was made governor. In 1718
Bienville sent his cousin. Pierre Dugue de Boisbriant, with one hundred
12 McDonald's Select Charters, p. 232.
-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 111
men, to build a fort on the upper Mississippi for the protection of "the
upper settlements" from the pacific English and their Indian allies. He
sejfcted a point some sixteen miles above Kaskaskia and completed the
fort in 1720, naming it Fort Chartres in honor of the Due de Chartres.
This was a stockade fort of logs, which was replaced thirty-four years
later by a substantial stone fortress, under the command of the Chevalier
Macarty.
The year 1720 was eventful, for in addition to the completion of Fort
Chartres, which was the seat of government of Illinois and southern
Indiana during the French period, the Mississippi Company, into which
Rnxs OF POWDER MAGAZINE FORT CHARTRES
the Company of the Occident had merged, on September 15 of that year
asked the government to establish a post on the Ouabache (i. e. the
Wabash and the lower Ohio, treated as one stream) and place a company
of troops there "to occupy first the entire country, and prevent the
English from penetrating it." 13 Moreover, in this year Kaskaskia was
made a parish, and Father de Beaubois was located there as priest.
He was very ambitious to enlarge his jurisdiction by an Indian mission,
l:ut being in Louisiana, and the dividing line between that province and
Canada crossing the "Wabash at about the site of Terre Haute, all of the
Indiana Indians were in Canada. He therefore united in the call for a
post on the Ouabache, and a missionary priest. Everyone who came
within his reach was duly impressed with the importance of a post on
Margry, Vol. 5, p. 624.
112 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
the Ouabache. Father Charlevoix explained it in 1721, and La Harpe
urged it in 1724. " In 1725 Dugue de Boisbriant wrote to the Company
that, because of the failure to establish a post on the Wabash, " it is mu0h
to be feared that the English will take possession of it, and this would
entirely ruin the Upper Colony, because it would be easy for them, with
the prodigious quantities of merchandise which they ordinarily carry,
to win all of the Indians of this region." 15
In the early spring of 1725 Father de Beaubois started to France to
get something done. The Chevalier de Bourgmont gathered twenty-two
Indians at New Orleans, to accompany him ; but as they were about to
embark, their ship sank at its moorings, and all of them declined to try
another ship except six, who are listed as follows: "Agapit Chicagou,
chief of the Metchigamia, an Illinois nation; Menspere (a Missouri chief),
Boganienhein (Osage), Aguiguida (Otoptata) ; also Ignon Ouaconisen,
daughter of the Missouri chief, and a slave named Pilate, of the Atanana
nation." They had a great reception in France; saw all the wonders of
Paris and Versailles, went to the opera, and were taken hunting by the
King. The account of their visit filled thirty-three pages of Le Mercure
de France. 16 The Queen was desirous of seeing them, but the King, who
was fifteen years old and just married, feared that their "assortment
sauvage & trop bizarre" might be bad for her health, and so the unfor-
tunate bride had to be content with an interview with Father de
Beaubois.
Father de Beaubois secured orderg for a post on the Ouabache ; also
a missionary for the same ; also some nuns to establish a convent at New
Orleans. The missionary, Father D 'Outreleau, and the nuns, who estab-
lished the celebrated Ursuline convent at New Orleans, embarked at
L 'Orient for America, Feb. 22, 1727, on the ship La Gironde, com-
manded by Captain Vauberci, and after a rough voyage, arrived at
New Orleans at the end of July. 17 But opposition had arisen. The
plan involved the movement of the Sieur de Vincennes into Louisiana,
with a part of the Wabash Indians, and Gov. de Vaudreuil of Canada
did not wish to lose either Vincennes or the Indians; so both Canada
and Louisiana began bidding for Sieur de Vincennes, who was recog-
nized by all as the one man who could control the Indians. Action was
delayed, and meanwhile the English were coming closer, and the
Chickasaws were becoming bolder in their raids. Finally, on Oct. 15,
i French's Hist Coll. of La., pt. 3, pp. 114, 123.
is Margry, Vol. 6, p. 657.
J Vol. 1, 1725; December, pp.-2827-2859.
IT For detailed account of these events, see The Mission to the Ouabache, Ind. Hist.
Soc. Pubs., Vol. 3, No. 4.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 113
1730, the Governors of Canada reported: "The Ouiatanons have been
led away into the jurisidiction of Louisiana by Sieur de Vincennes." 18
It had been intended to establish the post at the junction of the Wabash
and the Ohio, but the Indians were unwilling to risk so exposed a situ-
ation, and so the location was made at Vincennes, the place being called
by the Indians Tcip-ka-ki-un-gi, or Place of Boots (corrupted by the
whites to Chip-kaw-kay, Chippecoke, &c.) on account of the plenty of
edible roots in the adjoining prairies.
The allowance for salaries and support of the new post begins, in
the French budget, with July, 1731; in the same year the post first
appeared on a map, and was first mentioned in official correspondence.
On March 7, 1733, Vincennes reported: "You have done me the honor
to ask me to send you a statement of the works finished and to be con-,
structed. There is only a fort and two houses in it, and there should
at once be built a guard room with barracks for lodging the soldiers.
It is not possible to remain in this place with so few troops. It will
need thirty men with an officer. I am more embarrassed than ever in
this place by the war with the Chickasaws who have come here twice
since spring. It is only twelve days since the last party brought in
three persons, and as it is the French who have put the tomahawk in
their hands, I am obliged to be at expense continually. " 19 In 1735 a
few Canadian families settled at the post; and so the first permanent
settlement in Indiana was begun. The post at Fort Wayne was built
ten years earlier, but it was temporarily abandoned later. Post Ouia-
tanon was also probably established prior to this time, on the north side
of the Wabash, a short distance below Lafayette, on a ridge lying west
of Sand Ridge Church; but it was abandoned before the American oc-
cupation.
Inasmuch as there is a large amount of "local history" in print claim-
ing an earlier date for the foundation of Vincennes, it becomes an es-
sential part of the history of the State to explain its being. The error
began with Judge John Law, in an address delivered by him on Feb.
22, 1839, before "The Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society."
It was evidently the result of extended research in the documents access-
ible at Vincennes and in the Illinois settlements; and the substance of
the results of his research is contained in the following paragraph :
"Francois Morgan de Vinsenne ('Vinsenne,' for so he spelled his
name) was an officer in the service of the King of France, and served
in Canada probably as early as 1720, in the regiment 'de Carignan.' At
is Ind. Mag. of Hist., Vol. 12, p. 134.
is The Mission to the Ouabache, p. 304.
Yol. 18
114 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
any rate, as we are informed, he was engaged in some service with an
other officer on the lakes towards Sault St. Marie, for the Governor of
Canada, M. de Vaudreuil, in 1725. At what time he took possession
here is not exactly known, probably somewhere about the year 1732.
There is nothing on our records to show, but an act of sale made by
him and Madame Vinsenne, the daughter of Monsieur Philip Longprie
of Kaskaskia. and recorded there. The act of sale, dated 5th January,
1735, styles him 'an officer of the troops of the King,' and 'command-
ant au poste du Ouabache'; the same deed expressing that Madame
Vinsenne was absent at the Post. Her signature being necessary to the
deed, she sent her mark, or cross, which is testified to as hers, 'X the
mark of Madame Vinsenne,' and showing that the good lady was not
very far advanced in the rudiments, though her husband was com-
mandant, and her father the wealthiest citizen of Kaskaskia. The will
of Monsieur Longprie, his father-in-law, dated the 10th of March, 1735,
gives to him, among other things, 408 Ibs. of pork, which he wishes ' kept
safe until the arrival of Mons. Vinsenne', who was then at the Post.
There are other documents there signed by him as a witness in 1733-4 ;
among them one of a receipt for 100 pistoles, received from his father-
in-law, on his marriage. From all these proofs, I think it evident that
he was here previous to 1733, and left with his command, on an expedi-
tion against the Chickasaws, in 1736, by orders from his superior offi-
cer at New Orleans. * * * On looking at the register of the Catholic
church, it will be found that the change of name from Vinsenne to Vin-
cennes, its present appellation, was made as early as 1749. Why or
wherefore I do not know. I wish the original orthography had been ob-
served, and the name spelled after its founder, with the V instead of
the- 'c,' as it should be."
Of course the change of spelling was due to the fact that the parish
priest knew how to spell, at least better than Sieur de Vincennes; and
the "regiment de Carignan" is merely an unfortunate pretension to
learning; but with these exceptions Judge Law's conclusions in this
passage are quite accurate. Unfortunately he found a reference in a
letter of Father Marest, dated Nov. 9, 1712, to Sieur Juchereau's post
at the mouth of the Ohio, or "Ouabache" as it was then called; and took
it for a reference to Vincennes; and this caused him to abandon the
uniform tradition that the settlement was begun by the Sieur de Vin-
cennes. The error was quickly pointed out, but Judge Law refused to
abandon it ; and subsequent writers tried to fortify his position by fic-
titious records and manufactured tradition. In reality local tradition
was exhausted half-a-century before Judge Law's time, by Major Henry
Vanderburgh. "Winthrop Sargent, the Secretary of Northwest Terri-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
115
tory, had been charged with the duty of carrying out the provisions
of a resolution of Congress, adopted in 1788, for adjusting the land
claims of the French settlers. He called on Vanderburgh for informa-
tion as to the Vincennes settlement, and he could not have made a bet-
ter selection. Vanderburgh was born at Troy, N. Y., in 1760, and en-
tered the 5th New York Regiment, Continental Line, as lieutenant, at
the age of sixteen, being later promoted to captain. He came west
JUDGE JOHN LAW
about 1788 and located at Vincennes, where, in February, 1790, he
married Frances Cornoyer, daughter of Pierre Cornoyer, one of the
principal residents of the place. In 1791 Gov. St. Clair appointed him
Justice of the Peace and Probate Judge for Knox County. In 1799 he
was selected by President Adams as a member of the Legislative Coun-
cil of the Territory, and was chosen President of that body. In 1800
he was made one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Indiana Terri-
tory, and held that office until his death on April 5, 1812. It was his
.
'
114
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
any rate, as we are informed, he was engaged in some service with an
other officer on the lakes towards Sault St. Marie, for the Governor of
Canada, M. de Vaudreuil, in 1725. At what time he took possession
here is not exactly known, probably somewhere about the year 1732.
There is nothing on our records to show, but an act of sale made by
him and Madame Vinsenne, the daughter of Monsieur Philip Longprie
of Kaskaskia, and recorded there. The act of sale, dated 5th January,
1735, styles him 'an officer of the troops of the King,' and 'command-
ant au poste du Ouabache'; the same deed expressing that Madame
Vinsenne was absent at the Post. Her signature being necessary to the
deed, she sent her mark, or cross, which is testified to as hers, 'X the
mark of Madame Vinsenne,' and showing that the good lady was not
very far advanced in the rudiments, though her husband was com-
mandant, and her father the wealthiest citizen of Kaskaskia. The will
of Monsieur Longprie, his father-in-law, dated the 10th of March, 1735,
gives to him, among other things, 408 Ibs. of pork, which he wishes 'kept
safe until the arrival of Mons. Vinsenne', who was then at the Post.
There are other documents there signed by him as a witness in 1733-4 ;
among them one of a receipt for 100 pistoles, received from his father-
in-law, on his marriage. From all these proofs, I think it evident that
he was here previous to 1733, and left with his command, on an expedi-
tion against the Chickasaws, in 1736, by orders from his superior offi-
cer at New Orleans. * * * On looking at the register of the Catholic
church, it will be found that the change of name from Vinsenne to Vin-
cennes, its present appellation, was made as early as 1749. Why or
wherefore I do not know. I wish the original orthography had been ob-
served, and the name spelled after its founder, with the V instead of
the 'c,' as it should be."
Of course the change of spelling was due to the fact that the parish
priest knew how to spell, at least better than Sieur de Vincennes; and
the "regiment de Carignan" is merely an unfortunate pretension to
learning; but with these exceptions Judge Law's conclusions in this
passage are quite accurate. Unfortunately he found a reference in a
letter of Father Marest, dated Nov. 9, 1712, to Sieur Juchereau's post
at the mouth of the Ohio, or "Ouabache" as it was then called ; and took
it for a reference to Vincennes; and this caused him to abandon the
uniform tradition that the settlement was begun by the Sieur de Vin-
cennes. The error was quickly pointed out, but Judge Law refused to
abandon it ; and subsequent writers tried to fortify his position by fic-
titious records and manufactured tradition. In reality local tradition
was exhausted half-a-century before Judge Law's time, by Major Henry
Vanderburgh. Winthrop Sargent, the Secretary of Northwest Terri-
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS
115
tory, had been charged with the duty of carrying out the provisions
of a resolution of Congress, adopted in 1788, for adjusting the land
claims of the French settlers. He called on Vanderburgh for informa-
tion as to the Vincennes settlement, and he could not have made a bet-
ter selection. Vanderburgh was born at Troy, N. Y., in 1760, and en-
tered the 5th New York Regiment, Continental Line, as lieutenant, at
the age of sixteen, being later promoted to captain. He came west
JUDGE JOHN LAW
about 1788 and located at Vincennes, where, in February, 1790, he
married Frances Cornoyer, daughter of Pierre Cornoyer, one of the
principal residents of the place. In 1791 Gov. St. Clair appointed him
Justice of the Peace and Probate Judge for Knox County. In 1799 he
was selected by President Adams as a member of the Legislative Coun-
cil of the Territory, and was chosen President of that body. In 1800
he was made one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Indiana Terri-
tory, and held that office until his death on April 5, 1812. It was his
116 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
son whose tragic death, while acting as agent for the American Fur Com-
pany, is recounted by Irving in The Adventures of Captain Bonne-
ville. Judge Vanderburgh 's report to Sargent is in these words:
"In answer to Col. Sargent's enquiries, Major Vanderburgh has the
honor of replying as follows, viz.
"Vincennes had its name from Monsieur de Vincennes, who was the
first Frenchman that encamped on this ground as he passed with French
troops from Canada, to Louisiana, in or about the year 1737. Monsieur
de Vincennes was afterwards burnt with a Jesuit by the Chickasaws.
It appears that there were no more than three French families here in
the year 1745. That Monsieur St. Ange, the only French officer that
ever commanded here arrived in the year 1747 or 48, That he com-
manded here till the 18th May 1764, on which day he appointed Monsieur
Rusherville, who it appears was then doing the duty of Captain of the
Militia, to succeed him and gave him instructions accordingly, after
the death of Rusherville, which happened in the year 1767, Lieutenant
Chapard commanded until his decease, when the command devolved
on Monsieur Racine St. Marie, the Ensign, who always received his
orders from the British commandants in the Illinois; my informants
have not been able to mention the duration of these respective commands,
Monsieur Racine continued to command till the arrival of Mr. Abbet,
a British officer in the year 1777, who returned to Detroit the same year
after building a small Fort, and leaving the command with Monsieur
Bolon, who surrendered the same to Capt. Helmes, of the Virginia troops
in July, 1778 Governor Hamilton arrived in Nov. or Dec. in the same
year, and took Helmes and the Governor prisoners and repaired the
works, he was taken by General Clark, in the month of February 1779.
The population of this place appears then to have been about three
hundred families, at this time there are about 110 houses in the Vil-
lage in which people dwell, and about 75 in the country I estimate the
number of souls upwards of 1.200. 30,000 bushels of Indian corn raised
last year, and 12,000 bushels of Wheat, weighing about 60 Ibs. to a
bushel. 28th Oct. 1797. " 20
It will be noted that tradition, when tradition actually existed, put
the dates of the founding of the post, and the coming of St. Ange later
than the reality, instead of earlier ; but aside from this feature Vander-
burgh 's statement is a quite full statement of the civil government, which
consisted chiefly of the will of the Commandant, at Vincennes as well
at the other two Indian posts, Ouiatanon and Fort Wayne. Life at all
of them was a monotonous affair, except for occasional trouble with
20 Farmers & Mechanics Journal Vincennes March 29, 1823.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 117
the Indians, which was usually stirred up by the English. The first
and greatest of these came in 1736, when Gov. Bienville, of Louisiana,
determined to invade the Chickasaw country, and called on the upper
settlements for assistance. Vincennes, with a part of his little garri-
son, and a band of Indians, joined D 'Artaguiette, with a contingent
from Fort Chartres, and this force, arriving in the enemy's country
before the Louisiana troops, undertook to attack alone; but fell into
an ambuscade, and were routed with great slaughter. It was a terrible
blow to the little settlements as Toussaint Loizel wrote : " It is a
mortal desolation to us poor people of Illinois to see ourselves deprived
of so many brave men." An idea of it may be had from the state-
ment of the "Monsieur Rusherville, " mentioned above as the successor
of St. Ange at Vincennes, as recorded by Moreau St. Mery in 1739, in
his history of Louisiana :
"Relation made by Sieur Drouet de Richard ville of the engagement
which M. de Artaguiette had with the Chickasaws in the month of
March 1736, on the way to Fort St. Frederic. He reports that in this
engagement three of his brothers were killed; that he himself received
two gunshot wounds, one in the left arm, and one at the base of the
stomach, and an arrow wound in his wrist; that he was taken arms in
hand by three Chickasaws and brought to a village with 22 French, of
whom 20 were burned at the stake, among others ; Father Senat, Jesuit ;
Messrs, d' Artaguiette, de Vincennes, de Coulanges, de St. Ange fils,
Du Tisne, d'Esgly de Tonty the younger. These gentlemen were burned
with Father Senat on the day of the fight, from 3 o'clock in the after-
noon to midnight. The others who were burned were officers and militia-
men. Sieur Courselas, or Coustillas, officer, was burned three days later
at the large village, with an Iroquois from the Sault St. Louis; Sieur
Courselas had been detailed with 35 men to guard the ammunition.
Being misled he came to the village of the Chickasaws without know-
ing where he was going. He was not able to learn what became of the
35 Frenchmen who were with Courselas. He was conducted to the
cabin of the chief of the village of Joutalla, where he was guarded for
six months by the young men, after which he was given full liberty,
and hunted with the Chickasaws." 21
There is some additional light thrown on this tragic affair by the
following reference to it in a defense of the Jesuits after their expul-
sion from Louisiana in 1763: "In 1736, Father Senat, missionary to
the Illinois, was appointed to accompany Mi d 'Artaguiette, who con-
ducted a party of French against the Chickasaw. The enterprise was
21 Ind. Mag. of History, Vol. 12, p. 135.
118 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
unfortunate. The French were upon the point of being surrounded by
the savages when the missionary was warned that he still had time to
escape. . He was offered a horse, but refused it, remembering the purpose
of his voyage and the need that the French captives would soon have
of his succor. He was seized with them and led as they were to tor-
ture; a savage woman, utterly ignorant of the Christian religion, was
a witness of their death. She reported, a little while afterward, that
the French who were captured by the Chickasaw had been thrown upon
a lighted pile of wood in a large cabin, 'after they had sung in order
to go on high. ' Seeing their manner and their gestures, she had compre-
hended that the prayers which they were singing were to guide them
to heaven." 22
After this calamity, St. Ange, the father, who was commanding tem-
porarily at Fort Chartres, and whose eldest son, Pierre, had been killed
with Vincennes, asked the place of Vincennes for his younger son, Louis,
who was then at a post in Missouri, and the request was granted. ' ' St.
Ange ' ' was a nick-name of the father, his real name being Robert Gros-
ton; and our new Commandant, probably to distinguish himself from
his father, also assumed his mother's nick-name, "Bellerive." The
French indicated a nick-name by the word "dit"; and in the course
of years, Louis Groston, dit St. Ange, dit Bellerive, came to be known
as Sieur de St. Ange de Bellerive ; and this has served all the purposes
of "the boast of heraldry" quite as well as if it had been a genuine title
of nobility.
The wars between the French and the English in America were fought
far to the east of Indiana, and had little effect on the settlements here,
the only immediate troubles were due to the rivalry of the fur traders,
and occurred while the two nations were at peace. In 1733 there were
three French traders killed by some Ouiatanon youths in a drunken affray
growing out of a trading squabble, but this was purely local and per-
sonal, and was settled without bloodshed. In 1745 a band of Hurons,
under their war chief Nicholas, were offended by the French at Detroit,
and removed from the Detroit River to the north side of Sandusky
Bay. Late in the same year a party of English traders from Pennsyl-
vania visited "Sandosket" and had a very friendly reception from
Nicholas, who gave them permission to erect a blockhouse and trad-
ing post at Sandosket. From that time English influence grew rapidly
in the "West. On June 23, 1747, five French traders from near Vin-
cennes arrived at Sandosket with a lot of peltries. Nicholas was in-
censed at their coming to his village without his consent, and, by advice
111. Hist. Coll., Vol. 10, .p. 88.
1
H
o
K
4-
120 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
of the English traders, seized them and their goods. The next day he
had the French traders killed, and sold their peltries to the English
traders. Under instructions from the Governor of Canada, the Chevalier
de Longueuil, Commandant at Detroit, demanded the surrender of the
murderers, the expulsion of the English traders from the town, and fu-
ture alliance with the French. These demands were not complied with,
and an expedition against Sandosket was prepared. Meanwhile Nicholas
was also preparing for trouble and by August, 1747, had formed a con-
spiracy of parts of nearly all of the western tribes except the Illinois
to drive the French out of the country. On one of the holidays of
Pentecost all of the French forts were to be taken by surprise, and the
French were to be massacred. The plot was revealed by a squaw; and
the energetic measures of M. de Longueuil prevented most of the con-
templated work. The chief success was at Fort Miamis, at Kekionga.
Ensign Douville, who commanded there was absent, having gone to
Montreal with Coldfoot and the Hedgehog, two friendly Miami chiefs,
when the hostile Miamis took the fort by surprise, and burned it to the
ground. The eight men who formed the garrison were made prisoners,
but were afterwards released. Kekionga was abandoned until in Febru-
ary, 1748, Sieur Dubuisson came with a party of French soldiers from
Detroit and rebuilt the fort. On September 22, 1748 a force of one
hundred and fifty soldiers from Montreal arrived, at Detroit, and
Nicholas sued for peace, which was granted. On April 7, 1748, he
destroyed his village and the English blockhouse, and, with one hundred
and nineteen warriors and their families, began his removal to the
Ohio River, just below the Wabash, where he died in the fall of the same
year.
The hostile Miamis moved over into Ohio. A part of them, under
a chief called La Demoiselle, located on the Big Miami, opposite th?
mouth of Loramie's creek, and the remainder, under Le Baril, located
on a small tributary of the Ohio known as Riviere Blanche. The maps
of the period would indicate that this was White Oak Creek, in Brown
County, Ohio ; but M. de Vergennes, Minister of Louis XVI, in his
Memoir on Louisiana, mentions but this one stream between the "Scu-
hiato" (Scioto) and Riviere a la Roche (Big Miami), and says: "The
Riviere Blanche is on the North, it has also about one hundred leagues
course, and takes its rise about twenty-five leagues southeast of Lake
Erie." There is no stream that answers this description, but the Little
Miami approaches it more nearly than White Oak Creek. These Miamis
sent word to the English through the Six Nations that they desired an
alliance, and a treaty for this purpose was made at Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania, in July, 1748, under which the English in the following spring
f
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 121
opened a road from the Miami towns to the site of Pittsburg. In 1749
M. de Celoron made his expedition through the Ohio country, taking
formal repossession of the country, and visiting the various Indian
tribes, among others the fugitive Miamis. He urged them to return to
"Kiskakon, which is the name of their old village," and they promised
to do so, but instead sent information of the matter to the English,
and asked for more traders. These were supplied, and also large presents,
on account of which the English were allowed, in 1750, to erect a strong
trading house and stockade at La Demoiselle's town. This place, which
had been commonly called the Tawixtwi town, now became known as
Pickawillany, or sometimes Picktown, and the Miamis living there were
called Picks or Picts. The trade with the English grew apace. In
1749, Sir William Johnson reported that eleven Miami canoes, with
eighty-eight men came to Oswego with furs; and between 1745 and
1753 there were more than fifty Pennsylvanian and Virginian licensed
traders engaged in the trade with the Miami towns, among whom were
such well known frontier characters as Conrad Weiser, George Croghan,
Hugh Crawford, Michael Cresap, Christopher Gist, Jacob Pyatt, and
William Campbell. The situation grew worse. In 1751 three French
deserters from Fort Miamis were given refuge at Pickawillany, and early
in 1752 several French traders were murdered. . Then a force of several
Frenchmen and a large body of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians was
sent against the town, under command of M. St. Orr. This expedition
took the town by surprise, and only twenty men were able to get into
the fort. After firing at the fort for some hours, the assaulting party
offered to withdraw if the white men in the fort were surrendered. There
being a shortage of water in the fort, the Englishmen agreed to this,
and surrendered. One of them, who was badly wounded, was killed,
and the assaulting party withdrew with six English prisoners, and a
large amount of goods from the houses outside of the fort. They had
killed five Indians, one of whom, a Piankeshaw chief commonly known
as Old Britain, on account of his friendship for the British, was boiled
and eaten in view of the fort. After this, most of the English traders
abandoned the Ohio trade, and most of the Indians were brought into
alliance with the French. Little more was heard of Pickawillany until
1769, when Peter Loramie, a French Canadian, established a trading
post there, and the place became known as Loramie 's Station. Loramie
was loyal to the British, and hated the Americans; and during the
Revolutionary war, his post became an outfitting place for Indian raids,
until it was destroyed by George Rogers Clark, in the fall of 1782.
In 1753, M. Du Quesne established a post at the site of Erie, Pennsyl-
vania, and another on French Creek. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia
122 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
sent his Adjutant General, George Washington, to warn Du Quesne
to remove, but he declined. In January, 1754, Dinwiddie ordered Captain
William Trent to build a fort at the site of Pittsburg. He reached the
place on February 17, and began his work. Early in April he was
called away; and on April 17 M. de Contrecoeur appeared before the
unfinished fort with more than a thousand men, and eighteen can-
non, and demanded its surrender. Ensign Ward, who was in command,
had only forty-one men and no cannon. He obtained permission to
withdraw with his men, and surrendered the fort. Thus began the
French and Indian war, but it had no material effect on the Indiana
settlements until its close. After the surrender of Montreal, Major
Robert Rogers was sent west to take possession of the French posts.
Detroit was delivered to him on November 29, 1760, and soon 'after
officers were sent to take possession of posts Miamis and Ouiatanon;
but as Post Vincennes and the Illinois settlements were in the Prov-
ince of Louisiana, no attempt was made to take possession of them
until after the treaty of 1763, by which the French territory east of
the Mississippi was ceded to the English. Meanwhile the English made
little effort to placate the Indians, and the French traders among them
did what they could do prejudice them against the new rulers. Indian
plots were made in 1761 and 1762 for the destruction of the British
posts, but these were discovered and frustrated. In the spring of 1763
a new conspiracy was formed with Pontiac at its head, and it was so
far successful that Sir William Johnson reported that the Indians had
"taken and destroyed no less than Eight Forts, murdered great part
of the Garrisons, killed great Numbers of his Majestys Subjects on the
Frontiers, and destroyed their Settlements, and that in about the
Compass of a Month."
Two of the forts thus taken were in Indiana. -Although Ensign
Holmes, who commanded at Fort Miamis, and Lieutenant Jenkins, who
commanded at Post Ouiatanon, had reported efforts to engage the
Miamis in hostilities, and although Pon-tiac had begun the open siege
of Detroit on May 9, both officers fell victims to treachery. On May
27, Holmes was decoyed from the fort by his Indian mistress, and shot
from ambush; and his garrison surrendered on promise that their lives
would be spared. On June 1, Lieutenant Jenkins wrote to Major Glad-
win, who was still besieged at Detroit: "I have heard of your Situ-
ation which gives me great pain, indeed we are not in much better,
for this morning the Indians sent for me to Speak to me, & Immediately
bound me when I got to their Cabbin, and I soon found some of my
Soldiers in the same Condition, they told me Detroit, Miamis & all
these posts were cut of, and that it was a folly to make any resistance
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
123
therefore me to make the few Soldiers I had in the Fort Surrender,
otherwise they would put us all to Death in Case one Man was kill'd.
They were to have fallen upon us & kill'd us all last Night, but Messrs
Maisonville & Lorrain, gave them wampum not to kill us, & & when
they told the Interpreter we were all to be kill'd, and he knowing the
condition of the Fort beg'd of them to make us prisoners. They have
JAMES E. MOONEY
put us into the French houses & both Indians and French use us very
well. All these Nations say they are very Sorry, but that they were
Obliged to do it by the other Nations, the Belt did not Arrive here till
last Night about eight o 'Clock; Mr. Lorrain can inform you of all,
Just now received the News of St. Joseph's being taken, Eleven Men
kill'd and three taken prisoners with the Officer; I have nothing more
to Say but that I sincerely wish you a Speedy Succour, & that we may
be able to revenge ourselves on those that deserve it."
122
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
sent his Adjutant General, George Washington, to warn Du Quesne
to remove, but he declined. In January, 1754, Dinwiddie ordered Captain
William Trent to build a fort at the site of Pittsburg. He reached the
place on February 17, and began his work. Early in April he was
called away ; and on April 17 M. de Contrecoeur appeared before the
unfinished fort with more than a thousand men, and eighteen can-
non, and demanded its surrender. Ensign Ward, who was in command,
had only forty-one men and no cannon. He obtained permission to
withdraw with his men, and surrendered the fort. Thus began the
French and Indian war, but it had no material effect on the Indiana
settlements until its close. After the surrender of Montreal, Major
Robert Rogers was sent west to take possession of the French posts.
Detroit was delivered to him on November 29, 1760, and soon after
officers were sent to take possession of posts Miamis and Ouiatanon;
but as Post Vincennes and the Illinois settlements were in the Prov-
ince of Louisiana, no attempt was made to take possession of them
until after the treaty of 1763, by which the French territory east of
the Mississippi was ceded to the English. Meanwhile the English made
little effort to placate the Indians, and the French traders among them
did what they could do prejudice them against the new rulers. Indian
plots were made in 1761 and 1762 for the destruction of the British
posts, but these were discovered and frustrated. In the spring of 1763
a new conspiracy was formed with Pontiac at its head, and it was so
far successful that Sir William Johnson reported that the Indians had
"taken and destroyed no less than Eight Forts, murdered great part
of the Garrisons, killed great Numbers of his Majestys Subjects on the
Frontiers, and destroyed their Settlements, and that in about the
Compass of a Month."
Two of the forts thus taken were in Indiana. Although Ensign
Holmes, who commanded at Fort Miamis, and Lieutenant Jenkins, who
commanded at Post Ouiatanon, had reported efforts to engage the
Miamis in hostilities, and although Pontiac had begun the open siege
of Detroit on May 9, both officers fell victims to treachery. On May
27, Holmes was decoyed from the fort by his Indian mistress, and shot
from ambush; and his garrison surrendered on promise that their lives
would be spared. On June 1, Lieutenant Jenkins wrote to Major Glad-
win, who was still besieged at Detroit: "I have heard of your Situ-
ation which gives me great pain, indeed we are not in much better,
for this morning the Indians sent for me to Speak to me, & Immediately
bound me when I got to their Cabbin, and I soon found some of my
Soldiers in the same Condition, they told me Detroit, Miamis & all
these posts were cut of, and that it was a folly to make any resistance
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
123
therefore me to make the few Soldiers I had in the Fort Surrender,
otherwise they would put us all to Death in Case one Man was kill'd.
They were to have fallen upon us & kill'd us all last Night, but Messrs
Maisonville & Lorrain, gave them wampum not to kill us, & & when
they told the Interpreter we were all to be kill'd, and he knowing the
condition of the Fort beg'd of them to make us prisoners. They have
JAMES E. MOONEY
-
put us into the French houses & both Indians and French use us very
well. All these Nations say they are very Sorry, but that they were
Obliged to do it by the other Nations, the Belt did not Arrive here till
last Night about eight o 'Clock; Mr. Lorrain can inform you of all,
Just now received the News of St. Joseph's being taken, Eleven Men
kill'd and three taken prisoners with the Officer; I have nothing more
to Say but that I sincerely wish you a Speedy Succour, & that we may
be able to revenge ourselves on those that deserve it."
124 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
In the consideration of Pontiac's conspiracy, there is usually too
much stress put on his ability, and too little on the religious movement
that was back of the uprising. Pontiac was a man of great ability, but
no one man is ever able to bring about great popular movements unless
there is some powerful agency at work on public sentiment. Napoleon
Bonaparte could not possibly have accomplished what he did but for the
preparation made by the French Revolution. All great Indian upris-
ings in America have been the results of religious teachings; and it is
of interest that this fact was first fully shown by an Indiana ethnologist,
James E. Mooney. He was born at Richmond, Indiana, February 10,
1861, his parents, James and Ellen (Devlin) Mooney, being Irish immi-
grants. He was educated in the public schools, and at eighteen became
an apprentice in a newspaper office, where he remained for six years
in mechanical and editorial work. From boyhood he had been greatly
interested in Indians, and had availed himself of every opportunity
to study their history, customs and language. In 1885 he went to Wash-
ington where he pursued his studies, and was. employed by the Bureau
of Ethnology, in which employment he has since remained. In addi-
tion to numerous articles on Irish and Indian ethnology, including the
ethnological articles in the New International and Catholic Cyclopedias,
he prepared the Government Indian exhibits for the Chicago, Nash-
ville, Omaha and St. Louis expositions. In the faH of 1890, at his re-
quest, he was sent west to investigate the Ghost Dance, which was then
beginning to attract attention. He soon discovered that there was more
in it than had been suspected, and his study was continued for more
than three years, resulting in the exhaustive publication which forms
the second volume of the Report of the Bureau of Ethnology for 1892-3.
Each of these American uprisings has arisen from some prophet who
foretold the coming of a leader who would deliver them from the op-
pression of the white races. As Mooney puts it: "As with man, so
it is with nations. The lost paradise is the world's dreamland of youth.
What tribe or people has not had its golden age, before Pandora's box
was loosed, when women were nymphs and dryads and men were gods
and heroes? And when the race lies crushed and groaning beneath an
alien yoke, how natural is the dream of a redeemer, an Arthur, who
shall return from exile or awake from some long sleep to drive out the
usurper and win back for his people what they have lost? The hope
becomes a faith and the faith becomes the creed of priests, prophets,
until the hero is a god and the dream a religion, looking to some great
miracle of nature for its culmination and accomplishment. The doctrines
of the Hindu avatar, the Hebrew Messiah, the Christian Millennium, and
the Hesunanin of the Indian Ghost Dance are essentially the same, and
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
125
have their origin in a hope and longing common to all humanity." In
this case a Delaware prophet had appeared at Tuscarawas, on the
Muskingum, who had experienced a wonderful vision, in which he had
visited The Master of Life, and received from him a message to the
Indians, the essentials of which were that they should abandon those
things which they had obtained from the Europeans, reform their lives.
PRAYER STICK
and drive out the British. The Master of Life was a conception they
had got from the missionaries. It is foreign to their original mythology,
though it easily harmonizes with the conception of Manabozho. He
gave the prophet a "prayer stick," or bit of wood with hierogylphic
carving, and this instruction as to the prayer:
"Learn it by heart, and teach it to all the Indians and their children.
124
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
In the consideration of Pontiae's conspiracy, there is usually too
much stress put on his ability, and too little on the religious movement
that was back of the uprising. Pontiac was a man of great ability, but
no one man is ever able to bring about great popular movements unless
there is some powerful agency at work on public sentiment. Napoleon
Bonaparte could not possibly have accomplished what he did but for the
preparation made by the French Revolution. All great Indian upris-
ings in America have been the results of religious teachings; and it is
of interest that this fact was first fully shown by an Indiana ethnologist,
James E. Mooney. He was born at Richmond, Indiana, February 10,
1861, his parents, James and Ellen (Devlin) Mooney, being Irish immi-
grants. He was educated in the public schools, and at eighteen became
an apprentice in a newspaper office, where he remained for six years
in mechanical and editorial work. From boyhood he had been greatly
interested in Indians, and had availed himself of every opportunity
to study their history, customs and language. In 1885 he went to Wash-
ington where he pursued his studies, and was employed by the Bureau
of Ethnology, in which employment he has since remained. In addi-
tion to numerous articles on Irish and Indian ethnology, including the
ethnological articles in the New International and Catholic Cyclopedias,
he prepared the Government Indian exhibits for the Chicago, Nash-
ville, Omaha and St. Louis expositions. In the fall of 1890, at his re-
quest, he was sent west to investigate the Ghost Dance, which was then
beginning to attract attention. He soon discovered that there was more
in it than had been suspected, and his study was continued for more
than three years, resulting in the exhaustive publication which forms
the second volume of the Report of the Bureau of Ethnology for 1892-3.
Each of these American uprisings has arisen from some prophet who
foretold the coming of a leader who would deliver them from the op-
pression of the white races. As Mooney puts it: "As with man, so
it is with nations. The lost paradise is the world's dreamland of youth.
What tribe or people has not had its golden age, before Pandora 's box
was loosed, when women were nymphs and dryads and men were gods
and heroes? And when the race lies crushed and groaning beneath an
alien yoke, how natural is the dream of a redeemer, an Arthur, who
shall return from exile or awake from some long sleep to drive out the
usurper and win back for his people what they have lost? The hope
becomes a faith and the faith becomes the creed of priests, prophets,
until the hero is a god and the dream a religion, looking to some great
miracle of nature for its culmination and accomplishment. The doctrines
of the Hindu avatar, the Hebrew Messiah, the Christian Millennium, and
the Hesunanin of the Indian Ghost Dance are essentially the same, and
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
123
have their origin in a hope and longing common to all humanity." In
this ease a Delaware prophet had appeared at Tuscarawas, on the
Muskingum, who had experienced a wonderful vision, in which he had
visited The Master of Life, and received from him a message to the
Indians, the essentials of which were that they should abandon those
things which they had obtained from the Europeans, reform their lives.
r. .-
I
j
J
PRAYER STICK
and drive out the British. The Master of Life was a conception they
had got from the missionaries. It is foreign to their original mythology,
though it easily harmonizes with the conception of Manabozho. He
gave the prophet a "prayer stick," or bit of wood with hierogylphic
carving, and this instruction as to the prayer:
"Learn it by heart, and teach it to all the Indians and their children.
126 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
It must be repeated morning and evening. Do all that I have told
thee, and announce it to all the Indians as coming from the Master
of Life. Let them drink but one draught (of whisky) or two at most,
in one day. Let them have but one wife, and discontinue running
after other people's wives and daughters. Let them not fight one an-
other. Let them not sing the medicine song, for in singing the medicine
song they speak to the evil spirit. Drive from your lands those dogs
in red clothing; they are only an injury to you. When you want
anything, apply to me, as your brothers do, and I will give to both.
Do not sell to your brothers that which I have placed on the earth
as food. In short become good, and you shall want nothing. When
you meet one another, bow and give one another the (left) hand of
the heart. Above all, I command thee to, repeat morning and even-
ing the prayer which I have given thee."
The prayer stick shown in the accompanying cut was not one of
the Delaware prophet's but a similar one from Kanakuk, a Kickapoo
prophet who attained some notoriety about 1827. In 1830, Rev. James
Armstrong, a Methodist minister and missionary, while living on Shaw-
nee Prairie, about three miles from Attica, Indiana, was visited by a
band of Kickapoo Indians who said that they came from beyond the
Mississippi River, where they had heard of him, and had been told
that they could get the true Bible from him. Each of them had one of
these prayer sticks, which they called their bibles, but said they knew
they were not the true ones, although they used them in their devo-
tions. Mr. Armstrong took their prayer sticks, and gave them testa-
ments instead, with which they went on their way rejoicing. Mr.
Armstrong's son, R. V. Armstrong, of Mill Creek, Indiana, presented
one of these prayer sticks to C. H. Bartlett, of South Bend, who in turn
presented it to the National Mueseum, and it is portrayed here. It is
a trifle over a foot long and two and one-half inches wide, at the widest
point, and three-eighths of an inch thick. It was originally painted red
on one side, and green on the other. The engraving is on one side
only. V
The revelations of this Delaware prophet were the chief feature of
the crusade which Pontiac preached, and they appealed strongly to a
people who were being told that the French King was selling their
lands to the English King. Its effect is shown by the fact that the
Shawnees and Delawares of Ohio, who had been very good friends of
the English, joined in the conspiracy, and did no little damage on the
frontier until Col. Bouquet invaded their country and forced them to
sue for peace. In the meantime Sir William Johnson had been impress-
ing on the British authorities the fact that the cheapest way to manage
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 127
the Indians was to cultivate their friendship, and Col. Croghan, who
was the first English emissary to reach Pontiac, had the long experi-
ence in Indian dealings which gave him the same opinion. In conse-
quence, while Major Loftus and Captain Pittman had not been able
to get to Fort Chartres from New Orleans, nor Captain Morris by the
Maumee, and Lieutenant Fraser, who had reached that point by the
Ohio, had thought it wise to escape down the Mississippi is disguise,
Colonel Croghan, although captured by a party of hostiles, was able
to make terms with the Indians. Of course this was largely due to the
fact that Pontiac had become convinced that he could get -no help from
the French, and was discouraged by the defeat of the Delawares and
Shawnees. At Post Ouiatanon he announced to Croghan that the French
had deceived him, and that he would fight the English no longer; and
the two proceeded to Detroit, where a formal agreement of peace was
made. Croghan at once sent word of his success to Fort Pitt; and
Captain Sterling, of the Forty-Second Highlanders, the famous "Black
Watch," started down the Ohio for Fort Chartres. He arrived there
on October 9, 1765, and on the day following took formal possession
from St. Ange, who had been commanding there for the past year.
With this French rule ended in Indiana, though nobody came to take
formal possession of Post Vincennes until Lieutenant Governor Abbott
came twelve years later. The command at Vincennes simply passed
down from one officer to another, as heretofore stated in the report of
Major Vanderburgh, the Commandant receiving instructions from time
to time from the British officer in command at Fort Chartres. The
government at the Post was practically military, although there was
usually a resident Notary, and part of the time a Justice of the Peace.
The people also chose a Syndic, who had charge of the common field,
and other communal matters.
In fact English rule in the West was chiefly English neglect. When
Captain Sterling took command at Fort Chartres, he reissued General
Gage's proclamation of some eight months earlier, giving liberty of
conscience, and guaranteeing personal and property rights. It also
gave the French settlers freedom to emigrate, but required an oath of
allegiance to Great Britain if they remained. A proclamation had been
issued in 1763 reserving the lands between the Alleghany Mountains
and the Mississippi River for the Indians, and prohibiting any pur-
chases of land by the whites from the Indians; and the same proclama-
tion made provision for regulating Indian affairs, including the Indian
trade. Having made these provisions, the British authorities were too
much engaged with more important matters to give much attention to
these small French posts. Early in 1764 Sir William Johnson had sent
128 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Croghan to England to get some action taken, and on March 10 Croghan
wrote to him: "tho I have been hear Now a Month Nothing has been
Don Respecting North aMerrica Mr. pownal Tould Me yesterday
that I wold be Soon Sent for to attend to board of Trade what Meshurs
they will Take the Lord knows butt Nothing is Talkt of Except ocon-
emy * * * I am Sick of London & wish To be back in aMerrica &
Setled on a Litle farm where I May forgett the Mockery of pomp &
Greatness. "It was the old situation, of the man of action chafing under
the delay of the statesman whose strongest quality was procrastination.
Meanwhile legal proceedings in the West varied according to the ideas
of military commanders. Col. Bouquet court-martialed a couple of
spies, and they were sentenced to death ; but Gen. Gage refused to con-
firm the sentence, on the ground that they should have been tried for
treason, adding: "But these trials must be in the Country below by
the Civil Magistrates, to whom they should be given up. The Military
may hang a spy in Time of War, but Rebels in Arms are tried by the
Civil Courts. At least I saw this practised in Scotland ; both by General
Hawley, and the Duke of Cumberland. Mr. Penn should be applied to,
for to order the Attorney Genl. to prosecute all those Vilains, against
whom any proof can be brought. I return you both your Court-Martials
which either of your Judge-Advocates may transmit to Mr. Gould,
Deputy- Judge Advocate in England, as always practised." On the
other hand, Captain Sterling, finding that all of the old judicial officers
had left the Illinois country, appointed a habitant named LaGrange
judge, and authorized him to "decide all disputes according to the
Law and Customs of the Country," with right of appeal to the Com-
mandant by dissatisfied litigants. Lt. Col. Wilkins went farther, and
on November 12, 1768, issued commissions to six of the habitants "to
form a Civil Court of Judicatory, with powers expressed in their Com-
missions to Hear and Try in a Summary way all Causes of Debt and
Property that should be brought before them and to give their Judge-
ment thereon according to the Laws of England to the Best of their
Judgement and understanding." On March 4, 1770, he extended the
jurisdiction of the court to assaults, trespasses and other misdemeanors,
directing the judges "to impose and bring such Fines and Inflict such
Corporate Punishment or commit Offenders to Jayle at the discretion
of the said Court." This court appears to have been discontinued in
June, 1770, for some cause not now known.
Although Gen. Gage was very scrupulous about the trials of Eng-
lishmen, as we have seen, in 1772 he issued peremptory orders to the
inhabitants of Post Vincennes to withdraw from the Indian country.
In September of that year they forwarded a remonstrance to him, as-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
129
serting their legal title to the lands occupied by them; and in the
following spring Gen. Gage replied, requiring them to furnish "con-
vincing proofs" of their statements. This letter is of especial inter-
est, for while the remonstrance of the French settlers has not been
found, Gage speaks of it as "insinuating that your settlement is of
FLAG OF SOCIETY OF COLONIAL WARS, FOR INDIANA
(Designed by W. O. Bates. Presents the "Vincennes Arms" surmounting cross
of St. George. The arms were ' ' supplied " by a Canadian College of Heraldry. There
were none. Bissot de Vincennes is a title of enfeoffment, not nobility.)
seventy years standing," and this is the only approach to any historical
evidence that Post Vincennes was established prior to 1730. This is
negatived however by the proofs furnished; for the only evidence of-
fered as to the founding of the post was the certificate of St. Ange
that he commanded there from 1736 to 1764, and that "the said post
Vol. 18
'
128
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Croghan to England to get some action taken, and on March 10 Croghan
wrote to him: "tho I have been hear Now a Month Nothing has been
Don Respecting North aMerrica Mr. pownal Tould Me yesterday
that I wold be Soon Sent for to attend to board of Trade what Meshurs
they will Take the Lord knows butt Nothing is Talkt of Except ocon-
emy * * * I am Sick of London & wish To be back in aMerrica &
Setled on a Litle farm where I May forgett the Mockery of pomp &
Greatness. ' ' It was the old situation, of the man of action chafing under
the delay of the statesman whose strongest quality was procrastination.
Meanwhile legal proceedings in the West varied according to the ideas
of military commanders. Col. Bouquet court-martialed a couple of
spies, and they were sentenced to death; but Gen. Gage refused to con-
firm the sentence, on the ground that they should have been tried for
treason, adding: "But these trials must be in the Country below by
the Civil Magistrates, to whom they should be given up. The Military
may hang a spy in Time of War, but Rebels in Arms are tried by the
Civil Courts. At least I saw this practised in Scotland ; both by General
Hawley, and the Duke of Cumberland. Mr. Penn should be applied to,
for to order the Attorney Genl. to prosecute all those Vilains, against
whom any proof can be brought. I return you both your Court-Martials
which either of your Judge-Advocates may transmit to Mr. Gould,
Deputy- Judge Advocate in England, as always practised." On the
other hand, Captain Sterling, finding that all of the old judicial officers
had left the Illinois country, appointed a habitant named LaGrange
judge, and authorized him to "decide all disputes according to the
Law and Customs of the Country," with right of appeal to the Com-
mandant by dissatisfied litigants. Lt. Col. Wilkins went farther, and
on November 12, 1768, issued commissions to six of the habitants "to
form a Civil Court of Judicatory, with powers expressed in their Com-
missions to Hear and Try in a Summary way all Causes of Debt and
Property that should be brought before them and to give their Judge-
ment thereon according to the Laws of England to the Best of their
Judgement and understanding." On March 4, 1770, he extended the
jurisdiction of the court to assaults, trespasses and other misdemeanors,
directing the judges "to impose and bring such Fines and Inflict such
Corporate Punishment or commit Offenders to Jayle at the discretion
of the said Court." This court appears to have been discontinued in
June, 1770, for some cause not now known.
Although Gen. Gage was very scrupulous about the trials of Eng-
lishmen, as we have seen, in 1772 he issued peremptory orders to the
inhabitants of Post Vincennes to withdraw from the Indian country.
In September of that year they forwarded a remonstrance to him, as-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
129
serting their legal title to the lands occupied by them; and in the
following spring Gen. Gage replied, requiring them to furnish "con-
vincing proofs" of their statements. This letter is of especial inter-
est, for while the remonstrance of the French settlers has not been
found, Gage speaks of it as "insinuating that your settlement is of
FLAG OF SOCIETY OF COLONIAL WARS, FOE INDIANA
(Designed by W. O. Bates. Presents the "Vincennes Arms" surmounting cross
of St. George. The arms were ' ' supplied " by a Canadian College of Heraldry. There
were none. Bissot de Vincennes is a title of enfeoffment, not nobility.)
seventy years standing, ' ' and this is the only approach to any historical
evidence that Post Vincennes was established prior to 1730. This is
negatived however by the proofs furnished; for the only evidence of-
fered as to the founding of the post was the certificate of St. Ange
that he commanded there from 1736 to 1764, and that "the said post
Vol. 19
.
130 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
was established a number of years before my command, under that of M.
de Vincesne, officer of the troops, whom I succeeded by order of the
king." The assertion which has sometimes been made that there was
a post or settlement at this point prior to the coming of Sieur de Vin-
cennes, has not a shadow of evidence to support it. The settlers furnished
very fair evidence of the legality of their titles, but of a total of 88
claimants, only one claimed to have received a grant prior to 1736 ; and
while his deed was lost, and he could not give the date, he stated that
the grant was from Sieur de Vincennes.
It is probable that Gage had no real understanding of the status of
the Vincennes people until he received these proofs. In 1763, M. Aubry,
the last acting French Governor of Louisiana had reported: "The Fort
of Vincennes is the last Post in the Department of Louisiana, it is situ-
ated on the Ouabache 60 Leagues above its entrance into the Ohio, and
from the entrance of the Ouabache into the Ohio to the Mississippi is
60 Leagues more. It is a small Piqueted Fort in which may be about
Twenty Married Soldiers and some few Inhabitants. The land 'is very
fertile and produces plenty of Corn and Tobacco. It is about 155
Leagues from the Illinois by water, but one may march it, J Q Six days
by Land. The Indians that live near this place are called Peanguichia,
they are about 6 warriors Tho' we may not have men enough to oc-
cupy this Post at present, it is very interesting to us to do it, as the
Passage to Canada lies up the Oualbache. It is 60 Leagues from
Vincennes to Ouiatanons, and 60 more up the River Ouabache to
Miamis, and from thence a Carrying place of Six Leagues to the River
of Miamis, and 8 leagues more down that River to Lake Erie. This was
my Rout in 1759, when I went from Illinois to Venango with more than
400 men, and a hundred thousand weight of Flour." In 1766 Lieuten-
ant Fraser had reported that all of the Western forts "excepting fort
Charters are intirely in ruins, some of them that you can scarce see
any appearance of. ' ' Gage presumably supposed that the place had been
taken possession of by a lot of French coureurs, who were trespassers
in the Indian country. It is true that he had a census of the place taken
in 1767, giving the following details : ' ' Inhabitants, Men, Women &
Children, 232; Strangers, 168; Negro Slaves, 10; Savage Slaves, 17;
Oxen, 352 ; Cows, 588 ; Horses, 260 ; Hoggs, 295 ; Mills, 3 ; Bushels Corn
to be reaped, 5450; Bushels Indian Corn to be reaped, 5420; Tobacco
growing nt. Pounds, 36,360." 23
It will be noted, however, that this gives no indication of any mili-
tary or other governmental establishment
as HI. Hist. Coll., Vol. 11, p. 469.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 131
The only religious establishment in Indiana during the French and
British dominions was the Roman Catholic, and it was not extensive.
The only church within the borders of the State was at Vincennes, and
its parish records extend back only to 1749, when the first entries were
made by Father Meurin. Before that time very little is definitely known
about the church at Vincennes, although Vincennes historians have
made some very definite statements concerning it. For example, Mr.
Cauthorn asserts, without qualification and without any citation of
authority, that the "pastors" at Vincennes, prior to Meurin, in order
of succession, were "John Mennet, Antoninus Senat and Mercurin
Conic." He refers in a general way to Thwaite's edition of the Jesuit
Relations, but apparently overlooks the fact that in the last volume
of this work there is a brief biographical notice of all the priests known
to have served in this region. Father Jean Mermet died in Illinois
September 15, 1716, and could not possibly have served at Vincennes,
because there was neither post, white settlement nor Indian village at
that point during his life. Father Antoine Senat did not come to
America until 1734, is known only as a missionary to the Illinois Indians,
and was killed by the Chickasaws in the spring of 1736, as heretofore
stated. "Mercurin Conic" is beyond me. I cannot imagine where Mr.
Cauthorn found him, unless perhaps it was somewhere in the Conic
Sections. It is impossible that there should have been a church estab-
lishment at Vincennes from 1702 to 1749, as asserted by Mr. Cauthorne,
and no mention of it in the voluminous correspondence of the period, and
in fact the assertion is completely disproven by that correspondence.
The whole object of the movement that arose after 1720, and that led
to the establishment of Post Vincennes, was to get a post, a mission and
an Indian settlement on that portion of the Ouabache that was within
the jurisdiction of Louisiana. Father D'Outreleau was sent over from
France, in 1726, for the express purpose of being "missionary to the
Ouabache" in the projected establishment. He is named in the official
church list of 1728 as "at the Ouabache," but this was by title only,
for the projected establishment had not yet been made, and in reality
Father D'Outreleau was then over in the Illinois country, trying to
fit himself for his contemplated work. He never entered on that work
on account of his inability to acquire the Indian languages. He returned
to New Orleans in 1730, where he later became Chaplain of the Hos-
pital.
Naturally, there were priests that visited Vincennes before any
church was established at that place. The earliest of these of whom John
Gilmary Shea, the distinguished Catholic historian, could find any rec-
ord, was the Recollect priest Father Pacome Legrand, who died on his
132 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
way to Niagara, October 6, 1742, "after a term of service at Vincennes.'
Shea thinks it probable that it was this priest who, on July 22, 1741,
baptized at Post Ouiatanon, Anthony, son of Jean Baptiste Foucher,
who became the first priest ordained from the West, and who died at
Lachenaie, Canada, where he was then priest, in 1812. Be that as it
may, the fact that Indiana had begun contributing to the clergy in 1741
indicates that the intellectual forces of the climate began to operate at
once. That Vincennes was subordinate to the Illinois missions is shown
by the following extract from the defense of the Jesuits above quoted:
"At eighty leagues from the Illinois was the post called Vincennes or St.
Ange from the names of the officers who commanded there. This post
is upon the river Wabash which, about seventy leagues lower down, to-
gether with the Ohio. which it has joined, discharges its waters into the
Mississippi. There were in this village at least sixty houses of French
people without counting the Miami savages who were quite near. There,
too, was sufficient cause for care and occupation which the Jesuits did
not refuse a conclusion which must be reached if one considers that this
post was every day increasing in population; that the greater part of
its new inhabitants, having long been voyageurs, were little accustomed
to the duties of Christians; and that, to establish among them some
manner of living, many instructions and exhortations, private and public,
were necessary. Now the proof that the Jesuits acquitted themselves of
their duty in this respect is proved by the complaints that the parishoners
made against them; for these people claimed that their pastors went
beyond their duty, and assumed too much care." The Jesuits who
served at Vincennes after Father Meurin were Father Peter du Jaunay
in 1752, Father Louis Vivier in 1753, and Father Julian Devernai in
1756. After the suppression of the Jesuits in France, on June 9, 1763,
the Superior Council of Louisiana issued a decree suppressing the Jesuits
of the Province, forbidding their performance of religious functions,
ordering all their property except the personal clothing and books of the
priests to be seized and sold at auction, and the priests themselves to be
expelled from the Province. This was a high-handed proceeding as to
the country north of the Ohio, which had been ceded to Great Britain by
the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763, but the British had not taken
possession, and the order was enforced to the letter. Father Devernai
was dispossessed at Vincennes and shipped down the river with the
Illinois Jesuits. All of the mission property was sold at auction. Father
Duverger, a priest of the Foreign Missions, seeing this movement, sold
all of the property of the Seminary at Cahokia, and went down the river
with the Jesuits. The only priests left in the upper country were two
Franciscans at Fort Chartres, the brothers Hippolyte and Luke Collet;
and of these the former withdrew in 1764, and the latter died September
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 133
10, 1765. The region would have been left entirely without clergy had
not Father Meurin insisted on returning, and this the Louisiana authori-
ties permitted on his signing an obligation to hold no communication with
Quebec or Rome, and to recognize no superior but the Superior of the
Capuchins at New Orleans. Until 1768, this lone priest looked after the
spiritual interests of the upper country, appealing for aid to New
Orleans, to Quebec, to Paris, and to Philadelphia, but in vain. It was
not even possible for him to visit all of the settlements. In 1767 he
wrote to Bishop Briand, of Quebec: "The post of Vincennes on the
Wabash among the Miami-Pinghichias, is as large as our best villages
here, and needs a missionary even more. Disorders have always pre-
vailed there ; but have increased in the last three years. Some come here
to be married or to perform their Easter duty. The majority cannot or
will not. The guardian of the church publishes the banns for three
Sundays. He gives certificates to those who are willing to come here,
whom I publish myself before marrying them. Those who are unwilling
to come here declare their mutual consent aloud in the church. Can
such a marriage be allowed?" His misgivings were entirely ecclesiasti-
cal, for the guardian of the church was Etienne Phillibert, commonly
known by his nick-name, "Orleans," who was the village notary, and
was authorized to keep the church record in the absence of the priest,
and to administer lay baptism to infants. There can be no serious ques-
tion as to the legality of civil marriages where he officiated. In June,
1767, Bishop Briand appointed Father Meurin his Vicar-General for all
the Illinois country, which was followed by his commission and a pastoral
letter in August. When Rocheblave, Commandant at New Orleans, heard
of this he forbade Meurin to exercise any functions west of the Missis-
sippi, and ordered his arrest for recognizing a foreign authority in
Spanish territory.
In 1768 Father Pierre Gibault was sent to the aid of this lone Jesuit
who was upholding the cross in the upper Mississippi Valley. He was
of an old Canadian family, his greatgrandfather, "Gabriel Gibaut, dit
Poitevin, ' ' a native of Poictiers, France, having been married at Quebec,
October 30, 1667. His grandfather and his father both bore the name
Pierre Gibaut 24 and were natives of Canada. His parents were married
November 14, 1735, at Sorel, and he, the eldest son, was christened April
7, 1737, at Montreal. His mother's maiden name was Marie- Joseph St.
Jean. After some primary schooling and. travel in western Canada, he
was educated in theology at the Seminary of Quebec, the expense being
2* The Abbe 1 Tanguay uses this spelling for the family name, and treats Gibault,
Gibeau, etc., as variations.
134 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
paid out of a remnant of the Cahokia Mission property, which had been
invested as a "rente," or mortgage annuity of 333 livres a year, on the
Hotel de Ville. He was ordained at Quebec on the feast of St. Joseph,
March 19, 1768 ; celebrated mass the next day in the Ursuline church ;
and after brief service in the Cathedral, set out for the Illinois country.
Delayed by bad weather, he reached Michilimackinac in July, and passed
a week there, confessing voyageurs, baptizing children, and blessing one
marriage. It was intended that he should locate at Cahokia, but the
people there wanted Father Meurin, and those at Kaskaskia wanted the
young priest, so Father Meurin took charge of Cahokia and Prairie du .
Eocher, and Father Gibault settled at Kaskaskia. As there were no
priests in the Missouri settlements, from which Father Meurin had been
debarred, Gibault also attended to them, and in 1769 blessed the little
chapel which the settlers had built at St. Louis. Soon after arriving at
Kaskaskia he had an attack of ague which persisted for months, but he
kept on with his work, and succeeded in getting the people to attend to
their church duties, and pay their tithes, which, by the Canadian custom,
were one-twenty-sixth of their produce. He did not reach Vincennes
until the winter of 1769-70, and then through peril, for hostile Indians
were attacking the settlements, and had killed twenty-two of the settlers
since his arrival in the country. Shea says that "the frontier priests
always, in these days of peril, carried a gun and two pistols. ' ' He reached
Vincennes in safety, and in a letter to Bishop Briand, after deploring
the vices and disorders that prevailed there, he said: "However, on
my arrival, all crowded down to the banks of the River Wabash to receive
me ; some fell on their knees, unable to speak ; others could speak only
in sobs; some cried out: 'Father, save us, we are almost in hell'; others
said : ' God has not then yet abandoned us, for He has sent you to us to
make us do penance for our sins. ' ' Oh sir, why did you not come sooner,
my poor wife, my dear father, my dear mother, my poor child, would
not have died without the sacraments.' " 25 He remained at Vincennes
for two months, reviving the faith of the Catholics, and also brought into
the church a Presbyterian family which had settled there. The people
gave proof of their zeal by erecting a frame chapel, which was occupied
for fifteen years ; and when he left, a guard of twenty men accompanied
him across the Illinois prairies. The church building known to the early
American settlers as the old St. Francis Xavier cathedral was not erected
until 1786. Father Gibault did not take up permanent residence at
Vincennes until 1785, and on June 6, 1786, he wrote to Bishop Briand :
"I should not have succeeded in building a church at this post, had
25 Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll, p. 128.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
135
not the people at Cahokia sent a messenger in the name of the whole
parish, to beg me to take charge of them, offering me very advantageous
terms. The people at Post Vincennes having good grounds to fear that I
might leave them, unanimously resolved to build a church, ninety feet
long by forty-two broad, on a foundation and of boards. Part of the
wood is already got out, and several fathoms of stone for the foundation.
The upright posts will be only seventeen feet high, but the winds are so
violent in these parts, that even this is rather high for strength. The
house which is now used as a church will serve as a priest's house, and I
think I can occupy it a few months hence. The lot is a large, dry one
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CHURCH
Erected 1786.
in the middle of the village, which I myself, with the marguillers, ob-
tained sixteen years ago. I beg you to approve this erection of a new
church under the title of St. Francis Xavier on the Wabash, and to
enjoin me to proceed to complete it, and also to adorn it as well as the
poverty of the people will permit. ' '
Father Gibault ministered to the Missouri churches until 1772, when
priests were sent from New Orleans to take charge of them. In 1774
there came a cruel blow in the news of the suppression of the Jesuit
order by Pope Clement XIV. In the whole Mississippi Valley, faithful
Father Meurin was the only one affected by the Brief of Suppression,
and he, knowing no divorce from duty, wrote to Bishop Briand : ' ' Free,
I would beseech and beg your charitable goodness to be a father to me,
136 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
and admit absolutely among the number of your clergy, instead of an
auxiliary as I have been since February 1, 1742. I should deem myself
happy, if, in the little of life left me, I could repair the cowardice and
negligence of which I have been guilty in the space of thirty-three years.
If you will adopt me, I am sure you will pardon me and ask mercy for
me." In March, 1775, Father Gibault visited Vincennes, and then went
on to Canada. Returning, he was unable to reach the Illinois, and passed
the winter at Detroit. He did not reach Vincennes again until the
summer of 1777, Phillibert officiating in lay capacity in the meantime.
And so closed the church history of Indiana in the British period.
'
CHAPTER IV
THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION
' ' John, Earl of Dunmore, Viscount Fineastle, Baron Murray of Blair,
of Monlin and of Tillimet, Lieutenant and Governour General of his
Majesty's Colony and Dominion of Virginia, and Vice Admiral of the
same," was decidedly unpopular with our Revolutionary forefathers on
account of his devotion to the Royalist cause ; but he was a keen observer
of men, and not altogether a bad sort in his way. He had come over as
Governor of New York in 1770, and was transferred two years later to
Virginia, where he was soon in trouble with the house of burgesses, which
he dissolved twice on account of its revolutionary sentiments. His one
popular act was his war on the Ohio Indians, who had been committing
depredations on the frontier. Fort Pitt had been abandoned and ordered
demolished, but in 1774, Dr. John Connolly, a major of militia, under
Dunmore 's orders, occupied it and put it in shape for defense. From
this point the expedition against the Shawnees and Mingos proceeded;
Dunmore, who was a stocky, stout-built Scotchman, marching on foot
with them, and carrying his own knapsack. The Indians were worsted
at Point Pleasant, and sued for peace. They gave hostages, who were
left at Fort Pitt (now called Fort Dunmore) under charge of Connolly.
The Pennsylvania authorities were indignant at this invasion of territory
claimed by the Quaker Colony, but Virginia insisted that Pennsylvania
had no rights west of the mountains, and trouble would have ensued but
for the coming on of the Revolutionary war. Early in 1775, Dunmore
removed some powder, property of Virginia, to a British ship of war,
whereupon he was attacked and forced to take refuge on the ship. Con-
nolly, under his instructions, disbanded his militia, and abandoned Fort
Pitt ; after which he busied himself getting up a plan for the invasion
of Virginia from the west. Connolly made his way through Virginia to
Dunmore 's ship with some difficulty, being arrested several times by
safety committees. With Dunmore 's approval, he went to New York
and laid his plan before General Gage, who also approved it. Connolly
then tried to make his way back through Maryland, but was arrested
near Hagerstown, with his commission as. Lieutenant Colonel Com-
137
'. -". "
-
.
138 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
mandant and a copy of his proposals on him. His next five years were
passed in prison.
The proposals, after reciting that he had "prepared the Ohio Indians
to act in concert with me against his Majesty's Enemies," and had
promise of support from western tories, to whom he had promised three
hundred acres of land each, continues: "I will undertake to penetrate
through Virginia, and Join his Excellency Lord Dunmore at Alexandria,
early next spring on the following conditions & authority. 1st. That
your Excellency will give me a commission to act as Major Commandant
of such Troops as I may raise and embody on the Frontier, with a power
to command to the Westward, & employ such serviceable French and
English partisans as I can engage by pecuniary rewards or otherwise.
2dly. That your Excellency will give orders to Capt. Lord, at the Illinois,
to remove himself with the Garrison under his Command from Fort Gage
to Detroit, by the Ouabashe, bringing with him all the Artillery, Stores,
&ca., &ca., to facilitate which undertaking he is to have Authority to
Hire Boats, Horses, Frenchmen, Indians, &ca., &ca., to proceed with all
possible expedition on that Rout as the weather may occasionally permit,
and to put himself under my command on his arrival at Detroit. Thirdly.
That the Commissary at Detroit shall be empowered to furnish such
provisions as I may Judge necessary for the good of the Service, and
that the Commanding Officer shall be instructed to give every possible
assistance in encouraging the French and Indians of that Settlement to
Join me. 4thly. That an officer of Artillery be immediately sent with
me to pursue such Rout as I may find most expedient to gain Detroit,
with orders to have such pieces of Ordnance as may be thought requisite
for the demolishing of Fort Dunmore & Fort Fincastle, if resistance
should be made by the Rebels in possession of those Garrisons. Sthly.
That your Excellency will empower me to make such reasonable presents
to the Indian Chiefs and others, as may urge them to act with Vigor in
the execution of my orders. 6thly. That your Excellency will send to
Lord Dunmore such arms as may be spared in order to equip such per-
sons as may be willing to serve his Majesty at our Junction, in the
vicinity of Alexandria. ' '
The acts of Connolly at Fort Pitt and the complaints of the Pennsyl-
vania people had called forth a sharp letter from Lord Dartmouth to
Gov. Dunmore, in which especial condemnation was made of allowing
settlers on the Indian lands. Dunmore defended himself at length, and
as to the encroachments on Indian lands he said : "I have had, My
Lord, frequent opportunities to reflect upon the emigrating Spirit of
the Americans, Since my Arrival to this Government. There are con-
siderable bodies of Inhabitants Settled at greater or less distances from
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 139
the regular frontiers of, I believe, all the Colonies. In this Colony Proc-
lamations have been published from time to time to restrain them : But
impressed from their earliest infancy with Sentiments and habits, very
different from those acquired by persons of a Similar condition in Eng-
land, they do not conceive that Government has any right to forbid their
taking possession of a vast tract of Country, either uninhabited, or which
Serves only as a Shelter to a few Scattered Tribes of Indians. Nor can
they be easily brought to entertain any belief of the permanent obliga-
tion of Treaties made with those People, whom they consider as but little
removed from the brute Creation. These notions, My Lord, I beg it may
be understood, I by no means pretend to Justify. I only think it my duty
to State matters as they really are."
There is little room to doubt that this was common frontier senti-
ment. There is a naive contemporary statement of it in some verses
preserved in the Journal of James Newell, who served as an ensign in
"Dunmore's War" as follows:
' ' Great Dunmore our General valiant & Bold
Excels the great Heroes the Heroes of old;
When he doth command we will always obey,
When he bids us to fight we will not run away.
Come Gentlemen all, eome strive to excel,
Strive not to shoot often, but strive to shoot well.
Each man like a Hero can make the woods ring,
And extend the Dominion of George our Great King.
The land it is good, it is just to our mind,
Each will have his part, if his Lordship be kind.
The Ohio once ours, we '11 live at our ease,
With a Bottle & glass to drink when we please. ' '
It was natural enough that there should be such sentiments among
the Americans, for the wars with the French had been fought on the
theory that the lands northwest of the Ohio belonged to the Iroquois by
conquest, and they had deeded them to the King of England. If this
made a good title against the French, it was equally good against the
Indians who had moved into the region. Moreover all the colonies
claimed that their charter boundaries extended at least as far west as
the Mississippi River and one of the chief sources of trouble between the
colonies was the question of title to western lands. At this very time
Pennsylvania was having as much difficulty in resisting the encroach-
ments of Connecticut on the north as of Virginia on the south. Virginia
was active in warding off the danger in the west. In June, 1775, she
appointed six commissioners to act with others in making a treaty at
140 INDIANA AND IXDIANANS
Pittsburg with the Ohio Indians. One of these commissioners, Capt.
James Wood, went personally to the Indians and invited them to meet in
September at Pittsburg, where, after three weeks' negotiations a treaty
was made with representatives of the Ottawas, Wyandots, Mingos, Shaw-
nees, Delawares and Senecas. In the spring of 1776, Congress made
Col. George Morgan, an experienced frontiersman, Indian agent for the
Middle Department, at Pittsburg, and under his wise management Indian
troubles were avoided until after the murder of Cornstalk in the fall of
1777. This allowed time for preparation for defense which ultimately
saved the western settlements from destruction.
The British were not idle. In the spring of 1775 Henry Hamilton
was appointed Lieutenant Governor at Detroit, and arrived there on
November 9. He was of Irish birth, and had been in the army since 1754,
serving in France, Canada and the West Indies. He was quickly in
touch with the situation, and on Noyember 30 wrote to Gen. Carleton
informing him about the treaty at Pittsburg, the details of which he had
learned from "Mahingan John," a Delaware who had taken part in it,
and had been entrusted with belts for the western Indians. Hamilton
saw that Mahingan John was "made acquainted with some of the par-
ticulars which are sufficient to undeceive the Delawares and Shawanese, ' '
and predicted that they could have no lasting peace with the Virginians,
who were "haughty, Violent and Bloody." He thought that if the war
did not appear hopeful for the Colonies "we may reasonably expect,
from" all I can learn of the disposition of the savages, the frontier of
Virginia in particular will suffer very severely. ' ' From this time on the
two hostile camps faced each other across the lands northwest of the
Ohio. The British were established at Niagara, Detroit and the Illinois
settlements. The Americans held the headwaters of the Ohio, and reached
in constantly growing strength through Kentucky. Both considered
all the possibilities of attack and defense. In 1775 Arthur St. Clair
projected an expedition against Detroit from Pittsburg, and partly
prepared for it, but the Senecas were determined to remain neutral, and
objected 'to passage through their country; and so the expedition was
abandoned. The Senecas were equally firm with the British, and pre-
vented the attack of Fort Pitt from Niagara. In 1777 Gen. Edward
Hand was made Commander in Chief in the West, with headquarters at
Pittsburg. He was an Irish doctor, who came to America in 1767 as
Surgeon's Mate of the 18th Royal Irish Regiment, which was stationed
at Fort Pitt. Hand was popular there with all classes, and when the
regiment was ordered East, he resigned and located at Lancaster, Perm.,
where, in 1775, he married Catherine Ewing. At the outbreak of the
war he volunteered, and served with Washington at Boston, on Long
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
141
Island, and in the Jersey campaign. He attempted an expedition against
Sandusky in the fall of 1777, but succeeded only in raiding two Indian
towns on Beaver Creek, occupied chiefly by squaws; from which the
expedition became known as "the Squaw Campaign." He prepared for
another early in 1778, but his plans were frustrated by Alexander
McKee, former Indian Agent, who decamped to the British with infor-
mation of Hand's intentions.
GEN. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
(From a portrait painted by Matthew Harris Jouett, owned by R. T.
Durret of Louisville)
Such was the situation when George Rogers Clark came to the front.
Born in Albemarle County, Virginia, about a mile and a half north of
Monticello, the home of Jefferson, November 19, 1752, Clark had the
meager educational advantages of a Virginia country lad in a large
family. He is said to have had nine months' schooling under Donald
140
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Pittsburg with the Ohio Indians. One of these commissioners, Capt.
James Wood, went personally to the Indians and invited them to meet in
September at Pittsburg, where, after three weeks' negotiations a treaty
was made with representatives of the Ottawas, Wyandots, Mingos, Shavv-
nees, Delawares and Senecas. In the spring of 1776, Congress made
Col. George Morgan, an experienced frontiersman, Indian agent for the
Middle Department, at Pittsburg, and under his wise management Indian
troubles were avoided until after the murder of Cornstalk in the fall of
1777. This allowed time for preparation for defense which ultimately
saved the western settlements from destruction.
The British were not idle. In the spring of 1775 Henry Hamilton
was appointed Lieutenant Governor at Detroit, and arrived there on
November 9. He was of Irish birth, and had been in the army since 1754,
serving in France, Canada and the West Indies. He was quickly in
touch with the situation, and on Noyember 30 wrote to Gen. Carleton
informing him about the treaty at Pittsburg, the details of which he had
learned from "Mahingan John," a Delaware who had taken part in it,
and had been entrusted with belts for the western Indians. Hamilton
saw that Mahingan John was "made acquainted with some of the par-
ticulars which are sufficient to undeceive the Delawares and Shawanese,"
and predicted that they could have no lasting peace with the Virginians,
who were ' ' haughty, Violent and Bloody. ' ' He thought that if the war
did not appear hopeful for the Colonies "we may reasonably expect,
from" all I can learn of the disposition of the savages, the frontier of
Virginia in particular will suffer very severely." From this time on the
two hostile camps faced each other across the lands northwest of the
Ohio. The British were established at Niagara, Detroit and the Illinois
settlements. The Americans held the headwaters of the Ohio, and reached
in constantly growing strength through Kentucky. Both considered
all the possibilities of attack and defense. In 1775 Arthur St. Clair
projected an expedition against Detroit from Pittsburg, and partly
prepared for it, but the Senecas were determined to remain neutral, and
objected to passage through their country; and so the expedition was
abandoned. The Senecas were equally firm with the British, and pre-
vented the attack of Fort Pitt from Niagara. In 1777 Gen. Edward
Hand was made Commander in Chief in the West, with headquarters at
Pittsburg. He was an Irish doctor, who came to America in 1767 as
Surgeon's Mate of the 18th Royal Irish Regiment, which was stationed
at Fort Pitt. Hand was popular there with all classes, and when the
regiment was ordered East, he resigned and located at Lancaster, Penn.,
where, in 1775, he married Catherine Ewing. At the outbreak of the
war he volunteered, and served with Washington at Boston, on Long
INDIANA AND 1NDIANANS
141
Island, and in the Jersey campaign. He attempted an expedition against
Sandusky in the fall of 1777, but succeeded only in raiding two Indian
towns on Beaver Creek, occupied chiefly by squaws; from which the
expedition became known as "the Squaw Campaign." He prepared for
another early in 1778, but his plans were frustrated by Alexander
McKee, former Indian Agent, who decamped to the British with infor-
mation of Hand 's intentions.
GEN. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK
(From a portrait painted by Matthew Harris Jouett, owned by R. T.
Durret of Louisville)
Such was the situation when George Rogers Clark came to the front.
Born in Albemarle County, Virginia, about a mile and a half north of
Monticello, the home of Jefferson, November 19, 1752, Clark had the
meager educational advantages of a Virginia country lad in a large
family. He is said to have had nine months' schooling under Donald
142 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Robertson, and his maternal grandfather, John Rogers, was a surveyor,
for which occupation Clark had fitted himself when nineteen years old.
In 1772 he made his first trip to Kentucky with Rev. David Jones and
others, going down the Ohio in canoes. They returned with glowing
descriptions of the country, and in the Fall Clark located on the south
side of the Ohio near the mouth of Fish Creek, about 130 miles below
Pittsburg, from where he wrote to his brother, in January, 1773, that he
was prospering agriculturally, and "I get a good deal of cash by sur-
veying on this River." He was with Capt. Cresaps' expedition, and
his testimony cleared that officer of the charge of murdering Logan's
family. He served in Dunmore's war as a captain. 1 In April, 1775, he
wrote to his brother: "I have ingaged as a Deputy Surveyor under
Capn Hancock Lee for to lay out lands on ye Kentuck" for ye Ohio Com-
pany at ye rate of 80 L pr year and ye priviledge of Taking what Lands
I want. ' ' His occupation gave him a wide acquaintance ; and in June,
1776, he and Capt. John Gabriel Jones were elected delegates to seek aid
and protection from Virginia. They found the legislature adjourned;
and Jones returned to join in an attack on the Cherokees, while Clark
went on to see Qov. Henry. He induced the Governor and Executive
Council to give him five hundred pounds of powder for the Kentuckians,
and to make a separate county of Kentucky, which was done in December.
Clark now entered actively into the military preparations of Kentucky,
and on April 20, 1777, sent two young Virginians, Benjamin Linn and
Samuel Moore to the Illinois settlements to ascertain the exact condition
of affairs there. They returned on June 22, and on July 9 Clark entered
in his diary, "Lieut Linn married great Merriment." This was Lieu-
tenant William Linn, who had also just finished a perilous service. The
greatest need of the frontier was for powder, and Capt. George Gibson
of the Virginia troops, formed the project of getting it from New Orleans,
where the Spanish authorities were friendly. On July 19, 1776, he and
Lieutenant Linn started down the river from Pittsburg in a skiff, under
the guise of Indian traders. They reached New Orleans in August, and
by the aid of Oliver Pollock, they secured 98 barrels of powder nearly
10,000 pounds with which they started up the river on September 22,
with 43 men and several barges. They reached Wheeling with it on
May 2, 1777. With his information from his emissaries to the Illinois,
1 Dunmore's War, p. 157. An immense amount of information as to this period
has been furnished by the publication of original matter, collected by Dr. Draper,
by the Wisconsin Historical Society, edited by Thwaites and Kellogg; and also
by the publications of the Illinois Historical Library edited by Profs. Alvord
and James. These are the principal sources of the new matter in this chapter, to
which no special reference is made for authority.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 143
and such other information as he could secure, Clark started for Virginia
in October, and on December 10 laid his plan before Gov. Henry, as
embodied in the following statement : *
"Sir According to promise I hasten to give you a description of the
town of Kuskuskies, and my plan for taking of it. It is situated 30
leagues above the mouth of the Ohio, on a river of its own name, five
miles from its mouth and two miles east of the Mississippi. On the west
side of the Mississippi 3 miles from Kuskuskies is the village of Mozier
(Misere Ste. Genevieve) belonging to the Spaniards. The town of Kus-
kuskies contains about one hundred families of French and English and
carry on an extensive trade with the Indians; and they have a consider-
able number of negroes that bear arms and are chiefly employed in
managing their farms that lay around the town, and send a considerable
quantity of flour and other commodities to New Orleans (which they
barter every year and get the return in goods up the Mississippi). The
houses are framed and very good, with a small but elegant stone fort
situated (but a little distance from) the centre of the town. The
Mississippi is undermining a part of Fort Chartress; the garrison was
removed to this place, which greatly added to its wealth; but on the
commencement of the present war, the troops (were) called off to re-
inforce Detroit, which is about three hundred miles from it leaving the
fort and all its stores in care of one Roseblack 3 as comdt of the place,
with instructions to influence as many Indians as possible to invade the
Colonies ; and to supply Detroit with provisions, a considerable quantity
of which goes by the way of the Waubash R., and have but a short land
carriage to the waters of ye (Miami).
"In June last I sent two young men there: They (Rocheblave and
the French) seemed to be under no apprehension of danger from the
(Americans) The fort, which stands a small distance below the town is
built of stockading about ten feet high, with blockhouses at each corner,
with several pieces of cannon mounted (10,000 Ibs) powder, ball and
all other necessary stores without (any) guard or a single soldier. Rose-
black who acted as Governor, by large presents engaged the Waubash
Indians to invade the frontiers of Kentucky ; and was daily treating with
other Nations, giving large presents and offering them great rewards
for scalps. The principal inhabitants are entirely against the American
2 In a note preceding this document, Dr. Draper says : ' ' Copy of an old and
much decayed letter of Genl. G. B. Clark, written plainly in the summer or fall
of 1777, and very likely addressed to Gov. Patrick Henry. It is transcribed as full
as could be done as the original has been wet, and is much worn and faded."
The matter in parenthesis was supplied by Draper.
s He means Rocheblave.
144 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
cause, and look on us as notorious rebels that ought to be subdued at any
rate; but I dont doubt but after being acquainted with the cause they
would become good friends to it. The remote situation of this town on
the back of several of the Western Nations; their being well supplied
with goods on the Mississippi, enables them (to carry) to furnish the
different Nations (with goods), and by presents will keep up a strict
friendship with the Indians; and undoubtedly will keep all the Nations
that lay under their influence at war with us during the present contest,
without they are induced to submission; (that being situated above the
mouth of the Ohio) they will be able to interrupt any communication
that we should want to hold up and down the Mississippi, without a
strong guard ; having plenty of swivels they might, and I dont doubt
but would keep armed boats for the purpose of taking our property.
On the contrary, if it was in our possession it would distress the garrison
at Detroit for provisions, it would fling the command of the two great
rivers into our hands, which would enable us to get supplies of goods
from the Spaniards, and to carry on a trade with the Indians (line
obliterated ) them might perhaps with such small presents keep them our
friends.
' ' I have always thought the town of Kuskuskies to be a place worthy
of our attention, and have been at some pains to make myself acquainted
with its force, situation and strength. I cant suppose that they could
at any (time) raise more than six (or seven) hundred armed men, the
chief of them (are French the British at Detroit being at so great a)
distance, so that they (blank in mss.) more than (blank in mss.).
"An expedition against (Kaskaskia would be advantageous) seeing
one would be attended with so little expence. The men might be easily
raised (blank in mss.) with little inconvenience Boats and canoes with
about forty days provisions would (answer) them: they might in a few
days run down the river with certainty (to the) Waubash, when they
would only have about five to march to the town with very little danger
of being discovered until almost within sight, where they might go in
the night; if they got wind (of us they might) make no resistance: if
(they did) and were a'ble to beat us in the field, they could by no means
defend themselves for if they flew to the fort, they would lose possession
of the town, where their provisions lay, and would sooner surrender than
to try to beat us out of it with the cannon from the post, as (they) would
be sensible that should (we fire) it before we left it, which would reduce
them to the certainty of leaving the country or starving with their
families, as they could get nothing to eat.
"Was I to undertake an expedition of this sort, and had authority
from Government to raise my own men, and fit myself out without
INDIANA AND INDIAN ANS 145
(much delay) I should make no doubt of being in (full possession of the
country) by April next.
"I am sensible that the case stands thus that (we must) either take
the town of Kuskuskies, or in less than a twelve month send an army
against the Indians on Wabash, which will cost ten times as much, and
not be of half the service. ' '
Governor Henry submitted this proposal to the Executive Council,
and after due consideration, on January 2, 1778, the following entry was
made: "The Governor informed the Council that he had had some con-
versation with several Gentlemen who were well acquainted with the
Western Frontiers of Virginia, & the situation of the post at Kaskasky
held by the British King's Forces, where there are many pieces of cannon,
& military supplies to a considerable amount; & that he was informed
the place was at present held by a very weak garrison, which induced
him to believe that an expedition against it might be carried on with
success, but that he wished the advice of the Council on the occasion.
"Whereupon they advised his Excellency to set on foot the expedi-
tion against Kaskasky with as little delay & as much secrecy as possible,
& for the purpose to issue his warrant upon the Treasurer for twelve
hundred pounds payable to Col. George Rogers Clark, who is willing to
undertake the service, he giving bond & security faithfully to account
for the same. And the Council further advised the Governor to draw
up proper instructions for Colonel Clark. His Excellency having pre-
pared the instructions accordingly, the same were read, (and) approved
of."
Apparently all was ready for action, for on the same day Clark re-
ceived his instructions, and appointed Wm. B. Smith major, with au-
thority to raise 200 men. To insure secrecy he was given two sets of
instructions. One for public use directed him to raise 350 men for
service in Kentucky. The other, and secret, instructions directed him
to proceed with this same force against Kaskaskia. It enjoined humane
treatment of the people, and said : "If the white inhabitants at that post
& the neighbourhood will give undoubted evidence of their attachment
to this State (for it is certain they live within its limits) by taking the
Test prescribed by Law & by every other way & means in their power,
Let them be treated as fellow Citizens & their persons & property duly
secured. Assistance & protection against all Enemies whatever shall be
afforded them & the Commonwealth of Virginia is pledged to accomplish
it." This last document later came into the possession of Major Henry
Hurst, first clerk of the Federal Court of Indiana, and was given by his
daughter, Mrs. Mary Leviston, to Dr. N. Field of Jeffersonville. It was
lithographed and widely circulated by the Indiana Historical Society.
Vol. I 10
146
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Governor Henry also gave Clark a letter to Gen. Hand at Fort Pitt,
requesting him to furnish Clark with boats for the expedition, and to
render any other assistance in his power. On January 3, he also received
a joint letter from George "Wythe, George Mason and Thomas Jefferson,
giving their opinion that each private in the expedition should receive
three hundred acres of land, and the officers in proportion. This letter
came into the possession of Hon. Wm. H. English, and was first published
JOHN SANDERS, CLARK'S GUIDE
(From crayon owned by Col. R. T. Durret of Louisville)
by him in his valuable "Conquest of the Northwest," which was at the
time of its publication the most exhaustive account of Clark's campaign
that had been produced. Mr. English was at the time President of the
Indiana Historical Society, and held that position until his death.
Armed with these documents Clark started for Fort Pitt, attending
to details on the way. On the 20th he reached Leonard Helm's and
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 147
arranged for him to raise a company ; on the 23d with Joseph Bowman
for another ; and so on with John Lindsey, Joseph Wilkerson, W. Harrod,
Benj. Linn, J. Bayley, John Maxfield, A. Chaplin and W. Hughton.
He reached Fort Pitt on February 10, where he was followed by a letter
from Governor Henry, of Jan. 15, adding to previous instructions, ' ' that
your Operations should not be confin'd to the Fort the Settlement at
the place mention 'd in your secret Instructions, but that you proceed
to the Enemy's Settlements above or across, as you may find it proper."
Although Clark's public instructions expressly state: "You are em-
powered to raise these Men in any County in the Commonwealth and
the County Lieutenants respectively are requested to give you all possible
assistance in that Business," on January 24, Governor Henry wrote a
sharp letter to Clark complaining of his raising men in western Virginia,
and saying: "You must certainly remember that you inform 'd Me,
that you expected to get Men enough to compleat the seven Companies
partly in Kentuck & Partly within the Carolina Line, and that if you
shou'd fail in your Expectation, any Deficiency cou'ld easily be made up
in the frontier Counties in the neighbourhood of Fort Pitt; the South
Branch & the Frontiers: I must therefore desire you to pursue your
first Intentions, for by inlisting any men in the lower Counties, You will
not only procure improper Persons, but you may also throw those
Counties into great Confusion respecting the Act of Assembly passed this
session for recruiting the Continental Army. The men you enlist will
not be exempted from the Draught." The same information was appar-
ently given to the draft officers, and between this obstruction, the news
of the capture of Daniel Boone, and apprehensions of trouble at home,
Clark failed to get more than half of his seven companies. In May he
started down the river with the men raised by himself, Bowman and
Helm, and near the last of that month probably on the 27th reached
the falls of the Ohio. He landed on Corn Island, then about seventy
acres in extent, and "built a block-house for the protection of his supplies.
On June 24, leaving twenty men at Corn Island, part of them with
families that had followed him down the river, Clark left the Falls with
his "army" of 153 men, going through the Indiana chute during an
eclipse of the sun, and by steady rowing reached the mouth of the
Tennessee on the 28th. Here they captured a party of hunters from
Easkaskia, who proved to be friendly, and asked to join the expedition.
John Sanders, of this party, acted as guide from old Fort Massac, where
they landed, to Kaskaskia. He got lost on the way, and was suspected
of treachery, but he proved his good intentions, and led them safely to
their goal. He subsequently located at the new settlement at Louisville,
where he opened the first bank of that place, doing business with an
148 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
original paper currency based on skins. On the evening of July 4, Clark
took the town and fort of Kaskaskia by surprise, without any fighting,
capturing the Commandant, Rocheblave, in bed. The people had been
told by British agents that the Virginians were of savage cruelty, and
Clark purposely increased their fear by his haughty bearing until, on
the next day, Father Gfbault and a number of the leading citizens came
to him and humbly asked that their families should not be parted, and
that they be allowed to keep some of their clothing and provisions. Clark
then informed them that he was not making war on women and children.
Just before leaving the Falls he had received a letter from Col. John
Campbell, at Pittsburg, informing him of the treaty between France and
the United States. He told them of this, and that they might become
citizens of Virginia if they desired, but that he would not administer the
oath of allegiance for a few days, and in the meantime any of them who
desired to leave the country might do so. Father Gibault inquired as to
religious privileges, and Clark informed him that under the laws of
Virginia there was complete religious liberty, and that he had nothing
to do with churches except to protect them from insult. With this the
dejection of the French was turned to joy ; and a number of them volun-
teered to go to Cahokia with a detachment sent there under Major Bow-
man. This was accepted and on the day following Cahokia became as
thoroughly American as Kaskaskia. Having now a breathing spell, in
order "to cause the peoples to feell the blessings In joyed by an American
Citizen, ' ' Clark says : "I caused a Court of sivil Judicature to be Estab-
lished at Kohas (Cahokia) Elected by the people. Majr Bowman to the
supprise of the people held a pole for a Majestacy and was Elected and
acted as Judge of the Court the policy of Mr. Bowman holding a pole
is easily perseived after this similar Courts ware established in the
Towns of Kaskas and St Vincenes ther was an appeal to myself in
certain Cases and I believe that no people ever had their business done
more to their satisfaction than they had through the means of this Regu-
lation for a considerable time."
Clark now turned his attention to Vincennes, and called Father
G-ibault into conference, professedly for information. Gibault told him
that Superintendent Abbott had gone to Detroit, and that he thought he
could induce the people there to accept American rule without any diffi-
culty. He offered to undertake this and asked that Dr. Jean Baptiste
Lafonte be sent with him. To this Clark acceded, and on July 14 they
started for Vincennes. Clark had given to Lafonte the following letter :
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 149
"Fort Clark, July 14, 1778.
"Sir.
' ' Having the good fortune to find two men like Mr. Gibault and your-
self to carry and to present my address to the inhabitants of Post Vin-
cennes I do not doubt that they will become good citizens and friends of
the states. Please disabuse them as much as it is possible to do, and in
case they accept the propositions made to them, you will assure them
that proper attention will be paid to rendering their commerce beneficial
and advantageous, but in case those people will not accede to offers so
reasonable as those which I make them, they may expect to feel the
miseries of a war under the direction of the humanity which has so far
distinguished the Americans. If they become citizens you will cause
them to elect a commander from among themselves, raise a company, take
possession of the fort and the munitions of the King, and defend the
inhabitants till a greater force can be sent there. (My address will
serve as a commission.) The inhabitants will furnish victuals for the
garrison which will be paid for. The inhabitants and merchants will
trade with the savages as customarily, but it is necessary that their
influence tend toward peace, as by their influence they will be able to
save much innocent blood on both sides. You will act in concert with
the priest, who I hope will prepare the inhabitants to grant you your
demands. If it is necessary to grant presents to the savages, you will
have the kindness to furnish what shall be necessary provided it shall
not exceed the sum of two hundred piastres.
"I am Sir, respectfully your very humble and very obedient servant
"G. R. CLARK."
This letter was in French, as was also the address referred to, a
translation of which is as follows:
' ' George Rogers Clark, Colonel Commandant of the troops of Virginia
at the Falls of the Ohio and at the Illinois, etc., Address to the inhabi-
tants of Post Vincennes.
"The inhabitants of the different British posts from Detroit to this
post, having on account of their commerce and position great influence
over the various savage nations, have been considered as persons fitted to
support the tyrannies which have been practiced by the British ministry
from the commencement of the present contest.
' ' The Secretary of State for America has ordered Governor Hamilton
at Detroit to intermingle all the young men with the different nations
of savages, to commission officers to conduct them, to furnish them all
necessary supplies, and to do everything which depends on him to excite
them to assassinate the inhabitants of the frontiers of the United States
150 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
of America ; which orders have been put into execution at a council held
with the different savage nations at Detroit the 17th to the 24th day of
the month of June, 1777. The murders and assassinations of women
and children and the depredations and ravages which have been com-
mitted cry for vengeance with a loud voice.
"Since the United States has now gained the advantage over their
British enemies, and their plenipotentiaries have now made and con-
cluded treaties of commerce and alliance with the Kingdom of France and
other powerful nations of Europe, His Excellency the Governor of Vir-
ginia has ordered me to reduce the different posts to the west of the Miami
with a body of troops under my command, in order to prevent further
shedding of innocent blood. Pursuant to these orders I have taken pos-
session of this fort and the munitions of this country ; and I have caused
to be published a proclamation offering assistance and protection to all the
inhabitants against all their enemies and promising to treat them as the
citizens of the Republic of Virginia (in the limits of which they are) and
to protect their persons and property if it is necessary, for the surety of
which the faith of the government is pledged; provided the people give
certain proofs of their attachment to the states by taking the oath of
allegiance in such cases required, as provided by law, and by all other
means which shall be possible for them, to which offers they have volun-
tarily acceded. I have been well pleased to learn from a letter written
by Governor Abbott to M. Rocheblave that you are in general attached
to the cause of America.
"In consequence of which I invite you all to offers hereafter men-
tioned, and to enjoy all their privileges. If you accede to this offer, you
will proceed to the nomination of a commandant by choice or election,
who shall raise a company and take possession of the fort and of all the
munitions of the king in the name of the United States of America for
the Republic of Virginia and continue to defend the same until further
orders.
"The person thus nominated shall have the rank of captain and
shall have the commission as soon as possible, and he shall draw for
rations and pay for himself and his company from the time they shall
take the fort, etc., into their possession. If it is necessary, fortifications
shall be made, which will be also paid for by the state.
"I have the honor of being with much consideration, sirs, your very
humble and obedient servant,
"G. R. CLARK."
"With these documents Gibault and Lafonte made their way to Vin-
cennes, and found little difficulty in persuading the people to join the
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 151
American cause. A few Englishmen and French who saw that they
were in a hopeless minority, left the place and started up the Wabash.
On July 20 the remainder gathered at the church, and took the oath, of
which the following is a translation :
"Oath of Inhabitants of Vincennes.
"You make oath on the Holy Evangel of Almighty God to renounce
all allegiance to George the Third, King of Great Britain, and to his
successors, and to be faithful and true subjects of the Eepublic of Vir-
ginia as a free and independent state ; and I swear that I will not do or
cause anything or matter to be done which can be prejudicial to the
liberty or independence of the said people, as prescribed by Congress, and
that I will inform some one of the judges of the country of the said
state of all treasons and conspiracies which shall come to my knowledge
against the said state or some other of the United States of America : In
faith of which we have signed at Post Vincennes, the 20th of July, 1778.
"LONG LIVE THE CONGRESS."
To this oath 184 men of Vincennes affixed their signatures, or in most
cases their marks. Hamilton said that Gibault absolved the French from
their allegiance to Great Britain, and Clark says they "went in a body
to the Church where the Oath of Allegiance was administered to them
in the Most Solemn Manner an officer was Elected and the Fort Amedi-
ately taken possession of and the American Flag displayed to the aston-
ishment of the Indians and everything setled beyond our most sanguine
hopes." Gibault returned about the first of August with the cheering
news, and Clark was now overwhelmed by the consideration that he had
more territory than he had men to hold. The period of enlistment of
his troops was ended, and many of them desired to return home. Clark
assumed the power of reenlisting those who were willing to stay, and
filled up his companies with volunteer Frenchmen. He sent Captain
Leonard Helm to take charge of Post Vincennes, appointing him Super-
intendent of Indian Affairs on the Wabash. He was especially charged
with securing the friendship of Young Tabac, the chief of the Pianke-
shaws, who was very influential among the Wabash Indians. Clark sent
a letter to the latter offering him war or peace, and exhorting him if he
chose the former to fight like a man as he would see his British Father
made feed for the dogs. Helm succeeded so well that Tabac not only
became a firm friend of the Americans but formed a strong personal
attachment to Helm. When Helm was captured by Hamilton, Tabac
declared himself a prisoner also, and insisted on sharing Helm 's confine-
ment. Hamilton made every effort to win him back, but he was obdurate,
152
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
and accepted Hamilton's presents only on the ground of sharing them
with his "brother" Helm. Hamilton could not afford to offend him, and
so Tabac had his way. Before this he was of immense service, for he
made such representations to the other Indians that they flocked to
Cahokia to seek peace with Clark.
This was what Clark wanted, for he says he had been considering
the French method of dealing with the Indians, and had decided that it
was a mistake to ask them to make treaties. He says that Chippewas,
Ottawas, Potawatomis, Missisagas, Winnebagos, Sauks, Foxes, Osages,
lowas and Miamis gathered there until ' ' I must confess that I was under
THE GARRISON MARCHING OUT
some apprehention among such a number of Devils." There was some
cause, for a party of Puans undertook to capture Clark at his lodgings,
but were detected and captured. Clark had their chiefs put in irons,
and sternly rejected all pleas in their behalf, until two of their young
men came forward and offered themselves for death in atonement. After
haughty deliberation Clark took these two youths by the hand, and
pronounced them chiefs; released his captives, whom he denounced as
squaws who did not know how to make war, and told them to go join the
English. To all the rest he offered war or peace, as they might choose,
and did it with such show of confidence and indifference that they all
humbly asked for peace. In the space of five weeks he concluded peace
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 153
with "ten or twelve different Nations." This was timely, for no rein-
forcements were coming for him, and Hamilton was actively preparing
for an expedition against him from Detroit. Hamilton started in October
with 36 regulars, 70 French volunteers, and 60 Indians. He gathered up
Indians along the road until he had about 400. On December 17 Helms
sent a messenger to Clark with a letter stating that the British were
within three hundred yards of the town, and that he was practically
deserted by his French militia, having but four men that he could rely
on. His estimate of the reliables was four times too large, but that was
immaterial. The messenger was captured and Clark never received the
letter. Major Hay, who had been sent in advance by Hamilton, took
possession of the town without resistance, and when Hamilton arrived
and demanded the surrender of the fort, Helm consented on being allowed
the honors of war. He then marched out with the one man who had
remained with him, and laid down his arms. The identity of the latter
half of the garrison is unknown. Tradition says it was Moses Henry,
but Clark says that Henry was a "suspected person" who had been con-
fined in the fort by Hamilton after his arrival, and Moses Henry was
not among Clark's soldiers who received military lands from Virginia,
although he was made Indian agent by Clark later, and resided at Vin-
cennes for some years afterwards. Henry's wife took him word of the
arrival of Clark, and he informed Helm and the other prisoners before
Hamilton had any suspicion of it.
Clark did not learn of the capture of Vincennes until in January,
and Hamilton thought he got his information from six French deserters,
one of whom was a brother of Father Gibault, who escaped from Vin-
cennes in the latter part of January. Clark had learned of it before
that time. Shortly after Hamilton's arrival at Vincennes, an Ottawa
chief who was with him led a party to the mouth of the Wabash to try
to intercept some Americans. As none appeared he led his party to the
Illinois, and came near capturing Clark himself, who had gone to
Prairie du Rocher. They fell in with some French hunters, who brought
word to Kaskaskia. An express was sent to Clark, who was enjoying a
dance at Captain Barber's, with the alarming information that a party
of 800 whites and Indians were within a few miles of the fort and
expected to attack it that night. There was some wild excitement and
preparation for the next twenty-four hours, when it was learned that
the party had retreated to Vincennes, and Clark says : " it was now con-
jectured that St. Vincents was certainly in the Hands of the Enemy,
and that the party that had been in the Neighberhood had been sent from
that place on some Errand or other." He remained in suspense, pre-
paring for any emergency, until January 29, when Francis Vigo arrived
154 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
from Vincennes with definite information. Vigo was at the time a fur
trader at St. Louis, who had been furnishing Clark large amounts of
supplies. He volunteered to go to Vincennes and furnish Helm with
supplies and provisions and started for that place on December 18, not
knowing of Hamilton's arrival. On the 24th he was captured at the
Embarras River by some of Hamilton's Indians, who took him to Vin-
cennes. Hamilton found nothing wrong about him, but Vigo refused
to give his parole "not to do any act during the war injurious to the
British interests, ' ' and so he was held on a parole requirement to report
every day at the fort. This gave him ample opportunity to learn what
was going on. Hamilton was busy. He first took a census of the place
and found that there were 621 people there, of whom 217 were fit to bear
arms, besides several who had gone buffalo-hunting. He then says:
"Having summon 'd the Inhabitants to assemble in the Church, I
went to meet them, reproach 'd them with their treachery and ingrati-
tude, but told them since they had laid down their arms and sued for
protection, that on renewing their Oath of Allegiance they should be
secured in their persons and property. Lenity I thought might induce
the French inhabitants at Kaska.sk ias to follow their example, tho' the
conduct of the Canadians at large was but poor encouragement. I read
twice to them the Oath prepared for them to take, explain 'd the nature
of it, and cautioned them, against that levity they had so recently given
proof of. The oath being administer 'd, they severally kiss'd a silver
crucifix at the foot of the Altar, after which they sign'd their names to
a paper containing the same Oath in writing. It was conceived in the
following terms: (translation) ..
"At St. Vincennes, December 19, 1778.
"We, the undersigned, declare and acknowledge to have taken the
oath of allegiance to Congress, in doing which we have forgotten our
duty to God and have failed in our duty to man. We ask pardon of God
and we hope from the goodness of our legitimate sovereign, the King of
England, that he will accept our submission and take us under his pro-
tection as good and faithful subjects, which we promise and swear to
become before God and before man. In faith of which we sign with our
hand or certify with our ordinary mark, the aforesaid day and month of
the year 1778."
Having thus rectified the mental and moral attitude of the com-
munity, Hamilton turned his attention to the fort, which he says he
found, "a miserable stockade, without a Well, barrack, platform for
small arms, or even a lock to the gate." He further says: "In the
course of the winter we built a guard-house, Barracks for four com-
panies, sunk a Well, erected two large Blockhouses of oak, musquet
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 155
proof, with loop-holes below, and embrasures above for 5 pieces of
Cannon each, alter 'd and lin'd the Stockade, laid the Fort with gravel";
and also, "The fort was on the 22nd of February in a tolerable state of
defence the Work proposed being finished." He also changed the name
to Fort Sackville, in honor of Lord George Sackville, then British
Secretary of State for the Colonies. After about a month's detention
at Vincennes, Vigo's French friends intervened in his behalf, and Ham-
ilton consented to let him go on parole that he would ' ' not do anything
injurious to the British interests on his way to St. Louis. ' ' This pledge
he kept religiously, as he always did a promise given ; but as soon as he
reached St. Louis he hastened to Kaskaskia, and gave Clark his informa-
tion. Desperate as the situation looked, it presented an opportunity that
appealed to Clark. Disappointed in his hope for reinforcement, he
leaped at the chance to complete hia conquest with the force he had. He
called his officers in council and proposed to go to Vincennes and attack
Hamilton. They agreed. There is no room to doubt that the sentiments
of all were expressed in Clark's letter to Henry on February 3, in which,
after recounting Vigo's arrival with information of Hamilton's success,
his efforts to regain the friendship of "the Indians, and the loyalty of
those nearest to Vincennes to the Americans, Clark puts the situation
thus:
"Ninety Regulars in Garrison a few Volunteers and about Fifty
Tawaway Indians that is Shortly to go to war they are very Busy in
Repairing the Fort which will Shortly "be very Strong, One Brass Six-
pounder two Iron four pounders and two Swivels Mounted in the
Bastians plenty of Ammunition and provitions and all kinds of warlike
Stores, Making preparation for the Reduction of the Illenois & has no
Suspition of a Visit from the americans this was Mr. Hamilton's Cir-
cumstance when Mr. Vigo left him
' ' Being sensible that without a Reinforcement which at present have
hardly a right to Erpect that I shall be obliged to give up this Cuntrey
to Mr. Hamilton without a turn of Fortune in my favour, I am Resolved
to take the advantage of his present Situation and Risque the whole on a
Single Battle. I shall Set out in a few Days with all the Force I can
Raise of my own Troops and a few Militia that I can Depend on (in the
whole only one) Hundred (part of which goes on) Board a Small G
(alley, fitted) out some time ago Mounting two four pounders and four
large Swivels one nine pounder on Board this Boat is to make her way
good if possible and take her Station Tenn Leagues Below St. Vincens
until further orders if I am Defeated She is to Join Col. Rogers on the
Mississippi She has great Stores of Ammunition on Board Comd by
Lieut. Jno Rogers. I Shall March across by Land myself with the Rest
156
i
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
of My Boys the principle persons that follow me on this forlorn hope is
Captn Joseph Bowman John Williams Edwd Worthington Richd M
Carty & Frans Charlovielle Limits Richd Brasheare Abm Kellar Abm
Chaplin Jno Jerault And Jno Bayley and several other Brave Subalterns,
You must be Sensible of the feelings that I have for those Brave officers
and Soldiers that are Determined to share my Fate let it be what it will
I know the Case is Desperate but Sr we must Either Quit the Cuntrey or
attact Mr. Hamilton no time is to be lost was I Shoer of a Reinforce-
ment I should not attempt it who knows what fortune will do for us
Great things have been affected by a few Men well Conducted perhaps
we may be fortunate we have this Consolation that our Cause is Just
FORT SACKVILLE, VINCENNES, INDIANA, 1779
and that our Cuntrey will be greatful and not Condemn our Conduct in
case we fall through if so this Cuntrey as well as Kentucky I believe
is lost."
Well might his heart warm to the men who joined him in that perilous
undertaking. According to Bowman, 46 went in the galley, and those
who marched were 170, including "the Artillery Pack Horsemen &c. "
And what a march ! From the afternoon of February 5 to the afternoon
of February 23, through muddy overflowed plains, with rain falling
almost, continually, without tents, and after the 16th almost without
provisions except one deer killed on the 20th. The only favoring feature
was that the weather did not turn cold until the night of the 22nd, when
ice formed about an inch thick. This brought the supreme effort. On
the 23d. Bowman records: "Set off to cross a plain called Horse Shoe
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
plain about 4 Miles long cover 'd with Water breast high here we ex-
pected Some of our brave Men must certainly perish having froze in the
Night and so long fasting and no other Resourse but wading this plain
or rather a leak (lake) of Water we pushed into it with Courage Col.
Clark being the first, taking care to have the Boats close by, to take those
that was weak and benumbed (with the cold) into them Never was Men
so animated with the thoughts of revenging the wrongs done to their
back Settlements as this small Army was." Luckily there was a copse
of timber on the way, which Clark says ' ' was of great consequence ' ' for
"all the Low men and Weakly Hung to the Trees and floated on the old
logs untill they were taken off by the Canoes the strong and Tall got
ashore and built fires many would reach the shore and fall with their
bodies half in the water not being able to Support themselves without
it this was a delightful Dry spot of Ground of about Ten Acres we
soon found that the fires answered no purpose but that two strong men
taking a weaker one by the Arms was the only way to recover him and
being a delightfull Day it soon did But fortunately as if designed by
Providence a canoe of Indian squaws and Children was coming up to the
Town and took through part of this plain as a nigh way was discovered
by our Canoes as they ware out after the men they gave chase and took
them on Board of which was near half Quarter of Buffaloe some corn
Tallow Kettles &c this was a grand prise and was Invaluable Broath
was amediately made and served out to the most weak but with great
care most of the whole party got a little but a great many would not
tast it but gave their part to the weakly Jocosely saying something cheary
to their comrades this little refreshment and fine weather by the after-
noon gave new life to the whole. ' ' It was not strange that Clark wrote
to Mason: "If I was sensible that You wou'd let no Person see this
relation I would give You a detail of our suffering for four days in
crossing those waters, and the manner it was done; as I am sure that
You wou'd Credit it. but it is too incredible for any Person to believe
except those that are well acquainted with me as You are, or had ex-
perienced something similar to it." Neither was it strange that in his
Memoir, under date of March 7 two weeks later he recorded: "A
num'ber of our men now got sick their Intrepidity and good suckcess
had untill this keep up their spirits but things falling of to that little
more than that of common Garrison duty they more sensibly felt the
Pains and other complaints that they had contracted during the severity
of the late uncommon march to which many of those Valuable men fell
a sacrifice and few others ever perfectly recovered it."
Clark was in sight of the town, but he was not yet safe. He says,
"Ammunition was scarce with us as the most of our Stores had been put
.
158 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
on board of the Gaily. 7 ' Hamilton says that although he had required
all the gunpowder in the town to be surrendered to him, "nevertheless
Colonel Clarke was supplyed by the Inhabitants, his own to the last ounce
being damaged on his March." "Waiting till near sunset, he first dis-
patched a captive duck-hunter to the town with a warning to the people
that he was about to attack the place, and for those who wanted to help
the British to get into the fort, and others to stay in their houses. He
then staged a moving picture show for them, marching and counter-
marching his men behind ridges of land where nothing could be seen of
them except flags which they carried on poles. As soon as it was dark
they marched direct to the town, and sent 15 men to begin firing on the
fort, while the rest took possession of the town. One of the first moves
was to the houses of Col. Legras and Major Busseron, who had "buried
the Greatest part of their powder and Ball" when Hamilton first came,
and had probably sent word of it to Clark by Vigo. Clark says, "this
was amediately produced and we found our selves well supplyed by
those Gen tn." The surprise of the fort' was complete. Hamilton says:
"About 5 minutes after candles had been lighted we were alarmed by
hearing a Musquet discharged ; presently after some more. I concluded
that some party of Indians was returned or that there was some riotous
frolic in the Village, going upon the Parade to enquire I heard the Balls
whistle, order 'd the Men to the Blockhouses, forbidding them to fire till
they perceived the shot to be directed against the Fort. We were shortly
out of suspence, one of the Serjeants receiving a shot in the breast. ' ' He
says, however that Maisonville had come in earlier in the day with a
report that ' ' he had discover 'd about four leagues below- the fort, four-
teen fires, but could not tell whether of Virginians or Savages," and he
had sent Captain Lamothe with twenty men for further information.
Lamothe made a circuit around the flooded lands, and discovered noth-
ing until he heard the firing on the fort. He got back into the fort with
his men early the next morning. Clark says he let them in for fear they
might go for aid of hostile Indians.
There was a continuous fusillade during. the night, without great
damage, though Hamilton says he had "a Serjeant Matross and five
Men wounded" a Matross was an assistant artilleryman. But Clark
utilized the darkness to make an entrenchment across the street about
120 yards in front of the gate of the fort. Young Tabac had offered to
assist in the attack with one hundred men, but Clark thanked him and
told him he needed no assistance. At 8 or 9 o'clock on the morning of
the 24th Clark sent a flag of truce with a letter to Hamilton demanding
the immediate surrender of the fort, and adding, "if I am obliged to
storm, you may depend upon such Treatment justly due to a Murderer
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
159
beware of destroying Stores of any kind or any papers or letters that is
in your possession or hurting one house in the Town for by heavens if
you do there shall be no Mercy shewn you." To this ferocious message
CLARK'S LETTER TO HAMILTON
(From original, owned by Wisconsin Historical Society)
Hamilton curtly replied that "he and his Garrison are not disposed to
be awed into any action Unworthy of British subjects. ' ' Firing was then
resumed until Hamilton sent a flag of truce proposing a truce of three
days, and a conference with Clark in the fort. Clark replied that he
158
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
on board of the Gaily." Hamilton says that although he had required
all the gunpowder in the town to be surrendered to him, "nevertheless
Colonel Clarke was supplyed by the Inhabitants, his own to the last ounce
being damaged on his March." Waiting till near sunset, he first dis-
patched a captive duck-hunter to the town with a warning to the people
that he was about to attack the place, and for those who wanted to help
the British to get into the fort, and others to stay in their houses. He
then staged a moving picture show for them, marching and counter-
marching his men behind ridges of land where nothing could be seen of
them except flags which they carried on poles. As soon as it was dark
they marched direct 'to the town, and sent 15 men to begin firing on the
fort, while the rest took possession of the town. One of the first moves
was to the houses of Col. Legras and Major Busseron, who had "buried
the Greatest part of their powder and Ball" when Hamilton first came,
and had probably sent word of it to Clark by Vigo. Clark says, "this
was amediately produced and we found our selves w r ell supplyed by
those Gentn." The surprise of the fort was complete. Hamilton says:
"About 5 minutes after candles had been lighted we were alarmed by
hearing a Musquet discharged ; presently after some more. I concluded
that some party of Indians was returned or that there was some riotous
frolic in the Village, going upon the Parade to enquire I heard the Balls
whistle, order 'd the Men to the Blockhouses, forbidding them to fire till
they perceived the shot to be directed against the Fort. "We were shortly
out of suspence, one of the Serjeants receiving a shot in the breast." He
says, however that Maisonville had come in earlier in the day with a
report that "he had discover 'd about four leagues below the fort, four-
teen fires, but could not tell whether of Virginians or Savages," and he
had sent Captain Lamothe with twenty men for further information.
Lamothe made a circuit around the flooded lands, and discovered noth-
ing until he heard the firing on the fort. He got back into the fort with
his men early the next morning. Clark says he let them in for fear they
might go for aid of hostile Indians.
There was a continuous fusillade during. the night, without great
damage, though Hamilton says he had "a Serjeant Matross and five
Men wounded" a Matross was an assistant artilleryman. But Clark
utilized the darkness to make an entrenchment across the street about'
120 yards in front of the gate of the fort. Young Tabac had offered to
assist in the attack with one hundred men, but Clark thanked him and
told him he needed no assistance. At 8 or 9 o'clock on the morning of
the 24th Clark sent a flag of truce with a letter to Hamilton demanding
the immediate surrender of the fort, and adding, "if I am obliged to
storm, you may depend upon such Treatment justly due to a Murderer
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
159
beware of destroying Stores of any kind or any papers or letters that is
in your possession or hurting one house in the Town for by heavens if
you do there shall be no Mercy shewn you." To this ferocious message
-y-
?*--*
-
CLARK'S LETTER TO HAMILTON
(From original, owned \>y Wisconsin Historical Society)
- . -'-. .. ' "-,7-; ^ -''
Hamilton curtly replied that "he and his Garrison are not disposed to
be awed into any action Unworthy of British subjects." Firing was then
resumed until Hamilton sent a flag of truce proposing a truce of three
days, and a conference with Clark in the fort. Clark replied that he
160 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
would accept no terms but surrender at discretion, but that if Hamilton
desired a conference he would meet him and Captain Helm at the church.
The latter was accepted, and it was a meeting of two as accomplished
bluffers as ever met on Indiana soil, but Clark knew Hamilton's cards,
and Hamilton did not know Clark 's. Hamilton was willing to surrender,
but wanted honorable terms. Clark told him, "on you Sir who have
embrued your hands in the Wood of our women and children, Honor,
my country, everything calls on me alloud for Vengeance. ' ' Helm tried
to intercede but Clark refused to listen to him. He told Hamilton that
he had only 35 or 36 men in the fort that he could rely on ; and Hamilton
knew it was true. Finally Clark said he would send articles that he
would allow, and would give half an hour to consider them, and so they
separated. Clark sent his articles as follows:
"1st. Lt. Gov. Hamilton engages to deliver up to Col. Clark Fort
Sackville as it is at present with all the stores, ammunition, pro-
visions, &c.
"2nd. The Garrison will deliver themselves up Prisrs of War to
march out with their arms accoutrements, Knapsacks &c.
"3d. The Garrison to be deliver 'd up to-morrow at 10 o'clock.
"4th. Three days time to be allowed the Garrison to settle their
accounts with the traders of this Town.
"5th. The Officers of the Garrison to be allowed their necessary
baggage.
' ' Signed at Post Vincennes the 24th day of February, 1779.
"G. B. CLABK."
Within the time limit, Hamilton returned this with the following
indorsement :
"Agreed to for the following reasons
"The remoteness from snccour, the state and quantity of provisions,
the unanimity of officers and men on its expediency, the honorable terms
allowed and lastly, the confidence in a generous enemy.
"HENBT HAMILTON
"Lieut. Govr. & Superintendent."
In this connection, Hamilton adds in his report :
"Among reasons not mentioned on the face of the capitulation were
the treachery of one-half our little garrison, the certainty of the Inhabi-
tants of the Village having joyned the Rebels The North-East Angle
of the fort projecting over a sandbank already considerably undermined,
the miserable state of the wounded Men, the impossibility of effecting an
escape by water, while the half of our number had shewed their poltron-
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS 161
nerie and treason, and our wounded must be left at the mercy of a
mercyless set of Banditti.
"Having given the necessary orders, I pass'd the night in sorting
papers and in preparing for the disagreable ceremony of the next day.
"Mortification, disappointment, and indignation had their turns.
"At ten o'clock in the morning of the 25th, we marched out with
fix'd Bayonets and the Soldiers with their knapsacks the colors had
not been hoisted this morning, that we might be spared the mortification
of bawling them down."
There were two incidents that probably hastened Hamilton's action.
During the conference in the church a party of Clark's men had gone
to meet a party of Indians who were returning from a raid with scalps,
and who mistook the Americans for friends until close to them. A dozen
of them were killed or wounded, and six were captured and brought into
town, where four of them were tomahawked in view of the fort, the
other two being Frenchmen who were saved by the intercession of friends.
This was probably Hamilton's first opportunity of knowing what savage
warfare signified when brought home to himself, and it apparently made
a lasting impression. In his report he says: "One of them was toma-
hawk 'd immediately. The rest sitting on the ground in a ring bound
seeing by the fate of their comrade what they had to expect, the next on
his left sung his death song, and was in turn tomahawk 'd, the rest under-
went the same fate, one only was saved at the intercession of a Rebel
Officer who pleaded for him telling Coll Clarke that the Savage's father
had formerly spared his life. The Chief of this party after haveing
had the hatchet stuck in his head, took it out himself and deliver 'd it to
the inhuman monster who struck him first, who repeated his stroke a
second and a third time, after which the miserable spectacle was dragged
by the rope about his neck to the River, thrown in, and suffer 'd to spend
still a few moments of life in fruitless strugglings Two Serjeants who
had been Volunteers with the Indians escaped death by the intercession
of a father and a Sister who were on the spot. ' ' Hamilton also says that
Maisonville was partially scalped by order of Clark ; but Clark says this
was done by two men who captured this "famous Indian partizan" and
' ' was so Inhumane as to take a part of scalp. ' '
The other occurrence was at the conference at the church, when
Clark was emphasizing his determination to take vengeance on Indian
partizans. Clark says: "Majr Hay paying great attention I had ob-
served a kind of distrust in his countenance which in a great measure
Influenced my Conversation during the time on my Concluding pray
Sir says he who is that you call Indian partizans Sir I Reply ed I take
Majr Hay to be one of the Principals I never saw a man in the Moment
Vol. I 11
162 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
of Execution So Struck as he appeared to be Pail and Trembling
scarcely able to stand G H. blushed and I observed was much affected
at his behaviour in the presence of Captn Bowmans Countenance Suffi-
tiently explained his disdain for the one amd his sorrow for the other."
In reality Hay was a light-hearted and light-headed youth who was not
cut out for a hero, and did not fully realize what he had been doing.
He had not taken part in Indian raids, but had represented the British
at Fort Wayne during the preceding winter in dealings with the Indians
who went on raids from there. His journal 4 gives a most interesting
view of social life in Port Wayne at that time, and incidentally shows
that he was much more at home singing or dancing with the ladies, or
getting drunk with the men, than in military operations ; but it does not
give any indication that he was hard-hearted or cruel.
Presumably Hamilton was largely influenced by consideration for
him, for when Clark ordered Hay and others put in irons after the
surrender, Hamilton says : "I observed to him that these persons having
obey'd my orders were not to be blamed for the execution of them, that
I had never known that they had acted contrary to those orders, by
encouraging the cruelty of the savages, on the contrary and that if he
was determined to pass by the consideration of his faith and that of the
public, pledged for the performance of the Articles of capitulation, I
desired he might throw me into prison or lay me in irons rather than the
others." But Clark had "neck-irons, fetters and handcuffs" put on the
three Indian partisans, and when they got to Virginia, Governor Jeffer-
son had handcuffs put on Hamilton. Later these were exchanged for
fetters riveted on, and the whole party were confined in prison. Pro-
tests were made, but Jefferson insisted that it was a right to so confine
prisoners of war who had surrendered without specifications as to treat-
ment, until Washington finally interposed and the irons were removed.
The treatment was hardly justifiable, but the American public was so
indignant over the ravages of Great Britain's Indian allies that it is
surprising that nothing worse happened. On the day after the surrender
of the fort, Captain Helm was sent up the river to meet a party coming
down with supplies. They returned on March 5, having captured Judge
Dejean of Detroit, M. Adhemar, Commissary at Fort Miamis, with 38
soldiers and seven boats loaded with provisions and supplies. The
Willing the boat sent around by the Mississippi arrived on February
27, and the crew were much disappointed to have arrived too late to
take part in the victory. Dejean was sent to Virginia with the officers
of the fort and eighteen of the private soldiers who belonged to the
* Published in the Collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society for 1914.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 163
British army. The remainder of the prisoners were paroled and allowed
to return to Detroit. A council was held to consider an attack on
Detroit, but it was deferred to summer.
An Indian account of the capture of Vincennes was received by Col.
Brodhead through Rev. John Heckewelder, who wrote from his mis-
sion, on April 28, 1779, "The Governor of Detroit after having taken
Fort Chubhicking, from the Americans, sent all the Indians who were
with him home again, except two of the head men of every nation. A
few weeks ago a number of Virginians appeared unexpectedly at said
fort, surrounded it and took it with all that was in it, and the Gov-
ernor made a prisoner. That the night after the fort was taken, two
Shawanese made their escape out of the same, upon which they, the
Americans suspecting the Governor hanged him immediately, and killed
the rest of the Indians who were in the fort. That the Virginians sent
two men with a large letter, and the war belt they had found by the
Governor, over to Kentuck; that these two men were killed by the way
by 20 warriors, and the letter band all taken ; that not long after, these
twenty warriors (said to be Chippewas and Tawas) were coming along
with some stolen horses, and being at last in sight of the fort, hobbled
the same on the commons, and marched with the death halloo towards
the fort, upon which the drums began to beat, but the warriors having
heard nothing of what had happened, as they had gone out from that
place to war said, 'Our Father rejoices that we are coming again;
we shall now be treated well.' They then being about half gun shot
off, they fired out of the fort and killed eighteen on the spot, upon
which the other two ran off, and brought the letters to the Shawanee
towns, where they got a prisoner to read them. But as he could not
read well, could make out no more than that the commandant of the
Virginians mentioned what he had done, and that he requested a strong
reinforcement immediately. The letters are now in the hands of Alexr.
McKee. " 5 Chubhicking, varied to Chubhacking and Chupukin 6
is the Delaware name of Vincennes. It is compounded of (fol-
lowing Heckewelder 's spelling) tschup-pic, or tschap-pik, mean-
ing a root; hacki, ground, earth, region; and the terminal lo-
cative, i. e. Place of Roots, which is a translation of the Miami name.
Of recent years there has been an application of "the higher crit-
icism" to the original accounts of this conquest of Gen. Clark by some
of the Real Historians of the East. One of the most notable instances
is to be found in The Winning of the West, by Theodore Roosevelt,
whose mental processes have given him an unique standing as an his-
s Wise. Hist. Coll., Vol. 23 Draper Series, Vol. 4, p. 295.
Ib., pp. 231, 325, 334.
164
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
torical writer. He adds Clark to his Ananias Club on account of his
Memoir, having no less than eight foot-notes, in the compass of fifty
pages, denouncing the inaccuracies of this document. 7 He says it
was written "some thirty or forty years after the events of which it
speaks"; that it was "written by an old man who had squandered his
energies and sunk into deserved obscurity"; that "when Clark wrote
LIEUT.-GOV. HENRY HAMILTON
(From portrait owned by C. M. Burton of Detroit)
his memoirs, in his old age, he took delight in writing down among his
exploits all sorts of childish stratagems; the marvel is that any sane
historian should not have seen that these were on their face as untrue
as they were ridiculous." His chief basis for his position is that the
Memoir contains a number of statements that are not duplicated in
Clark's official reports and original letters. As a mere matter of fact,
7 Winning of the West, Vol. 2, pp. 36, 47, 55, 57, 01, 63, 79, 82.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 165
the Memoir was unquestionably written in the years 1789-91, at the
special request of James Madison, who asked Clark "to descend in the
recital even to minutia" and that "in collecting materials you will not
use a sparing hand. Many things may appear very interesting to
others which you might think unimportant. ' ' 8 One of the ' ' childish
stratagems" to which Mr. Roosevelt objects is the statement that they
' ' marched to and fro with many flags flying, so as to impress the British
with his numbers. Instead of indulging in any such childishness (which
would merely have warned the British, and put them on their guard),
he in reality made as silent an approach as possible, under cover of the
darkness."
But Clark does not say they countermarched to impress the Brit-
ish. On the contrary he says that they marched "in full View of the
Town," but that "as part of the Town lay between our Line of March
and the Garison we could not be seen by the sentinels on the walls. ' ' He
was deceiving the town people, and he always misrepresented his
strength to the French, on the theory that while most of them were
loyal there were others from whom information would get to the Brit-
ish. This is exactly what happened in this case, for the first informa-
tion Hamilton got was from Lamothe, who said that a woman in the
town had told him that ' ' Colonel Clark was arrived with 500 Men from
the Ilinois"; and Hamilton knew no better until after his surrender.
As to the event itself, Clark told the same story soon after to Mason
in his letter of November 19, 1779. Bowman, in his journal for the
day says: "We began our March all in order with colors flying and
drums brased." The first account of the capture received at Detroit
was from Captain Chene who was outside the fort at Vincennes when
the attack was made, and who made his escape. His report says : ' : The
Rebels entered at the lower end of the village with a drum beating and
a white colour flying." From all this testimony it would appear to be
established that if Mr. Roosevelt had been managing the campaign, it
would not have been as Clark managed it.
But Mr. Roosevelt's choicest morsel is this: "Unfortunately, most
of the small western historians who have written about Clark have
really damaged his reputation by the absurd inflation of their language ;
they were adepts in the forcible-feeble style of writing, a sample of
which is their rendering him ludicrous by calling him 'the Hannibal
of the West,' and the 'Washington of the West.' " It is a pity that
Mr. Roosevelt was not sufficiently familiar with American history to
know that the "small western historian" who gave the title of "the
sill. Hist. Coll., Vol. 8, pp. 619-29.
164
INDIANA AND 1NDIANANS
torical writer. He adds Clark to his Ananias Club on account of his
Memoir, having no less than eight foot-notes, in the compass of fifty
pages, denouncing the inaccuracies of this document. 7 He says it
was written "some thirty or forty years after the events of which it
speaks"; that it was "written by an old man who had squandered his
energies and sunk into deserved obscurity"; that "when Clark wrote
.
LiEUT.-Gov. HENRY HAMILTON
(From portrait owned by C. M. Burton of Detroit)
his memoirs, in his old age, he took delight in writing down among his
exploits all sorts of childish stratagems ; the marvel is that any sane
historian should not have seen that these were on their face as untrue
as they were ridiculous." His chief basis for his position is that the
Memoir contains a number of statements that are not duplicated in
Clark's official reports and original letters. As a mere matter of fact,
- Winning of the West, Vol. 2, pp. 36, 47, 55, 57, 01, 63, 79, 82.
'
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 165
the Memoir was unquestionably written in the years 1789-91, at the
special request of James Madison, who asked Clark "to descend in the
recital even to minutia" and that "in collecting materials you will not
use a sparing hand. Many things may appear very interesting to
others which you might think unimportant." 8 One of the "childish
stratagems" to which Mr. Roosevelt objects is the statement that they
"marched to and fro with many flags flying, so as to impress the British
with his numbers. Instead of indulging in any such childishness (which
would merely have warned the British, and put them on their guard),
he in reality made as silent an approach as possible, under cover of the
darkness. ' '
But Clark does not say they countermarched to impress the Brit-
ish. On the contrary he says that they marched "in full View of the
Town," but that "as part of the Town lay between our Line of March
and the Garison we could not be seen by the sentinels on the walls. ' ' He
was deceiving the town people, and he always misrepresented his
strength to the French, on the theory that while most of them were
loyal there were others from whom information would get to the Brit-
ish. This is exactly what happened in this case, for the first informa-
tion Hamilton got was from Lamothe, who said that a woman in the
town had told him that ' ' Colonel Clark was arrived with 500 Men from
the Ilinois"; and Hamilton knew no better until after his surrender.
As to the event itself, Clark told the same story soon after to Mason
in his letter of November 19, 1779. Bowman, in his journal for the
day says: "We began our March all in order with colors flying and
drums brased. " The first account of the capture received at Detroit
was from Captain Chene who was outside the fort at Vincennes when
the attack was made, and who made his escape. His report says: '"The
Rebels entered at the lower end of the village with a drum beating and
a white colour flying." From all this testimony it would appear to be
established that if Mr. Roosevelt had been managing the campaign, it
would not have been as Clark managed it.
But Mr. Roosevelt's choicest morsel is this: "Unfortunately, most
of the small western historians who have written about Clark have
really damaged his reputation by the absurd inflation of their language ;
they were adepts in the forcible-feeble style of writing, a sample of
which is their rendering him ludicrous by calling him 'the Hannibal
of the West,' and the 'Washington of the West.' " It is a pity that
Mr. Roosevelt was not sufficiently familiar with American history to
know that the "small western historian" who gave the title of "the
sill. Hist. Coll., Vol. S, pp. 619-29.
166 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Hannibal of the West" to Clark was John Randolph of Roanoke; 9 and
it is no less mournful that he was not sufficiently acquainted with ancient
history to know that the title was peculiarly apt. For the benefit of those
who may share Mr. Roosevelt's misfortune, it may be explained that the
expression does not imply that Clark was a Carthaginian, nor that he was
of the same age, weight, color or previous condition of servitude as Hanni-
bal. The similarity that appealed to Randolph is expressed in the Latin
phrase, "Hannibal ante portas" an unexpected enemy at hand. Hanni-
bal made himself immortal by accomplishing the daring and desperate feat
of crossing the Alps in the dead of winter, and striking Rome from an
unexpected quarter. The analogy lies in the fact that Clark accom-
plished the daring and desperate feat of crossing the flooded lands of
Illinois and Indiana in the dead of winter, and striking Vincennes from
an unexpected quarter. Of course Hannibal's army was larger, but
Clark risked the greater odds, if the chance of striking hostile Indians
be taken into consideration. But that is immaterial. It is the element
of the surprising and unexpected that is associated with the name of
Hannibal by classical writers and speakers. If John Randolph were
alive today, he might possibly refer to Mr. Roosevelt as The Hannibal
of Oyster Bay.
He might note that although Mr. Roosevelt tosses aside most of the
stories connected with Clark's campaign, he accepts the story of his
interrupting a dance at the taking of Kaskaskia, of which there is no
mention in any account by any of the original witnesses. Moreover it
is inconsistent with the fact that the Commandant, Rocheblave, was
found in bed when this midnight surprise was made, and the inhabitants
were warned to keep in their houses, on pain of being shot; in conse-
quence of which Clark says: "I don't suppose greater silence ever
Reagnd among the Inhabitants of a place than did at this present not
a person to be seen, not a word to be heard by them for some time."
The presentation of this phase of the subject would not be complete with-
out the following comment from Hon. Thomas E. Watson, who is some-
thing of a critic himself:
"There is a dramatic story to the effect that when Clark's men drew
near that night they found the fort lit up, fiddles going merrily, and
the defenders tripping the light fantastic toe. Clark made his way to
the ballroom and leaned back against the door, with crossed arms, look-
ing on. An Indian, lying on the floor, gazed intently on Clark's face,
then sprang up and gave the war-whoop, the unearthly war-whoop. A
war-whoop, by the way, which is not unearthly is not up to standard and
is not allowed in the books.
Howison 's Virginia, Vol. 2, p. 237.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 167
' ' When the Indian whooped it was evidently time for the .women to
scream; and when the women were all screaming, it was impossible to
fiddle and dance.
"The story goes that Clark standing unmoved, arms still crossed,
countenance unchanged, bade them ' On with the dance ' warning them,
however, that they must now dance under Virginia and not under
Great Britian. At the same time his men burst into the fort, etc.
"Mr. Roosevelt likes this story so well that he puts it into his Win-
ning of the West, saying that he sees no good reason for rejecting it
entirely.
"For the same reason the present writer likes it, and has not re-
jected it entirely.
"If the story had not been ended so abruptly, if we had been told
what the fiddlers and dancers did after Clark gave them permission
to proceed, one's ideas might be clearer and more satisfactory.
' ' But if the episode of the 'ballroom draws rather heavily upon cred-
ulity, the wonderful events which followed are involved in no doubts." 10
It is not difficult to understand how Mr. Roosevelt might indulge
in such little eccentricities as these, but the mind of man can hardly
comprehend why he follows them with this statement in regard to the
employment of Indian scalp-hunters by the British: "A certain kind
of American pseudo-historian is especially fond of painting the British
as behaving to us with unexampled barbarity ; yet nothing is more sure
than that the French were far more cruel and less humane in their con-
tests with us than were the British." n . Here are a few extracts from the
fifty pages following this remarkable proposition.
"De Peyster, a New York tory of old Knickerbocker family, had
taken command at Detroit. He gathered the Indians around him from
far and near, until the expense of subsidizing these savages became so
enormous as to call forth serious complaints from headquarters. He
constantly endeavored to equip and send out different bands,- not only
to retake the Illinois and Vincennes, but to dislodge Clark from the
Falls; he was continually receiving scalps and prisoners, and by May
he had fitted out two thousand warriors to act along the Ohio and the
Wabash." 12
' ' Nevertheless small straggling bands of young braves occasionally
came down through the woods ; and though they did not attack any fort
or any large body of men, they were ever on the watch to steal horses,
burn lonely cabins, and waylay travellers between the stations. They
10 Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson, p. 226.
" Winning of the West, Vol. 2, p. 87.
12 Ib., p. 102.
168 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
shot the solitary settlers who had gone out to till their clearings by
stealth, or ambushed the boys who were driving in the milk cows or
visiting their lines of traps. It was well for the victim if he was killed
at once ; otherwise he was bound with hickory withes and driven to the
distant Indian towns, there to be tortured with hideous cruelty and
burned to death at the stake." 13
"Then the savages instantly fled, but they had killed and scalped,
or carried off, ten of the children. Be it remembered that these in-
stances are taken at random from among hundreds of others, extend-
ing over a series of years longer than the average life of a generation." w
"A war party starting from the wigwam-towns would move silently
down through the woods, cross the Ohio at any point, and stealthily
and rapidly traverse the settlements, its presence undiscovered until
the deeds of murder and repine were done, and its track marked by
charred cabins and the ghastly, mutilated bodies of men, women, and
children. If themselves assailed, the warriors fought desperately and
effectively. They sometimes attacked bodies of troops, but always by
ambush or surprise ; and they much preferred to pounce on unprepared
and unsuspecting surveyors, farmers, or wayfarers, or to creep up to
solitary, outlying cabins. They valued the scalps of women and children
as highly as those of men. Striking a sudden blow, where there was
hardly any possibility of loss to themselves, they instantly moved on
to the next settlement, repeating the process again and again." 1B
"One of the official British reports to Lord George Germaine, made
on October 23d of this year (1781), deals with the Indian war parties
employed against the northwestern frontier. 'Many smaller Indian
parties have been very successful. It would be endless and difficult to
enumerate to your Lordship the parties that continually employed upon
the back settlements. From the Illinois country to the frontiers of
New York there is a continual succession. * * * The perpetual
terror and losses of the inhabitants will I hope operate powerfully in
our favor.' " 18
And during this era of horrors the one man who stood between the
frontier settlements and destruction was George Rogers Clark. Work-
ing day and night to raise troops for raiding the Indian towns and at-
tacking Detroit; with scant supplies; with Virginia's credit ruined in
the west and at New Orleans; furnished only with depreciated paper
currency, and little of that; obstructed by white enemies and jealous
is Winning of the West, Vol. 2, p. 111.
i Ibid., p. 125.
"Ibid., p. 126.
i Ibid., p. 130.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 169
rivals; he managed to keep up enough force to punish the Indians re-
peatedly, and to keep Detroit in so much fear of attack as to prevent
any strong force being sent against the frontier stations. Clark not
only conquered the Northwest, but he held it till the Revolutionary
War was almost concluded. This was the man who, Mr. Roosevelt says,
"had squandered his energies and sunk into deserved obscurity." Un-
questionably republics are often ungrateful, and republican writers are
sometimes ungracious.
Most of these Indian troubles had little effect on Indiana. They
were directed mainly against Kentucky and the settlements on the up-
per Ohio. The only American settlement in Indiana was at Vincennes,
and the fort and garrison there were protected against any general at-
tack, though there were occasional attacks on out-lying settlers. The
only* material encounter in southern Indiana was the surprise of Col.
Archibald Lochry, with a party of 107 Pennsylvanians who were on
their way to join Clark at the Falls, for an expedition against Detroit.
Eight men that Lochry had sent in advance with letters to Clark fell
into the hands of Joseph Brant who ambushed the main party ten miles
below the mouth of the Big Miami, where they had landed to cook a
buffalo they had killed, being short of provisions, and also of ammuni-
tion. Forty-one were killed and the remainder captured. 17 But Vin-
cennes suffered indirectly from the border warfare through the unsettled
condition of public affairs. In 1778, on receipt of information of Clark 's
success, Virginia adopted a law organizing all the territory northwest
of the Ohio as the County of Illinois, under a "county lieutenant or
commandant in chief," with power to appoint deputy commandants,
militia officers and commissaries. It did not extend the laws of Vir-
ginia over this territory, but provided that: "all civil officers to which
the said inhabitants have been accustomed, necessary for the preserva-
tion of peace and the administration of justice, shall be chosen by a
majority of the citizens in their respective districts, * * * which
said civil officers, after taking the oaths as above prescribed, shall exer-
cise their several jurisdictions, and conduct themselves agreeable to
the laws which the present settlers are now accustomed to. ' ' Under this
law, Gov. Henry appointed Col. John Todd County Lieutenant, on De-
cember 12, 1778.
Todd arrived at Kaskaskia early in May, 1779, and called an elec-
tion of civil officers in the several settlements. Those elected at Vin-
cennes, as shown by Todd's record book, 18 were as follows: "The Court
"English's Conquest of the Northwest, Vol. 2, pp. 722.
is This book is in possession of the Chicago Historical Society. An account
and abstract of it, by E. G. Mason is in No. 12 of the Fergus Hist. Series.
170 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
of St. Vincennes: 1, P. Legras; 2, Francois Bosseron; 3, Perrot; 4,
Cardinal (refused to serve) ; 5, Query La Tulippe; 6, P. Gamelin; 7,
Edeline ; 8, Dejenest ; 9, Barron ; Legrand, Clerke ; , Sheriff. " The
appointive officers were, "Militia Officers of St. Vincennes: P. Legras,
L. Col. ; F. Bosseron, Major; LaTulippe, 1 Capt. ; Edeline, 2 ; W. Brouilet,
3; P. Gamelin, 4 rank (of last two) not settled. Goden,
2 Lieut.; Goden, 3 Lieut.; Joseph Rougas, 2; Richerville, 3; Richer-
ville, 4."
Todd promulgated various orders, one of which was that Virginia
and continental paper money should be taken at par, and this order
was backed by Captain Helm, then commanding at Vincennes, who ac-
cepted the money himself for his land claim later on, and lost every-
thing. A law of Virginia, in 1781, fixing a "scale of depreciation" of
paper money as compared with specie, made it two and one-half for one
at the close of 1777; six for one, close of 1778; forty for one, close of
1779, seventy-five for one, close of 1780 ; and one thousand for one, closp
of 1780. The garrison had to have provisions, and when the people
would not accept this currency or orders on Virginia, they "impressed"
what they needed. Even on this basis, the forts at Vincennes and other
points had to be abandoned on account of lack of supplies. The gar-
rison at Vincennes was transferred in the winter of 1780-81 to Fort Jef-
ferson which had been established on the east side of the Mississippi,
five miles below the mouth of the Ohio ; but on February 15, 1781, when
whisky had become the only circulating medium of the troops that had
any purchasing value, Captain Robert George, commanding at Fort
Jefferson wrote to Col. George Slaughter, at the Falls: "As I have to
purchase Supplies in the Illinois it draws away the Liquor from me
fast, besides I have to send a Supply to the Opost (Vincennes), & Major
Linetot has made a heavy Draft on me for 6 Hogsheads & the half of
my Ammunition for the use of the Indian Department and three Hogs-
head more to purchase Eight Months Provisions for 25 Men which I
have sent for the protection of the Opost and under the command of
Capt. Bayly The Credit of the State is so bad that nothing can be
had either there or at Kaskaskia without prompt payment, & when our
little Stock is exhausted I know not what we shall do, except you take
some Care of us. Send us as much Whisky as you please as we are
forced to expend our Taffia for Provisions. The Enemy are approach-
ing the Opost & fortifying themselves at Miamis, so that the Inhabitants
of the Opost have petitioned me for an Officer & Men to uphold the
Honor of the State there, which I have complied with * * * I am
under the necessity of putting a Stop to the Mens Rations of Liquor in
order to purchase provisions. Please send us a little paper by the first
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS
171
opportunity as we can hardly carry on business for want of that Arti-
cle."
This shows quite a change of sentiment at Vincennes from that of
the preceding summer, when Col. de la Balme came west on a mission,
the exact character of which has not been conclusively shown, some
writers asserting that he was acting under a plan of Washington and
FATHER GIBAULT
(From crayon, owned by Col. R. T. Durret of Louisville)
Lafayette to secure an uprising in Canada, and others holding that his
aim was the restoration of Canada and the upper Mississippi Valley
to France. 19 Soon after arriving he issued an address to the French
on the Mississippi, who he says have asked his "advice concerning the
deplorable condition to which you are reduced," in which he tells them
i 111. Hist. Coll., Vol. 2, p. Ixxxix.
170
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
of St. Vincennes: 1, P. Legras; 2, Francois Bosseron; 3, Perrot; 4,
Cardinal (refused to serve) ; 5, Guery La Tulippe; 6, P. Gamelin; 7,
Edeline; 8, Dejencst ; 9, Ban-on ; Legrand, Clerke; , Sheriff." The
appointive officers were. "Militia Officers of St. Vincennes: P. Legras,
L. Col. ; F. Bosseron, Major ; LaTulippe, 1 Capt. ; Edeline, 2 ; W. Brouilet,
3 ; P. Gamelin, 4 rank (of last two) not settled. Goden,
2 Lieut.; Goden, 3 Lieut.; Joseph Rougas, 2; Richerville, 3; Richer-
ville, 4."
Todd promulgated various orders, one of which was that Virginia
and continental paper money should be taken at par, and this order
was hacked by Captain Helm, then commanding at Vincennes, who ac-
cepted the money himself for his land claim later on, and lost every-
thing. A law of Virginia, in 1781, fixing a "scale of depreciation" of
paper money as compared with specie, made it two and one-half for one
at the close of 1777 ; six for one, close of 1778 ; forty for one, close of
1779, seventy-five for one, close of 1780; and one thousand for one, clos*>
of 1780. The garrison had to have provisions, and when the people
would not accept this currency or orders on Virginia, they "impressed"
what they needed. Even on this basis, the forts at Vincennes and other
points had to be abandoned on account of lack of supplies. The gar-
rison at Vincennes was transferred in the winter of 1780-81 to Fort Jef-
ferson which had been established on the east side of the Mississippi,
five miles below the mouth of the Ohio; but on February 15, 1781, when
whisky had become the only circulating medium of the troops that had
any purchasing value, Captain Robert George, commanding at Fort
Jefferson wrote to Col. George Slaughter, at the Falls: "As I have to
purchase Supplies in the Illinois it draws away the Liquor from me
fast, besides I have to send a Supply to the Opost (Vincennes), & Major
Linetot has made a heavy Draft on me for 6 Hogsheads & the half of
my Ammunition for the use of the Indian Department and three Hogs-
head more to purchase Eight Months Provisions for 25 Men which I
have sent for the protection of the Opost and under the command of
Capt. Bayly The Credit of the State is so bad that nothing can be
had either there or at Kaskaskia without prompt payment, & when our
little Stock is exhausted I know not what we shall do, except you take
some Care of us. Send us as much Whisky as you please as we are
forced to expend our Taffia for Provisions. The Enemy are approach-
ing the Opost & fortifying themselves at Miamis, so that the Inhabitants
of the Opost have petitioned me for an Officer & Men to uphold the
Honor of the State there, which I have complied with * * * I am
under the necessity of putting a Stop to the Mens Rations of Liquor in
order to purchase provisions. Please send us a little paper by the first
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
171
opportunity as we can hardly carry on business for want of that Arti-
cle."
This shows quite a change of sentiment at Vincennes from that of
the preceding summer, when Col. de la Balme came west on a mission,
the exact character of which has not been conclusively shown, some
writers asserting that he was acting under a plan of Washington and
FATHER GIBAULT
(From crayon, owned by Col. R. T. Durret of Louisville)
Lafayette to secure an uprising in Canada, and others holding that his
aim was the restoration of Canada and the upper Mississippi Valley
to France. 10 Soon after arriving he issued an address to the French
on the Mississippi, who he says have asked his ''advice concerning the
deplorable condition to which you are reduced," in which he tells them
111. Hist. Coll., Vol. 2, p. Ixxxix.
172 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
to appeal to the King of Prance against the exactions of the Virginians.
He said : " It is well that you be informed, gentlemen, that the troops of
the State of Virginia have come here against the will of the other states of
America, as I learned from the members of Congress, even before my de-
parture from Philadelphia, and that the different deputies who compose
the said Congress are ignorant of the revolting proceedings and acts of
violence, not only to be blamed but to be condemned before the tribunals
of the whole world, which these troops are practicing against you. * * *
The justice which characterizes the King of France, your former and
generous monarch, offers to you a protection sure and invincible. Im-
plore his favors with confidence, for I can assure you that not only that
magnanimous potentate will not suffer his allies, for whom he is making
very great sacrifices, to oppress you in any manner, but also he will
succor you, as far as he is able, and also your kinsmen in Detroit and in
Canada, when informed of your wretched situation, the honorable
Congress will do no less, you can be sure of that. ' '
On the other hand, "the English Barbarians" were inciting the In-
dians to make war upon them, and the remedy was to capture Detroit,
where the French would welcome them. He detailed his simple plan
as follows : "In order to act with prudence and success it would be
necessary to reach the Ouiatanons on the tenth day of October, so as to
surprise or to block the English at Detroit in the order explained here-
with: four hundred French men supplied with one hundred rounds of
ammunition apiece and supplies for forty days, eight hundred chosen
Indians to whom there would be distributed twelve rounds of ammuni-
tion apiece so that there would remain still as many rounds to be dis-
tributed to an equal number in case of need ; a tent in order to put the
arms and munitions under cover in time of rain ; eight large kettles and
eight horses to carry the utensils and some provisions for the Indians.
Moreover the inhabitants of Post Vincennes who are to take corn and
tobacco to the place of meeting at the Ouiatanons in order to give it
to the nations allied to the French, would need in exchange one hun-
dred pounds of lead, for they have nothing but powder." "With these
supplies he assured them that they could make "an expedition which
would gain for you the confidence and support of the honorable Cong-
ress ; which would, in short, convince the King of France of the keen in-
terest that you take in a cause for which he has already made great
sacrifices, and which would procure in a short time for you all the suc-
cor imaginable." The unhappy French received La Balme, as one
American reported, "like a Masiah." The people of Kaskaskia pre-
sented a memorial to "M. Mottin de la Balme, French Colenel, and Pen-
sioner of the King of France, former Inspector General of the Cavalry
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
173
of the United States of America" and also to the "Chevalier de Lu-
zerne, Minister Plenipotentiary to the United States, ' ' setting forth their
grievances and their desires, and those of Cahokia did likewise. 20 The peo-
ple of Vincennes or at least 17 of them also sent a memoir to Luzerne,
which was captured by the British. It is dated August 20, 1780, and the
following passages are significant :
"From the bottom of their hearts and with the frankness which
characterizes all good Frenchmen, the inhabitants of Post Vincennes,
formerly faithful subjects of the king of France, dare to avow to your
TM KtOTt TM0COH*
u
R06U3 U*tK
or nu.
EMU3!> If fOUT
CLARK 's ROUTE IN INDIANA
(From English's Conquest of the Northwest)
Excellency that they are ready to join the troops of this monarch their
former and most worthy lord to act sincerely against his enemies whoever
they may be. * * * It is well to warn your Excellency, that it is
not on the assistance of the United States troops that we count to break
the yoke which oppresses us. Besides the fact that the Indians can not
bear them and their aversion towards them seems unbreakable, we all
believe that the best policy would be not to receive them in our lands,
where English blood is already too abundant. * * * When we shall
have expelled our tyrants and France shall have recognized our abso-
*oiu. Hist. Coll., Vol. 2, p. 535; Vol. 5, pp. 189, 199.
174 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
lute independence, her allies shall be ours, and, since we have nothing
more in our hearts than to show proof, not doubtful, of the respectful
and tender affection which we have kept for the King of France, our
former ruler, and since we place ourselves entirely under his protection,
his wishes shall always be our rule. * * * Free, we can put one
hundred thousand men in the field, the Indians two hundred thousand
for the same cause consequently, aided by the assistance which we ask
now from the King, our common father, to give us as the events may re-
quire, we hope in a short time to become a power and count among the
European nations established on this vast continent.
"Perhaps your Excellency has not been well informed concerning
the kind of service which the United States troops rendered us in this
war ; it will be well to give your Excellency a brief outline of it. * * *
Virginia acting with a zeal too ardent for our interests, this zeal which
can legally be called indiscreet, sent us about two hundred men half
naked like the graces. The warriors thus equipped, marched under the
orders of Colonel Clark, who came to free us and capture a few officers
upheld by a small detachment of English soldiers. Your Excellency
will see hereafter the result of this officious undertaking. These troops,
said they, came on behalf of the French and of Congress. From that
time no one thought it best to resist ; on the contrary, all joined them ;
we met them half way and enrolled under their colors ; we helped capture
the English ; we restrained the Indians who wished to resist ; and finally,
we gave up all for a people who claimed to be allied with France.
"Gratitude has always been a virtue. Your Excellency will see how
the Virginians honor it. They hastened to flood this country with their
paper money, which they said was equal in value to the metal coins and
we were good natured enough to accept it as such. They bought all our
goods, our horses, our provisions with the pretended money; and when
we could not furnish them with any more, they had the audacity to go
armed into the public mills and into the granaries of different houses to
take away by force flour or grain destined for our food. Not satisfied
with this violence, they thought they had the privilege of a different sort
of abuse. They went and shot our cattle in the fields and our pigs in
the streets and in the yards ; and what is worse, they menaced and struck
on the cheek those inhabitants who wished to stop these strange extrac-
tions.
"By these revolting proceedings therefore it has come about that
the Virginians have entirely ruined us, and have brought war on us
with several lake tribes, from which about twenty unfortunate inhabi-
tants are already victims. They have left us without means of defense
by taking away the arms and ammunition which they sent to their forts,
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 175
so that the Indians of the Wabash who are faithful to us and are our bul-
wark, tribes to which we can no longer furnish anything, are obliged
to hunt with the bow. They have caused more than one hundred young
men to leave us, who have gone to find resources in another place. They
have forced us to abandon the cultivation of our fields, partly through
fear of being killed by parties who come there to surprise us as a fox,
and they have been the cause of the death of a great and intrepid Indian
chief who was killed in avenging our people, an irreparable loss which
we mourn as well as the tribes attached to us. 21
' ' Ho Virginians ! if it is thus that you treat the former and faithful
subjects of the great King, our ally, if it is thus you wish to enrich us,
to free us^to make us happy, leave us to the rigor of our fate ! If it is
is thus, in sum, that you act with your friends, what treatment do you
have for your enemies?"
Following this indictment comes a statement of the advantages that
could accrue to France from what they wanted, but the exact nature
of their request is not made specific, and assurance is given that La
Balme in whom they express the highest confidence, will furnish it
orally. Whatever the plan, it was carried out entirely by the French.
The Americans were not asked to participate. From KaskasMa McCarty
informed Clark of what was going on, and wrote to Todd, "the people
have sent him (La Balme) memorials to Congress or the French Envoy
at Philadelphia setting forth all the Evil we have done. I think Gov-
ernment should be informed of this as the people are now entirely
Ag'st us." There was no interference, however, probably because all
the Americans in the country were willing to have Detroit captured by
anybody. Without waiting for his entire party, La Balme moved up
the Wabash with sixty or eighty men, who were mounted, and made
good time. They took Kikiungi by surprise, plundered some stores, and
fell back to the Aboite to await reinforcements; they did not even post
sentinels. That night a band of Miamis, hastily gathered by The Little
Turtle, struck the sleeping camp, and killed all of the party but one
young man, named Rhy, who was captured and taken to the British
authorities at Detroit. On December 1, Le Gras wrote to Clark from
Vincennes: "It is with regret I inform you of the melancholy defeat
that our Frenchmen encountered at the Miami, Colonel de la Balme
having started with about eighty men in order to take Baubin ; and not
having found this infamous scoundrel, our Frenchmen plundered the
goods belonging to him. In returning they were attacked by the Miami
2 1 Presumably a reference to Young Tabac, who died in 1780, and by his re-
quest was buried by the Americans. His body was taken to Cahokia and interred
with the honors of war.
176 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
nations who killed the bravest of them and retook the goods which be-
longed to the king. Colonel de la Balme was killed as welf as M. Dup-
lacy, Milliet, Cardinal, Joseph Andre and a number of other volunteers.
Doctor Ray is a prisoner. This affair has thrown us into a good deal of
consternation, for there is a great scarcity of provisions and ammuni-
tion." La Balme also sent an expedition against the British fo,rt on the
St. Joseph's from Cahokia, and the Cahokians after plundering some
stores we were overtaken by a party of Indians and traders and defeated.
They returned home and sought aid from the Spanish at St. Louis.
Captain Eugenio Pourre and a body of Spanish soldiers was sent to
their aid, Spain being then at war with England, and they marched back
and captured Fort St. Joseph's. Spain afterward claimed part of the
northwest on account of this expedition, but our commissioners declined
to concede it. 22
These experiences dampened the ardor of the French as to protect-
ing themselves, and those at Yincennes asked that the garrison be re-
turned as before mentioned. But the seeds of distrust that had been
sown bore their fruit. In reality, although the charges made by the
French were largely true, they were no worse off than the rest of the
country. The summer of 1780 was one of the gloomiest periods of the
Revolutionary War. Public credit was almost destroyed, and it was
with great difficulty that the American troops were kept in the field.
The first ray of cheer was the victory at Kings Mountain on October 7,
which was followed improving conditions until the surrender of Corn-
wallis on October 19, 1781. But the military situation in the west was
even worse than in the east. Captain Helm's letter from Fort Jefferson,
October 29, 1780, "Siting by Capt. Georges fire with a piece of Light
wood and two Ribs of an old Bufloe which is all. the meat We have Seen
this many days," was an expression of common experience. On August
6, 1781, Capt. Bailey wrote from Vincennes, "Sir I must inform you
once more that I cannot keep Garrison any longer without some speedy
relief from you my Men have been 15 days upon half allowance, there
is plenty of provisions here but no credit. I cannot press being the
weakest party some of the Gentlemen would help us but their credit is
as bad as ours therefore if you have not provisions send whisky which
will answer as good an end." On August 10, Capt. Montgomery wrote
from the Falls of the Ohio, "I arrived at Fort Jefferson the 1st May last,
where I found the Troops in a very low and Starving Condition, nor
was any goods or other Property wherewith to purchase. From the
Illinois nothing could be expected, the Credit of the State being long
22 Mag. Am. Hut, Vol. 15, p. 457.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 177
since lost there, & no supplies coming from this place, occasioned an
Evacuation of that Post, which for want of Provisions, took place on the
8th June last. Since my arrival here I find things in the same Condi-
tion not a Mouthfull for the Troops to eat nor money to purchase it
with, & I have just reason to believe the Credit of Government is worn
thread bare, here also The Counties of Lincoln & Fayette particularly,
tho' able to supply us, refuse granting any relief without the cash to
purchase with on the Spot. I am constrained to Billet the Troops thro '
the Country in Small parties for want of necessaries, except a small
Guard I keep in Garrison, so that unless supplies soon arrive, I fear the
Consequences will be fatal." On August 17, Capt. Slaughter wrote
from the Falls, "Inclosed you'll receive the duplicate of two Letters
which just now came to hand by express by which you will be acquainted
with the news and situation of the Corps to the Westward, an additional
grievance to us is that we are almost in the same situation as to pro-
visions, and much worse as to Clothing my Corps I can with propriety
say inversely naked."
It is an unquestionable historical truth that the financial condition
of the United States, and the several states, made the closing years of
the Revolutionary War times of much hardship to soldiers and civilians
in all parts of the country. The French were not the only people who
suffered from worthless paper money and the inability of Virginia and
the United States to pay just claims. In fact there was hardly a person
who took an active part in saving the northwest who was not ruined or
badly worsted on this account. Vigo advanced about $12,000, for sup-
plies for Clark, and his warrants were returned by Oliver Pollock, Vir-
ginia's agent at New Orleans, "not paid for lack of funds." His claim,
with hundreds of others, was sent to Virginia. Virginia could not pay,
and when she ceded her claim to the lands northwest of the Ohio to the
United States the nation assumed these obligations. In the months of
delay the papers were "lost"; and not until 1833 were a mass of them
found in the attic of the capitol at Richmond. Vigo died in poverty,
March 22, 1836, and was buried with the honors of war, including a
tombstone that put his death in 1835. 23 His heirs pushed his claim, but
notwithstanding repeated favorable committee reports, Congress did not
even let it go to the Court of Claims until 1872. The Court of Claims al-
lowed the claim with five per cent interest. The watch-dogs of the treasury
appealed to the Supreme Court which in 1876 affirmed the decision ; but
Justices Clifford and Hunt dissented, saying: "Unless where the con-
tract is express to that effect, the United States are not liable to pay in-
= English 's Conquest of the Northwest, p. 268.
Vol. 112
178
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
terest. Interest should never be allowed on old claims, when payment
has been deferred because the accounting officers of the treasury were
of the opinion that further legislation was necessary to authorize their
allowance, unless the new law clearly provides for the payment of in-
terest as well as principal." The majority of the Court conceded this,
and also "That this rule is sometimes at variance with that which gov-
erns the acts of private citizens in a court of justice would not authorize
FRANCOIS VIGO
(From a painting owned by the University of Vincennes)
us to depart from it in this case," but they thought the act authorized
the allowance of interest, and so this stain of refusing common justice,
in our glorious centennial year, was avoided. The obvious moral is,
if you have a just claim against the government, ' ' Agree with thine ad-
versary quickly."
Oliver Pollock, who financed Clark's expedition, was born in Ireland
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 179
in 1737, and brought to Pennsylvania when a child by his parents. In
1762 he engaged in business at Havana, .and there 'became a friend of
General O'Reilly, the Spanish Governor. When O'Reilly was made
Governor of Louisiana, Pollock went to New Orleans, where he became
wealthy and influential. In 1777 the United States made him its Com-
mercial Agent at New Orleans, and he acted in the same capacity for
Virginia. By the aid of Gov. Galvez he borrowed $70,000 from the
Royal Treasury which was used to support Clark's troops in the west.
As demands grew he mortgaged his private property for $10,000 to
meet bills, and continued to redeem paper money at par until July,
1779, from all of which he suffered heavy losses. In 1783 he was made
United States Agent at Havana, and in 1784 he was imprisoned for
debts of \be United States amounting to $150,000. In 1785 he was re-
leased on parole and returned to the United States where in 1791 he
induced Congress to pay this debt, but it did not remunerate him. He
went back to Pennsylvania impoverished, and in 1800 was in the debtors
prison at Philadelphia. He managed to get another start, and in 1815
removed to Mississippi, where he died December 17, 1823.
Clark, himself, never succeeded in collecting what was due him from
Virginia, and long after his death his heirs had to go into court for the
division of over $25,000 that his administrator had finally recovered.
Moreover, in 1785, the hostile Indians having begun depredations on the
Wabash, the Executive Committee of Virginia directed an invasion of
the Indian country by the Kentucky militia, but made no provision for
supplies. Clark was put in command. The question of supplies was
submitted to the Supreme Judges and Attorney General of Kentucky,
who gave a written opinion that the officers were authorized to impress
what was needed. On the return of the expedition, a council of the
Officers was held at Vincennes on October 8, and it was unanimously
decided that a garrison should be left at that place, to be supplied "by
impressment or otherwise, under the direction of a commissary, to be
appointed for that purpose." Captain John Holder was put in com-
mand, with 250 infantry and a company of artillery under Captain
Dalton. John Rice Jones was made Commissary, and duly impressed
goods of Bazadone, a Spanish merchant lately established at Vincennes.
The Executive Committee of Virginia repudiated the action, and the
parties whose goods were taken recovered from Clark in the courts.
Clark felt his treatment keenly. On May 11, 1792, he wrote to his
brother, "Why did they not do me the justice at first and enable me - to
pay for, and take up, those accounts sooner. * * * I shall follow
your advice and present another memorial this fall am now making
preparations for it. If I meet with another rebuff I must rest contented
178
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
'
terest. Interest should never be allowed on old claims, when payment
has been deferred because the accounting officers of the treasury were
of the opinion that further legislation was necessary to authorize their
allowance, unless the new law clearly provides for the payment of in-
terest as well as principal." The majority of the Court conceded this,
and also "That this rule is sometimes at variance with that which gov-
erns the acts of private citizens in a court of justice would not authorize
FRANCOIS VIGO
(From a painting owned by the University of Vincennes)
us to depart from it in this case," but they thought the act authorized
the allowance of interest, and so this stain of refusing common justice,
in our glorious centennial year, was avoided. The obvious moral is,
if you have a just claim against the government, "Agree with thine ad-
versary quickly."
Oliver Pollock, who financed Clark's expedition, was born in Ireland
INDIANA AND INDIA NANS 179
in 1737, and brought to Pennsylvania when a child by his parents. In
1762 he engaged in business at Havana, .and there 'became a friend of
General O'Reilly, the Spanish Governor. When O'Reilly was made
Governor of Louisiana, Pollock went to New Orleans, where he became
wealthy and influential. In 1777 the United States made him its Com-
mercial Agent at New Orleans, and he acted in the same capacity for
Virginia. By the aid of Gov. Galvez he borrowed $70,000 from the
Royal Treasury which was used to support Clark's troops in the west.
As demands grew he mortgaged his private property for $10,000 to
meet bills, and continued to redeem paper money at par until July,
1779, from all of which he suffered heavy losses. In 1783 he was made
United States Agent at Havana, and in 1784 he was imprisoned for
debts of *the United States amounting to $150,000. In 1785 he was re-
leased on parole and returned to the United States where in 1791 he
induced Congress to pay this debt, but it did not remunerate him. He
went back to Pennsylvania impoverished, and in 1800 was in the debtors
prison at Philadelphia. He managed to get another start, and in 1815
removed to Mississippi, where he died December 17, 1823.
Clark, himself, never succeeded in collecting what was due him from
Virginia, and long after his death his heirs had to go into court for the
division of over $25,000 that his administrator had finally recovered.
Moreover, in 1785, the hostile Indians having begun depredations on the
"Wabash, the Executive Committee of Virginia directed an invasion of
the Indian country by the Kentucky militia, but made no provision for
supplies. Clark was put in command. The question of supplies was
submitted to the Supreme Judges and Attorney General of Kentucky,
who gave a written opinion that the officers were authorized to impress
what was needed. On the return of the expedition, a council of the
Officers was held at Vincennes on October 8, and it was unanimously
decided that a garrison should be left at that place, to be supplied "by
impressment or otherwise, under the direction of a commissary, to be
appointed for that purpose." Captain John Holder was put in com-
mand, with 250 infantry and a company of artillery under Captain
Dalton. John Rice Jones was made Commissary, and duly impressed
goods of Bazadone, a Spanish merchant lately established at Vincennes.
The Executive Committee of Virginia repudiated the action, and the
parties whose goods were taken recovered from Clark in the courts.
Clark felt his treatment keenly. On May 11, 1792, he wrote to his
brother, "Why did they not do me the justice at first and enable me to
pay for, and take up, those accounts sooner. * * * I shall follow
your advice and present another memorial this fall am now making
preparations for it. If I meet with another rebuff I must rest contented
180 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
with it, be industrious, and look out further for my future bread." Ten
years later he wrote his brother again, "I have lost all prospect of get-
ting my just claims from Virginia. I content myself by viewing their
course with contempt. " 24 It has been questioned that Clark on receiving
a sword from Virginia, broke it, saying, "I asked Virginia for bread, and
she sent me a sword." He might truly have said: "I asked Virginia
to pay what she owed me, and she sent me a second-hand sword." 25
In 1812, when Clark was paralyzed and in poverty, Virginia sent him
another sword, and a pension of $400 a year. This at least showed an
increase of appreciation in thirty years.
Father Gibault, in addition to his personal services, gave an exam-
ple to his parishioners by accepting paper money to the amount of
$1,500 which became worthless. In addition to that, Archbishop Car-
roll appointed Rev. Peter Huet de la Valiniere his Vicar-General for
the Northwest, in the winter of 1787-8, and on receipt of a letter from
Gibault informing him that he had been Vicar-General of the Bishop
of Quebec for nineteen years, wrote to Mgr. Hubert, Bishop of Quebec
concerning jurisdiction of the Illinois country; and they settled it by
Hubert retaining Michigan, and Carroll taking Indiana and Illinois.
Gibault, thus dispossessed, retired, to Missouri, where he died in poverty
at New Madrid in 1804. He was allotted land as other residents of Vin-
cennes, but want caused him to sell his claim before the allotment was
made. He asked Governor St. Clair for five acres of land formerly held
by the parish priests of Kaskaskia, and St. Clair reported that the
claim was just, "but it was not for me to give away the lands of the
United States." This suggests one thing that Virginia and the United
States might have done. They could have paid these claimants in land.
There was plenty of that in the treasury.
But land was the chief prospective public asset, and the Virginia
authorities did not favor gifts of it. In March, 1780, writing to Todd
of the bad crops and the difficulty of maintaining Fort Jefferson, Clark
said: "our only Chance at present to save that Cuntrey is by Incour-
ageing the Families but I am sensible nothing but land will do it I should
be Exceedingly Cautious in doing anything that would displease govern-
ment but their present Interest in Many Respects obvious to us boath,
Call so loud for it that I think Sr that you Might even Venture to give
a Deed for Forty or fifty Thousand Acres of Land at Said place at the
price that government may demd for it." The French at Vincennes
had a more liberal view, and Todd had undertaken to sustain the paper
2 English's Conquest of the Northwest, pp. 789-90.
as Ibid., pp. 871-84.
"
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 181
money by redeeming it with land, 26 but his action was not sustained.
Todd went to Kentucky in the winter of 1780-1, and did not return. He
was killed at the battle of Blue Licks. At Vincennes the civil government
was continued by the militia commandant and the court Todd had estab-
lished. In June, 1781, the principal inhabitants of Vincennes sent a
memorial to the governor of Virginia setting forth substantially the same
grievance as in their memorial to Luzerne, but not so severe on the
Virginians. As no attention was paid to this or other complaints, they
proceeded to administer affairs as they deemed proper, including the grant
of lands. When asked by Winthrop Sargent for the source of their au-
thority to grant lands, the members of the Vincennes Court answered,
"that siqpe the establishment of the country the commandants have al-
ways appeared to be vested with powers to give lands. Their founder, M.
Vincennes, began to give concessions, and all his successors have given
lands and lots. M. Le Gras was appointed commandant of Post Vincennes
by the lieutenant of the county and commander-in-chief, John Todd, who
was in the year 1779 sent by the state of Virginia for to regulate the gov-
ernment of the country, and who substituted M. Le Gras with his power.
In his absence; M.Le Gras, who was then commandant, assumed that he
had in quality of commandant authority to give lands according to the
ancient usages of other commanders, and he verbally informed the court
of Post Vincennes, that when they should judge it proper to give lands
or lots to those who should come into the country to settle, or other-
wise, they might do it, and that he gave them permission so to do. These
are the reasons that we acted on. ' ' The grants were expressly based on
"the absolute necessity, not only to the City of Vincennes but to the
whole country, that the lands hereabouts should be settled" and "the
great quantity of land uncultivated, which has never been settled";
and followed the old feudal form of the grantee's "submitting to all
regulations made between a potentate and subject. ' ' These grants were
not recognized by the United States, but if force had been given to the
provision of the Virginia law that the government should be "agreeable
to the laws which the present settlers are now accustomed to, ' ' the grants
should have been sustained, in the absence of evidence of fraud, which
there was in some cases. The incongruity of the action, which has often
been the subject of comment, is due more to the difficulty of reconciling
British and American customs with French customs than to any serious
impropriety in the power of granting itself.
20 111. Hist. Coll., Vol. 8, p. cvi.
CHAPTER V
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY
The inadequacy of the national government, both before and under
the Articles of Confederation, was very impressive while the Revolu-
tionary War lasted, but it became even more dangerous when peace
came. Notwithstanding their jealousies and dissensions, the colonies
could not afford to fight among themselves while they were engaged
with the common enemy; but when it came to apportioning the fruits
of victory this restraint was gone. Fortunately the lessons of the war
were too fresh to be forgotten ; but even with these in mind, it remains
cause for wonder that the colonies worked their way into "a more per-
fect union. ' ' One of the chief sources of friction was the public owner-
ship of the western lands, which rested primarily on the royal charters,
but, fortunately again, this was substantially disposed of before the
war ended. Virginia's charter had come first, with a specific grant in
1609 of 200 miles north and 200 miles south from Old Point Comfort
along the Atlantic coast, and "from Sea to Sea West and Northwest."
Although this grant was cut into by subsequent grants of Maryland,
the Carolinas, Delaware and Pennsylvania, and was judicially vacated
in 1624, Virginia adhered to it in her claim for western lands, which she
fortified by Clark's conquest, and her actual occupation. The grant
of the Carolinas was also ' ' from sea to sea, ' ' and so were those of Mas-
sachusetts and Connecticut, which were later divided by the grant of
New York; and New York incidentally claimed everything that the
Iroquois had claimed. So far as paper titles were concerned, the juris-
diction of the western lands was in hopeless confusion. 1
The matter was further complicated by private claims, for while
the British government had prohibited invasion of the Indian lands,
it had recognized some purchases from the Indians by private parties.
For fuller discussion of this conflict of charters see Hinsdale's Old North-
west, pp. 70-146. This valuable work was singularly contemporaneous with my
Indiana, in the American Commonwealth Series, Prof. Hinsdale's introduction be-
ing dated March 1, 1888, and mine March 14, 1888; and the books going through
the press at the same time. They cover largely the same subjects, but his atten-
tion centered on some phases and mine on others.
182
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 183
Moreover enterprising pioneers had gone into the Indian lands, and
settled in defiance of royal orders, and in some cases they had been
backed by the colonies. Among the principal causes for which George
Rogers Clark and Gabriel Jones were sent as delegates from Kentucky
to Virginia in 1776, were the conflicts with royal authority and with
the claims of the proprietors of the Henderson grant from the.Chero-
kees, as to which their petition says : ' ' And as we further conceive, that
as the Proclamation of his Majesty for not settling on the western parts
of this Colony, is not founded upon law, it cannot have any force, and
if we su'bmit to that Proclamation, and continue not to lay off new
counties on the frontiers that they may send representatives to the
Convention, it is leaving an opening to the wicked and diabolical de-
signs of* the Ministry, as then this immense and fertile country would
afford an asylum to those whose principles are inimical to American
Liberty. * * * And we cannot but observe how impolitic it would
be to suffer such a respectable body of prime riflemen to remain even
in a state of neutrality, when at this time a certain set of men from
North Carolina, stiling themselves Proprietors, & claiming an absolute
right to these very lands, taking upon themselves the Legislative au-
thority, commissioning officers both civil and military, having also
opened a Land Office, Surveyors General & deputies appointed and act,
conveyances made, and land sold at an exhorbitant price, with many
other unconstitutional practices, tending to disturb the minds of those
who are well-disposed to the wholesome Government of Virginia, and
creating factions and divisions amongst ourselves, as we have not hither-
to been represented in Convention." 2
All of these claims were brought before Congress 1 by petition or reso-
lution, for although Congress had no power to coerce a state, each of
the states wanted its claims recognized by the general government, and
by the other states. Almost from the first, Maryland insisted that
Congress be given absolute power over the matter. On October 15, a
month before the Articles of Confederation were proposed to the states
for ratification, it was moved "that the United States in Congress as-
sembled, shall have the sole and exclusive right and power to ascertain
and fix the western boundary of such States as claim to the Mississippi
or South Sea, and lay out the land beyond the boundary, so ascertained,
into separate and independent States, from time to time, as the num-
bers and circumstances of the people may require"; and Maryland was
the only state that voted in the affirmative. Thereafter Maryland stead-
2 The ordinary legislature of Virginia was called ' ' the Convention, ' ' and numer-
ous writers have been misled as to its character on this account.
COLONIAL CHARTER CLAIMS
.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 185
ily refused to join in the Articles of Confederation until satisfactory
assurance was given as to the western lands, and did not join until
March 1, 1781, two years after all the other states had joined, and when
a satisfactory solution of the land question appeared to be in sight. As
the subject was considered, the necessity for a compromise which in-
volved a surrender of most of the western lands to the Confederation
gradually grew plainer. On February 19, 1780, New York led the way
by authorizing her delegates in Congress to make either a full or a re-
stricted cession of her claims to the national government. On Septem-
ber 6, of the same year, Congress adopted a report and resolution
recommending the states that had claims to make "a liberal surrender
of a portion of their territorial claims, since they cannot be preserved
entire without endangering the stability of the general confederacy."
On October 10, Connecticut offered to surrender the title to her western
lands, provided she retained jurisdiction over them; but on the same
day Congress precluded this by a resolution that the ceded lands should
be formed into free and independent states, which should be received
into the union as the original states. It also included in this a provision,
evidently intended as an inducement to Virginia, that Congress would
reimburse any state for expenses incurred since the beginning of the
war in subduing or defending her western lands. On January 2, 1781,
Virginia agreed to cede her lands northwest of the Ohio, on eight con-
ditions, one of which was that her lands south and east of the Ohio
should be confirmed to her ; and another was that no private purchases
from the Indians, or claims inconsistent with Virginia's charter rights
should be recognized.
These provisions were rejected 'by Congress after long consideration,
or rather by the committee to which it was referred, for the report was
never acted on, though the ground was substantially covered by the re-
port of another committee on September 13, 1783, which was adopted.
Virginia then, on October 10, authorized the cession of ' ' the territory or
tract of country within the limits of the Virginia charter, situate, lying
and being to the north-west of the river Ohio." The deed made in
pursuance of this act of Virginia, executed on March 1, 1784, became
the first basic law of Indiana as to the conditions imposed by Virginia
and accepted by Congress, for although Virginia's title to the lands
was questioned, her actual dominion at the time was unquestioned and
unquestionable. The Virginia cession was "upon condition that the
territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed into States, containing
a suitable extent of territory, not less than one hundred, nor more than
one hundred and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances
will admit: and that the States so formed shall be distinct republican
COLONIAL CHARTER CLAIMS
.
.
INDIANA AND 1NDIANANS
185
ily refused to join in the Articles of Confederation until satisfactory
assurance was given as to the western lands, and did not join until
March 1, 1781, two years after all the other states had joined, and when
a satisfactory solution of the land question appeared to be in sight. As
the subject was considered, the necessity for a compromise which in-
volved a surrender of most of the western lands to the Confederation
gradually grew plainer. On February 19, 1780, New York led the way
by authorizing her delegates in Congress to make either a full or a re-
stricted cession of her claims to the national government. On Septem-
ber 6, of the same year, Congress adopted a report and resolution
recommending the states that had claims to make "a liberal surrender
of a portion of their territorial claims, since they cannot be preserved
entire wfthout endangering the stability of the general confederacy."
On October 10, Connecticut offered to surrender the title to her western
lands, provided she retained jurisdiction over them ; but on the same
day Congress precluded this by a resolution that the ceded lands should
be formed into free and independent states, which should be received
into the union as the original states. It also included in this a provision,
evidently intended as an inducement to Virginia, that Congress would
reimburse any state for expenses incurred since the beginning of the
war in subduing or defending her western lands. On January 2. 1781,
Virginia agreed to cede her lands northwest of the Ohio, on eight con-
ditions, one of which was that her lands sx>uth and east of the Ohio
should be confirmed to her ; and another was that no private purchases
from the Indians, or claims inconsistent with Virginia's charter rights
should be recognized.
These provisions were rejected 'by Congress after long consideration,
or rather by the committee to which it was referred, for the report was
never acted on, though the ground was substantially covered by the re-
port of another committee on September 13, 1783, which was adopted.
Virginia then, on October 10, authorized the cession of "the territory or
tract of country within the limits of the Virginia charter, situate, lying
and being to the north-west of the river Ohio." The deed made in
p \irsuance of this act of Virginia, executed on March 1, 1784, became
the first basic law of Indiana as to the conditions imposed by Virginia
and accepted by Congress, for although Virginia's title to the lands
was questioned, her actual dominion at the time was unquestioned and
unquestionable. The Virginia cession was "upon condition that the
territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed into States, containing
a suitable extent of territory, not less than one hundred, nor more than
one hundred and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances
will admit: and that the States so formed shall be distinct republican
186 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
States, and admitted members of the Federal Union; having the same
rights of sovereignty, freedom, and independence, as the other States.
"That the necessary and reasonable expenses incurred by this State,
in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts and garrisons
within, and for the defense, or in acquiring any part of, the territory
so ceded or relinquished, shall be fully reimbursed by the United States :
and that one commissioner shall be appointed by Congress, one by this
Commonwealth, and another by those two commissioners, who, or a
majority of them, shall be authorized and empowered to adjust and
liquidate the account of the necessary and reasonable expenses incurred
by this State, which they shall judge to be comprised within the intent
and meaning of the act of Congress, of the tenth of October, one thou-
sand seven hundred and eighty, respecting such expenses. That the
French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskia,
St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have professed them-
selves citizens of Virginia, shall have their possessions and titles con-
firmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and
liberties. That a quantity not exceeding one hundred and fifty thou-
sand acres of land, promised by this State, shall be allowed and granted
to the then colonel, now General George Rogers Clark, and to the offi-
cers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with him when the posts
of Kaskaskia and St. Vincents were reduced, and to the officers and
soldiers that have been since incorporated into the said regiment, to be
laid off in one tract the length of which not to exceed double the breadth,
in such place, on the northwest side of the Ohio, as a majority of the
officers shall choose, and to be afterwards divided among said officers
and soldiers in due proportion, according to the laws of Virginia. That
in case the quantity of good land on the southeast side of the Ohio,
upon the waters of Cumberland River, and between the Green River
and Tennessee River, which have been reserved by law for the Virginia
troops, upon continental establishment, should, from the North Carolina
line bearing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was expected,
prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the deficiency should be
made up to the said troops, in good lands, to be laid off between the
rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the northwest side of the river Ohio,
in such proportions as have been engaged to them by the laws of Vir-
ginia. That all the lands within the territory so ceded to the United
States, and not reserved for, or appropriated to, any of the before-men-
tioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers
of the American army, shall be considered as a common fund for the
use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall be-
come, members of the -Confederation or federal alliance of the said
States, Virginia inclusive, according to their usual respective proportions
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 187
in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and bona
fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose
whatsoever."
This made the way open for preparation for government in the west,
for the private land claims had been disposed of by the report of No-
vember 3, 1781, although it was not adopted. That of the Indiana Com-
pany for some 3,500,000 acres in what is now West Virginia, that had
been granted by the Indians, at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1768, to
Samuel Wharton, William Trent, George Morgan, and others, Indian
traders, in compensation for goods destroyed in the late war, was held
good, as made in accordance with the laws and customs of Virginia and
New Yorjt at the time. This tract was later included in the recognized
bounds of Virginia, and left to be disposed of by it. The Vandalia
Company's claim was also southeast of the Ohio. It was a company
organized chiefly through the influence of Benjamin Franklin, who had
been advocating a western colony from before the French and Indian
War, and had united with the old Ohio Company, of the Lees, Wash-
ingtons and other Virginians. They had secured Walpole, a London
banker as president, and had secured a grant of 2,400,000 acres for
which patents were about to be issued when the war came on. The com-
mittee decided against this claim, but said that the proprietors ought
to be reimbursed for their expenses and any payments made. The
other two companies claimed lands northwest of the Ohio, and were
both in conflict with the Iroquois conquest claims. The Illinois Com-
pany, composed of traders at Kaskaskia, in 1773, through Louis Viviat,
purchased from several Indian chiefs a large tract on the Illinois river,
but the committee found that the land described in the deed "begins
on the north side of the Illinois river, and contains only a number of
lines without comprehending any land whatever." The Wabash Land
Company was the only one whose claim affected what is now Indiana.
In 1742 the Indians had granted to the French at Vincennes the lands
along the Wabash from the mouth of White River to Pointe Coupee, a
distance of about seventy-five miles, and of equal width. In 1775, the
Wabash Land Company, of which Qov. Dunmore was a stockholder,
bought from the Piankeshaw Indians all the lands along the Wabash,
outside of this former Vincennes grant, from the mouth of the river to
the mouth of Wildcat Creek, in breadth ninety miles to the west of the
river, and one hundred and twenty miles to the east. The consideration
for this tract of between thirty-five and forty millions of acres was a
few hundred dollars worth of goods. Both of these claims were held
void, and they continued to be so held, although efforts were made to
have them confirmed until 1810.
On March 1, 1784, the same day on which he signed the Virginia
188
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
deed of cession, Thomas Jefferson reported from his committee an ordi-
nance "for the temporary government of the Western Territory." It
provided for making ten states of the "territory ceded or to be ceded,"
lying west and north of the Ohio, divided by parallels of latitude and
longitude. The parallels of longitude were to be drawn north from the
mouth of the Great Kanawha and from the falls of the Ohio to latitude
43 N. ; and the parallels of latitude were the ones with odd numbers,
JEFFERSON 's PROPOSED STATES IN NORTHWEST TERRITORY
commencing with parallel 45 at the North. The same system was to
be used on the south side of the Ohio, down to parallel 31 ; but the Ohio
was to be substituted for parallel 37 as a boundary. The region north
of the Ohio and east of the Kanawha was to be one state, named Wash-
ington. That north of parallel 45 and west of the lakes, was to be one
state called Sylvania. North of parallel 43 the east state was Cherson-
esus, and west state Michigania. From 43 to 41 the east state was
Mesopotamia and the west state Assenisipia. From 41 to 39 the east
state was Saratoga and the west state Illinoia. Between parallel 39 and
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 189
the Ohio River the east state was Pelisipia and the west state Polypotamia.
Indiana would therefore have been divided between the six states last
named. 3 This ordinance was recommitted and amended, and finally
adopted on April 23, 1784. The amendments took out these names, but
left the ten divisions. They also took out Mr. Jefferson's two pet pro-
visions, viz. that none of the new states shall admit any ' ' person to be a
citizen who holds any hereditary title ' ' ; and the following : ' ' That after
the year 1800 of the Christian era there shall be neither slavery nor in-
voluntary servitude in any of the said states otherwise than in punish-
ment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have
been personally guilty. ' ' This provision, extending to all the western ter-
ritory, north and south, was the broadest anti-slavery proposal offered
by any *of our Revolutionary forefathers, and it was lost by only one
vote, one of the members from New Jersey being sick, and absent. On
April 25 Mr. Jefferson wrote to Madison expressing his chagrin at the
loss of this slavery provision, and especially that Virginia had voted
against it, owing to the sickness and absence of Monroe. Two years
later he wrote: "The voice of a single individual would have prevented
this abominable crime from spreading itself over the new country. Thus
we see the fate of millions unborn hanging on the tongue of one man,
and Heaven was silent in that awful moment! But it is to be hoped
it will not always be silent; and the friends to the rights of human
nature will iii the end prevail." 4
As adopted, this ordinance did not provide any temporary govern-
ment, and did not take effect until Congress offered the lands for sale. It
provided that the settlers might, on permission from Congress, adopt
the constitution and laws of any of the original states ; and in the mean-
time Congress might adopt "measures not inconsistent with the prin-
ciples of the confederation, and necessary for the preservation of peace
and good order among the settlers. ' ' When a new state had 20,000 free
inhabitants it might adopt a constitution of its own, but it could not be
admitted to the United States until it had as many free inhabitants as
"the least numerous of the thirteen original States." It is of course
to be remembered that the only people at that time who had any legal
rights within the northwest territory were those of the French settle-
ment, whose "rights and liberties" had been preserved by the Virginia
deed of cession. This ordinance remained in force until 1787, but was
amended from time to time. At the time of its passage there was another
s The purported maps of this proposed division are often sadly confused ; and
some locate the western meridian from the mouth of the Wabash, instead of the
Falls of the Ohio.
* Jefferson's Works, ir, p. 276. ".-?_.
190
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
man who was as indignant as Jefferson over the rejection of the anti-
slavery clause. This was Colonel Timothy Pickering, a Revolutionary
soldier, who in the spring of 1783 had joined an organization of officers
who were preparing for a settlement in the western country in such
numbers as to anticipate the formation of a new state. The proposals
for the company were drawn up by Pickering, and one of them was:
"The total exclusion of slavery from the State to form an essential and
irrevocable part of the Constitution." The movement was delayed by
the withholding of the cessions by the states, but Pickering kept watch
of Congress, which had taken up the survey and sale of the western
lands after the Virginia cession. On March 8, 1785, he wrote twice to
Rufus King, a delegate to Congress from Massachusetts, expressing his
regret over the failure of the anti-slavery clause. In the second letter
he said: "In looking over the Act of Congress of the 23d of April last,
and the present report of an ordinance, relative to these lands, I observe
there is no provision made for ministers of the gospel, nor even for
schools and academies. The latter might have been brought into view;
though after the admission of SLAVERY, it was right to say nothing
of Christianity. * * * What pretence (argument there could be
none) could be offered for its rejection ? I should, indeed, have objected
to the period proposed (the year 1800) for the exclusion of slavery; for
the admission of it for a day or an hour ought to have been forbidden.
It will be infinitely easier to prevent the evil at first than to eradicate
or check it at any future time. * * * To suffer the continuance of
slaves till they can be gradually emancipated, in States already over-
run with them, may be pardonable, because unavoidable without hazard-
ing greater evils ; but to introduce them into countries where none now
exist countries which have been talked of, which we have boasted of,
as asylums to the oppressed of the earth can never be forgiven. For
God's sake, then, let one more effort be made to prevent so terrible a
calamity." On receipt of this, on March 16, Mr. King offered a resolu-
tion for the prohibition of slavery, with no time limit, the same to be
an article of compact ; and this was committed by the vote of Maryland
and seven northern states. On April 6 it was reported, but as it now
came to men who knew of the existence of slavery among the French
settlers, whose rights had been guaranteed, the 1800 time limit was
added, and also a fugitive slave clause. No action was taken on the
report.
On May 7, 1784, Mr. Jefferson had reported an ordinance for the
survey and sale of the public lands, which introduced the rectangular
system, all the surveying in the colonies up to that time having been in
irregular tracts, except twenty thousand acres in Georgia, which had been
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 191
divided into fifty acre lots. Jefferson's townships were to be ten miles
square, and to be subdivided into sections one mile square. On May 3,
1785, on motion of Grayson of Virginia, seconded by Monroe, the town-
ships were made six miles square, and on May 20 the ordinance was
passed. It provided for the survey and sale of seven ranges west of
what is now the eastern boundary line of Ohio, under direction of "the
geographer of the United States," who was to "personally attend to the
running of the first east and west line." This line was duly run from
the point where the east boundary line of Ohio crosses the Ohio river, and
became known as "the Geographers line." The Geographer was
Thomas Hutchins, who was the authority on the western country at
that time. He was born at Monmouth, N. J., in 1730, and entered the
British army before sixteen years of age, he became an engineer, and
later was commissioned Captain in the 60th Royal American Regiment.
He served in Bouquet's expedition, at Fort Pitt, and elsewhere in the
"West. In 1768-70 his headquarters were at Fort Chartres. In 1779,
while at London he was arrested on suspicion of American sympathies
and imprisoned for six weeks. He escaped to France, where Benjamin
Franklin gave him a letter of introduction to the president of Congress,
with which he made his way to Charleston. On May 4, 1781, he was
made Geographer of the Southern Army by Congress, the Geographer
of the Main Army being Simeon DeWitt. On July 11, 1781, Congress
made the title of both of these officials Geographer of the United States,
but in 1784 DeWittt became Surveyor General of New York, and Hutch-
ins was left "the Geographer." He was evidently in close touch with
this land act, and on May 27 was continued in office for three years,
and re-elected on May 26, 1788. He died at Pittsburg, April 28, 1789.
Col. Whittlesey has established fairly that Hutchins originated the
township and section system of surveys that has since been followed in
the United States. 5
Gen. Benjamin Tupper, an associate of Pickering, Gen. Rufus Put-
nam and others in the settlement project, came west to aid in the survey,
but it was prevented in 1785 by the hostility of the Indians. In the fall
of 1785, Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons, another associate, was appointed
with George Rogers Clark and Col. Richard Butler to treat with the
Indians. They secured the release of the lands in southern Ohio without
much objection except from the Shawnees, whose towns were in the
district desired. But they were there by sufferance of the other tribes,
and were practically given the choice of removal or war, so they accepted
s Hicks' edition of Hutchins' Topographical Survey; Hinsdale's Old North-
west, p. 262; Tracts 57 and 71, Western Reserve Hist. Soc.
192 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
lands between the Wabash and upper part of the Big Miami. The sur-
veys were made in 1786. On January 10, Tupper reached Rutland,
Mass., the home of Putnam, and they called a meeting for March 1, of
the Ohio Company at the Bunch-of-Grapes Tavern in Boston. The
Company had 1,000 shares of $1,000 each, of which $10 was paid in coin
on each share, and the balance in Continental certificates. Parsons,
Putnam, and Dr. Manasseh Cutler were appointed to purchase the lands
from Congress, and Parsons went to New York and presented their pro-
posal on May 9. From May 12 to July 4 Congress had no quorum ; and
V< _*.<>' j^ <2^^,>^
-^yJ *- V.'- jf/*~ ' _//V*. >'ifft< * J */
/{^fa t 4i j^flr&t m^A'ff ' ' -'/jLt.* ' <T& ' /
K*y. ^*&^^^ vi -^^^ J J^iti^t*
^:^^^^^^^^^^ : ^- /.^ f ..-
.,, .- y ^--- ,"
i&^'XJM&tjL-
SIXTH ARTICLE OP THE ORDINANCE OP 1787
(In the Handwriting of Nathan Dane)
Parsons went home, and turned the purchase over to Dr. Cutler, who
reached New York on July 5. On July 9 the ordinance for the govern-
ment of the northwest territory was referred to a new committee, with
Dane and Smith of the old committee, and Edward Carrington and
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, and John Kean of South Carolina as
new members. Up to this time the ordinance considered was a mere
outline of temporary government, commonly known as Monroe's plan.
It was submitted to Cutler, who suggested some amendments, and then
went on to Philadelphia, and did not return until the 17th. The new
ordinance was reported on the llth and passed on the 13th by a vote of
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 193
all the members present except Abraham Yates of New York. Thus, the
celebrated Ordinance of 1787, was framed and passed in four days, but
of matter that had been under consideration for four years. The first
and fullest history of its passage is in a letter of Nathan Dane to Rufus
King, on July 16, 1787, in which he says:
"We have been much engaged in business for ten or twelve days
past, for a part of which we have had eight states. There appears to be
a disposition to do business, and the arrival of R. H. Lee is of consider-
able importance. I think his character serves, at least in some degree, to
check the effects of the feeble habits and lax mode of thinking of some
of his countrymen. We have been employed about several objects the
principal of which have been the Government inclosed (the Ordinance)
and the t)hio purchase ; the former you will see, is completed, and the
latter will probably be completed to-morrow. We tried one day to patch
up M(onroe)s system of W. government started new ideas and com-
mitted the whole to Carrington, Dane, R. H. Lee, Smith and Kean. We
met several times, and at last agreed on some principles at least Lee,
Smith and myself. We found ourselves rather pressed. The Ohio com-
pany appeared to purchase a large tract of federal lands about six or
seven millions of acres and we wanted to abolish the old system and get
a better one for the government of the country, and we finally found it
necessary to adopt the best system we could get. All agreed finally to
the enclosed plan, except A. Yates. He appeared in this case, as in most
others, not to understand the subject at all. * * * When I drew the
ordinance (which passed, a few words excepted, as I originally formed
it) I had no idea the States would agree to the sixth article, prohibiting
slavery, as only Massachusetts, of the Eastern States, was present, and
therefore omitted it in the draft; but finding the House favorably dis-
posed on this subject, after we had completed the other parts, I moved
the article which was agreed to without opposition."
That Dane drafted the ordinance and introduced the slavery section
is unquestioned. He stated elsewhere that he did not claim originality
except as to the provision against impairing the obligation of contracts,
fair treatment to the Indians, and minor matters. 6 The system of tem-
porary government by the Governor and Judges, with gradual advance
is Monroe's plan. The Articles of Compact, which are the constitutional
features that give the Ordinance its greatest merit, are a revival of
Jefferson's original idea, but much enlarged. All of his articles are
included in the fourth article of the Ordinance of 1787, together with one
e Dane's Abridgement, Vol. 7, pp. 389-90; Proceedings Mass. Hist. Soc. 1867-9,
p. 479; Ind. Hist. Soc. Pubs., Vol. 1, Letter to Faroham.
Vol. I II
192
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
lands between the Wabash and upper part of the Big Miami. The sur-
veys were made in 1786. On January 10, Tupper reached Rutland,
Mass., the home of Putnam, and they called a meeting for March 1, of
the Ohio Company at the Bunch-of-Grapes Tavern in Boston. The
Company had 1,000 shares of $1,000 each, of which $10 was paid in coin
on each share, and the balance in Continental certificates. Parsons,
Putnam, and Dr. Manasseh Cutler were appointed to purchase the lands
from Congress, and Parsons went to New York and presented their pro-
posal on May 9. From May 12 to July 4 Congress had no quorum ; and
ARTICLE OP THE ORDIXAXCE OF 17S7
(In the Handwriting of Nathan Dane)
Parsons went home, and turned the purchase over to Dr. Cutler, who
reached New York on July 5. On July 9 the ordinance for the govern-
ment of the northwest territory was referred to a new committee, with
Dane and Smith of the old committee, and Edward Carrington and
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, and John Kean of South Carolina as
new members. Up to this time the ordinance considered was a mere
outline of temporary government, commonly known as Monroe's plan.
It was submitted to Cutler, who suggested some amendments, and then
went on to Philadelphia, and did not return until the 17th. The new
ordinance was reported on the llth and passed on the 13th by a vote of
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS
all the members present except Abraham Yates of New York. Thus, the
celebrated Ordinance of 1787, was framed and passed in four days, but
of matter that had been under consideration for four years. The first
and fullest history of its passage is in a letter of Nathan Dane to Rufus
King, on July 16, 1787, in which he says:
"We have been much engaged in business for ten or twelve days
past, for a part of which we have had eight states. There appears to be
a disposition to do business, and the arrival of R. H. Lee is of consider-
able importance. I think his character serves, at least in some degree, to
check the effects of the feeble habits and lax mode of thinking of some
of his countrymen. \Ve have been employed about several objects the
principal of which have been the Government inclosed (the Ordinance)
and the Ohio purchase ; the former you will see, is completed, and the
latter will probably be completed to-morrow. We tried one day to patch
up M(onroe)s system of W. government started new ideas and com-
mitted the whole to Carrington, Dane, R. H. Lee, Smith and Kean. We
met several times, and at last agreed on some principles at least Lee,
Smith and myself. We found ourselves rather pressed. The Ohio com-
pany appeared to purchase a large tract of federal lands about six or
seven millions of acres and we wanted to abolish the old system and get
a better one for the government of the country, and we finally found it
necessary to adopt the best system we could get. All agreed finally to
the enclosed plan, except A. Yates. He appeared in this case, as in most
others, not to understand the subject at all. * * * When I drew the
ordinance (which passed, a few words excepted, as I originally formed
it) I had no idea the States would agree to the sixth article, prohibiting
slavery, as only Massachusetts, of the Eastern States, was present, and
therefore omitted it in the draft; but finding the House favorably dis-
posed on this subject, after we had completed the other parts, I moved
the article which was agreed to without opposition."
That Dane drafted the ordinance and introduced the slavery section
is unquestioned. He stated elsewhere that he did not claim originality
except as to the provision against impairing the obligation of contracts,
fair treatment to the Indians, and minor matters. 6 The system of tem-
porary government by the Governor and Judges, with gradual advance
is Monroe 's plan. The Articles of Compact, which are the constitutional
features that give the Ordinance its greatest merit, are a revival of
Jefferson's original idea, but much enlarged. All of his articles are
included in the fourth article of the Ordinance of 1787, together with one
Dane 's Abridgement, Vol. 7, pp. 389-90 ; Proceedings Mass. Hist. Soc. 1867-9,
p. 479; Ind. Hist. Soc. Pubs., Vol. 1, Letter to Farnham.
Vol. I IS
194 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
other that will probably prove of more importance than all the rest, if
the people of the region are awake to their public interests. It is this :
"The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence,
and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways,
and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the
citizens of the United States, and those of any other States that may be
admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty there-
for." This had been adopted as an amendment on May 12, 1786, on
motion of Grayson, seconded by King. 7 The fifth article was also pro-
posed by Grayson on July 7, 1786, and Virginia was requested to modify
her deed of cession to allow the reduction in the number of states. 8 The
third article was probably due to a suggestion from Cutler, though the
land ordinance of 1785 had provided for the reservation of section 16 in
each township "for the maintenance of public schools." The first and
second articles are probably due to Lee, as they are in line with his
special ideas, and are entirely new to the work on the ordinance. Of all
the men connected with the Ordinance, his influence in the recasting of
it has probably been most underrated. He was easily the ablest man on
the committee. He was the only new member who took an active interest
in the work. In seeking the man who "started new ideas," as Dane puts
it, this man who moved the Declaration of Independence, and who first
pronounced Washington "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts
of his countrymen, ' ' is not to be overlooked. Writing to Washington on
July 15, and inclosing a copy of the Ordinance, Lee says: "It seemed
necessary, for the security of property among uninformed, and, perhaps,
licentious people, as the greater part of those who go there are, that a
strong-toned Government should exist, and the rights of property be
clearly defined."
With the Ordinance adopted, it took Cutler ten days to make his
purchase, and when he got through, he had purchased 1,500,000 acres
for the Ohio Company, and 3,500,000 acres "for a private speculation,
in which many of the principal characters of America are concerned";
and had pledged himself to Gen. St. Glair for Governor, Winthrop
Sargent for Secretary, and Parsons for first judge. On the advice of
Tupper and Geographer Hutchins, the Ohio Company lands were located
on the Muskingum, but on account of failure of payment, only 1,064,285
acres were patented to it. No time was lost in beginning the settlement.
On December 3, 1787, two hours before day, the first company of pioneers
assembled at Dr. Cutler's house at Ipswich, in the northeast corner of
7 Journal, Vol. 4, p. 637.
s Journal, Vol. 4, p. 662-3.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
195
Massachusetts, for the start. Probably no body of emigrants started out
so impressed with the idea that they were going to found a state at
points one might almost think they were staging a pageant. After lis-
tening to a discourse from Cutler, and firing a salvo of three volleys,
they started off on foot, preceded by a wagon covered with black canvas,
on which Cutler himself had put, in white letters, "FoR THE OHIO."
The party, under command of Major Haffield White, made its way
slowly through Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania
to the mouth of the Youghiogheny, where they were joined on February
14 by a second party from Connecticut, under Gen. Rufus Putnam.
START OF FIRST OHIO COMPANY COLONY FROM IPSWICH, DEC. 3, 1787
(From an old cut)
Here they stopped to build boats, and started down the river on April 1,
the fleet consisting, according to Putnam, of "the Union galley of forty-
five tons burden," "the Adelphia Ferry-boat, burden three tons" and
"three log canoes of different sizes." On April 7, Gen. Putnam stepped
ashore at the mouth of the Muskingum, followed by his forty-seven com-
rades, to begin the building of the new capital of Northwest Territory.
They made a large stockade, which, as classical scholars, they called The
Campus Martius ; and as good Federalists, which they were, they called
the new town Marietta, for Marie Antoinette. So came to the west the
new influence which dominated Indiana for the next twelve years.
There was no immediate effect on Indiana. Gov. St. Clair did not
arrive until July 9, when he was received at Marietta with civic and
196 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
military honors, Fort Harmar being located at that place. His formal
"entry" was on the 15th, when addresses were delivered at "the bower";
and on September 2 the Judges were inaugurated with still more im-
pressive ceremonies. Winthrop Sargent, the Secretary, accompanied the
Governor. The Judges who qualified were Samuel Holden Parsons,
James Mitchell Varnum, and John Cleves Symmes. On July 27 Gov.
St. Glair proclaimed the organization of Washington County, embracing
all of Ohio east of the Scioto, and this was the only county organized
until 1790. From August to December the Governor and Judges adopted
a number of civil and penal laws, in which they ignored the Ordinance
so carefully prepared for them. It authorized only their adoption of
laws from some of the states of the Union, but these were not found con-
venient, and so the Judges made laws to suit themselves, the Governor
remonstrating. Congress neither approved nor condemned the laws, and
so they were enforced in Washington County. With the adoption of the
new constitution of the United States, the appointments expired ; and on
August 20, 1789, all of these officials were reappointed except that Judge
Varnum was replaced by George Turner. Judge Parsons was drowned in
1789, and in March, 1790, Bufus Putnam was appointed in his place.
Putnam resigned in 1796 to accept the office of Surveyor General, and
Joseph Gillman was appointed in his stead. Judge Turner was the next
to resign, and his place was filled by Return Jonathan Meigs in February,
1798. Some of these earliest laws seem odd now. The militia were re-
quired to parade, armed and accoutred, on Sunday mornings at 10 o'clock,
adjacent to the places "assigned for worship." Pillories, stocks and
whipping posts were provided for, and were actually used for both men
and women. Disobedient children and servants were to be confined until
"they shall humble themselves to the said parent's or master's satisfac-
tion." Imprisonment for debt was provided, and, for debts of less than
$5, it could be inflicted by justices of the peace, with no appeal. Drunken-
ness was finable fifty cents for the first offense, and a dollar thereafter.
Profanity was not penalized, but the law admonished all to abstain from
and discourage it, to "prevent the necessity of adopting and publishing
laws upon this head." Marriage was required to be preceded by publish-
ing the banns for three Sundays at worship, or posting notice under the
hand and seal of a judge in some public place, or special license from the
governor.
But while Washington County was thus launched on a New England
basis, the rest of the Territory got along as it could. Judge Symmes had
purchased a large tract between the two Miamis, and in November, 1788,
a party under Major Benjamin Stites founded the town of Columbia at
the mouth of the Little Miami. On December 24, 1788, a party under
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
197
Matthias Denman located at Cincinnati, which they called Losantiville
i.e., L(icking) os (mouth) anti( opposite) ville(town). A third party, un- '
der Judge Symmes, located at North Bend in February, 1789. The people
of these settlements formed a committee of safety, appointed Mr. McMillan
judge and John Ludlow sheriff, and proceeded to enforce justice by giving
one man twenty-nine lashes for robbing a truck-patch, and similar cor-
rective acts. They got into a row with the military authorities, however,
' ' CAMPUS M ARTIUS ' '
( Ohio Company 's fort at Marietta from drawing by
Gen. Rufus Putnam)
and the situation was happily relieved by the organization of a court by
the Territorial authorities. 9 Vincennes had returned to its golden age of
military rule. On April 24, 1787, on a report from the Secretary of War
on a letter from Major Wyllys, Congress had resolved : ' ' That the secre-
tary of war direct the commanding officer of the troops of the United
States on the Ohio, to take immediate and efficient measures for disposing
a body of men, who have, in a lawless and unauthorized manner, taken
Burnet's Notes, p. 57.
196
IXDIAN 7 A AND INDIANANS
military honors, Fort Harmar being located at that place. His formal
' ' entry ' ' was on the 15th, when addresses were delivered at ' ' the bower ' ' ;
and on September 2 the Judges were inaugurated with still more im-
pressive ceremonies. Winthrop Sargent, the Secretary, accompanied the
Governor. The Judges who qualified were Samuel Holden Parsons,
James Mitchell Varnum, and John Cleves Symmes. On July 27 Gov.
St. Glair proclaimed the organization of Washington County, embracing
all of Ohio east of the Scioto, and this was the only county organized
until 1790. From August to December the Governor and Judges adopted
a number of civil and penal laws, in which they ignored the Ordinance
so carefully prepared for them. It authorized only their adoption of
laws from some of the states of the Union, but these were not found con-
venient, and so the Judges made laws to suit themselves, the Governor
remonstrating. Congress neither approved nor condemned the laws, and
so they were enforced in Washington County. With the adoption of the
new constitution of the United States, the appointments expired ; and on
August 20, 1789, all of these officials were reappointed except that Judge
Varnum was replaced by George Turner. Judge Parsons was drowned in
1789, and in March, 1790, Rufus Putnam was appointed in his place.
Putnam resigned in 1796 to accept the office of Surveyor General, and
Joseph Gillman was appointed in his stead. Judge Turner was the next
to resign, and his place was filled by Return Jonathan Meigs in February,
3798. Some of these earliest laws seem odd now. The militia were re-
quired to parade, armed and accoutred, on Sunday mornings at 10 o 'clock,
adjacent to the places "assigned for worship." Pillories, stocks and
whipping posts were provided for, and were actually used for both men
and women. Disobedient children and servants were to be confined until
"they shall humble themselves to the said parent's or master's satisfac-
tion. ' ' Imprisonment for debt was provided, and, for debts of less than
$5, it could be inflicted by justices of the peace, with no appeal. Drunken-
ness was finable fifty cents for the first offense, and a dollar thereafter.
Profanity was not penalized, but the law admonished all to abstain from
and discourage it, to "prevent the necessity of adopting and publishing
laws upon this head. " Marriage was required to be preceded by publish-
ing the banns for three Sundays at worship, or posting notice under the
hand and seal of a judge in some public place, or special license from the
governor.
But while Washington County was thus launched on a New England
basis, the rest of the Territory got along as it could. Judge Symmes had
purchased a large tract between the two Miamis, and in November, 1788,
a party under Major Benjamin Stites founded the town of Columbia at
the mouth of the Little Miami. On December 24, 1788, a party under
!
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
197
Matthias Denman located at Cincinnati, which they called Losantiville
i.e., L(icking) os(mouth) anti( opposite) ville(town). A third party, un-
der Judge Symmes, located at North Bend in February, 1789. The people
of these settlements formed a committee of safety, appointed Mr. McMillan
judge and John Ludlow sheriff, and proceeded to enforce justice by giving
one man twenty-nine lashes for robbing a truck-patch, and similar cor-
rective acts. They got into a row with the military authorities, however,
I .,.,.,'
sLr ^ vj
L
"CAMPUS MARTIUS"
(Ohio Company's fort at Marietta from drawing by
Gen. Rufus Putnam)
and the situation was happily relieved by the organization of a court by
the Territorial authorities. 9 Vincennes had returned to its golden age of
military rule. On April 24, 1787, on a report from the Secretary of War
on a letter from Major Wyllys, Congress had resolved : ' ' That the secre-
tary of war direct the commanding officer of the troops of the United
States on the Ohio, to take immediate and efficient measures for disposing
a body of men, who have, in a lawless and unauthorized manner, taken
sBurnet's Notes, p. 57.
.
198 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
possession of post St. Vincents, in defiance of the proclamation and au-
thority of the United States, and that he employ the whole, or such part
of the force under his command, as he shall judge necessary to effect the
object. ' ' In pursuance of this, Gen. Josiah Harmar came to Vincennes
on July 19, 1787, and not only ended the Kentucky military occupation but
also made Major John F. Hamtramck Commandant, and in the absence of
other authority, he remained the Czar of Vincennes for three years.
Hamtramck was a native of Quebec, whither his father, Charles David
Hamtrenck, a German perruquier, nick-named L 'Allemand, came in 1749,
and, on November 26, 1753, married Marie- Anne Bertin. He was a native
of Luxembourg. Their second child, Jean Francois, was christened
August 16, 1756. He sympathized with the Americans, and in 1776 joined
Montgomery's army at the siege of Quebec. He was made a captain in
the First U. S. Regiment in 1785, and Major the year following. When
Harmar came to Vincennes in 1787, he marched across from the mouth of
Pigeon Creek with most of his command, and Hamtramck wag sent around
by the Wabash, with one hundred men, with the boats and supplies. Un-
derstanding the French language, and the Canadian character, he was an
ideal Commandant, and his qualities caused him to be put in command at
Fort Wayne in 1794, and at Detroit in 1796. His moral and disciplinary
views may be judged from the following extract from a letter by him to
Gen. Wayne on December 5, 1794, from Fort. Wayne : "It is with a great
degree of mortification that I am obliged to inform your excellency of the
great propensity many of the soldiers have to larceny. I have flogged
them till I am tired. The economic allowance of one hundred lashes, al-
lowed by the government, does not appear a sufficient inducement for a
rascal to act the part of an honest man. I have now a number in confine-
ment and in irons for having stolen four quarters of beef on the night of
the 3rd. instant. I could wish them to be tried by a general court martial,
in order to make an example of some of them. I shall keep them confined
until the pleasure of your excellency is known." 10 This does not mean
that Hamtramck was hard-hearted, but merely that he realized that a
system of government that did not produce results was not efficient. He
knew that Virginia had reserved to the French inhabitants their ancient
laws and customs, and he ruled at Vincennes just as Sieur de Vincennes
and St. Ange had ruled. It was an administration of the French colonial
system, under American auspices.
One of his first acts was to issue a proclamation, on October 3, 1787,
prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors to the Indians. On May 10,
1789, the inhabitants having by resolution informed him that unauthorized
10 Mich. Pion. and Hist. Coll., Vol. 34, p. 734.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
199
use was being made of the commons, and having asked that fifty yards
square be set off for the separate use of each family, he issued a proclama-
tion reading : "In consequence of a request presented to me, all persons
are expressly prohibited (under the penalty of a fine for the first trespass
and imprisonment for the second) from cultivating any lot or piece of
ground on the commons, or occupying any part thereof, without regular
permission." On March 24, 1790, he proclaimed the following "ordi-
HAMTRAMCK'S TOMB
(In grounds of St. Anne's Orphanage and Church, Detroit)
nance": "Many persons having sold their goods and lands, to the
prejudice of their creditors, the inhabitants and others of the district of
Post Vincennes, are expressly prohibited, henceforth, from selling, or
exchanging, or mortgaging, any part of their goods, lands, or slaves, under
any pretext, without express permission from the officer commanding at
this place. This ordinance to remain in force until the arrival of his
excellency, the governor. ' ' This last was issued when the Governor was
expected to arrive soon. There was not a little awaiting the arrival of
200 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
the Governor, who was so absorbed in Ohio politics that he had entirely
neglected Indiana and Illinois. Early in 1788 Hamtramck had abolished
the Grand Court of Vincennes, and on April 3, he wrote to Harmar re-
counting the irregularities of that judicial tribunal, and adding: "In
consequence of which I have dissolved the old court, and ordered new
magistrates to be elected, and established a few regulations for them to
go by, a copy of which I have the honor to enclose. My code of laws will,
no doubt, make you laugh, but I hope you will consider that I am neither a
lawyer or a legislator." 11 Possibly this was one of the indications of
levity, which made President Washington, on being informed that Ham-
tramck was to make a treaty with the Wabash Indians, express a regret
that some "more dignified character than Major Hamtramck" had not
been selected. On the other hand the Father of his Country may have
referred to Hamtramck 's personal appearance, which was not impressive.
He was short in stature, and was so awkward-looking that he was some-
times called ' ' the Frog on Horseback ' ' an expression, by the way, which
has rather an Indian flavor. But at any rate, his court and his code of
laws worked very well in Vincennes, until they struck -a snag in the red-
eyed law, as administered in Kentucky. On November 11, 1789, he wrote
to Harmar: "It is high time that Government should take place in this
country, & if it should happen that the Governor was not .to come, nor any
of the Judges, I would beg ( for the sake of the people) that his Excellency
would give me certain powers to create magistrates, a sheriff & other
officers for the purpose of establishing courts of Justice, for, at present,
there are none, owing to the daily expectation of the arrival of the
Governor. Those that had been appointed by the people last year, their
authority has been refused in the courts of Kentucky, they declaring that
by the regolve of Congress, neither the people of Vincennes, or the Com-
manding Officer, had a right to appoint magistrates ; that the power was
vested in the Governor only, & that it was an usurped authority. You
see, Sir, how much to the prejudice of the people their present situation
is, & how necessary it is that some steps should be taken to relieve them.
' ' The powers of the magistrates may be circumscribed as his Excel-
lency may think proper, but the necessity of having such characters will
appear when I assure you that at present no person here can administer
an oath which will be considered legal in the courts of Kentucky and for
the reasons above mentioned. ' '
The complaint of neglect was not confined to Vincennes. With this
letter, Hamtramck inclosed one from John Edgar, in which he complains
of the lawlessness in his vicinity, especially by Indians from the Spanish
" 111. Hist. Coll., Vol. 5, p. 507, note; Draper MSB. 1W 385.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 201
side of the Mississippi, and says: "I have waited five years in hopes of a
Government ; I shall wait until March, as I may be able to withstand them
in the winter season, but if no succour nor government should then arrive,
I shall be compelled to abandon the country, & shall go to live at St. Louis.
Inclination, interest & love for the country prompt me to reside here, but
when in so doing it is ten to one but both my life & property will fall a
sacrifice, you nor any impartial mind can blame me for the part I shall
take." 12
In 1788 Congress had adopted resolutions for confirming the land titles
of the French settlers, and had also voted four hundred acres to each head
of a family. Nothing was done, however, by the Territorial authorities.
On October 6, 1789, President Washington wrote to St. Clair, giving in-
structions as to treating with the Indians, who were becoming troublesome,
and added: "You will also proceed as soon as you can with safety, to
execute the orders of the late Congress, respecting the inhabitants at Post
Vincennes, and at the Kaskaskias, and the other villages on the Mississippi.
It is a circumstance of some importance that the said inhabitants should,
as soon as possible, possess the lands to which they are entitled, by some
known and fixed principles." Under this inspiration the Governor and
Judges finally decided to make a progress to their western dominions, and
got started late in December. On January 2, 1790, at Losantiville, St.
Clair established Hamilton County, of the lands between the Miamis ; and
also induced the proprietors of the town to change its name to Cincinnati.
They stopped for a couple of weeks at the .Falls and then went on to
Kaskaskia, where on April 27 the Governor established St. Clair County,
including all of Illinois south of the Illinois River and west of Fort Massac.
On June 11, on account of Indian hostilities, St. Clair started back to
Marietta, deputing Sargent to act in his stead. Sargent, with Judges
Symmes and Turner, then proceeded to Vincennes, and this first appear-
ance of the Territorial government at Vincennes was welcomed with almost
as much ceremony as at Marietta, but it was French ceremony. The
"magistrates" and militia officers presented an address on behalf of the
inhabitants, as follows:
"Vincennes, July 23, 1790.
' ' To the honorable Winthrop Sargent, esquire, secretary of the terri-
tory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and now vested with
all the powers of governor and commander-in-chief thereof :
' ' The citizens of the town of Vincennes approach you, sir, to express
as well their personal respect for your honor, as their full approbation of
the measures you have been pleased to pursue in regard to their govern-
izlll. Hist. Coll., Vol. 5, pp. 512-14.
202 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
ment, and the adjustment of their claims, as inhabitants of the territory
over which you at present preside. While we deem it a singular blessing
to behold the principles of free government unfolding among us, we
cherish the pleasing reflection that our posterity will also have cause to
rejoice at the political change now originating. A free and efficient gov-
ernment, wisely administered, and fostered under the protecting wings of
an august union of States, can not fail to render the citizens of this wide
extended territory securely happy in the possession of every public
blessing.
' ' We can not take leave sir, without offering to your notice a tribute
of gratitude and esteem, which every citizen of Vincennes conceives he
owes to the merits of an officer (Major Hamtramck) who has long com-
manded at this post. The unsettled situation of things, for a series of
years previous to this gentleman's arrival, tended in many instances to
derange, and in others to suspend, the operations of those municipal
customs by which the citizens of this town were used to be governed.
They were in the habit of submitting the superintendence of their civil
regulations to the officer who happened to command the troops posted
among them. Hence, in the course of the late war, and from the frequent
change of masters, they labored under heavy and various grievances.
But the judicious and humane attention paid by Major Hamtramck,
during his whole command, to the rights and feelings of every individual
craving his interposition, demands, and will always receive, our warmest
acknowledgements.
"We beg you, sir, to assure the supreme authority of the United
States of our fidelity and attachment ; and that our greatest ambition is
to deserve its fostering care, by acting the part of good citizens.
"By order, and on behalf, of the citizens of Vincennes."
It took two days for Sargent to rise to the emergency, but he did so
then in the following reply :
"Vincennes, July 25th. 1790.
"Gentlemen: Next to that happiness which I derive from a con-
sciousness of endeavoring to merit the approbation of the sovereign au-
thority of the United States by a faithful discharge of the important
trusts committed to me, is the grateful plaudit of the respectable citizens
of this territory: and be assured, gentlemen, that I receive it from the
town of Vincennes, upon this occasion, with singular satisfaction.
"In an event so interesting and important to every individual as is
the organization of civil government, I regret exceedingly that you have
been deprived of the wisdom of our worthy governor. His extensive
abilities, and long experience in the honorable walks of public life, might
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 203
have more perfectly established that system which promises to you and
posterity such political blessings. It is certain, gentlemen, that the gov-
ernment of the -United States is most congenial to the dignity of human
nature, and the best possible palladium for the lives and property of
mankind. The services of Major Hamtramck to the public, and his
humane attention to the citizens while in command here, have been
highly meritorious; and it is with great pleasure that I have officially
expressed to him my full approbation thereof.
"Your dutiful sentiments of fidelity and attachment to the general
government of the United States, shall be faithfully transmitted to
their august president.
"With the warmest wishes for the prosperity and welfare of Vin-
cennes, I have the honor to be, gentlemen,
"Your most obedient, humble servant,
"WINTHROP SARGENT."
The people had occasion to be in an especially grateful frame of mind
towards Hamtramck, for he had just performed a great service to them.
Their corn crop of the preceding year had been completely destroyed by
frost, and information of this having come to St. Clair, he had written
to Hamtramck from Fort Steuben (at Jeffersonville) on January 23,
1790: "It is with great pain that I have heard of the scarcity of corn
which reigns in the settlements about the Post. I hope it has been
exaggerated; but it is represented to me that, unless a supply of that
article can be sent forward, the people must actually starve. Corn can
be had here in any quantity ; but can the people pay for it f I entreat
you to inquire into that matter, and if you find they can not do without
it, write to the contractor's agent here, to whom I will give orders to
send forward such quantity as you may find to be absolutely necessary.
They must pay for what they can of it ; but they must not be suffered to
perish ; and though I have no direct authority from the government for
this purpose, I must take it upon myself."
To this Hamtramck replied on March 19: "I have this day sent a
boat to the Falls for 800 bushels of corn, which I shall deliver to the
people of the village, who are in a starving condition ; so much so that
on the 16th instant a woman, a boy of about thirteen, and a girl of about
seven years were driven to the woods by hunger, and poisoned them-
selves by eating some wild roots, and have died of it." 1S
While Sargent and the Judges were at Vincennes, they adopted three
laws; one prohibiting the sale of liquor to the Indians; one prohibiting
" St. Clair Papers, Vol. 2, pp. 131-2, note.
204
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
the sale of liquor to soldiers; and one "prohibiting every species of
gaming for money or other property." The last two were regarded as
infringements on "personal rights" by most of the people then residing
in Indiana; but more serious trouble was at hand. The Indians were
becoming very troublesome. There had been more or less of hostilities
between the Indians and the whites ever since the close of the Revolu-
tionary war, but it had been due chiefly to the lawlessness of individuals
rather than to any formal warfare. In July, 1790, Judge Innes wrote to
the War Department the statement that since 1783 "more than fifteen
hundred persons had been killed and taken prisoners by the Indians
ANTI-GAMBLING LAW ADOPTED AT VINCENNES, AUG. 4, 1790; TOOK
EFFECT JAN. 1, 1791
that upwards of twenty thousand horses had been taken and carried
off, with other property, consisting of money, merchandise, household
goods, wearing apparel, etc., of great value." St. Glair had been in-
structed to use every means to conciliate the Indians, but also to ex-
tinguish as soon as possible the Indian title as far west as the Mississippi,
and as far north as parallel forty-one. This was exactly what the Indians
did not want. St. Clair summoned them to a treaty at Fort Harmar on
January 9, 1789; but very few came, and he proceeded to treat with
thirty-one that did come, who were supposed to represent six of the
principal western tribes, and who confirmed the cessions made previously
at Fort Mclntosh. But the tribes utterly repudiated this treaty, saying
that signers were not even chiefs which was very true. There was an
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 205
immediate increase of depredations, the situation growing worse through
1789 and 1790. In the spring of 1790 Major Hamtramck sent Antoine
Gamelin up the Wabash with speeches from Governor St. Clair to the
various tribes. He received scant satisfaction. It was evident that the
Indians were receiving aid and encouragement from the British, who
still held Detroit and other points on the lakes. The only course open
was to punish the Indians, and for this purpose an expedition was pre-
pared under command of Gen. Harmar.
On September 30, 1790, he left Fort Washington (at Cincinnati)
with 1,453 men, of whom 320 were regulars, and the remainder militia
and volunteers from Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The irregu-
lars included many boys and old men; they were poorly armed and
equipped ; and there was the insubordination among them that commonly
characterized frontier troops. They reached Kikiungi (Fort Wayne)
and found it recently deserted. On October 18, Col. Trotter, of the
militia was sent out with 300 men to look for the Indians but returned
without finding more than two. There was rivalry between Trotter and
Col. Hardin, and the latter asked to go out with the same command on
the 19th. He led his men into an ambush ; all of the militia but nine ran
away; and Hardin got back with a loss of all but half-a-dozen of his
regulars, and a number of the militia. After destroying a large amount
of crops on the 20th and 21st, Harmar was asked by Hardin for permis-
sion to go back with a detachment of militia picked by himself, and
surprise the Indians, who he thought would return to their village as
soon as the troops left. Harmar finally consented, and Hardin went
back with four hundred men. They found the Indians, but the militia
officers were decoyed into separating their commands by Indians appar-
ently in flight, and then met a general attack in which the militia again
fled and the regulars were almost exterminated. Hardin wanted Harmar
to go back with the entire army, but he declined, as he was short of
supplies, and the militia were now completely demoralized. The army
had destroyed five villages, over 20,000 bushels of corn, and large quan-
tities of beans, pumpkins, hay, and other Indian property ; but they had
lost 183 killed and 31 wounded, and had left the belief with the Indians
that they had driven the Americans back. As to this fighting, the
Americans at the time, and our writers since then, have failed to credit
the result as largely as they should to the Indian leadership. The Little
Turtle was in command. When the troops first reached Kikiungi, the
warriors were absent on their fall hunt, and in the first day's fighting
The Little Turtle was able to get only one hundred of them together ; but
they came in rapidly, and on the last day his forces were equal to the
enemy. But while the whites did not understand his ability, he had
204
INDIANA AND 1NDIANANS
the sale of liquor to soldiers; and one "prohibiting every species of
yarning for money or other property." The last two were regarded as
infringements on "personal rights" by most of the people then residing
in Indiana : but more serious trouble was at hand. The Indians were
becoming very troublesome. There had been more or less of hostilities
between the Indians and the whites ever since the close of the Revolu-
tionary war. but it had been due chiefly to the lawlessness of individuals
rather than to any formal warfare. In July, 1790, Judge Innes wrote to
the War Department the statement that since 1783 "more than fifteen
hundred persons had been killed and taken prisoners by the Indians
. f _ "\_/ "/- !< \ /
) ,f^~S'\Xl ^4\ Cf X- "^".-x : * - '.-< **:**-
"V^ s^.- '*" f *^ yt<f;#* yffmHr^v & ~,, f,rtf .^. .-tSf.r
' . f.
- *:*-.,..
- -V
>'"-" H*t)f W *r * + .* t. . , t
S/ . '-. .- t . ^ . .T < ~ ll f^f ., . .
.^ .; ^' . .-'
/.'.:*'.., . ',
/"
-.;. ,
.. ,. (.
\^-\\-('j \y.\\\\A-x.(.\ LAW ADOPTED AT VIXCEXXES, Aro. 4. 1790: TM>K
EFFECT JAN. 1, 1791
that upwards of twenty thousand horses had been taken and carried
off, with other property, consisting of money, merchandise, household
goods, wearing apparel, etc., of great value." St. Clair had been in-
structed to use every means to conciliate the Indians, but also to ex-
tinguish as soon as- possible the Indian title as far west as the Mississippi,
and as far north as parallel forty-one. This was exactly what the Indians
did not want. St. Clair summoned them to a treaty at Fort Harmar on
January 9. 1789; but very few came, and he proceeded to treat with
thirty-one that did come, who were supposed to represent six of the
principal western tribes, and who confirmed the cessions made previously
at Fort Mclntosh. But the tribes utterly repudiated this treaty, saying
that signers were not even chiefs which was very true. There was an
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 2o.">
immediate increase of depredations, the situation growing worse through
1789 and 1790. In the spring of 1790 Major Hamtramck sent Antoine
Gamelin up the Wabash with speeches from Governor St. Clair to the
various tribes. He received scant satisfaction. It was evident that the
Indians were receiving aid and encouragement from the British, who
still held Detroit and other points on the lakes. The only course open
was to punish the Indians, and for this purpose an expedition was pre-
pared under command of Gen. Harmar.
On September 30, 1790, he left Fort Washington (at Cincinnati)
with 1,453 men, of whom 320 were regulars, and the remainder militia
and volunteers from Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The irregu-
lars included many boys and old men; they were poorly armed and
equipped*: and there was the insubordination among them that commonly
characterized frontier troops. They reached Kikiungi (Fort Wayne)
and found it recently deserted. On October 18, Col. Trotter, of the
militia was sent out with 300 men to look for the Indians but returned
without finding more than two. There was rivalry between Trotter and
Col. Hardin, and the latter asked to go out with the same command on
the 19th. He led his men into an ambush ; all of the militia but nine ran
away : and Hardin got back with a loss of all but half-a-dozen of his
regulars, and a number of the militia. After destroying a large amount
of crops on the 20th and 21st, Harmar was asked by Hardin for permis-
sion to go back with a detachment of militia picked by himself, and
surprise the Indians, who he thought would return to their village as
soon as the troops left. Harmar finally consented, and Hardin went
back with four hundred men. They found the Indians, but the militia
officers were decoyed into separating their commands by Indians appar-
ently in flight, and then met a general attack in which the militia again
fled and the regulars were almost exterminated. Hardin wanted Harmar
to go back with the entire army, but he declined, as he was short of
supplies, and the militia were now completely demoralized. The array
had destroyed five villages, over 20,000 bushels of corn, and large quan-
tities of beans, pumpkins, hay, and other Indian property; but they had
lost 183 killed and 31 wounded, and had left the belief with the Indians
that they had driven the Americans back. As to this fighting, the
Americans at the time, and our writers since then, have failed to credit
the result as largely as they should to the Indian leadership. The Little
Turtle was in command. When the troops first reached Kikiungi. the
warriors were absent on their fall hunt, and in the first day's fighting
The Little Turtle was able to get only one hundred of them together; but
they came in rapidly, and on the last day his forces were equal to the
enemy. But while the whites did not understand his ability, he had
206
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
gained a reputation with the Indians that made a new era in Indian
warfare.
The necessity of getting food to replace what had been destroyed, and
the desire for revenge, made the Indian hostilities worse than before.
In response to appeals for protection, Congress authorized another regi-
ment to be raised, bringing the standing army up to three thousand men,
and Virginia directed an expedition from Kentucky under Brig. Gen.
0? YM HAVttXS
CJESTHO) F [> BY CF.NCKAL KARMA*
11(0
SITE OF FORT WAYNE IN 1790
(From drawing by Major Denny, with Harmar's forces)
Charles Scott. Scott marched for the Wabash towns on May 23, with
some eight hundred mounted men. He reached "Wea Prairie on June 1,
sent detachments to attack small villages, and pressed on with his main
force to the main village of Ouiatanon, on the banks of the Wabash.
His advance reached it in time to destroy five canoe loads of Indians, the
last to try to cross the river to the Kickapoo town on the north side. The
Wabash was flooded by recent rains, and some time was lost before troops
could get across and take the Kickapoo town. On the evening of the
2nd Lt. Col. Wilkinson was sent with 360 men to destroy the town
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 207
known as Kethtipecanunk, at the mouth of the Tippecanoe River, which
he accomplished. Of this place Scott says: "Many of the inhabitants
of this village were French, and lived in a state of civilization. By the
books, letters, and other documents found there, it is evident that place
was in close connection with, and dependent on, Detroit. A large quan-
tity of corn, a variety of household goods, peltry, and other articles, were
burned with this village, which consisted of about seventy houses, many
of them well finished." On June 4, having destroyed all the crops
found, Scott started on his return, and reached the Falls on the 14th
"without the loss of a single man by the enemy, and five only wounded;
having killed thirty-two, chiefly warriors of size and figure, and taken
fifty-eight prisoners." Sixteen of the older prisoners were released,
with warning letters to the other Indians. The remainder were taken to
the Falls, and held until^ their tribes made peace, which proved a very
efficacious mode of procedure.
Governor St. Clair was put in command of the main expedition, which
was to move from Fort Washington in the fall. On August 1, a force of
525 men under Brig. Gen. James Wilkinson was started for another
attack on the Wabash towns. They struck the Eel River town, Kinapi-
kwomakwa, on the 7th. Having destroyed it, and the crops which had
been replanted at Ouiatanon and Kethtipecanunk, and also destroyed a
Kickapoo town of thirty houses, west of Ouiatanon, Wilkinson returned,
reaching the Falls on the 21st. The Indians were taking note of St.
Glair's preparations, and decided not to wait for another destruction of
their crops. St. Glair's advance moved twenty-five miles northward in
September, and built Fort Hamilton. On October 4, it advanced forty-
two miles, and built Fort Jefferson. On October 24 the army moved
forward, and on November 3 reached the headwaters of the Wabash
where Fort Recovery was afterwards built. The Indians also were
moving. By the efforts of The Little Turtle, Pachgantcihilas, the great
Delaware war chief, Blue Jacket the Shawnee chief, and others, 1,400
warriors had been gathered on the prairie south of Kikiungi in the latter
part of October. There was some dissension as to who should have the
chief command, but it was awarded to The Little Turtle. He organized
his forces by dividing them into squads or messes of twenty each, and
each squad into five bands of four each, who acted as hunters for the
mess one day each in rotation. These hunters were to bring in at noon
whatever game they killed, and so the army was supplied. They marched
to meet the advancing enemy. On the night of November 3 they crept
close in about St. Glair's camp, and prepared for attack. They watched
the soldiers parade at daylight, and as they dispersed for breakfast,
about six o'clock, The Little Turtle gave the signal for attack. The
208 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Indians kept under cover, and maintained a continuous and murderous
rifle fire. The troops were put in position, and fired ineffectual volleys
at their concealed foes. Repeated bayonet charges were made, but the
Indians simply fell back before them, while others poured a deadly fire
into the flanks of the charging squadrons. The Indians made special
targets of officers and artillerymen. By half past eight the army was
helpless. The artillery was silenced. Most of the officers were dead, and
those remaining saw that the only hope was in retreat. A charge opened
the way to the road, and the militia made their way out, followed by the
regulars. Everything was abandoned. The retreat became a rout, and
although the Indians pursued for only about four miles, it continued
until Fort Jefferson was reached, after sunset.
This was the greatest defeat ever inflicted on American troops by
Indians. The Little Turtle had beaten a force superior to his own, prob-
ably fifty per cent, greater, on their own ground, with a loss of 37 officers
and 593 men killed, and 31 officers and 242 men wounded. He had
captured all their artillery, camp equipage and supplies, valued at
$32,800, with much private property. He had stopped for the time
being the invasion of his country. War parties soon appeared all along
the frontiers, and many of the settlements not adjacent to the forts were
abandoned. St. Glair resigned his position as Major General. President
Washington asked Congress for three more regiments of infantry and a
squadron of horse. There was opposition on account of the poverty of
the nation, and it was even proposed to abandon the Northwest Terri-
tory, but that received little favor. Congress provided for an army of
5,000 men, and "Mad Anthony" Wayne was put in command. Com-
missioners were appointed to try to settle the matter peaceably, who
made their way to the Indians through Canada ; but the Indians refused
any terms but withdrawal from the lands north of the Ohio.
Wayne came to Pitteburg in June, 1792, and began organizing his
army. It was a slow and difficult task. Drills were incessant, and courts
martial were almost as common as police courts are now. His Orderly
Book presents the most remarkable record of discipline that was ever
given to an American army. 14 The chief offenses punished were products
of the personal independence of the frontiersmen, mutiny, disrespect to
officers and desertion. Punishments were severe. The limit of one hun-
dred lashes was frequently administered before the army on parade.
Like Hamtramck, Wayne found this insufficient, and tried dividing the
hundred lashes through four successive days, and using a cat of wires.
This did not suffice to stop desertion, and a number of offenders were
It is given in full in Mich. Pion. and Hist. Coll., Vol. 34, pp. 341-733.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
209
shot before the army, and several were hanged. In the effort to improve
marksmanship, rivalry was encouraged between the riflemen and the
infantry, though the latter were instructed to rely chiefly on the bayonet.
Orders were given to "award as a bounty one Gill of Whiskey to the
best shot, or marksman, and a half Gill to the Second best of the Infantry
and a like quantity to the first and Second best of the Riflemen. Pro-
vided always that should the Infantrys shott be better than those of the
rifle, then the Riflemen shall forfeit any claim to bounty for that days
practice. ' ' The dragoons were taught to rely on the sabre. In the spring
THE BATTLE OP THE FALLEN TIMBERS
(From a painting)
of 1793 Wayne moved down the river to Fort Washington, and camped
just below Cincinnati at Hobson's Choice. 15 Here the same process of
discipline was continued until October 7, except that there appeared to
be more opportunity for getting liquor, and punishment for drunken-
ness became more frequent. The treaty commissioners were put off by
the Indians until August, and then returned hopeless. Meanwhile it
had been learned that Major Trueman and' Col. Hardin, who had been
sent from Fort Washington with peace talks for the Indians, had been
taken and murdered by them. Wayne advanced beyond Fort Jefferson
by October 23, with 2,600 regulars, and 400 auxilaries, in guides and
is The troops tried to cross the river, but on account of flood could do so only
at this place, which consequently was Hobson's choice, i. e., "that or nothing."
Vol. 114
208
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Indians kept under cover, and maintained a continuous and murderous
rifle h're. The troops were put in position, and fired ineffectual volleys
at their concealed foes. Repeated bayonet charges were made, but the
Indians simply fell back before them, while others poured a deadly fire
into the flanks of the charging squadrons. The Indians made special
targets of officers and artillerymen. By half past eight the army was
helpless. The artillery was silenced. Most of the officers were dead, and
those remaining saw that the only hope was in retreat. A charge opened
the way to the road, and the militia made their way out, followed by the
regulars. Everything was abandoned. The retreat became a rout, and
although the Indians pursued for only about four miles, it continued
until Fort Jefferson was reached, after sunset.
This was the greatest defeat ever inflicted on American troops by
Indians. The Little Turtle had beaten a force superior to his own, prob-
ably fifty per cent, greater, on their own ground, with a loss of 37 officers
and 593 men killed, and 31 officers and 242 men wounded. He had
captured all their artillery, camp equipage and supplies, valued at
$32,800, with much private property. He had stopped for the time
being the invasion of his country. War parties soon appeared all along
the frontiers, and many of the settlements not adjacent to the forts were
abandoned. St. Clair resigned his position as Major General. President
Washington asked Congress for three more regiments of infantry and a
squadron of horse. There was opposition on account of the poverty of
the nation, and it was even proposed to abandon the Northwest Terri-
tory, but that received little favor. Congress provided for an army of
5,000 men, and "Mad Anthony" Wayne was put in command. Com-
missioners were appointed to try to settle the matter peaceably, who
made their way to the Indians through Canada ; but the Indians refused
any terms but withdrawal from the lands north of the Ohio.
Wayne came to Pittsburg in June, 1792, and began organizing his
army. It was a slow and difficult task. Drills were incessant, and courts
martial were almost as common as police courts are now. His Orderly
Book presents the most remarkable record of discipline that was ever
given to an American army. 14 The chief offenses punished were products
of the personal independence of the frontiersmen, mutiny, disrespect to
officers and desertion. Punishments were severe. The limit of one hun-
dred lashes was frequently administered before the army on parade.
Like Hamtramck, Wayne found this insufficient, and tried dividing the
hundred lashes through four successive days, and using a cat of wires.
This did not suffice to stop desertion, and a number of offenders were
It is given in full in Mich. Pion. and Hist. Coll., Vol. 34, pp. 341-7.'!:!.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
209
shot before the army, and several were hanged. In the effort to improve
marksmanship, rivalry was encouraged between the riflemen and the
infantry, though the latter were instructed to rely chiefly on the bayonet.
Orders were given to "award as a bounty one Gill of Whiskey to the
best shot, or marksman, and a half Gill to the Second best of the Infantry
and a like quantity to the first and Second best of the Riflemen. Pro-
vided always that should the Infantrys shott be better than those of the
rifle, then the Riflemen shall forfeit any claim to bounty for that days
practice." The dragoons were taught to rely on the sabre. In the spring
THE BATTLE OF THE FALLEN TIMBERS
(From a painting)
of 1793 Wayne moved down the river to Fort Washington, and camped
just below Cincinnati at Hobson's Choice. 15 Here the same process of
discipline was continued until October 7, except that there appeared to
be more opportunity for getting liquor, and punishment for drunken-
ness became more frequent. The treaty commissioners were put off by
the Indians until August, and then returned hopeless. Meanwhile it
had been learned that Major Trueman and. Col. Hardin, who had been
sent from Fort Washington with peace talks for the Indians, had been
taken and murdered by them. Wayne advanced beyond Fort Jefferson
by October 23, with 2,600 regulars, and 400 auxilaries, in guides and
13 The troops tried to cross the river, but on account of flood could do so only
at this place, which consequently was Hobson 's choice, i. e., ' ' that or nothing. ' '
Vol. I 1 4
'
210 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
mounted volunteers from Kentucky. The main body of volunteers had
not arrived; the army was largely incapacitated by an epidemic of
influenza ; and it was too late in the season for an effective campaign ; so
Wayne sent the volunteers back and wintered at the forts, constructing
Fort Greenville and Fort Recovery. These moves disquieted the hostile
Indians, who had not been able to find an opening for attack on Wayne's
army, their only success being the capture of a wagon train on October
17. Some of them sent a message to Wayne expressing a desire to make
peace, but they evaded his proposals, and if their intentions were ever
sincere, they were changed by a new complication.
In 1793 the French Revolution was holding the attention of the
world, and the French Minister Plenipotentiary, Genet, was holding the
attention of the United States by his extraordinary assumptions of power
and open criticism of the President for not joining France in a war on
England. The people of the west were not nearly so much shocked by
the bloody work of the guillotine as they were by the massacre of their
wives and children by the allies of England. Genet easily induced num-
bers of western men to join in his scheme for an attack on the Spanish
settlements on the Mississippi, and when President Washington called
on Governor Shelby of Kentucky, to take measures to prevent it, the
latter fl^ly answered that he had "little inclination to take an active
part in punishing or restraining any of my fellow citizens for a supposed
intention, only to gratify or remove the fears of the minister to a prince,
who openly withholds from us an invaluable right, and who secretly
instigates against us a most savage and cruel enemy." So tense was the
feeling that on February 10, 1794, at Quebec, Lord Dorchester, the
Governor General, told a delegation of Indians, "he should not be sur-
prised if Great Britain and the United States were at war in the course
of a year. ' ' Early in the spring, a messenger came to the hostile Indians
at the rapids of the Maumee, from the Spanish settlements on the
Mississippi, with an offer of assistance from them. In April, three com-
panies of British soldiers were sent from Detroit and built a fort at the
rapids of the Maumee. These conditions determined the Indians to
accept the arbitrament of war. It may also be noted in passing that they
were the chief cause of the rapid spread of anti-Federalist sentiment in
the West.
On June 30 The Little Turtle approached Fort Recovery with a
force of 1,500 men, part of whom were whites in disguise, expecting to
find the cannon taken from St. Clair, and use them against the fort ; but
the Americans had found them, and they were mounted in the fort. But
they intercepted a convoy of ninety riflemen and fifty dragoons who were
returning to the fort, and overwhelmed them, killing five officers and
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 211
seventeen men, and wounding thirty, besides killing and wounding eighty-
one horses and capturing 204. They then attacked the fort for about
twenty-four hours, but finding that their rifles had no effect they with-
drew. A division arose among them. A part wished to attack Wayne's
army. The Little Turtle opposed this, saying that it was useless to try to
surprise "a chief who always slept with one eye open," and that he was
too strong to fight in the open. He urged that they get between him and
the settlements, cut off his convoys, and leave him stranded in the wilder-
ness. He was overruled, and even accused of cowardice. On July 26,
Gen. Scott arrived at Greenville with 1,600 mounted volunteers from
Kentucky ; and on the 28th Wayne advanced. Twenty-four miles north
of Fort Becovery he built a small fort on the St. Mary's River, and
advanced again on August 4. On the 8th he reached the mouth of the
Auglaize, and here built Fort Defiance. From here he sent a last mes-
sage to the Indians, advising them to come in and make peace. The
messenger returned on the sixteenth, with a request for a delay of ten
days ; but Wayne had started for the foot of the rapids on the 15th. At
that point he erected a light stockade for his stores and baggage, and on
the 20th advanced in order of battle. Five miles out, in a tangle of fallen
timber, caused by a tornado, more than 1,400 Indians with 70 white
allies, were lying in ambush. The advance guard received a heavy fire
which caused it to recoil, but the first line promptly charged, rousing
the Indians with the bayonet and firing at short range. The battle was
fought as it had been rehearsed time and again in drills, except that the
charge of the first line was so impetuous that the second line could not
catch up, and the cavalry, which had been sent around to cut off retreat,
did not reach its position in time. Driven over two miles through the
timber, and refused admission to the British fort, the Indians scattered
in every direction, and offered no further resistance.
For three days the army destroyed Indian property in the vicinity,
and the British trading houses within pistol shot of the British fort,
which had a garrison of 250 regulars and 200 militia. On the 22nd
Major Campbell protested against "those insults you have offered to the
British flag," and Wayne replied with a demand for him to withdraw
from our territory. This Campbell declined to do, but he did not inter-
fere with the work of destruction. On the 27th the army returned to
Fort Defiance, destroying villages and cornfields "for about fifty miles
on each side of the Maumee." This work of destruction was carried on
in every direction for about a month. On September 14 the army reached
Kikiungi, and by October 22 completed a strong fort at that point. Col.
Hamtramck, who had served with distinction in this campaign, was put
in command, and named the new structure Fort Wayne. The garrison
212 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
included four companies of infantry and one of artillery, and "fifteen
rounds of cannon" were fired on taking possession of the fort. This
first American fort was replaced by a new one in 1814. The remainder
of the army started on its return march to Greenville on October 28.
On November 19, John Jay concluded his treaty with Lord Grenville, by
which Great Britain agreed to withdraw her troops and garrisons from
all places within the boundaries of the United States by June 1, 1796;
and the Indians, now assured that they would have no further support
from the British, came to Wayne at Greenville during the winter of
1794-5 and made tentative treaties of peace, agreeing to return in the
middle of June, and make a definitive treaty. Accordingly 1,130 chiefs
and warriors gathered there, and in councils held from June 16 to August
10, surrendered most of Ohio, the southeast corner of Indiana, including
the Whitewater valley, and tracts at Fort Wayne, Little River, Ouiata-
non, Vincennes, and Clark's Grant. It was a magnificent conclusion of a
most difficult task by Gen. Wayne, and his service was hailed with
applause by Congress and by the public. He was made sole commissioner
to treat with the Indians, and receiver of the ceded British posts. The
posts were not actually evacuated until July 11, when Fort Miamis, be-
low the rapids of the Maumee, was taken possession of by Col. Hamtramck,
and Detroit was occupied by Capt. Moses Porter, who had bee"n sent with
sixty-five men by Hamtramck for that purpose. Hamtramck arrived at
Detroit, and took command there on July 13. Having made all arrange-
ments for supplying the posts, Wayne started back to the East. Burnet
says his departure was hastened by unfounded charges that had been
preferred against him. 19 On his passage through Lake Erie he had an
attack of gout of the stomach, from which he died. He was buried at
Presque Isle, but in 1809 his remains were removed to his native home,
and buried in the cemetery of St. David's Church, Chester County, Penn.
In 1796 Congress passed an act for the survey and sale of the lands
to which the Indians had ceded title, but by this law only the alternate
townships were divided into sections, and the others were to be sold by
quarter-townships. However, there was an abundance of land to select
from, and settlers who were not able to buy a section could club together
in the purchase and divide the land among themselves later. Popula-
tion came in rapidly, 'and of course a large part of it was drawn to the
large grants of the Ohio and Miami companies, where established settle-
ments afforded some of the conveniences of civilization. The Scioto
Company composed of Col. Duer's "principal characters" sent Joel
Barlow to France, where, according to Volney, he distributed circulars
i Burnet 's Notes, pp. '275-9.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
213
offering land for five shillings an acre in "a climate healthy and de-
lightful ; scarcely such a thing as frost in winter ; a river, called by way
of eminence, 'Beautiful,' abounding in fish of enormous size; magnificent
forests of a tree from which sugar flows, and a shrub which yields can-
dles; venison in abundance, without foxes, wolves, lions or tigers; no
taxes to pay; no military enrollments; no quarters to find for soldiers."
Lured by this picture, a number of Parisians whose education had been
FRENCH SETTLERS CLEARING LAND AT GALLIOPOLIS
(From an old cut)
limited to city life, invested in these lands, and came to settle on them.
They found a primeval forest to overcome, and their inexperience caused
a large amount of amusement to their American neighbors. It was
claimed that they used to tie ropes to the branches of a tree, and part
of them pull on the ropes while the rest hacked at the trunk with hatchets
and axes. And when a tree was down, not knowing how to dispose of
it otherwise, they dug a trench and buried it. The place was malarial,
and worse than all, the Scioto Company had not paid for the lands.
Congress came to the relief of the victims in 1795 with a grant of 24,000
214 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
acres of land opposite the mouth of the Little Sandy, known as the
French Grant.
Another echo of the Ordinance days came in the Connecticut Western
Reserve. Connecticut had insisted on having both the title and the
jurisdiction of a tract of land as large as the State under her sea to sea
charter, until the Union was threatened with disruption. After the
other colonies reluctantly submitted, Connecticut granted 500,000 acres
of it to her people to compensate for property destroyed in the Revolu-
tionary War, and this tract was known as "the Sufferers Lands" or
"The Fire Lands." The rest of the reserve was sold to a syndicate for
$1,200,000. The proprietors had ideas of erecting a state of New Con-
necticut, but when Gov. St. Clair proceeded to include them in one of
his new-made counties, the controversy developed the fact that their
titles were in danger. They appealed to Connecticut to assert jurisdic-
tion and organize them as a county, but Connecticut had all she could
get out of the lands, and ignored them. Finally, after a great deal of
trouble, Congress relieved them by a scheme of interchange of deeds
between Connecticut and the United States, .devised by John Marshall,
and the Western Reserve was turned over to Northwest Territory. 17
The chief immigration to Indiana in this period was in the Whitewater
valley, Clark's Grant and about Vincennes.
The provision of the Ordinance that caused the most trouble to the
French settlers was that concerning slavery. On June 30, 1789, Bar-
tholomew Tardiveau, one of the principal residents of Cahokia, wrote to
Governor St. Clair informing him that a report had been circulated in
the Illinois settlements that as soon as the Governor arrived all the
slaves would be freed, in consequence of which many persons had sacri-
ficed their lands and removed to St. Louis. He stated that while east
recently he had brought the matter before members of Congress, and
that they had assured him that the slavery clause was not intended to
be retroactive, and that Congress would adopt a resolution to that effect,
but it was not done. He urged the Governor to get such a declaration
from Congress, and if possible to get a repeal of the slavery proviso.
St. Clair did not comply with his request, but assured him that he also
understood the provision not to be retroactive. 18 In his report to Presi-
dent Washington of his proceedings in the Illinois country in 1790, St.
Clair said : "St. Louis is the most flourishing village of the Spaniards
in the upper part of the Mississippi, and it has been greatly advanced by
the people who abandoned the American side. To that they were in-
" Hinsdale ' Old Northwest, pp. 368-88.
t St. Clair Papers, Vol.' 2, pp. 117-119.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 215
duced, partly by the oppression they suffered, and partly by the fear of
losing their slaves, which they had been taught to believe would be all
set free on the establishment of the American government. Much pains
had indeed been taken to inculcate that belief (particularly by a Mr.
Morgan, of New Jersey) and a general desertion of the country had like
to have been the consequence. The construction that was given to that
part of the Ordinance which declares there shall be neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude, was, that it did not go to the emancipation of the
slaves they were in possession of and had obtained under the laws by
which they had formerly been governed, but was intended simply to
prevent the introduction of others. In this construction, I hope, the
intentions of Congress have not been misunderstood, and the apprehen-
sions of the people were quieted by it. But the circumstance that slaves
cannot be introduced will prevent many people from returning who
earnestly wish to return, both from a dislike of the Spanish Government
and that the country itself is much less desirable than on the American
side. Could they be allowed to bring them back with them, all those
who retired from that cause would return to a man. ' ' 19
Washington presumably concurred in this view, for St. Clair steadily
adhered to it thereafter. In a letter to Luke Decker, of Vincennes,
October 11, 1793, he said he was "more and more confirmed" in this
opinion, and compared it to the action of Congress on the slave trade,
which prevented further importation of slaves, without interfering with
those already in the country. The question did not come to a decision
in the courts of the Northwest Territory so far as is known, but there
was an approach towards it in 1794. Judge Turner had gone to Vin-
cennes to hold court, and there became involved in a quarrel with Henry
Vanderburgh, then probate judge and justice of the peace for Knox
County, and Capt. Abner Prior, acting as superintendent of Indian
affairs on the Wabash. An application was made to Turner for a writ
of habeas corpus for the release of two slaves held by Vanderburgh,
whereupon the slaves were kidnaped and removed from the jurisdiction
of the court. Turner wrote to St. Clair that the kidnapers "were em-
ployed by Vanderburgh to seize and forcibly carry away two negroes, a
man and his wife, who are free by the Constitution of the Territory, and
who, being held by him as slaves, has applied to me for the writ of
habeas corpus, in affirmance of their freedom." He wanted Vander-
burgh 's commission revoked. St. Clair declined, and wrote to Turner
the fullest statement of his views on the question that has been preserved.
He said : ' ' Permit me sir, to offer you my opinion upon the subject,
iSt Clair Papers, Vol. 2, p. 176.
216
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
which is shortly this : that the declaration in our Constitution, that there
shall be no slavery nor involuntary servitude in the Territory, applies to,
and can be taken advantage of only by, those slaves who may have been
imported since the establishment of that Constitution. Slavery was
established in that country when it was under the dominion of France.
It was continued when it fell under that of Great Britain ; and, again,
Western Rese/ve
1 806 XX^ 1796
THE EARLY SURVEYS AND LAND GRANTS
under Virginia, a part of the Territory of which it was considered by
that State until the cession thereof made to Congress; and whether that
construction of the State was ill or well formed, the acceptation of the
cession by Congress confirmed it to all intents and purposes; and there
is also a clause in that cession about continuing to the ancient settlers,
and those who had settled under Virginia, the benefit of their ancient
laws and customs. As I have not the act of cession of that State by me
at present, I can not give you the words. Slaves were then a property
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 217
acquired by the inhabitants conformably to law, and they were to be pro-
tected in the possession of that property. If so, they are still to be pro-
tected in it. So far as it respects the past, it can have no operation, and
must be construed to intend that, from and after the publication of the
said Constitution, slaves imported into that Territory should immediately
become free; and by this construction no injury is done to any person,
because it is a matter of public notoriety, and any person removing into
that Colony and bringing with him persons who were slaves in another
country, does it at the known risk of their claiming their freedom;
whereas, on the other hand, had the Constitution the effect to liberate
those persons who were slaves by the former laws, as no compensation is
provided to their owners, it would be an act of the Government arbitrarily
depriving a part if the people of a part of their property an attempt
that has not been made and would not be submitted to, and is not to be
drawn from the mere construction of words. I have troubled you with
my thoughts upon this subject because I have heard that there is great
agitation among the people respecting it, and they should be set at rest."
This view was followed during the existence of Northwest Territory and
the territories formed from it.
Tardiveau, in his letter to St. Glair, urged that it would secure de-
sirable population for the northwest if slaves could be brought in, and
St. Clair concurred to the extent of desiring the return of the Illinois
slave-holders who had moved across the Mississippi. This was a common
feeling in the western part of the Territory, and for obvious reasons.
The chief wealth of the country was in land, and all who could were
speculating in it. On January 12, 1796, a petition was drawn up at
Kaskaskia asking Congress for the repeal or modification of the slavery
clause. It was signed by John Edgar and William Morrison, two of the
wealthiest and most influential men of Randolph County, and William
St. Clair and John DuMoulin, who were equally prominent in St. Clair
County. The argument offered was this: "Your petitioners humbly
hope they will not be thought presumptuous in venturing to disapprove
of the article concerning slavery in toto, as contrary not only to the
interest, but almost to the existence of the country they inhabit, where
laborers cannot be procured to assist in cultivating the ground under
one dollar per day, exclusive of washing, lodging, and boarding; and
where every kind of tradesmen are paid from a dollar and a half to two
dollars per day ; neither is there, at these exorbitant prices, a sufficiency
of hands to be got for the exigencies of the inhabitants, who, attached to
their native soil, have rather chosen to encounter these and many other
difficulties than, by avoiding them, remove to the Spanish dominions,
where slavery is permitted, and consequently the price of labor is muck
218 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
lower." They desired the repeal of the slavery clause, or provision for
the introduction of slavery by indenture. The petition was promptly
rejected by the Congressional committee to which it was referred, on the
ground that there was no evidence that the petitioners represented public
sentiment; "and your committee having information that an alteration
of the Ordinance, in the manner prayed for by the petitioners, would
be disagreeable to many of the inhabitants of the said Territory; they
have conceived it needless to enter into any consideration of the policy
of the measure, being persuaded that, if it could be admissible, under any
circumstances, a partial application, like the present, could not be
listened to." 20
No farther effort in this line was made until the Territory advanced
to the second grade. In 1798, having become satisfied that the Territory
contained ' ' five thousand free male inhabitants of full age, ' ' the Governor
called an election of delegates to a Territorial legislature, which con-
vened on February 4, 1799. Of the twenty-two representatives elected
under the apportionment, sixteen were from what is now Ohio, three
from Michigan, two from Illinois, and one from Indiana. They nomi-
nated ten men for councillors, from whom President Adams selected five,
four from Ohio and one, Henry Vanderburgh, who was made president
of the council, from Indiana. As to their politics, there is no reason to
question the statement in 1840 by William Henry Harrison, who was
elected to Congress by this House of Representatives: "In 1799 I was
selected by the Republican party of the Territorial Legislature to be
their candidate for the appointment of delegate to Congress. Between
Mr. Arthur St. Glair, Jr. (the son of Governor St. Clair), the Federal
candidate, and myself, the votes were divided precisely as the two parties
stood in the Legislature, with the exception of one Republican, who was
induced by his regard for the Governor to vote for his son. The vote
was 11 to 10, not one of the Federalists voting for me." It should be
understood, however, that the party alignment had very little to do with
the doctrine of "states rights," which is commonly assumed by writers
of later date as the distinguishing feature between the two parties. Gov-
ernor St. Clair was the head of the Federalists, and proved his thorough
loyalty by writing a defense of the Alien and Sedition laws, but his states
rights ideas were so extreme that they would have shocked John C.
Calhoun. In 1795, long after the "whiskey insurrection," he contended
that the whiskey tax did not apply to the Territory; that it would be
20 For petition and report, see Am. State Papers, Pub. Lands, Vol. 1, pp.
60, 61.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 219
unjust to tax people who were not represented; "that the inhabitants of
a Territory are not a part of the people of the United States." 21
But more, the Ohio Federalists opposed the constitutional convention
for the admission of the state on the ground that Congress had no power
to call it, and when the convention met Governor St. Clair was "per-
mitted" to address it, and, among other things, he said: "That the
people of the Territory should form a convention and a constitution
needed no act of Congress. To pretend to authorize it was, on their part,
an interference with the internal affairs of the country, which they had
neither the power nor the right to make. The act is not binding on the
people, and is in truth a nullity, and, could it be brought before that
tribunal jvhere acts of Congress can be tried, would be declared a nullity.
To all acts of Congress that respects the United States (they can make
no other) in their corporative capacity, and which are extended by ex-
press words to the Territory, we are bound to yield obedience. For all
internal affairs we have a complete legislature of our own, and in them
are no more bound by an act of Congress than we would be bound by an
edict of the first consul of France. Had such an attempt been made
upon any of the United States in their separate capacity, the act would
have been spurned from them with indignation. We, I trust, also know
our rights, and will support them, and, being assembled, gentlemen, as
a convention, no matter by what means it was brought about, you may do
whatever appears to you to be for the best for your constituents as freely
as if Congress had never interfered in the matter. * * * Form,
then, gentlemen, or direct a new election for the purpose, a Constitution
for the whole Territory; assert your right to a full representation in
the councils of the nation; direct the legislature forthwith to cause a
census to be taken ; it will not require much time if set about in earnest.
Let your representatives go forward with that in their hands, and de-
mand the admission of the Territory as a State. It will not, it can not
be refused. But, suppose it should be refused, it would not affect your
government, or anything you have done to organize it. That would go
on equally well, or perhaps better. It was, I think, eight years after the
people of Vermont had formed government, and exercised all the powers
of an independent State, before it was admitted into the Union. The
government was not retarded a single moment on that account. It
would be incomparably better that we should be deprived of a share in
the national councils for a session or two, or even for years, than that
we should be degraded to an unequal share in them for nine years ; but
it will not happen. We have the means in our own hands to bring Con-
21 St. dair Papers, Vol. 2, pp. 377-84.
220 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
gress to reason, if we should be forced to use them. If we submit to the
degradation, we should be trodden upon, and, what is worse, we should
deserve to be trodden upon." m
Thomas Jefferson was then President, and the casual reader of our
American histories might imagine he would receive with approbation such
independent sentiments. This was his comment :
"DEPARTMENT OF STATE.
"Washington, November 22, 1802.
"Arthur St. Clair, Esq.:
' ' Sir : The President observing, in an address lately delivered by you
to the convention held at Chillicothe, an intemperance and indecorum of
language toward the Legislature of the United States, and a disorganizing
spirit and tendency of very evil example, and grossly violating the rules
of conduct enjoined by your public station, determines that your commis-
sion of Governor of the North-western Territory shall cease on the receipt
of this notification. I am, etc.
"JAMES MADISON."
St. Clair returned thanks for being released from "an office I was
heartily tired of, about six weeks sooner than I had determined to rid
myself of it," and reiterated his opinion of "the violent, hasty, and
unpredecented intrusion" of Congress. Madison's letter was inclosed in
one to Charles W. Byrd, Secretary of the Territory, advising him that
the duties of the office would devolve on him. "Winthrop Sargent had
resigned in 1798, and had been succeeded by William Henry Harrison,
who in turn resigned when elected to Congress, and was succeeded by
Byrd. Jefferson has been criticised for not permitting St. Clair to
complete his term of office, but it is hardly fair to say that any other
action should have been taken, in view of the public nature of the offense,
as the sentiment of resistance to Congress was not confined to St. Clair.
The Federalists had made their campaign for delegates to the conven-
tion on the same basis of lack of authority in Congress to pass the en-
abling act. Paul Fearing, Representative of the Territory in Congress
had opposed the enabling act as "unconstitutional," and urged that
"Congress had nothing to do with the arrangements for calling a con-
vention." Mr. Griswold of Connecticut had supported Fearing, declar-
ing that the act was "an usurpation of power by the United States a
power not belonging to them. ' ' The Wayne County people thought that
putting them into Indiana was ruinous, and a Federalist meeting at
-'= St. Clair Papers, Vol. 2, 'pp. 594-7.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
221
Dayton adopted the following resolution of resistance: "We consider
the late law of Congress for the admission of this Territory into the
Union, as far as it relates to the calling a convention and regulating the
election of its members, as an act of legislative usurpation of power
properly the province of the territorial legislature, bearing a striking
similarity to the course of Great Britain imposing laws on the provinces.
Gov. ARTHUR ST. CLAIR
(From portrait by Charles Willson Peale)
We view it as unconstitutional, as a bad precedent, and unjust and par-
tial as to the representation in the different counties. We wish our
legislature to be called immediately to pass a law to take the enumera-
tion, to call a convention, and to regulate the election of members to the
same, and also the time and place for the meeting." Most of the Fed-
eralists who were elected to the convention voted that it was expedient
to form a constitution, but Ephraim Cutler was so entirely "unrecon-
220
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS
gress to reason, if we should be forced to use them. If we submit to the
degradation, we should be trodden upon, and, what is worse, we should
deserve to be trodden upon. ' ' 22
Thomas Jefferson was then President, and the casual reader of our
American histories might imagine he would receive with approbation such
independent sentiments. This was his comment:
"DEPARTMENT OP STATE.
"Washington, November 22, 1802.
"Arthur St. Clair, Esq.:
"Sir: The President observing, in an address lately delivered by you
to the convention held at Chillicothe, an intemperance and indecorum of
language toward the Legislature of the United States, and a disorganizing
spirit and tendency of very evil example, and grossly violating the rules
of conduct enjoined by your public station, determines that your commis-
sion of Governor of the North-western Territory shall cease on the receipt
of this notification. I am, etc.
"JAMES MADISON."
St. Clair returned thanks for being released from "an office I was
heartily tired of, about six weeks sooner than I had determined to rid
myself of it," and reiterated his opinion of "the violent, hasty, and
unpredecented intrusion" of Congress. Madison's letter was inclosed in
one to Charles W. Byrd, Secretary of the Territory, advising him that
the duties of the office would devolve on him. Winthrop Sargent had
resigned in 1798. and had been succeeded lay William Henry Harrison,
who in turn resigned when elected to Congress, and was succeeded by
Byrd. Jefferson has been criticised for not permitting St. Clair to
complete his term of office, but it is hardly fair to say that any other
action should have been taken, in view of the public nature of the offense,
as the sentiment of resistance to Congress was not confined to St. Clair.
The Federalists had made their campaign for delegates to the conven-
tion on the same basis of lack of authority in Congress to pass the en-
abling act. Paul Fearing, Representative of the Territory in Congress
had opposed the enabling act as "unconstitutional," and urged that
"Congress had nothing to do with the arrangements for calling a con-
vention." Mr. Griswold of Connecticut had supported Fearing, declar-
ing that the act was "an usurpation of power by the United States a
power not belonging to them." The Wayne County people thought that
putting them into Indiana was ruinous, and a Federalist meeting at
--St. Clair Papers, Vol. 2, j.p. 594-7.
' '
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
221
Day ton adopted the following resolution of resistance: "We consider
the late law of Congress for the admission of this Territory into the
Union, as far as it relates to the calling a convention and regulating the
election of its members, as an act of legislative usurpation of power
properly the province of the territorial legislature, bearing a striking
similarity to the course of Great Britain imposing laws on the provinces.
Gov. ARTHI-R ST. GLAIR
(From portrait by Charles Willson Peale)
We view it as unconstitutional, as a bad precedent, and unjust and par-
tial as to the representation in the different counties. We wish our
legislature to be called immediately to pass a law to take the enumera-
tion, to call a convention, and to regulate the election of members to the
same, and also the time and place for the meeting." Most of the Fed-
eralists who were elected to the convention voted that it was expedient
to form a constitution, but Ephraim Cutler was so entirely "uurecon-
222 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
structed" that he voted against it all by himself; and wrote to his
father congratulating himself on "the opportunity to place my feeble
testimony against so wicked and tyrannical a proceeding although I
stand alone."
As President, Jefferson could not afford to ignore such resistance to
the authority of the United States coming from an United States official.
Formal charges had been preferred against St. Clair months before, by
zealous Republicans, charges of usurpation of legislative power, nepot-
ism, collection of illegal fees, etc., and Jefferson had taken no action on
them. The real injustice to St. Clair was in the failure of the United
States to pay what it owed him. Under the instructions of President
Washington he had treated with the Indians for land titles. It was
necessary to make presents and payments, and St. Clair bought the
goods on the credit of the United States. When he presented the bills
there was no appropriation to pay them, but Secretary -Hamilton prom-
ised that they should be paid, and on that assurance St. Clair gave his
personal bond for the money. But they were not paid, and Hamilton
went out of office. The new Secretary would do nothing, and in 1796
the papers in the case were destroyed by a fire in the war office. The
accounting officers refused to settle, and when application was made to
Congress a claim was raised that the statute of limitations had barred
the debt. But it did not bar St. Clair 's bond. Judgment was taken against
him, and finally in 1810, when the embargo had made money almost im-
possible to obtain, his home, on land which had been given him for
service in the Revolution, was sold property worth over $50,000 sacri-
ficed to pay a government debt of $4,000. The brave old man said:
' ' They left me a few books of my classical library, and the bust of Paul
Jones, which he sent me from Europe, for which I was very grateful. ' '
Reduced to destitution, St. Clair passed his few remaining years in a
log cabin in the barrens of Chestnut Ridge, five miles west of Ligonier,
Pennsylvania, another warning to those who deal with the United States
not to let patriotism lead them into any situation where they have not
written guaranty.
In reality the enabling act for the admission of Ohio was a Republi-
can political move, two objects of which were making a Republican state
of Ohio, with the capital at Chillicothe, and making William Henry Har-
rison Governor of Indiana Territory, but the matter was complicated with
other issues. So far as national politics was concerned, the dominating
issue in Northwest Territory was sympathy with the French democracy.
"Jacobin clubs" were formed at a number of centers. In a speech at
Cincinnati, in 1802, St. Clair said that they were first started at Cincin-
nati by a Mr. Kerr, who was not even a citizen of the United States. He
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 223
condemned these clubs roundly, and as to their claims of republicanism
said : ' ' What is a republican 1 Is there a single man in all the country
that is not a republican, both in principle and practice, except, perhaps,
a few people who wish to introduce negro slavery amongst us, and those
residing chiefly in the county of Ross ? " It is to be regretted that he was
not more specific, for Ross County was supposed to be settled by people
who left the South on account of slavery. The region was explored orig-
inally by Col. Nathaniel Massie and others in 1792, and on Massie's re-
ports parts of the Presbyterian congregations of Cane Ridge and Concord,
in Bourbon County, Kentucky, decided to emigrate in a body, with
their pastor, Rev. Robert W. Finley. Finley freed his slaves for this
purpose, #nd they moved to Ohio in 1796. In 1797 there were two notable
additions to the colony in Dr. Edward Tiffin and Col. Thomas Worthing-
ton brothers-in-law, of Berkeley Cunty, Virginia, who freed their slaves
to move to free soil. Worthington was the Republican leader in Ohio
almost from his arrival, and Tiffin was the first Governor of the State.
When the enabling act was passed, Solomon Sibley, of Detroit, wrote to
Judge Burnet, "We may thank our good friends Judges Symmes and
Meigs, and Sir Thomas, for what is done." "Sir Thomas" was Worth-
ington, but the Federalists made little headway in that line of epithet,
for the Jacobins had them all labeled as "Aristocrats." Even a nabob
like John Cleves Symmes wrote that the Cincinnati editors ' ' print every-
thing for Aristocrats, and only now and then a piece for Democrats.
We shall never have fair play while Arthur and his Knights of the Round
Table sit at the head. "
There was apparently no party division on the slavery question. At
the opening of the legislative session of 1799 several officers of the Vir-
ginia line petitioned for "toleration to bring their slaves into this Terri-
tory, on the military lands between the Little Miami and Scioto rivers,"
and on Sept. 27, the fourth day of the session, the committee to which it
was referred reported that this would be incompatible with the Ordinance
whereupon it was ' ' Resolved unanimously, That the House doth agree to
the same. ' ' Yet of this House, as we have seen, twelve were Republicans
and nine Federalists. On November 19, another petition was presented
from Thomas Posey and other officers of the Virginia line, asking that
slaves might be brought in ' ' under certain restrictions, ' ' probably under
indenture, with emancipation at certain ages. The House went into
committee of the whole on this, and then referred it to a committee of
three ' ' to report by bill or otherwise, ' ' but nothing further was heard of
it, and Gen. Posey and others located in southern territory. The senti-
ments of the Ohio members are not known, but John Edgar, who repre-
sented Randolph County in this legislature had petitioned for the admis-
224
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
sion of slavery three years earlier ; Shadrach Bond, who represented St.
Clair County, joined in at least two petitions for slavery later; and John
Small, who represented Knox County, was himself a slaveholder in
Indiana, and identified with the pro-slavery party there. This attitude
INDIANA IN 1811.
Ft ^
Daorton
l ' f * v
$ca/t tt Mil**.
of this legislature is of interest in connection with an attempt to permit
slavery in the constitution of Ohio, which we shall have occasion to
notice later. *
Indiana's direct interest in Northwest Territory ended with the
division act of 1800, except that until the admission of Ohio in 1802, the
southeastern corner of Indiana, east of the Greenville Treaty line, and
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 225
also the eastern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, remained a
part of Northwest Territory. The division act was obtained by Harri-
son, substantially as he and his political associates had planned, with
Chillicothe as capital of Northwest Territory, and Vincennes as capital
of Indiana Territory. Harrison's appointment as Governor of Indiana
Territory followed in course. Harrison also secured the passage of a
land law which was a just source of popularity in his future life. Under
the land law of 1796, providing for the survey and sale of lands east of
the mouth of the Kentucky River, only the alternate townships were
divided into sections, and there was no provision for sale of less than a
section in the other townships. The undivided townships were to be sold
by quarters, excepting the four central sections, or, in other words, in
quantities of eight sections. This practically put half of the public land
out of the market, except to companies or wealthy individuals. The man
who was not able to buy 640 acres had to buy from some other person or
company. Harrison brought his plan before the House, and it was
referred to a committee of which he was chairman. He brought in a
report favoring sale by half and quarter sections, with easy terms of pay-
ment. This was regarded as too great encouragement to the impecunious
by the Senate, but a compromise was made on allowing sale by half sec-
tions, with four years for payment, and eight per cent discount if paid
before due. Sale by quarter sections was not conceded until by the act
of March 26, 1804, for the sale of lands in Indiana Territory.
Vol. 115
CHAPTER VI
INDIANA TERRITORY
Northwest Territory was divided by act of May 10, 1800 ; and by the
census of that year there were 45,365 inhabitants left in Northwest
Territory and 5,641 included in Indiana Territory. But at that time the
latter did not include two important tracts that were added two. years
later, when Ohio became a state. These were Wayne County, or the part
of Michigan east of the eastern line of Indiana, with a portion of north-
western Ohio, and that part of the Whitewater valley lying between the
Greenville Treaty line and the present east line of Indiana, sometimes
called "the Gore." The census showed 3,206 inhabitants in Wayne
County. The number in the Gore was not reported separately, but it
was probably more than 1,000. More than half of the population of
Indiana Territory was outside of what is now Indiana. There were
1,103 in Randolph County, Illinois; 1,255 in St. Glair County; 251 at
Michilimackinac, 65 at Prairie du Chien ; 50 at Green Bay ; 100 at Peoria ;
and 300 Canadian boatmen, estimated, with no fixed abodes. In Indiana
proper there were 714 at Vincennes, which was the only town returned
separately. There were also 819 returned as in the neighborhood of
Vincennes, a few of them of course west of the Wabash, and 55 "traders
on the Wabash." In Clark's Grant, or "the Illinois Grant," as it was
called, there were 929. Of the total population there were reported 135
slaves and 163 negroes, i.e., "all other persons except Indians not taxed."
It is certain that a number of those reported as free negroes were in
fact slaves, for in Cahokia and Cahokia Township there were reported
42 negroes and no slaves, and in Vincennes and neighborhood there were
reported 71 negroes and only 23 slaves. There is no way of determining
the exact number of each class.
This little seed of slavery developed the chief political crops of the
next quarter of a century. The four Illinois men who had petitioned for
the admission of slavery in 1796 had not rested quietly. In 1800 they had
sent a second petition to Congress asking a modification of the slavery
clause to admit slaves from other parts of the United States, but whose
children should be free,, the males at the age of thirty-one and the females
at the age of twenty-eight. This was presented in the Senate on January
226
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 227
23, 1801, and laid on the table, as the petitioners were no longer in
Northwest Territory. It does not appear to have been presented in the
House. This failure merely turned the efforts of the Illinois people in
new directions. Under the law creating it, Indiana could advance to the
second grade whenever the Governor was satisfied that the people desired
it. This would give the Territory a representative in Congress, and also
a mode of expressing the local popular will. Accordingly they moved for
it at once, and on April 11, 1801, John Edgar wrote to Gov. St. Clair:
"During a few weeks past we have put into circulation petitions ad-
dressed to Governor Harrison for a General Assembly, and we have had
the satisfaction to find that about nine-tenths of the inhabitants of St.
Clair and Randolph approve of the measure, a great proportion of whom
have already put their signatures to the petition. I have written to
Judge Clark, of Clark County, to Mr. Buntin and Mr. Small, of Post
Vincennes, urging them to be active in the business. I have no doubt
but that the undertaking will meet with early success so as to admit of
the House of Representatives meeting in the fall. ' '
This was the first political problem that confronted Governor Harri-
son. He was only twenty-seven years old when appointed, but had seen
considerable of public life. The youngest son of Governor Benjamin
Harrison of Virginia, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, and a member of the Continental Congress, he was heir to
the friendship of numerous public men. After a classical course at
Hampden-Sidney College, he began the study of medicine in 1790, and
in 1791 was started to Philadelphia to continue his studies under Dr.
Benjamin Rush, but his father died at this time, and, disliking medicine,
he applied to Secretary Knox and President Washington for a military
appointment, and was at once made an ensign in the Tenth U. S. Infantry.
He walked to Pittsburg, and went down the Ohio, reaching Fort Wash-
ington just as the remnants of St. Glair's defeated army arrived there.
He was not popular at first, probably, in part at least, on account of his
temperate habits. Army life was rather rough on the frontier, and
Cincinnati was altogether "over the Rhine" at that time. Harrison
said he saw more drunken men in his first two days there than he had
seen in all his previous life. On June 1, I'SSS, when Wayne was at
Hobson's Choice, he issued an order reading: "The Intoxicated and
Beastly situation in which a great Number of the Soldiery belonging to
almost every Corps, was discovered by the Commander in Chief yester-
day, and at other times in the village of Cincinnati makes it his duty to
prohibit any passes or Permits to be given to any Non Commissioned
officer or soldier to pass the chain of Centinels out of Camp, except by
the field Officer of the Day ; and then not more than one Man in a Com-
228 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
pany, who first must be particularly recommended by his Commanding
Officer." Harrison kept sober, and devoted his spare time to study,
especially of tactics. His favorite study had been ancient history; and
he says he had read Rollin three times before he was seventeen years old.
In 1792 he was made lieutenant, and in 1793, after Wayne had seen
something of his service, he made him his aide-de-camp, in which posi-
tion he won praise for gallantry at the battle of the Fallen Timbers. In
November, 1795, he married Anne Cleves Symmes, daughter of Judge
Symmes, and soon after Wayne put him in command at Fort Washing-
ton. In the spring of 1798 he resigned his position in the army, and was
soon appointed Secretary of Northwest Territory, resigning this position
a year later to enter Congress. He was at this time identified with the
Ohio Republicans, but, as he himself states, maintained a reticence on
national politics that made his position the subject of much controversy
at a later date.
He did not desire Indiana Territory to advance to the second grade
in 1801, for various reasons. Primarily it would largely decrease his
own power, as he had a large part in legislation in the first grade ; and
secondly the French settlers and a number of the influential Americans
were of Federal tendencies in politics. He had not yet had opportunity
to become fully acquainted with the situation. The government of
Indiana Territory had begun on July 4, 1800, but with none of the offi-
cials on the ground except John Gibson, the Territorial Secretary. Wil-
liam Clark, Henry Vanderburgh and John Griffin had been appointed
Territorial Judges, but they took no action until after the arrival of
Governor Harrison on January 10, 1801. Gibson was therefore the
whole government until that time. He was a notable frontier character,
born at Lancaster, Penn., May 23, 1740, and fairly educated. At eighteen
he joined the expedition of Gen. Forbes against Fort DuQuesne, and
after its capture, and change of name to Fort Pitt, located at that point
as an Indian trader. Soon after he was captured by the Indians, and
doomed to death, but was saved by an old squaw, who adopted him in
place of her dead son. He remained with the Indians for several years,
becoming skilled in their languages, manners and customs, and marrying
a sister of Logan (Tahgahjute, a Cayuga chief) ; and then returned to
Fort Pitt and resumed business as a trader. He was quite commonly
known as "Horsehead," which is presumably a translation of his Indian
name. In 1774 he accompanied Lord Dunmore's expedition against the
Shawnee towns, acting as interpreter, and in this capacity received the
celebrated speech, "Who is there to mourn for Logan?" his squaw wife
having been one of the victims that Logan had avenged. He told Logan
that Col. Cresap was not responsible for the massacre, but delivered the
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
229
speech to Lord Dunmore as he had received it, and it later came to the
possession of Thomas Jefferson, who gave it to the world. At the begin-
ning of 'the Revolutionary war he raised a regiment, and served under
Washington in New York and New Jersey, and at the close of the war
he went back to Indian trading at Pittsburg. He served also as a member
of the first constitutional convention of Pennsylvania, in 1788, and later
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, WHEN GOVERNOR OF INDIANA
(From the portrait by Peale)
as General of the Pennsylvania militia, and judge of the Court of Common
Pleas of Allegheny County. With a strong natural sense of justice, and
good common sense, he was always popular ; and his knowledge of Indians
made him invaluable to Indiana Territory. He served as Secretary until
the admission of the State in 1816, acting as Governor in 1812-13, and
shortly afterwards went to live with his son-in-law, George Wallace, at
Braddock's Field, where he died April 10, 1822.
As soon as Harrison arrived at Vincennes he called a session of the
228
\
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
-
pany, who first must be particularly recommended by his Commanding
Officer." Harrison kept sober, and devoted his spare time to study,
especially of tactics. His favorite study had been ancient history; and
he says he had read Rollin three times before he was seventeen years old.
In 1792 he was made lieutenant, and in 1793, after Wayne had seen
something of his service, he made him his aide-de-camp, in which posi-
tion he won praise for gallantry at the battle of the Fallen Timbers. In
November, 1795, he married Anne Cleves Symmes, daughter of Judge
Symmes, and soon after Wayne put him in command at Fort Washing-
ton. In the spring of 1798 he resigned his position in the army, and was
soon appointed Secretary of Northwest Territory, resigning this position
a year later to enter Congress. He was at this time identified with the
Ohio Republicans, but, as he himself states, maintained a reticence on
national politics that made his position the subject of much controversy
at a later date.
He did not desire Indiana Territory to advance to the second grade
in 1801, for various reasons. Primarily it would largely decrease his
own power, as he had a large part in legislation in the first grade ; and
secondly the French settlers and a number of the influential Americans
were of Federal tendencies in politics. He had not yet had opportunity
to become fully acquainted with the situation. The government of
Indiana Territory had begun on July 4, 1800, but with none of the offi-
cials on the ground except John Gibson, the Territorial Secretary. Wil-
liam Clark, Henry Vanderburgh and John Griffin had been appointed
Territorial Judges, but they took no action until after the arrival of
Governor Harrison on January 10, 1801. Gibson was therefore the
whole government until that time. He was a notable frontier character,
born at Lancaster, Penn., May 23, 1740, and fairly educated. At eighteen
he joined the expedition of Gen. Forbes against Fort DuQuesne. and
after its capture, and change of name to Fort Pitt, located at that point
as an Indian trader. Soon after he was captured by the Indians, and
doomed to death, but was saved by an old squaw, who adopted him in
place of her dead son. He remained with the Indians for several years,
becoming skilled in their languages, manners and customs, and marrying
a sister of Logan (Tahgahjute, a Cayuga chief) ; and then returned to
Fort Pitt and resumed business as a trader. He was quite commonly
known as ' ' Horsehead, ' ' which is presumably a translation of his Indian
name. In 1774 he accompanied Lord Dunmore's expedition against the
Shawnee towns, acting as interpreter, and in this capacity received the
celebrated speech, "Who is there to mourn for Logan?" his squaw wife
having been one of the victims that Logan had avenged. He told Logan
that Col. Cresap was not responsible for the massacre, but delivered the
INDIANA AND IND1ANANS
229
speech to Lord Duumore as he had received it, and it later came to the
possession of Thomas Jefferson, who gave it to the world. At the begin-
ning of 'the Revolutionary war he raised a regiment, and served under
Washington in New York and New Jersey, and at the close of the war
he went back to Indian trading at Pittsburg. He served also as a member
of the first constitutional convention of Pennsylvania, in 1788, and later
AViLLiAM HENRY HARRISON, WHEN GOVERNOR OF INDIANA
(From the portrait by Peale)
as General of the Pennsylvania militia, and judge of the Court of Common
Pleas of Alleghany Count}'. With a strong natural sense of justice, and
good common sense, he was always popular ; and his knowledge of Indians
made him invaluable to Indiana Territory. He served as Secretary until
the admission of the State in 1816, acting as Governor in 1812-13, and
shortly afterwards went to live with his son-in-law, George Wallace, at
Braddock's Field, where he died April 10, 1822.
As soon as Harrison arrived at Vincennes he called a session of the
-
230 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Governor and Judges for January 12. The session lasted for two weeks,
and six laws and three resolutions were adopted, all but one of the laws
being amendatory, or in repeal of, laws of the Northwest Territory, which
were held to be in force in Indiana Territory. The duties of the Governor
were not arduous. On October 15, 1801, Harrison wrote to James Find-
lay, of Cincinnati, "I am much pleased with this country. Nothing can
exceed its beauty and fertility. I have purchased a farm of about three
hundred acres joining the town, which is all cleared. I am now engaged
in fencing it, and shall begin to build next spring if I can find the means.
How comes on the distillery? I wish you to send me some whisky as
soon as possible. * * * We have here a company of troops com-
manded by Honest F. Johnson of the 4th. We generally spend half the
day together, making war upon the partridges, grouse and fish ; the latter
we take in great numbers in a sein." His peace and quiet were inter-
rupted by the petition for advance to the second grade but he was equal
to the emergency. He wrote a "letter to a friend," and it found its
way into print, arguing against the proposal on account of the great
expense it would entail. Of the effectiveness of this letter, one of his
bitterest enemies said: "Previous to this famous letter of the Governor
against the second grade of government, the people, whether right or
wrong, had generally petitioned the Governor to adopt the measure. A
declaration of his own opinion, accompanied with an exaggerated calcula-
tion of the expenses incident to this form of government, alarmed the
people, by a representation of heavy taxes ; and they immediately changed
their opinions, for no other reasons than those stated by the Governor. ' ' l
Harrison had been giving attention to real public needs from the
beginning. On May 9, 1801, he issued a proclamation forbidding all
persons from settling, hunting or surveying on the Indian lands. The
object of this was to prevent trouble with the Indians, and it was fol-
lowed five weeks later by the following: "July 20. This day the Gov-
ernor Issued a proclamation expressly forbiding any Trader from selling
or giving any Spirituous Liquors to any Indian or Indians in the Town
of Vincennes and ordering that the Traders in future when they sold
Liquor to the Indians should deliver it to them at the distance of at
least a mile from the village or on the other side of the Wabash River,
and Whereas certain evil disposed persons have made a practice of pur-
chasing from the Indians (and giveing them Whiskey in exchange) arti-
cles of Cloathing, Cooking, and such other articles as are used in hunting
viz ; Guns powder, Ball &c. he has thought proper to publish an Extract
from the Laws of the United States, that the persons offending against
Letters of Decius, p. 7.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 231
the Law may know the penalties to which they are subject, he also exhorts
and requires all Magistrates and other Civil officers vigilantly to dis-
charge their duties, by punishing, as the Law directs, all persons who
are found drunk, or rioting in the streets or public houses, and requests
and advises, the good Citizens of the Territory to aid and assist the
Magistrates, in the execution of the Laws by Lodgeing information
against, and by assisting to apprehend the disorderly and riotous per-
sons, who constantly infest the streets of Vincennes and to inform
against all those who violate the Sabbath by selling or Bartering Spirit-
uous Liquors or who pursue any other unlawfull business on the day set
apart for the service of God." 2 Five days earlier he had written to the
Secretary of War concerning this evil, saying that he could tell from
looking at an Indian whether he belonged to a neighboring or a distant
tribe, as "The latter is generally well clothed, healthy and vigorous; the
former, half naked, filthy, and enfeebled by intoxication; and many of
them are without arms, excepting a knife which they carry for the most
villainous purposes." He says there were about six thousand gallons of
whisky sold annually to the six hundred Indians on the Wabash, and
those near Vincennes were ' ' daily in town and frequently intoxicated to
the number of thirty or forty at once, when they committed the greatest
disorders, drawing their knives and stabbing every one they met ; break-
ing open the houses, killing cattle and hogs and breaking down fences. ' '
The people soon appreciated the need of such action, for on August 6,
1805, the legislature adopted a law prohibiting the sale of liquor within
thirty miles of any Indian council; and on December 6, 1806, another
prohibiting the sale or gift of liquor to Indians within forty miles of
Vincennes.
One of the great sources of trouble was the establishment of bound-
aries of land claims, and a session of the Governor and Judges was held
Jan. 30-Feb. 3, 1802, which adopted laws for county surveyors and their
fees. But the one subject that was uppermost with the most influential
men of the Territory was the slavery question. The chief wealth of the
Territory was in land, and in the Illinois country this was mostly prairie
land, needing only cultivation to be productive. Labor was scarce and
dear. Poor men could secure small farms and do their own cultivation,
but the wealthy land owner saw his lands lying idle, while across the
Ohio and the Mississippi similar owners were utilizing slave labor. More-
over the French settlers in the Territory had just enough slaves to make
the situation tantalizing. The small number of slaves also made the
institution much less repulsive than where large numbers were worked
2 Executive Journal, Ind. Hist. Soc. Pubs., Vol. 3.
232 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
in gangs, like animals, most of the Illinois slaves being house servants,
and all in direct touch with their owners. And further, if we may
credit the French writers of the period, slavery had not produced the
demoralizing effects on the whites that was already observable in Louis-
iana. 3 Paul Alliot, the French doctor who dedicated a memoir to Jeffer-
son, after severe reflections on the people of Louisiana, says: "After
having gone thirty leagues farther, the traveler reaches that place and
good country known by the name of Illinois. It is in that enchanting
abode that those good inhabitants exercise with kindness and humanity
hospitality toward those who present themselves there, and those whom
fortune has cast from its bosom, or who have been constrained to flee
through persecution. Those fine inhabitants are prodigal of help to
them and aid them without any selfish end in view in forming their
settlements. * * * Marriage is honored there and the children re-
sulting from it share the inheritance of their parents without any quarrel-
ing. Never does that self interest which divides families in France, and
even in other parts of. Europe, disunite them." None of those blood-
snickers known under the name of bailiffs, lawyers and solicitors are seen
there. * * * Those good and courageous people, far distant from
all faction, as well as from perfidy and tyranny, occupy themselves in
the bosom of peace which they have at last found in a country which was
formerly the abode of those men whom nature forms without need and
without criminal passions, in rearing their children, in teaching them at
an early age to love one another, to work, and finally, to enjoy as &
consequence that terrestrial happiness which good spouses find in their
homes."
It should also be borne in mind that most of the Illinois settlers, aside
from the French, were foreigners, and that Southerners who were familiar
with the objectionable features of slavery, so far as they had been de-
veloped at that time, were few. John Edgar, who was the leading advo-
cate of slavery in . Randolph County, was an Irish naval officer, who
commanded a British vessel on the lakes at the beginning of the Revolu-
tion, but espoused the American cause from principle. He was wealthy,
and was celebrated for benevolence and public spirit. Next to him in
Randolph was "William Morrison, a native of Pennsylvania, who had
come to the Illinois as a fur-trader, and had become the wealthiest resi-
dent of the region. William St. Ciair, the slavery leader in St. Clair
County was a Scotchman, youngest son of the then Earl of Roslin, and
a cousin of Governor St. Clair. John DuMoulin, who joined with these
other three in the slavery petition of 1796, was a highly educated Swiss,
3 See collected extracts in Robertson 's Louisiana.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 233
who acquired wealth in Illinois, and was a useful citizen. It was natural
enough that such men should see no reason why they should be excluded
from the benefits of an institution which existed on all sides of them, and
they persisted in demanding it. In .the fall of 1802, Harrison went to the
Illinois country on business, and the people there made their desires
very plain. In the discussion of the mode of securing a modification of
the Ordinance, Harrison stated his willingness to call a convention to
give the consent of the Territory to the change, if petitioned so to do.
Petitions were at once put in circulation, and on November 22, the fol-
lowing entry was made in the Executive Journal: "Petitions having
been presented to the Governor by a Considerable number of the Citizens
of the Territory praying that a proclamation should Issue from the
Executive* authority for Calling a General Convention for the purpose
of taking into consideration the propriety of repealing the sixth article
of Compact between the United States and the people of the Territory,
and for other purposes, and proof having been adduced to the governor
that a very large majority of the Citizens are in favor of the measures :
the Governor in Compliance with their wishes Issued his proclamation
notifying all whom it may concern that an Election will be held at the
Respective Court Houses in Each County of the Territory on tuesday
the llth. day of December for Choosing representatives to a General
Convention, and the number of Representatives from the several Coun-
ties to be as follows Viz. from the County of Knox, four, from the County
of Randolph three, from the County of St. Clair three, and from the
County of Clark two, and the Sheriffs of the several Counties are
authorized and required to hold the Elections in their Respective Coun-
ties, and in case any of the Sheriffs are Candidates, then the election to
be held by the Coroners."
These elections were duly held; Clark County having been created
on February 3, 1801, from Knox County, and including all of the Terri-
tory lying east of Blue River and south of the east fork of White River.
The delegates to the convention were leading men of their counties, but
their names narrowly escaped oblivion. Fortunately Governor Reynolds
preserved the record as to Illinois in his Pioneer History, in the sketches
of Pierre Menard, Robert Reynolds and Robert Morrison, of Randolph
County, and Jean Francois Perrey, Shadrach Bond and Major John
Moredock, of St. Clair County, who were the delegates from those two
counties. As to Knox County, all record was lost until 1886, when, in
moving some papers in the office of the Auditor of State, the original
poll list was found. The Auditor, James H. Rice, did not know what it
was, and sent it to Henry Cauthorn, of Vincennes, as an historical local
relic. Mr. Cauthorn likewise had never heard of this convention, but he
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY IN 1801
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 235
wrote an article about the poll list for the Vincennes Sun, which was
luckily reprinted in the Indianapolis Sentinel of January 13, 1886, and
which gives the result of the election in the choice of Gen. Harrison, Luke
Decker, Francis Vigo, and William Prince. I at once wrote to Mr.
Cauthorn, and was informed that the paper had been put on display in
the office of the Vincennes Sun, and had been carried away by some un-
known person. The names of the delegates from Clark County have
never been found, but a guess has been ventured that they were Davis
Floyd and one of the Beggs brothers. The only thing certainly known
about them was that they opposed the introduction of slavery. The
convention organized by electing Harrison president and John Rice
Jones secretary. Jones was a talented Welsh lawyer, who had been in
the Territory since Clark's expedition of 1785. On December 28 the
convention agreed on its memorial, which asked for the suspension of the
slavery clause for a period of ten years, but with no provision for the
gradual emancipation of either the slaves so introduced or their children.
The memorial also asked for the extinction of Indian titles, the right of
preemption for actual settlers, land grants for schools, and to persons
who would open roads and establish houses of entertainment on the prin-
cipal lines of travel between the settlements, the grant of the saline spring
below the mouth of the Wabash, permission to the French settlers to
locate their donations outside of the original surveys, abolition of the
freehold qualification for suffrage, and payment of a salary to the
Attorney General of the Territory. They also adopted a formal resolu-
tion of consent to the suspension of the ordinance for ten years, but
provided that if Congress did not suspend the clause by March 4, 1805,
their consent was withdrawn. They also recommended the reappoint-
ment of Harrison, whose term expired in 1803, and the appointment of
John Rice Jones as Chief Justice of the Territorial court. Obviously
Harrison and Jones had some influence with the convention. They were
close personal and political friends at the time, but became bitter enemies
afterwards.
These papers, with a formal letter of transmission from Governor
Harrison, were sent to Congress by a special messenger, and on February
8, 1803, were referred to a committee of which John Randolph was chair-
man. On March 2, it reported adversely on all the requests except the
right of preemption and the payment of a salary to the Attorney General.
John Randolph has been bitterly assailed by New England writers, and
in some of his later speeches there is an incoherence that might indicate
mental failure, but in this report there is the clearest evidence of his
sanity. No abler appeal to the petitioners could have been made than
his statement as to the slavery proviso, which is in these words : ' ' The
rapidly increasing population of the State of Ohio sufficiently evinces.
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY ix 1801
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
wrote an article about the poll list for the Vincennos Sun, which was
luckily reprinted in the Indianapolis Sentinel of January 13, 1886, and
which gives the result of the election in the choice of Gen. Harrison, Luke
Decker, Francis Vigo, and William Prince. I at once wrote to Mr.
Cauthorn, and was informed that the paper had been put on display in
the office of the Vincennes Sun, and had been carried away by some un-
known person. The names of the delegates from Clark County have
never been found, but a guess has been ventured that they were Davis
Floyd and one of the Beggs brothers. The only thing certainly known
about them was that they opposed the introduction of slavery. The
convention organized by electing Harrison president and John Rice
Jones secretary. Jones was a talented Welsh lawyer, who had been in
the Territory since Clark's expedition of 1785. On December 28 the
convention agreed on its memorial, which asked for the suspension of the
slavery clause for a period of ten years, but with no provision for the
gradual emancipation of either the slaves so introduced or their children.
The memorial also asked for the extinction of Indian titles, the right of
preemption for actual settlers, land grants for schools, and to persons
who would open roads and establish houses of entertainment on the prin-
cipal lines of travel between the settlements, the grant of the saline spring
below the mouth of the Wabash, permission to the French settlers to
locate their donations outside of the original surveys, abolition of the
freehold qualification for suffrage, and payment of a salary to the
Attorney General of the Territory. They also adopted a formal resolu-
tion of consent to the suspension of the ordinance for ten years, but
provided that if Congress did not suspend the clause by March 4. 1805,
their consent was withdrawn. They also recommended the reappoint-
ment of Harrison, whose term expired in 1803, and the appointment of
John Rice Jones as Chief Justice of the Territorial court. Obviously
Harrison and Jones had some influence with the convention. They were
close personal and political friends at the time, but became bitter enemies
afterwards.
These papers, with a formal letter of transmission from Governor
Harrison, were sent to Congress by a special messenger, and on February
8, 1803, were referred to a committee of which John Randolph was chair-
man. On March 2, it reported adversely on all the requests except the
right of preemption and the payment of a salary to the Attorney General.
John Randolph has been bitterly assailed by New England writers, and
in some of his later speeches there is an incoherence that might indicate
mental failure, but in this report there is the clearest evidence of his
sanity. No abler appeal to the petitioners could have been made than
his statement as to the slavery proviso, which is in these words: "The
rapidly increasing population of the State of Ohio sufficiently evinces.
236 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
in the opinion of your committee, that the labor of slaves is not neces-
sary to promote the growth and settlement of colonies in that region;
that this labor, demonstrably the dearest of any, can only be employed
to advantage in the cultivation of products more valuable than any
known to that quarter of the United States ; that the commitee deem it
highly dangerous and inexpedient to impair a provision wisely calculated
to promote the happiness and prosperity of the Northwestern country,
and to give strength and security to that extensive frontier. In the
salutary operation of this sagacious and benevolent restraint, it is be-
lieved that the inhabitants of Indiana will, at no very distant day, find
ample remuneration for a temporary privation of labor and emigration. ' '
There was no action taken on the report, but on December 15, 1803, the
petition was recommitted to a committee composed of Mr. Rodney of
Delaware, Mr. Boyle of Kentucky, and Mr. Rhea of Tennessee, who, on
February 17, 1804, reported in favor of suspending the slavery clause
for ten years, but with provision that the descendants of imported slaves
should be free, the males at the age of twenty-five and the females at the
age of twenty-one. They also recommended the repeal of the property
qualification for electors. No action was taken on this report, and none
thereafter until after the period of consent set by the convention.
This convention was unique in that it was the only one ever held to
consent to a modification of the Ordinance. In character it was analogous
to a constitutional convention, for although the Territory was under
the government of Congress, the articles of compact were irrevocable
except "by common consent" of Congress and the people of the Terri-
tory. No mode was specified for giving this consent; and it is notable
that nobody questioned the legality of the convention, as would cer-
tainly be done if such a thing were attempted now. At that time, how-
ever, Americans believed that the people had an inherent and inalienable
right to alter and amend their form of government, and that this right
could not be destroyed by a mere failure to specify the mode of its exer-
cise. The Ordinance did not give the Governor any authority to call a
convention for any purpose, in express terms. It did not even mention a
convention. But it did speak of the consent of the people, and how was
that consent to be obtained ? Clearly the people could not speak except
in some prescribed form. The Judicial department could not prescribe
the form. The legislative department was restricted to adopting laws of
the original states. The initiative could be lodged only in the Executive,
and Harrison's common-sense method of using the power did not even
raise a criticism from his numerous enemies. His stand on the slavery
question, however, raised criticism later, and was the cause of the first
appearance of the Abolition party in American politics.
There was more reason for criticism of his next step. Judge Clark
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 237
had died on November 11, 1802, and Thomas Terry Davis had been
appointed in his place. A session of the Governor and Judges was called
for September 20, and on September 22, 1803, Harrison, with Judges
Vanderburgh and Davis, adopted a Virginia law ' ' concerning servants, ' '
which provided that: "All negroes and mulattoes (and other persons
not being citizens of the United States of America) who shall coine into
this Territory under contract to serve another in any trade or occupa-
tion shall be compelled to perform such contract specifically during the
term thereof." The apparent purpose of the provision as to "others
not being citizens" was to cover panis, or Indian slaves, which were quite
numerous among the French settlements, but as the language would also
cover white servants, it was further provided that: "No negro, mulatto
or Indian shall at any time purchase any servant, other than of their
complexion; and if any of the persons aforesaid shall nevertheless pre-
sume to purchase a white servant, such servant shall immediately become
free." The law required the master to provide "wholesome and suffi-
cient food clothing and lodging," specifying "one complete suit of
(loathing suited to the season of the year, towit: a coat, waistcoat, pair
of breeches and shoes, two pair of stockings, two shirts, a hat and a
blanket." The contract was assignable with the consent of the servant,
and both master and servant could appeal to the courts for protection in
their rights. Penalties were prescribed for helping servants to escape
and for trading with them. A servant who refused to work was to serve
two days for every day lost, and for any offense punishable by fine was
to receive instead a whipping, not exceeding forty lashes. There was no
provision for indenturing negroes within the Territory, but only for
importing those already indentured, and no provision for the freedom
of slaves or their children except as provided by the contract. It is
difficult to conceive of this relation now as not being involuntary servi-
tude, as the contracts contemplated were made in slave states, by actual
slaves ; and yet it is also difficult to distinguish it from that kind of free-
dom which Blackstone states to exist under the common law of England,
as follows : "A slave or negro, the instant he lands in England, becomes
a freeman ; that is, the law will protect him in the enjoyment of his per-
son and his property. Yet, with regard to 'any right which the master
may have lawfully acquired to the perpetual service of John or Thomas,
this will remain exactly in the same state as before ; for this is no more
than the same state of subjection for life, which every apprentice sub-
mits to for the space of seven years, or sometimes for a longer term."
Nevertheless it was extensively criticised as a violation of the Ordinance,
and the controversy over it, and succeeding laws of similar character
resulted in their condemnation by the people.
But even this law did not satisfy the Illinois people. In 1800 Spain
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INDIANA AND INDIANANS 239
had ceded Louisiana to France, and our diplomats had been vainly trying
to purchase the eastern bank of the Mississippi to its mouth. In the
spring of 1803 an opportunity arose to purchase all of Louisiana, and
they entered into an unauthorized treaty for the purchase. There is
little reason to question that President Jefferson considered this pur-
chase unconstitutional when it was made, but he saw its vital importance
to the country, and took the chances, calling a special session of Congress
for October to consider the matter. News of the purchase reached Indiana
that summer, and the anti-Harrison faction in Illinois at once put
petitions in circulation asking to be joined to Louisiana. John Edgar
and the Morrisons were the leaders in this, and it was charged by the
Harrison* party that they had formed a plan to make Edgar governor
and Robert Morrison secretary of the new Territory. This may have been
true, for there were several plans advocated, and numerous candidates,
but at the same time this annexation furnished the shortest and most
certain road to slavery, and closer ties of blood and trade. The petition
was presented to Congress, but it had other views, and by act of March
26, 1804, all of Louisiana south of the present south line of Arkansas
was made the Territory of Orleans, and that to the north of this line was
put temporarily under the government of the Governor and Judges of
Indiana, but without being joined to Indiana, and was called the District
of Louisiana. The act was to take effect on October 1, 1804, but posses-
sion of the District had been given to Captain Stoddard, for the United
States, on March 9, and Congress had provided that the laws already in
effect should continue until repealed or amended by the Governor and
Judges of Indiana. Preparation was made during the summer, and on
October 1, the Governor and Judges passed six laws for the District of
Louisiana, including an elaborate law for the regulation of slavery,
which remained in force in Missouri for many years after. The people
of the District, however, objected to this anomalous form of government,
and petitioned Congress for an independent government, which was
granted on March 3, 1805.
Meanwhile the people of Wayne County were also clamoring for a
separate territorial government, and with good cause. In a petition for
separation prepared in October, 1804, it is stated that the laws passed
by the Governor and Judges in September, 1803, had not been seen in
the county. It is not easy at the present time to realize the difficulty of
communication between the different parts of Indiana Territory, but
Judge Burnet tells of one trip which will illustrate it. In December,
1799, he, with Mr. Morrison and Mr. St. Clair, had occasion to go from
Cincinnati to Vincennes on legal business. They purchased a ' ' Kentucky
boat, ' ' or ark a flat-boat commonly used on the Ohio, and in this loaded
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INDIANA AND INDIANANS 239
had ceded Louisiana to France, and our diplomats had been vainly trying
to purchase the eastern bank of the Mississippi to its mouth. In the
spring of 1803 an opportunity arose to purchase all of Louisiana, and
they entered into an unauthorized treaty for the purchase. There is
little reason to question that President Jefferson considered this pur-
chase unconstitutional when it was made, but he saw its vital importance
to the country, and took the chances, calling a special session of Congress
for October to consider the matter. News of the purchase reached Indiana
that summer, and the anti-Harrison faction in Illinois at once put
petitions in circulation asking to be joined to Louisiana. John Edgar
and the Morrisons were the leaders in this, and it was charged by the
Harrison* party that they had formed a plan to make Edgar governor
and Robert Morrison secretary of the new Territory. This may have been
true, for there were several plans advocated, and numerous candidates,
but at the same time this annexation furnished the shortest and most
certain road to slavery, and closer ties of blood and trade. The petition
was presented to Congress, but it had other views, and by act of March
26, 1804, all of Louisiana south of the present south line of Arkansas
was made the Territory of Orleans, and that to the north of this line was
put temporarily under the government of the Governor and Judges of
Indiana, but without being joined to Indiana, and was called the District
of Louisiana. The act was to take effect on October 1, 1804, but posses-
sion of the District had been given to Captain Stoddard, for the United
States, on March 9, and Congress had provided that the laws already in
effect should continue until repealed or amended by the Governor and
Judges of Indiana. Preparation was made during the summer, and on
October 1, the Governor and Judges passed six laws for the District of
Louisiana, including an elaborate law for the regulation of slavery,
which remained in force in Missouri for many years after. The people
of the District, however, objected to this anomalous form of government,
and petitioned Congress for an independent government, which was
granted on March 3, 1805.
Meanwhile the people of Wayne County were also clamoring for a
separate territorial government, and with good cause. In a petition for
separation prepared in October, 1804, it is stated that the laws passed
by the Governor and Judges in September, 1803, had not been seen in
the county. It is not easy at the present time to realize the difficulty of
communication between the different parts of Indiana Territory, but
Judge Burnet tells of one trip which will illustrate it. In December,
1799, he, with Mr. Morrison and Mr. St. Clair, had occasion to go from
Cincinnati to Vincennes on legal business. They purchased a :< Kentucky
boat," or ark a flat-boat commonly used on the Ohio, and in this loaded
240 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
their horses and provisions, and started down the river. On the after-
noon of the fourth day they reached the Falls, where they abandoned
the boat, and proceeded on horseback. The first two nights they camped
out, on the trail to Vincennes, and the third night was passed in a de-
serted cabin, which they found on the bank of White River. He does
not mention meeting a solitary white settler on the journey, except at
the Falls, but they encountered a band of Indians, two panthers, a herd
of buffalo, and a wildcat. There was snow or rain during the trips going
and coming. The travel to Detroit from Vincennes was more difficult
than this, and that to the Illinois settlements was at times as bad as in
the days of Clark's campaign. From such difficulties there arose the
consensus of opinion among the early settlers that the capital of a state
or territory should be as near the center of population as possible, and,
if possible, on a navigable stream. In response to the Wayne County
petition, Congress passed an act on January 11, 1805, providing that
after June 30 of that year the Territory of Michigan should be estab-
lished. The news of this did not reach Indiana Territory in time to
prevent action treating Wayne County as still a part of the Territory.
In the summer of 1804 the matter of advance to the second grade
suddenly came up again ; and this time from the Harrison party, which
had opposed it three years before. Dawson gives Harrison great credit
for the advance, and says: "notwithstanding the patriotism and disin-
terestedness which he evinced in that important business, he has been
charged with being an ambitious man, and has brought upon himself the
ire of the selfish land-jobbers among his neighbors, who did not hesitate
to arraign his conduct, merely because they conceived their taxes would
be raised to pay the expenses of a representative government. ' ' * But
this was exactly the argument that Harrison had made three years be-
fore, and the people who had favored it before now opposed it. The
argument made for it in 1804, from a statement supposed to have been
made by Benjamin Parke, was this: "With agriculture improved, popu-
lation increased, the counties of Wayne and Dearborn added to the
territory; possessed of all the lands from the falls of the Ohio to the
Mississippi, with the exception of the Pyan Eashaw claim, of no prreat
extent, and which was shortly purchased ; and offices established at Kas-
kaskia and Vincennes for the sale of public lands, it was thought that
the measure might be safely gone into. To this advantageous change in
our situation was added, that the expenses of the establishment would not
exceed $3,500 (I thought about $3,000) ; that the people would be en-
titled to a partial representative government ; that they would have the
* Life of Harrison, p. 78
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 241
absolute control over one branch of the Legislature ; that it would give
them a Representative in Congress, and, although he would not be en-
titled to vote, yet from his situation he would acquire respect and atten-
tion, and would give a faithful representation of our situation, and that
some sacrifices ought to be made to obtain even the partial exercise of
the rights considered so dear and of such universal importance to the
several States." 5 This looks plausible, but it does not account for the
opposition, and it does not account for the extraordinary haste with
which the measure was adopted. Harrison issued his proclamation on
August 4, calling for a vote on the question on September 11. The call
did not reach Wayne County in time to allow an election, and in the other
counties ihe number of votes cast was in inverse proportion to their dis-
tance from Vincennes. Only 400 votes were cast in the entire Territory,
and of these 175 were cast in Knox County, all but 12 favoring the
change. The total majority for the change was 138, but outside of Knox
County the majority was against it. So far as furnishing any satisfactory
evidence of the wishes of the voters is concerned, the election was a
farce, but Harrison acted on it, and on December 5, 1804, he issued his
proclamation announcing the advance to the second grade, and calling
an election for representatives to the legislature for January 3, 1805.
The move was manifestly political, and the apparent motive was the
slavery question. A case had arisen which had brought it to the front.
In the spring of 1804, Simon Vanorsdell, claiming to act as the agent of
the heirs of John and Elizabeth Kuykendall, seized a negro named George,
and a negress named Peggy, at Vincennes, and was about to carry them
out of the Territory, when Harrison issued a proclamation forbidding it,
based on information that Vanorsdell was "about to transport from the
Territory certain indented servants, without their consent first had and
obtained, with a design as is supposed of selling them for slaves. ' ' Van-
orsdell was arrested and indicted, and habeas corpus proceedings were
brought for the release of the negroes. At the September term of the
Territorial court, Judges Griffin, Vanderburgh and Davis all being pres-
ent, the negroes were released on an insufficiency of evidence for their
claimant, the court giving an opinion that they were fugitives neither
from justice nor from slavery. Vanorsdell was also released, nobody
appearing to prosecute. He at once rearrested the negroes, and a new
habeas corpus proceeding was instituted, Harrison, General W. John-
ston and John Johnson becoming bail for the negroes. At the June term,
1805, the negroes were produced, but George having indentured himself
to Harrison for a term of eleven years, the claim as to him was dropped.
Woollen '3 Sketches, pp. 3-9.
Vol. I-I8
242 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
At the September term, Judge Vanderburgh, sitting alone, postponed
the hearing as to Peggy until one or both of the other Judges were
present. At the April term, 1806, Judges Davis and Vanderburgh heard
the ease and released Peggy, holding that she was not a fugitive from
justice or from slavery ; but they added to their decision this remarkable
proviso: "But this order is not to impair the right that Vanorsdell
(the defendant) or any other person shall have to the said negro girl
Peggy, provided he, Vanorsdell, or any other person, can prove said
negro Peggy to be a slave. Nor shall this order impair the right of said
Peggy to her freedom, provided the said Peggy shall establish her right
to the same." In other words, under a basic law which prohibited both
slavery and involuntary servitude, and a local law that permitted slavery
by indenture, the Supreme Court of the Territory were unable to decide
whether this woman was a slave or not. This case must have produced
an extensive discussion of fundamental principles at Vincennes, and the
absurdity of a valid contract between a master and a slave in a slave
state was probably realized. The Governor and Judges could not rectify
the law, because they had power only to adopt the laws of the states.
For this reason, and because it would give them a representative in
Congress, which had been ignoring slavery petitions, who might obtain
"the rights considered so dear," and especially the introduction of
slavery. It is to be noted that Parke says "some sacrifices ought to be
made"; and he also states in this same paper that in 1801, "the expenses
of the second grade were, by some, estimatd at about from $12,000 to
$15,000."
The election was duly held, and the members elect convened at Vin-
cennes on February 1, to nominate councilors, and pass on the credentials
of members. The "Wayne County delegation was dropped on account of
the establishment of Michigan Territory, and the election in St. Clair
was held void on account of the polling having been stopped by a mob
of opponents to the second grade. This left only five members, hut on
April 18, the Governor called an election in St. Clair County for two
representatives, to be held on May 20, and in July the legislature con-
vened with the minimum number of representatives allowed by the
division act. As soon as the composition of the legislature was known,
Benjamin Parke was announced as a candidate for Congress. The
Letters of Decius then began to appear in the Farmers Library, pub-
lished at Louisville, bitterly criticising Harrison, and denouncing Parke
as his tool, who wanted to go to Washington to secure Harrison's reap-
pointment. They began on May 10, 1805, and continued at intervals
until December 1, 1805, after which they were published in pamphlet
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS 243
form. Prof. Homer J. Webster has identified Isaac Darneille as the
author of the letters. 6 The Farmers Library was the first paper pub-
lished at Louisville, the first number appearing on January 18, 1801.
It was established by Samuel Vail, a disciple and protege of Matthew
Lyon, the impetuous Irishman, who succeeded in making himself a martyr
to the alien and sedition laws through his newspaper called ' ' The Scourge
of Aristocracy and Repository of Political Truth." Joshua Vail was
the "associate editor and owner." Darneille was a native of Maryland,
who eame to Cahokia in 1794, being the second resident lawyer in
Indiana Territory, preceded only by John Rice Jones. He had been a
preacher, but was too much devoted to gallantry to last long in that line.
He was a fine looking fellow, and probably caused more domestic in-
felicity in the Territory than any other one man of his time. Reynolds
says: "He never married according to the laws of the country, but to
all appearances he was never without a wife or wives. It was rumored
that he left a married wife in Maryland who was an obstacle to a second
marriage in this country." It certainly was an obstacle, for one of the
laws of the Governor and Judges had made Bigamy a felony, punishable
by death. In 1806 Harrison waited on Vail and demanded the name of
the author of the letters. Vail called on Darneille for proofs, and as
none were forthcoming he made a full retraction, which was published
in his own paper, and republished in the Frankfort Palladium.
The legislature elected Parke to Congress, and passed a number of
very fair laws ; but the one law passed that attracted general attention
was "An Act concerning the introduction of Negroes and Mulattoes into
this Territory." This provided that a slaveholder might bring a slave,
over fifteen years of age into the Territory, who might within thirty days
enter into agreement before the clerk of a court of common pleas for any
number of years of service to his master; and if he refused to make such
an agreement the master could, within sixty days, remove him from the
Territory. Any slave under fifteen years of age could be registered, and
Tield without indenture, males until thirty-five years of age, and females
until thirty-two. Children of indentured mothers were to serve their
masters, males until thirty years of age, and females until twenty-eight.
Indentured servants were not to be removed from the Territory without
their consent, given before a common pleas judge. On a complaint of ill
usage before a justice of the peace, the indenture might be cancelled;
and if an indentured servant became free at the age of forty, or more,
his master was to give bond of $500 that the servant should not become
a public charge. This law received newspaper publication that the
Ind. Hist. Soc. Pubs., Vol. 4, pp. 292-3.
244 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
former law of the Governor and Judges did not, and therefore received
attention outside of the Territory. The "Liberty Hall," of Cincinnati,
published an abstract of the law, inclosed in turned rules, and said : "If
it were possible, with tears of blood we are constrained to publish the
following sketch of the law of Indiana Territory respecting Negroes."
The "National Intelligencer" denounced it roundly as a violation of the
Ordinance and a menace to the entire Union ; and said that the Governor
should be removed if he enforced the law, and that Congress should
refuse Indiana admission to the Union until the law was repealed. Un-
fortunately the files of the only paper published in the state at this time
are not preserved, but the law met condemnation in Indiana. Josiah
Espy, who traveled through Indiana in 1805, says : ' ' The Indiana terri-
tory was settled first under the same charter as the state of Ohio, pro-
hibiting the admission of slaves, but the genius of a majority of the
people ordering otherwise (the southern climate, no doubt, having its
influence), the legislature of that territory during the last summer,
passed a law permitting a partial introduction of slavery, much to the
dissatisfaction of the minority. This circumstance will check the emi-
gration of farmers who do their own labor, while the slave owners of the
Southern states and Kentucky will be encouraged to remove thither;
consequently the state of society there will be altogether different from
that of Ohio. Its manners and laws will assimilate more and more to
those of Virginia and Kentucky, while Ohio will, in these respects, more
closely imitate Pennsylvania and the middle states. " 7 It is hardly
possible that these thoughts as to the effects of the law were confined to
Mr. Espy. They manifestly present the. political basis of the action;
and it is certain that it was discussed in Indiana on that basis, for one of
the correspondents of "Liberty Hall" says: "I have been making some
enquiries respecting the growing population of Indiana Territory, but
cannot find any comparison in the numbers to those who come to this
state. The bait has not taken. The cunning slave-holder feels too flimsy
a security to bring his horde to a country where the term of holding
them is so precarious. And those who are opposed to that hellish traffic
are afraid to risk themselves in a country where there is a prospect of
its introduction." The inducement evidently did not appeal strongly to
slave-holders, for though the population of Indiana proper increased
from 2,500 in 1800 to 24,520 in 1810, the number of free negroes, as re-
ported by the census of Indiana Territory, increased only from 87 to
393, and the number of slaves from 28 to 237. The increase of slaves in
Illinois proper was, however, greater in proportion. The incoming anti-
slavery population was locating chiefly in Clark and Dearborn counties.
7 A Tour &c., p. 24-5.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
24C
This legislature also established a Court of Chancery the only one
in this region ever exclusively confined to chancery which continued
until 1813, John Badollet, Thomas T. Davis and Waller Taylor serving
successively as chancellors. It also chartered the first corporations in
the state "the Borough of Vincennes" and "the Indiana Canal Com-
pany," the latter to construct a canal around the falls of the Ohio on
JOHN BADOLLET, FIRST CHANCELLOR OP INDIANA
(From a portrait by Leseuer)
the Indiana side. Espy says of the latter : "At the late session of the
legislature of Indiana a company was incorporated for this purpose on
the most liberal scale. Books were opened for subscription while I was
there, which were filling rapidly. Shares to the amount of about $120,000
were already subscribed by men of the first standing in the Union. When
the canal is finished the company intend erecting all kinds of water
works, for which they say the place is highly calculated. From these it
is expected that more wealth will flow into the coffers of the company
244
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
former law of the Governor and Judges did not, and therefore received
attention outside of the Territory. The "Liberty Hall," of Cincinnati,
published an abstract of the law, inclosed in turned rules, and said: "If
it were possible, with tears of blood we are constrained to publish the
following sketch of the law of Indiana Territory respecting Negroes."
The "National Intelligencer" denounced it roundly as a violation of the
Ordinance and a menace to the entire Union ; and said that the Governor
should be removed if he enforced the law, and that Congress should
refuse Indiana admission to the Union until the law was repealed. Un-
fortunately the files of the only paper published in the state at this time
are not preserved, but the law met condemnation in Indiana. Josiah
Espy, who traveled through Indiana in 1805, says: "The Indiana terri-
tory was settled first under the same charter as the state of Ohio, pro-
hibiting the admission of slaves, but the genius of a majority of the
people ordering otherwise (the southern climate, no doubt, having its
influence), the legislature of that territory during the last summer,
passed a law permitting a partial introduction of slavery, much to the
dissatisfaction of the minority. This circumstance will check the emi-
gration of farmers who do their own labor, while the slave owners of the
Southern states and Kentucky will be encouraged to remove thither;
consequently the state of society there will be altogether different from
that of Ohio. Its manners and laws will assimilate more and more to
those of Virginia and Kentucky, while Ohio will, in these respects, more
closely imitate Pennsylvania and the middle states. " 7 It is hardly
possible that these thoughts as to the effects of the law were confined to
Mr. Espy. They manifestly present the political basis of th" action ;
and it is certain that it was discussed in Indiana on that basis, for one of
the correspondents of "Liberty Hall" says: "I have been making some
enquiries respecting the growing population of Indiana Territory, but
cannot find any comparison in the numbers to those who come to this
state. The bait has not taken. The cunning slave-holder feels too flimsy
a security to bring his horde to a country where the term of holding
them is so precarious. And those who are opposed to that hellish traffic
are afraid to risk themselves in a country where there is a prospect of
its introduction." The inducement evidently did not appeal strongly to
slave-holders, for though the population of Indiana proper increased
from 2.500 in 1800 to 24.520 in 1810. the number of free negroes, as re-
ported by the census of Indiana Territory, increased only from 87 to
393, and the number of slaves from 28 to 237. The increase of slaves in
Illinois proper was, however, greater in proportion. The incoming anti-
slavery population was locating chiefly in Clark and Dearborn counties.
7 A Tom &e., p. 24-5.
"
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
24
This legislature also established a Court of Chancery the ouly one
in this region ever exclusively confined to chancery which continued
until 1813, John Badollet, Thomas T. Davis and Waller Taylor serving
successively as chancellors. It also chartered the first corporations in
the state "the Borough of Vincennes" and "the Indiana Canal Com-
pany," the latter to construct a canal around the falls of the Ohio on
.
.
JOHN BADOLLET, FIRST CHANCELLOR OF INDIANA
(From a portrait by Leseuer)
the Indiana side. Espy says of the latter: "At the late session of the
legislature of Indiana a company was incorporated for this purpose on
the most liberal scale. Books were opened for subscription while I was
there, which were filling rapidly. Shares to the amount of about $120,000
were already subscribed by men of the first standing in the Union. When
the canal is finished the company intend erecting all kinds of water
works, for which they say the place is highly calculated. From these it
is expected that more wealth will flow into the coffers of the company
246 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
than from the passage of vessels up and down the river. If these expec-
tations should be realized, there remains but little doubt the falls of the
Ohio will become the centre of wealth of the "Western World."
The legislature probably realized that the indenture law would not
appeal strongly to slave owners, and they had another trouble in sight.
During the summer a petition to Congress had been circulated in the
Illinois country asking for the introduction of slavery and for a division
of the Territory. The proslavery people of Knox County did not want
division because it meant that the capital must soon be moved from Vin-
cennes. A petition was therefore prepared asking for the admission of
slavery, and proposing that the Territory be divided -by an east and west
line, instead of a north and south line, so as to make two states similar
to Kentucky and Tennessee. There was some reason for this in the fact
that the Indian title had been extinguished to the southern part of the
Territory from the Falls to the Mississippi. This was adopted by the
Council, but was rejected by the House. It was then signed by Benjamin
Chambers, John Rice Jones and Pierre Menard, of the Council, and by
Jesse B. Thomas, John Johnson, George Fisher fcnd Benjamin Parke, of
the House, and forwarded to Washington as "The petition of the sub-
scribers, members of the Legisjative Council and House of Representa-
tives of the Indiana Territory, and constituting a majority of the two
Houses respectively." This proposal for the division of the Territory
by an east and west line completed the break between the proslavery
factions in Indiana proper and the Illinois country. The Illinois people
appointed a committee from the several townships of their region, which
prepared another petition for the division of the Territory as provided
in the Ordinance. All of these petitions were sent on to Washington,
and also one from Dearborn County asking to be joined to Ohio, as a
matter of convenience. The committee to which they were referred re-
ported in favor of suspending the slavery clause, but no further action
was taken. The legislature of 1806 made another petition to Congress
for the admission of slavery, and similar petitions were sent in from the
Illinois country. Again the committee of Congress reported favorably,
but no further action was taken. The Indiana legislature of 1807 adopted
another petition for slavery, and a formal resolution consenting to the
modification of the Ordinance; and also adopted a revision of the
statutes, including the indenture law.
Up to this time no petition had been sent from Indiana against
slavery; and when I wrote my "Indiana, a Redemption from Slavery,"
thirty years ago, I said at this point, "The anti-slavery people were now
thoroughly roused to the danger of the situation, and determined to
make a vigorous resistance in Congress." I had not been able to find any
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 247
special cause for this change of policy, but some twenty years later there
was made public one of the most remarkable secrets in the history of the
United States a secret which had been kept for more than a century.
In the summer of 1786 there came to Kaskaskia John Lemen, a young
Virginian, who had come down the Ohio with his family. Though only
.twenty-six years of age, he had been a soldier in the Revolution, and had
made friends of some of the great men of the day, as may be gathered
from his modest entries in his diary. On October 4, 1781, he records:
"I carried a message from my Colonel to Gen. Washington today. He
recognized me and talked very kindly and said the war would soon be
over, he thought. I knew Washington before the war commenced." On
the same da*y he says: "I saw Washington and La Fayette looking at a
French soldier and an American soldier wrestling, and the American
threw the Frenchman so hard he limped off, and La Fayette said that
was the way Washington must do to Cornwallis. ' ' On the 15th he says :
"I was in the assault which La Fayette led yesterday against the British
redoubt, which we captured. Our loss was nine killed and thirty-four
wounded." On the 19th he says: "Our victory is great and complete.
I saw the surrender to-day. Our officers think this will probably end the
war." After a short stay near Kaskaskia he located at New Design, a
settlement some four miles south of Bellefontaine, Monroe County, Illi-
nois, and, as the Indians were troublesome, built "the old Lemen fort."
He was a notable hunter and Indian fighter, though he is better known
in Illinois history as a Baptist minister and an active enemy of slavery.
His wife was a daughter of Capt. Joseph Ogle, for whom Ogle County.
Illinois, was named. The entries in Lemen 's diary that are of especial
interest to Indiana relate to his connection with Thomas Jefferson, and
are as follows:
"Harper's Ferry, Va., Dec. 11, 1782.
"Thomas Jefferson had me to visit him again a short time ago, as he
wanted me to go to the Illinois country in the North West, after a year
or two, in order to try to lead and direct the new settlers in the best way
and also to oppose the introduction of slavery in that country at a later
day, as I am known as an opponent of that evil, and he says he will give
me some help. It is all because of his great kindness and affection for
me, for which I am very grateful, but I have not yet fully decided to do
so, but have agreed to consider the case."
"May 2, 1784.
"I saw Jefferson at Annapolis, Maryland, to-day and had a very
pleasant visit with him. I have consented to go to Illinois on his mission
and he intends helping me some, but I did not ask nor wish it. We had
a full agreement and understanding as to all terms and duties. The
248 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
agreement is strictly private between us, but all his purposes are per-
fectly honorable and praiseworthy."
"Dec. 28, 1785.
"Jefferson's confidential agent gave me one hundred dollars of his
funds to use for my family, if need be, and if not to go to good causes,
and I will go to Illinois on his mission next Spring and take my wife
and children."
"Sept. 4, 1786.
"In the past summer, with my wife and children I arrived at Kas-
kaskia, Illinois, and we are now living in the Bottom settlement. On
the Ohio river my boat partly turned over and we. lost a part of our
goods and our son Robert came near drowning."
"New Design, 111., Feb. 26, 1794.
' ' My wife and I were baptized with several others to-day in Fountain
Creek by Rev. Josiah Dodge. The ice had to be cut and removed first."
"New Design, May 28, 1796.
"Yesterday and to-day, my neighbors at my invitation, gathered at
my home and were constituted into a Baptist church, by Rev. David
Badgley and Joseph Chance."
"New Design, May 3, 1803.
"As Thomas Jefferson predicted they would do, the extreme southern
slave advocates are making their influence felt in the new territory for
the introduction of slavery and they are pressing Gov. William Henry
Harrison to use his power and influence for that end. Steps must soon
be taken to prevent that curse from being fastened on our people."
"New Design, May 4, 1805.
"At our last meeting, as I expected he would do, Gov. Harrison asked
and insisted that I should cast my influence for the introduction of
slavery here, but I not only denied the request, but I informed him that
the evil attempt would encounter my most active opposition in every
possible and honorable manner that my mind could suggest or my mears
accomplish."
"New Design, May 10, 1805.
"Knowing President Jefferson's hostility against the introduction of
slavery here and the mission he sent me on to oppose it, I do not believe
the pro-slavery petitions with which Gov. Harrison and his council are
pressing Congress for slavery here can prevail while he is President, as
he is very popular with Congress and will find means to over-reach the
evil attempt of the pro-slavery power."
"Jan. 20th, 1806.
"As Gov. William Henry Harrison and his legislative council have
had their petitions before Congress at several sessions asking for slavery
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 249
here, I sent a messenger to Indiana to ask the churches and people there
to get up and sign a counter petition to Congress to uphold freedom in
the territory and I have circulated one here and we will send it on to
that body at next session or as soon as the work is done. ' '
"New Design, Sept. 10. 1806.
"A confidential agent of Aaron Burr called yesterday to ask my aid
and sympathy in Burr's scheme for a Southwestern Empire with Illinois
as a province and an offer to make me governor. But I denounced the
conspiracy as high treason and gave him a few hours to leave the terri-
tory on pain of arrest. ' '
"New Design, Jan. 10, 1810.
"I received Jefferson's confidential message on Oct. 10, 1808, sug-
gesting a division of the churches on the question of slavery and the
organization of a church on a strictly anti-slavery basis, for the purpose
of heading a movement to finally make Illinois a free State, and after
first trying in vain for some months to bring all the churches over to
such a basis, I acted on Jefferson 's plan and Dec. 10, 1809, the anti-slavery
element formed a Baptist church at Cantine creek, on an anti-slavery
basis. ' '
"New Design, Mar. 3, 1819.
"I was reared in the Presbyterian faith, but at 20 years of age I
embraced Baptist principles and after settlement in Illinois I was baptized
into that faith and finally became a minister of the gospel of that church,
but some years before I was licensed to preach I was active in collecting
and inducing communities to organize churches, as I thought that the
most certain plan to control and improve the new settlements, and I also
hoped to employ the churches as a means of opposition to the institution
of slavery, but this only became possible when we organized a leading
church on a strictly anti-slavery basis, an event which finally was marked
with great success, as Jefferson suggested it would be."
"New Design, Dec. 10, 1820.
"Looking back at this time, 1820, to 1809, when we organized the
Canteen creek Baptist Church on a strictly anti-slavery basis as Jefferson
had suggested as a center from which the anti-slavery movement to finally
save the State to freedom could be directed, it is now clear that the move
was a wise one as there is no doubt but that it more than anything else
was what made Illinois a free State."
Lemen kept his compact with Jefferson secret through his life, as he
had agreed, and his children kept it after him, but in 1851, when Kev.
John Mason Peck was pastor of Bethel Baptist Church the one which
Lemen had founded on "Cantine" (Quentin) Creek they intrusted to
him the preparation of an account of their father 's life. Peck, known in
250
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Illinois history as the founder of Rock-Spring Seminary, which later
developed into Shurtleff College, and also as the author of an Illinois
Gazetteer, and other books, was an old-time associate of the elder Lemen
in the fight against slavery, and his statements add something to the
meager recital of the diary. He says that at their meeting in 1784,
REV. J. M. PECK
Jefferson and Lemen ' ' agreed that sooner or later there would be a great
contest to try to fasten slavery on the Northwestern Territory," and
that Jefferson "looked forward to a great pro-slavery contest to finally
try to make Illinois and Indiana slave states, and as Mr. Lemen was a
natural born anti-slavery leader and had proved himself such in Vir-
ginia by inducing scores of masters to free their slaves through his pre-
vailing kindness of manner and Christian arguments, he was just Jeffer-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 251
son's ideal of a man who could safely be trusted with his anti-slavery
mission in Illinois." He says that Jefferson sent messages to Lemeu
when opportunity presented, and that Jefferson sent a contribution of
$20 to the new anti-slavery Baptist church when it was organized ; and
that when Lemen sent his agent to Indiana he paid him $30 out of the
money that Jefferson had supplied him. He quotes a letter written by
Jefferson on September 10, 1807, to Lemen 's brother Robert, who was
then living near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in which he says: "If your
brother James Lemen should visit Virginia soon, as I learn he possibly
may, do not let him return until he makes me a visit. I will also write
him to be^sure and see me. Among all my friends who are near, he is
still a little nearer. I discovered his worth when he was but a child and
I freely confess that in some of my most important achievements his
example, wish and advice, though then but a very young man, largely
influenced my action. This was particularly true as to whatever share
I may have had in the transfer of our great Northwestern Territory to
the United States, and especially for the fact that I was so well pleased
with the anti-slavery clause inserted later in the Ordinance of 1787.
Before any one had ever mentioned the matter, James Lemen, by reason
of his devotion to anti-slavery principles, suggested to me that we (Vir-
ginia) make the transfer and that slavery be excluded; and it so im-
pressed me that whatever is due me as credit for my share in the matter
is largely, if not wholly, due to James Lemen 's advice and most righteous
counsel. His record in the new country has fully justified my course in
inducing him to settle there with the view of properly shaping events in
the best interest of the people." Mr. Peck concludes his account of
Lemen 's work in Illinois with this statement: "With people familiar
with all the circumstances there is no divergence of views but that the
organization of the Bethel Church and its masterly anti-slavery contest
saved Illinois to freedom; but much of the credit of the freedom of
Illinois, as well as for the balance of the territory was due to Thomas
Jefferson's faithful and efficient aid. True to his promise to Mr. Lemen
that slavery should never prevail in the Northwestern Territory or any
part of it, he quietly directed his leading confidential friends in Congress
to steadily defeat Gen. Harrison's pro-slavery petitions for the repeal of
the anti-slavery clause in the Ordinance of 1787, and his friendly aid to
Rev. James Lemen, Sr., and friends made the anti-slavery contest of
Bethel Church a success in saving the state to freedom. ' ' 8
These details are from Mr. Willard C. MacNaul 's paper ' ' The Jefferson-
Lemen Compact" published by the Chicago Historical Society, in 1915. Much
of the matter was published in the Belleville Advocate in 1908 and 1909.
250
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Illinois history as the founder of Rock-Spring Seminary, which later
developed into Shurtleff College, and also as the author of an Illinois
Gazetteer, and other books, was an old-time associate of the elder Lenien
in the fight against slavery, and his statements add something to the
meager recital of the diary. He says that at their meeting in 1784,
.
/'
f
REV. J. M. PECK
Jefferson and Lemen ' ' agreed that sooner or later there would be a great
contest to try to fasten slavery on the Northwestern Territory," and
that Jefferson "looked forward to a great pro-slavery contest to finally
try to make Illinois and Indiana slave states, and as Mr. Lemen was a
natural born anti-slavery leader and had proved himself such in Vir-
ginia by inducing scores of masters to free their slaves through his pre-
vailing kindness of manner and Christian arguments, he was just Jeffer-
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS 251
son's ideal of a man who could safely be trusted with his anti-slavery
mission in Illinois." He says that Jefferson sent messages to Leiuen
when opportunity presented, and that Jefferson sent a contribution of
$20 to the new anti-slavery Baptist church when it was organized : and
that when Lemen sent his agent to Indiana he paid him $30 out of the
money that Jefferson had supplied him. He quotes a letter written by
Jefferson on September 10, 1807, to Lemen 's brother Kobert, who was
then living near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in which he says: <; If your
brother James Lemen should visit Virginia soon, as I learn he possibly
may, do not let him return until he makes me a visit. I will also write
him to be $ure and see me. Among all my friends who are near, he is
still a little nearer. I discovered his worth when he was but a child and
I freely confess that in some of my most important achievements his
example, wish and advice, though then but a very young man, largely
influenced my action. This was particularly true as to whatever share
I may have had in the transfer of our great Northwestern Territory to'
the United States, and especially for the fact that I was so well pleased
with the anti-slavery clause inserted later in the Ordinance of 1787.
Before any one had ever mentioned the matter, James Lemen, by reason
of his devotion to anti-slavery principles, suggested to me that we (Vir-
ginia) make the transfer and that slavery be excluded; and it so im-
pressed me that whatever is due me as credit for my share in the matter
is largely, if not wholly, due to James Lemen 's advice and most righteous
counsel. His record in the new country has fully justified my course in
inducing him to settle there with the view of properly shaping events in
the best interest of the people." Mr. Peck concludes his account of
Lemen 's work in Illinois with this statement: "With people familiar
with all the circumstances there is no divergence of views but that the
organization of the Bethel Church and its masterly anti-slavery contest
saved Illinois to freedom ; but much of the credit of the freedom of
Illinois, as well as for the balance of the territory was due to Thomas
Jefferson's faithful and efficient aid. True to his promise to Mr. Lemen
that slavery should never prevail in the Northwestern Territory or any
part of it, he quietly directed his leading confidential friends in Congress
to steadily defeat Gen. Harrison's pro-slavery petitions for the repeal of
the anti-slavery clause in the Ordinance of 1787, and his friendly aid to
Rev. James Lemen, Sr., and friends made the anti-slavery contest of
Bethel Church a success in saving the state to freedom. ' ' 8
8 These details are from Mr. Willard C. MacNaul's paper "The .Teflferon-
Lemen Compact" published by the Chicago Historical Society, in 1915. Much
of the matter was published in the Belleville Advocate in 1908 and 1909.
252 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
The light thrown on the character of Thomas Jefferson by these
records is of more than local interest. Unhappily, what passes for his-
tory and biography in the United States is largely nothing but post
mortem politics, and few of our public men have escaped being painted
in very dark colors by one group of writers while they are lauded to the
skies by another. This is so notable that even a prosaic encyclopedia
says: "Washington was accused of murder, treachery, corruption, hy-
pocrisy, ingratitude, moral cowardice, and private immorality ; Franklin
was charged with theft, debauchery, intrigue, slander and irreligion;
while the manifold charges against Lincoln remain .within the memory
of many now living ; and there is nothing strange in the fact that Jeffer-
son was accused of dishonesty, craftiness, slander, irreligion, immorality,
cowardice, and incompetence." 9 It is a trifle strange, however, that
with Jefferson's well known sentiments on slavery, he has been accused
of trying to introduce slavery into Ohio. Ephraim Cutler was a
member of the committee on the bill of rights of the Ohio, of which John
W. Browne was chairman, and he records that: "Mr. Browne proposed
a section, which denned the subject thus, 'No person shall be held in
slavery, if a male, after he is thirty-five years of age ; or a female, after
twenty-five years of age.' The handwriting, I had no doubt, was Mr.
Jefferson's. * * * Mr. Browne observed that what he had intro-
duced was thought by the greatest men in the Nation to be, if established
in our constitution, obtaining a great step toward a general emancipation
of slavery. This statement is reinforced by a statement that Gov. Worth-
ington had told him, that Jefferson had told him, that he hoped such an
article might be put in the constitution. A footnote adds the statement
that A. H. Lewis said that Gov. Morrow, of Ohio, told him that he talked
with Jefferson after the constitution was adopted, and that Jefferson
said : "It would have been more judicious to have admitted slavery for
a limited period." On the face of these statements it would appear
evident that Jefferson, knowing that slavery already existed in North-
. west Territory, thought that a gradual emancipation of the slaves would
be more just than an immediate emancipation. That he wanted any
more brought in, is hardly credible, as he was the only man in the
United States at the time who had an agent in the Territory for the
special purpose of keeping slavery out. It will be recalled that Jeffer-
son's clause excluding slavery from the western lands, both north and
south of the Ohio, was struck out on April 19, 1784; and it was on May
2, two weeks later, that he made his final agreement with Lemen to go
west and fight slavery on the ground. Jefferson never gave up a fight if
there was a chance to win by a change of tactics.
Encyclopedia Americana, Title, Jefferson.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 253
The new anti-slavery Baptist church did not object to Jefferson's
contribution as "tainted money." Jefferson was unpopular with the
Congregationalists of New England on account of his fight against a
state-supported church in Virginia, although the Virginia church was
Episcopalian. But this did not hurt the feelings of the Baptists, who
were taxed in both New England and Virginia to support churches that
they did not believe in. The Virginia Baptists made a very able protest
against this injustice in 1775, and sent an address to Washington in 1789,
objecting to the lack of a guarantee of religious freedom in the new
national constitution. Some of the Virginia Baptists had been preaching
emancipation for some years, and one of them, Rev. James Tarrant,
moved on into Kentucky, and later organized the association of Baptists,
who called themselves "Friends to Humanity." Lemen's new church
called itself, "The Baptized Church of Christ Friends to Humanity, on
Cantine Creek" "Cantine" being an Americanization of "Quentin."
They adopted what were known as "Tarraht's Rules Against Slavery."
At this time there were only two Baptist churches in Indiana proper.
The second one was constituted on May 20, 1809, by Samuel and Phoebe
Allison, Charles, Sr., Charles, Jr., Margaret, Achsah, William and Sally
Polke, John and Polly Lemen, William and Sally Bruce, and John
Morris, "a man of color." It was located in Knox County, near Vin-
cennes, and was called the Maria Creek Church. Its tenth article of
faith was in these words: "We believe that African slavery as it exists
in some parts of the United States, is unjust in its origin and oppressive
in its consequences; and is inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel.
But viewing our situation in this Territory, as the Law does not tolerate
hereditary slavery, we think it inexpedient to meddle with the subject in
a Church capacity." Apparently none of the members were slave-
holders, hereditary or otherwise, for in February, 1812, Peter Haus-
brough asked for admission to the church, and five of the then members
objected on the ground that he was a slave-holder. The next month a
majority of the members having decided to admit Hansbrough, all of the
objectors except William Bruce withdrew their objections and "Bro.
Bruce being unwilling to continue in union with slave-holders," was
dropped out, though the church declared they "have no objections to
his moral character as a Christian. ' '
The first Baptist church in Indiana had been constituted on Novem-
ber 22, 1798, near Owens Creek (otherwise Fourteen Mile Creek) in
Clark County, by John and Cattern Pettet and John and Sophia Fislar.
In 1803 it was removed to "Silver Creek near the mouth of Sinking
Fork" and was thereafter known as the Silver Creek church. This
church took no stand on slavery, for on February 26, 1814, a brother
254 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
was reported for "treating his slaves ill." The examining committee
reported that ' ' although he had chastised his slaves, yet not so severely
as reported," and recommended that "the brother ought to receive a
caution for the future," which he duly received. There were, however,
some Baptists in Clark County who were not in connection with this
church, and there were numerous settlers there who were opposed to
slavery, when Lemen's messenger arrived to urge action. A meeting
was called for October 10, 1807, at Springville, an Indiana metropolis,
which has since joined Babylon and Nineveh as civic memories. It was
a mile or two southwest of Charlestown, and was the first county seat of
Clark County. It nourished for a short time, being very popular with
the Indians as a trading point on account of a distillery located there.
The Indians called it Tul-ly-un-gi, or Tullytown, on account of a trader
named Tully who had an establishment in the place. But in 1802 the
county seat was removed to Jeffersonville, which had just been laid out on
a plan suggested by President Jefferson, with the alternate squares re-
served for parks, except that instead of running the streets between the
squares, as proposed by Jefferson, the proprietor ran them diagonally
through the park squares, in order to save ground, much to the disgust
of Gov. Harrison, who had taken an active part in the correspondence
with Jefferson concerning the matter. The meeting at Springville or-
ganized by electing John Beggs, who was a Baptist and an anti-slavery
man, chairman, and Davis Floyd, secretary. A resolutions committee
was appointed, composed of Abraham Little, John Owens, Robert Rob-
ertson, and Charles and James Beggs, brothers of the chairman. James
Beggs had represented the County in the last legislature, and was familiar
with the details of the legislative petition. He was probably the writer
of the resolutions, which are strong and well-worded. James Beggs was
very particular about grammar, so much so that he was called "Mr.
Syntax" by his legislative associates. These resolutions are notable as
containing the first known suggestion of "squatter sovereignty," as
they ask that Congress make no change until the people are ready to
form a state government; and the Senate committee to which these
petitions were referred notes this fact in its report that "it is not expedi-
ent at this time to suspend the sixth article of compact." Presumably
Lemen's messenger went to Dearborn County also, for the people there
sent in a memorial stating that the legislature had passed an unconstitu-
tional law as to slaves, and asking that the law be revised or that they
be added to Ohio. It is probable that Congressmen adopted the squatter-
sovereignty idea as a happy solution of the problem, for Benjamin
Parke, who represented Indiana in Congress could get no action on the
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
255
matter, and after his return stated that Congress would not permit the
introduction of slavery even if a majority of the people asked for it. 10
The revelations of Lemen's diary not only explain the sudden awaken-
ing of the Indiana anti-slavery men, but also the continuous refusal of
Congress to suspend the slavery proviso year after year, when committees
were reporting in favor of its suspension. Jefferson's influence at the
JESSE B. THOMAS
time was enormous, not only in Washington, hut throughout the country.
It was felt still further in Indiana. When the legislature of 1808 met
the proslavery people began a new effort for slavery by sending petitions
to the legislature for another appeal to Congress. But now that the anti-
slavery element had started petitioning they also kept at it, and the
little legislative body was fairly stormed with petitions for and against
10 Western Sun, February 25, 1809.
254
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
was reported for "treating his slaves ill." The examining committee
reported that "although he had chastised his slaves, yet not so severely
as reported." and recommended that "the brother ought to receive a
caution for the future," which he duly received. There were, however,
some Baptists in Clark County who were not in connection with this
church, and there were numerous settlers there who were opposed to
slavery, when Lemen's messenger arrived to urge action. A meeting
was called for October 10, 1807, at Springville, an Indiana metropolis,
which has since joined Babylon and Nineveh as civic memories. It was
a mile or two southwest of Charlestown, and was the first county seat of
Clark County. It flourished for a short time, being very popular with
the Indians as a trading point on account of a distillery located there.
The Indians called it Tul-ly-un-gi, or Tullytown, on account of a trader
named Tully who had an establishment in the place. But in 1802 the
county seat was removed to Jeffersonville, which had just been laid out on
a plan suggested by President Jefferson, with the alternate squares re-
served for parks, except that instead of running the streets between the
squares, as proposed by Jefferson, the proprietor ran them diagonally
through the park squares, in order to save ground, much to the disgust
of Gov. Harrison, who had taken an active part in the correspondence
with Jefferson concerning the matter. The meeting at Springville or-
ganized by electing John Beggs, who was a Baptist and an anti-slavery
man, chairman, and Davis Floyd, secretary. A resolutions committee
was appointed, composed of Abraham Little, John Owens, Robert Rob-
ertson, and Charles and James Beggs, brothers of the chairman. James
Beggs had represented the County in the last legislature, and was familiar
with the details of the legislative petition. He was probably the writer
of the resolutions, which are strong and well-worded. James Beggs was
very particular about grammar, so much so that he was called "Mr.
Syntax" by his legislative associates. These resolutions are notable as
containing the first known suggestion of "squatter sovereignty," as
they ask that Congress make no change until the people are ready to
form a state government ; and the Senate committee to which these
petitions were referred notes this fact in its report that "it is not expedi-
ent at this time to suspend the sixth article of compact." Presumably
Lemen's messenger went to Dearborn County also, for the people there
sent in a memorial stating that the legislature had passed an unconstitu-
tional law as to slaves, and asking that the law be revised or that they
be added to Ohio. It is probable that Congressmen adopted the squatter-
sovereignty idea as a happy solution of the problem, for Benjamin
Parke, who represented Indiana in Congress could get no action on the
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
255
matter, and after his return stated that Congress would not permit the
introduction of slavery even if a majority of the people asked for it. 10
The revelations of Lemen 's diary not only explain the sudden awaken-
ing of the Indiana anti-slavery men, but also the continuous refusal of
Congress to suspend the slavery proviso year after year, when committees
were reporting in favor of its suspension. Jefferson's influence at the
JESSE B. THOMAS
time was enormous, not only in Washington, but throughout the country.
It was felt still further in Indiana. When the legislature of 1808 met
the proslavery people began a new effort for slavery by sending petitions
to the legislature for another appeal to Congress. But now that the anti-
slavery element had started petitioning they also kept at it, and the
little legislative body was fairly stormed with petitions for and against
"Western Sun, February 25, 1809.
256 INDIANA AND INDIA NANS
slavery, winding up with a petition from William Atchison and others
of St. Glair County, asking that all anti-slavery petitions be thrown
under the table. Atchison was noted for vehement expression. William
Morrison, whose principal mercantile house was at Kaskaskia, had several
branch stores, and Atchison managed his store at Cahokia. On account
of the high prices he charged, he was commonly known as "Chape
Wollie." Reynolds tells of this eccentric Irishman inviting Rev. Benja-
min Young, a Methodist circuit rider, to preach at his store one Sunday
in 1807. The congregation was small, and by way of apology to the
preacher, Atchison said to him: "For my part, I'd walk miles on Sun-
day, through briars and hell, to hear such a sermon as that ye prached ;
but these d d French love dancing better than praching. An ' Misther
Young, could ye not stay with us to-night and go to the ball this
evening?" His facetious petition itself escaped being thrown under the
table by the narrow margin of one vote. It was no time for joking. The
anti-slavery petitioners outnumbered their opponents by over 600, and
they were mostly from the eastern counties. It was practically assured
that the Territory would be divided very soon, and that Indiana would
be left strongly anti-slavery. The Harrison party had begun going to
pieces, and he had lost control of the legislature. By a combination of
the anti-Harrison factions of proslavery men from the Illinois counties,
and anti-slavery men from the eastern counties, the Harrison candidate
for Congress was defeated, and Jesse B. Thomas of Dearborn was elected,
but it was openly said that the Illinois representatives had required him
to give bond that he would work for division before they voted for him.
This was the first time that Harrison had failed to get his candidate for
Congress elected, but a still more fatal blow was to be struck at his
organization.
The slavery petitions were referred to a committee of which General
Washington Johnston the "General" is a name, and not a title was
chairman. He was a Virginian who came to Vincennes in 1793, and
entered the practice of law. He ranked high in every way, especially in
Masonry, being the customary local orator of the order on public occa-
sions. Up to this time he had acted openly with the proslavery, Harri-
son party, but now he faced about. He said that he had always been
morally opposed to the introduction of slavery, and had favored it as a
representative only because his constituents did so u and there is no
reason to question this. Indeed it is impossible that he could have had
any such radical change of views if he had personally favored slavery
before. On October 19, 1808, he made the committee's report, which
was a paper that would do credit to any American statesman. It covers
11 Western. Sun, February 4, 11, 18, 1809.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
257
the entire range of the slavery question, and condemns slavery at every
point ; shows that slavery is inexpedient and undesirable, by comparing
the slave states with the free states ; declares the indenture law contrary
to both the spirit and the letter of the Ordinance, and that "the most
flagitious abuse is made of that law ; that negroes brought here are com-
monly forced to bind themselves for a number of years reaching or ex-
tending the natural term of their lives, so that the condition of those
unfortunate persons is not only involuntary servitude but downright
slavery ' ' ; and concludes with a finding that it is inexpedient to ask Con-
gress to modify the Ordinance, and that the indenture law ought to be
repealed.
The source of much of his argument is unquestionable. Jefferson's
Notes on Virginia were written in 1781-2 in answer to a series of queries
from Secretary De Marbois, of the French Legation, who had been in-
structed by his government to collect information as to the colonies.
Jefferson had a few copies printed for personal use, and a French edition,
with some omissions was printed. In 1787 a public edition was printed,
in the original form; and after Jefferson's death various editions were
printed from an annotated copy found in his papers. There was a copy
of this book in the Vincennes library at this time, and very probably
other copies in the town. A comparison of one passage will show the
relation of the two :
JEFFERSON
' ' There must, doubtless, be an un-
happy influence on the manners of our
people, produced by the existence of
slavery among us. The whole commerce
between master and slave is a perpetual
exercise of the most boisterous passions,
the most unremitting despotism on the
one part, and degrading submissions on
the other. Our children see this, and
learn to imitate it; for man is an imi-
tative animal. This quality is the germ
of all education in him. From his cra-
dle to his grave he is learning to do
what he sees others do. If a parent
could find no motive either in his philan-
thropy or his self love for restraining the
intemperance' of passion towards his
slave, it should always be a sufficient
one that his child is present But gen-
erally it is not sufficient. The parent
storms, the child looks on, catches the
lineaments of wrath, puts on the same
airs in the circle of smaller slaves, gives
Vol. I IT
a loose to his worst of passions, and
thus nursed, educated and daily exer-
cised in tyranny, cannot but be stamped
by it with odious peculiarities. The man
must be a prodigy who can retain his
manners and morals undepraved by such
circumstances. * And can the
liberties of a nation be thought secure
when we have removed their only firm
basis, a conviction in the minds of the
people that these liberties are of the
gift of God? That they are not to be
violated but with his wrath f Indeed
I tremble for my country when I re-
flect that God is just; that his justice
cannot sleep forever; that considering
numbers, nature and natural means only,
a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an
exchange of situation is among possible
events; that it may become probable by
supernatural interference. The Al-
mighty has' no attribute which can take
side with us in such a contest."
258
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
JOHNSTON
"With respect to the influence which
the practice of slavery may have upon
morals and manners; when men are in-
vested with an uncontrolled power over
a number of friendless human beings
held to incessant labor; when they can
daily see the whip hurrying promiscu-
ously the young, the aged, the infirm,
the pregnant woman, and the mother
with her suckling infant to their daily
toil; when they can see them unmoved
shivering with cold and pinched with
hunger; when they can barter a human
being with the same unfeeling indiffer-
ence that they barter a horse; part the
wife from her husband, and unmindful of
their mutual cries tear the child from its
mother; when they can in the unbridled
gust of stormy passions inflict cruel
punishments which no law can avert or
mitigate; when such things can take
place, can it be expected that the milk
of human kindness will ever moisten the
eyes of men in the daily practice of such
enormities, and that they will respect the
moral obligations or the laws of jus-
tice which they are constantly outrag-
ing with the wretched negro f * * *
At the very moment that the progress
of reason and general benevolence is
consigning slavery to its merited desti-
nation, tha't England, sordid England, is
blushing at the practice, that all good
men of the Southern states repeat in one
common response 'I tremble for my
country when I reflect that God is just,'
must the Territory of Indiana take a
retrograde step into barbarism and as-
similate itself with Algiers and Mo-
rocco? With respect to its political ef-
fects, it may be worthy of enquiry how
long the political institutions of a peo-
ple admitting slavery may be expected to
remain uninjured, how proper a school
for the acquirement of republican vir-
tues is a state of things wherein usur-
pation is sanctioned by law, wherein the
commands of justice are trampled un-
der foot, wherein those claiming the
rights of free men are themselves the
most execrable of tyrants, and where is
consecrated the dangerous maxim that
'power is right.' Your committee will
here only observe that the habit of un-
limited dominion in the slave-holder will
beget in him a spirit of haughtiness and
pride productive of a proportional habit
of servility and despondence in those
who possess no negroes, both equally in-
imical to our institutions. The lord of
three or four hundred negroes will not
easily forgive and the mechanic and la-
boring man will seldom venture a vote
contrary to the will of such an iufluen-
tial being. "12
The effect of this report was remarkable, for the House at once con-
curred in it without division, and the House as constituted had stood five
to one for slavery. Furthermore they at once took up the hill for the
repeal of the indenture law which the committee had reported, put it
through three readings, and passed it ; and it was signed and sent to the
Council that same morning. Five days later it was taken up by the
Council, when only John Rice Jones, Shadrach Bond of St. Clair County,
and George Fisher of Randolph, were present, and they defeated it
without division. It would have been political suicide for the Illinois
men to have passed the repeal bill, and yet all of them, including Rice
Jones, the son of John Rice Jones, had voted for it under the spell of
12 At this time all voting was by open announcement of choice at the polling
place, and everybody knew how everyone else voted.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
259
Johnston's report. The vote of the Council saved the indenture system
for Illinois, where it made a great deal of trouble for many years after-
wards. The bitterness resulting from this legislature was very deep ;
and this was evidenced by the burning of Jesse B. Thomas in effigy at
Vincennes, and by the murder of Rice Jones at Kaskaskia by Dr. Dunlap.
But the demonstrations of anger did no good, for Thomas went to Con-
JOHN RICE JONES
gress and secured all he had pledged. An act for the division of the
Territory was approved on February 3, 1809, and he also secured laws
making councilors and the delegate to Congress elective by the people,
and putting the power of apportionment for the representatives in the
hands of the legislature. He obtained for himself an appointment of
Judge of the Territorial court of Illinois, and removed to that state,
where he became prominent, being one of its first national senators. John
258
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
JOHNSTON
"With respect to the influence which
the practice of slavery may have upon
morals and manners; when men are in-
vested with an uncontrolled power over
a number of friendless human beings
held to incessant labor; when they can
daily see the whip hurrying promiscu-
ously the young, the aged, the infirm,
the pregnant woman, and the mother
with her suckling infant to their daily
toil; when they can see them unmoved
shivering with cold and pinched with
hunger; when they can barter a human
being with the same unfeeling indiffer-
ence that they barter a horse; part the
wife from her husband, and unmindful of
their mutual cries tear the child from its
mother; when they can in the unbridled
gust of stormy passions inflict cruel
punishments which no law can avert or
mitigate; when such things can take
place, can it be expected that the milk
of human kindness will ever moisten the
eyes of men in the daily practice of such
enormities, and that they will respect the
moral obligations or the laws of jus-
tice which they are constantly outrag-
ing with the wretched negro f * * *
At the very moment that the progress
of reason and general benevolence is
consigning slavery to its merited desti-
nation, that England, sordid England, is
blushing at the practice, that all good
men of the Southern states repeat in one
common response ' I tremble for my
country when I reflect that God is just,'
must the Territory of Indiana take a
retrograde step into barbarism and as-
similate itself with Algiers and Mo-
rocco f With respect to its political ef-
fects, it may be worthy of enquiry how
long the political institutions of a peo-
ple admitting slavery may be expected to
remain uninjured, how proper a school
for the acquirement of republican vir-
tues is a state of things wherein usur-
pation is sanctioned by law, wherein the
commands of justice are trampled un-
der foot, wherein those claiming the
rights of free men are themselves the
most execrable of tyrants, and where is
consecrated the dangerous maxim that
' power is right. ' Your committee will
here only observe that the habit of un-
limited dominion in the slave-holder will
beget in him a spirit of haughtiness and
pride productive of a proportional habit
of servility and despondence in those
who possess no negroes, both equally in-
imical to our institutions. The lord of
three or four hundred negroes will not
easily forgive and the mechanic and la-
boring man will seldom venture a vote
contrary to the will of such an influen-
tial being." 12
The effect of this report was remarkable, for the House at once con-
curred in it without division, and the House as constituted had stood five
to one for slavery. Furthermore they at once took up the bill for the
repeal of the indenture law which the committee had reported, put it
through three readings, and passed it ; and it was signed and sent to the
Council that same morning. Five days later it was taken up by the
Council, when only John Rice Jones, Shadrach Bond of St. Clair County,
and George Fisher of Randolph, were present, and they defeated it
without division. It would have been political suicide for the Illinois
men to have passed the repeal bill, and yet all of them, including Rice
Jones, the son of John Rice Jones, had voted for it under the spell of
12 At this time all voting was by open announcement of choice at the polling
place, and everybody knew how everyone else voted.
5
\
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
259
Johnston's report. The vote of the Council saved the indenture system
for Illinois, where it made a great deal of trouble for many years after-
wards. The bitterness resulting from this legislature was very deep ;
and this was evidenced by the burning of Jesse B. Thomas in effigy at
Vincennes, and by the murder of Rice Jones at Kaskaskia by Dr. Dunlap.
But the demonstrations of anger did no good, for Thomas went to Con-
JOHN RICE JONES
"* "-'""' : . : . : ">'
gress and secured all he had pledged. An act for the division of the
Territory was approved on February 3, 1809, and he also secured laws
making councilors and the delegate to Congress elective by the people,
and putting the power of apportionment for the representatives in the
hands of the legislature. He obtained for himself an appointment of
Judge of the Territorial court of Illinois, and removed to that state,
where he became prominent, being one of its first national senators. John
260 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
* '
Rice Jones also left Indiana at this time, locating in Missouri, where he
was for years a member of the Supreme Court.
Some of the descendants of Jones have felt outraged by mere his-
torical statements about, his career in Indiana, but they seem to have
overlooked really severe criticisms of him, that were made while he had
opportunity to answer them. 13 The historical truth is that, as the Terri-
torial government advanced to higher grades, the Governor's appointing
power decreased, and at the same time, by the growth of population, the
number of necessary political allies increased, until there were not offices
enough to go around. Influenced perhaps by a consideration of family
or personal relation, Harrison put to the front a number of the later
comers to the Territory, among them Waller Taylor, Benjamin Parke
and Thomas Randolph, who were appointed to the class of offices to
which Jones aspired. As long as Jones was in office he was a political
friend of Harrison; when he went out of office he became Harrison's
enemy, and there is no other visible cause for his change of attitude. To
an unprejudiced observer, this would seem to come within the scriptural
rule: "When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky
is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day : for the sky
is red and lowering." There can be no question that after Jones went
out of office, Harrison was assailed in the newspapers by Jones, Elijah
Bachus, and William Mclntosh, who had been Territorial Treasurer.
These attacks continued after Jones left the Territory, and it is a matter
of judicial record that Harrison finally sued Mclntosh for slander and
recovered judgment for $4,000. Harrison was usually fortunate in the
character of his assailants ; and in this case an interesting light is thrown
on Mclntosh and incidentally on the Owens colony at New Harmony
by the following naive entry in the diary of William Owen, as to a visit
to Mclntosh : "We found a fine old man. His house is pretty large, but
only partly finished inside. It is situated on a bank near the river oppo-
site the rapids and in floods is quite surrounded by water. We were
introduced to a black woman as his housekeeper but who seems to answer
all the purposes of a wife, as he has three black children by her. Two
of them are fine children. Mrs. J. Mclntosh, who is from New Jersey,
had informed us of them before, saying she would go often to see him,
were it not that he had a black woman and that he fondled the little
black things as if they were as white as snow. Mr. Mclntosh showed us
a number of papers relative to a meeting held at Vincennes by the
French in order to reply to some insinuations made against their fidelity
by Gen. Harrison. We had a good deal of conversation with him and he
is Woollen's Sketches, p. 373 et seq.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 261
seemed much inclined to go all together with us. He appeared to be a
deist. It rained in the evening. After we had supped the black woman
and the children and a negro man sat down with us. They also remained
in the room during the evening. ' ' 14
The division act of 1809 left Indiana with its present boundaries
except that the north line ran through the southern extreme of Lake
Michigan, instead of ten miles north of it; and the strip east of the
Wabash and west of a line drawn north from Vincennes was then put in
Illinois Territory ; and both of these so remained until added to Indiana
when the sta,te was admitted. Although the division act was approved
on February 3, 1809, it did not reach Indiana for several weeks, and an
election for delegates to the legislature was held on April 3 under the
old law. This was of interest as showing public sentiment in Knox
County, where there were five candidates, and two to be elected. One of
the candidates was Thomas Randolph, then Attorney General of the
Territory, and he was the only one who stated his position on slavery,
which was as follows: "Your former delegate will inform you that
Congress would not give its sanction to the introduction of slaves was
there a majority of the citizens of the Territory in favor of it. You say,
and I believe it probable, a majority is opposed to it. I differ with them
in opinion ; my voice would be in favor of the introduction. Let us not,
however, agitate this question when more important subjects loudly de-
mand our attention. " The important subjects, as he explained at length,
were foreign complications ; but he did not explain what the legislature
of Indiana Territory had to do with them. The election in Knox re-
sulted, John Johnson 203, General W. Johnson 140, John Haddon 120,
Thomas Randolph 110, Dennis Sullivan 66. On April 4, the day after
the election, Harrison proclaimed the division, redistricted the Territory,
and called an election for May 22. He could not have done this unless
he had received the division act before April 3. But Congress had also
passed a suffrage act which put the power of legislative apportionment
in the legislature, and when Harrison received this he again let the
election proceed, and the legislature was held illegal and void by Con-
gress; and in consequence Indiana did not get a valid legislature until
1810.
The suffrage act also called for the election of a Congressman by the
people, and as soon as it was received John Johnson and Thomas Ran-
dolph announced themselves as candidates. Johnson said nothing as to
slavery, but he had always been a proslavery man. Randolph tried to
trim. In his published address he said: "It is my belief that a great
"Ind. Hist. Soc. Pubs., Vol. 4, p. 113.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
majority of the people of the Territory are opposed to me in opinion. I
therefore yield the point. I think this question ought now to sleep. I
think the interests of the Territory demand it ; and should I be honored
with your suffrages I will not make an attempt to introduce negroes into
the Territory unless a decided majority of my constituents should par-
ticularly instruct me to do so." This situation opened the way for an
anti-slavery candidate, and the man was at hand, in the person of young
Jonathan Jennings. He was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey,
but his father, who was a Presbyterian preacher, removed to Fayette
County, Pennsylvania, soon after Jonathan's birth; and here the boy
grew to manhood, receiving a common school education, with some Latin,
Greek and higher mathematics in a grammar school at Cannonsburg,
Pennsylvania. He began the study of law, but in 1806 went west, com-
ing down the Ohio in a flatboat to Jeffersonville, where he stopped for a
time, and then went on to Vincennes. Here he completed his legal
studies, and was admitted to the bar at the April term, 1807. Legal
business was not abundant, and as he was a good penman, he found addi-
tional occupation as clerk for Nathaniel Ewing, Receiver of the Lan<f
Office, and put in a week helping copy the Revised Statutes of 1807. He
also had a very brief journalistic experience. Elihu Stout, proprietor of
the Vincennes Sun, was accustomed to get an "assistant editor" who was
a partner, i.e., had as his compensation a share of the profits. He had
fallen out with an assistant editor named Smoot, in November, 1807, and
in December Jennings took the place for a couple of weeks, and then
the partnership was "dissolved by consent." Possibly the difficulty lay
in Jennings' slavery views, for Stout was a pronounced proslavery man.
Jennings found that there was not much prospect for him at Vincennes,
and decided to go back to Clark County. As he was starting, Ewing
said to him, ' ' Look us up a good candidate for Congress, ' ' and Jennings,
who had apparently been giving the matter some thought, replied, "Why
wouldn't I do?" After a brief talk, they agreed that he might be elected
if he could get the support of the anti-slavery people of the eastern
counties. The time was short. Jennings hastened to Charlestown, and
consulted the Beggs brothers. A meeting was called, and he was ac-
cepted as a candidate. He then went on to Dearborn. In the southern
district, where Captain Samuel Vance, a brother-in-law of Harrison, and
General James Dill, a Harrison office-holder, were the leading politicians,
he received no encouragement. In the northern district, where the Hoi-
mans, a Baptist family, were the leaders, a backwoods convention had
been held, known later as "the Log Convention," and George Hunt had
been selected as a candidate, but with the understanding that if Clark
County had another candidate Hunt would be withdrawn ; and Joseph
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
263
Holman had gone to Clark to learn the situation. Before he returned,
Dill and Vance came up from Lawrenceburgh, and circulated charges
against Jennings, and also induced Hunt to withdraw in favor of Vance.
When Joseph Holman returned, Jennings made satisfactory explanation
of the charges of Dill and Vance, and the Holmans gave him their active
support. In the election Jennings got every vote in the northern district
except that of George Hunt. The votes of Clark and Dearborn out-
balanced those of Knox and Harrison, and the result was Randolph 402,
Jennings 428, and Johnson 81. Randolph contested the election, and
TIPPECANOE BATTLEGROUND NEAR LAFAYETTE
the committee reported the election void, on account of irregularities in
Dearborn County; but the House refused to concur in the report, and
Jennings retained his seat. He defeated Randolph again in 1811;
"Waller Taylor in 1812 ; and Judge Elijah Sparks in 1814. His success
was largely due to the slavery question, or rather to the recollection of
it, which his opponents tried in vain to avoid. In addition to this,
Jennings was unsurpassed as a frontier politician. He was thoroughly
one of the people, joining in their sports and their work, while his
opponents usually assumed some superiority over the masses in their
style of life. Hence the Harrison party came to be called "the Virginia
Aristocrats" and the Jennings party called themselves "the People"
262
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
majority of the people of the Territory are opposed to me in opinion. I
therefore yield the point. I think this question ought now to sleep. I
think the interests of the Territory demand it ; and should I be honored
with your suffrages I will not make an attempt to introduce negroes into
the Territory unless a decided majority of my constituents should par-
ticularly instruct me to do so." This situation opened the way for an
anti-slavery candidate, and the man was at hand, in the person of young
Jonathan Jennings. He was born in Hunterdon County, New Jersey,
but his father, who was a Presbyterian preacher, removed to Fayette
County, Pennsylvania, soon after Jonathan's birth; and here the boy
grew to manhood, receiving a common school education, with some Latin,
Greek and higher mathematics in a grammar school at Cannonsburg,
Pennsylvania. He began the study of law, but in 1806 went west, com-
ing down the Ohio in a flatboat to Jeff 61*5011 ville, where he stopped for a
time, and then went on to Vincennes. Here he completed his legal
studies, and was admitted to the bar at the April term, 1807. Legal
business was not abundant, and as he was a good penman, he found addi-
tional occupation as clerk for Nathaniel Ewing, Receiver of the Lan<*
Office, and put in a week helping copy the Revised Statutes of 1807. He
also had a very brief journalistic experience. Elihu Stout, proprietor of
the Vincennes Sun, was accustomed to get an "assistant editor" who was
a partner, i.e., had as his compensation a share of the profits. He had
fallen out with an assistant editor named Smoot, in November, 1807, and
in December Jennings took the place for a couple of weeks, and then
the partnership was "dissolved by consent." Possibly the difficulty lay
in Jennings' slavery views, for Stout was a pronounced proslavery man.
Jennings found that there was not much prospect for him at Vincennes,
and decided to go back to Clark County. As he was starting, Ewing
said to him, "Look us up a good candidate for Congress," and Jennings,
who had apparently been giving the matter some thought, replied, "Why
wouldn't I do?" After a brief talk, they agreed that he might be elected
if he could get the support of the anti-slavery people of the eastern
counties. The time was short. Jennings hastened to Charlestown, and
consulted the Beggs brothers. A meeting was called, and he was ac-
cepted as a candidate. He then went on to Dearborn. In the southern
district, where Captain Samuel Vance, a brother-in-law of Harrison, and
General James Dill, a Harrison office-holder, were the leading politicians,
he received no encouragement. In the northern district, where the Hoi-
mans, a Baptist family, were the leaders, a backwoods convention had
been held, known later as "the Log Convention," and George Hunt had
been selected as a candidate, but with the understanding that if Clark
County had another candidate Hunt would be withdrawn ; and Joseph
INDIANA AND INDIA NANS
263
Holman had gone to Clark to learn the situation. Before he returned,
Dill and Vance came up from Lawrenceburgh, and circulated charges
against Jennings, and also induced Hunt to withdraw in favor of Vance.
When Joseph Holman returned, Jennings made satisfactory explanation
of the charges of Dill and Vance, and the Holmans gave him their active
support. In the election Jennings got every vote in the northern district
except that of George Hunt. The votes of Clark and Dearborn out-
balanced those of Knox and Harrison, and the result was Randolph 402,
Jennings 428, and Johnson 81. Randolph contested the election, and
TIPPECANOE BATTLEGROUND NEAR LAFAYETTE
the committee reported the election void, on account of irregularities in
Dearborn County ; but the House refused to concur in the report, and
Jennings retained his seat. He defeated Randolph again in 1811;
Waller Taylor in 1812; and Judge Elijah Sparks in 1814. His success
was largely due to the slavery question, or rather to the recollection of
it, which his opponents tried in vain to avoid. In addition to this,
Jennings was unsurpassed as a frontier politician. He was thoroughly
one of the people, joining in their sports and their work, while his
opponents usually assnimed some superiority over the masses in their
style of life. Hence the Harrison party came to be called ' ' the Virginia
Aristocrats" and the Jennings party called themselves "the People"
264 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
and they were, so far as carrying elections was concerned. The slavery
question as a living issue, had been removed by the repeal of the in-
denture law by the legislature of 1810. The repeal bill passed the House
easily, but in the Council the vote was a tie, and the bill was passed by
the vote of James Beggs, President of the Council.
Harrison had raised enmity in another quarter. He had been in-
structed to extinguish the Indian titles in Southern Indiana and Illinois
as rapidly as possible, and had been very successful in doing so. But in
his treaties he had recognized only the tribes who had originally claimed
the region. When Wayne treated with the Indians at Greenville, all of
the Ohio Indians were thrown back into Indiana, but without having
any lands assigned to them. All of them, Wyandots, Ottawas, Senecas of
Sandusky, Delawares and Shawnees, joined in a request to him to
assign lands to them, telling him that if he did not it "would bring on
disputes forever." Wayne refused to do this, telling them that they
best knew their own boundaries, and adding: "Let no nation or nations
invade, molest or disturb any other nation or nations in the hunting
grounds they have heretofore been accustomed to live and hunt upon,
within the boundary which shall now be agreed on." This was impos-
sible, because the Indiana Indians claimed all of Indiana. They did
not object to the Ohio Indians living in their claimed Territory, and,
indeed, seem to have given some assent to the idea that the Indiana lands
belonged to all the tribes in common. At least Harrison wrote, in 1802,
"There appears to be an agreement amongst them that no proposition
which relates to their lands can be acceded to without the consent of all
the tribes." But he did not undertake to get this general consent to any
treaty, unless it was the treaty of June 7, 1803, by which only eight
square miles were ceded. In this treaty three Shawnees joined, but in
none of his other treaties in Indiana Territory did any Ohio Indian join,
and apparently they were not consulted at all. By 1806 he had made
five other treaties, for about 46,000 square miles of Indian lands in
Indiana and Illinois; and when by the treaties of 1809 some 3,000,000
acres more were added, Tecumtha became defiant and said that the lands
should not be taken. It was this claim for a common title that Teeumtha
urged at the celebrated council at Vincennes on August 20, 1810, when,
after threatening vengeance on the chiefs who had signed the treaties,
he said to Harrison : " It is you that are pushing them on to do mis-
chief. You endeavor to make distinctions. You wish to prevent the
Indians to do as we wish them, to unite and let them consider their lands
as the common property of the whole. You take tribes aside and advise
them not to come into this measure ; and until our design is accomplished
we do not wish to accept 'your invitation to go and see the President."
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
265
This was the council that Tecumtha broke up by telling Harrison that he
lied. After some attempts at resuming, in which he was told that the
President would never admit his claims, he ended the negotiations by
saying : ' ' Well, as the great chief is to determine the matter, I hope the
Great Spirit will put sense enough into his head to induce him to direct
you to give up the land. It is true, he is so far off he will not be injured
by the war. He may sit still in his town, and drink his wine, while you
and I will have to fight it out."
TIPPECANOE
(Camp and Battle.)
* - ^ i>- X
The trouble had been brewing for several years. Tecumtha and his
brother, La-lu-i-tsi-ka, the Prophet, had located in the Delaware towns on
White Eiver, and the resistance to the treaties began there. There
La-lu-i-tsi-ka (the Loud Voice) assumed the name Tems-kwa-ta-wa (He
who keeps the Door Open) and began his career as a prophet. His moral
teachings were unobjectionable, as he condemned all the ordinary Indian
vices, but he also taught that the Indians were being punished by the
Great Spirit for adopting the customs of the whites. They adopted the
plan of accusing Indians who favored the whites of witchcraft, and an
266 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Indian accused of witchcraft was certain of death unless he could prove
his innocence, which was usually impossible. Three Indians were put to
death on these charges, on White River, and the Moravian mission, which
had been started just east of Anderson in 1801 was broken up. In 1808
the Prophet and his followers removed to Ki-tap-i-kon-nunk at the mouth
of the Tippecanoe River, and here the new religion flourished wonder-
fully, reaching the tribes far and near, in every direction. There were
some depredations on the settlements, but the most alarming feature of
the situation was the defiant attitude of the Indians. In the summer of
1811 it was decided that the safety of the frontier called for breaking up
the Prophet's town, and on September 26 the main body of the forces
called for the expedition started from Vincennes. Two miles above
Terre Haute, Fort Harrison was built ; and, the remainder of the forces
having arrived, the march from that point began on October 28. On
November 2, the army, which now consisted of about one thousand men,
one-fourth mounted, and including nine companies of regulars, stopped
two miles below the mouth of the Vermillion and erected a blockhouse,
to protect the boats, in which the supplies had been brought thus far.
On November 6, they came in sight of the Prophet's town, and after
some parleying it was agreed that the troops should go into camp over
night, and that a conference should be held the next day. The troops
accordingly camped on what is now known as Tippecanoe Battle Ground ;
but a little after four o'clock in the morning the Indians attacked them.
For two hours the Indians fought stubbornly, relying on the Prophet's
promise to protect them by his magic, and then they fled in all directions.
It was said by the Indians that the attack was due to the insistence of
the Potawatomi chief, Winemac ; and at a grand council of the Indians
which was held on the Mississinewa River in May, 1812, Tecumtha said,
"had I been at home, there would have been no blood shed at that time."
However that may have been, the reputation of the Prophet was ruined,
and that was the most important result of the battle, for in the ensuing
hostilities the Americans were merely fighting Indians with British
backing, and that was much less serious than fighting Indians who be-
lieved that a divinely inspired Prophet was guiding them.
During the year following the battle of Tippecanoe, nearly all of the
Indians professed repentance, and desired to make peace, blaming the
Prophet for having led them astray ; but Harrison refused to make peace
until they gave substantial evidence of a change of heart. His policy
would probably have been successful if the war with Great Britain had
not given the Indians new backing, with ample supplies. Henry Clay,
and many others, imagined that all that was necessary for the conquest
of Canada was to send some one to take possession, as Clark had done
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
267
with Vincennes. Never was there a greater mistake. England had an
able and efficient man in charge in Gen. Brock, which was in marked
contrast with the United States. Among all the crimes that have been
charged to Thomas Jefferson, it is singular that nobody has dwelt on
his appointment of Gen. Hull as governor, and Judge Woodward as
chief justice of Michigan Territory. Woodward has been described as
a man who would attempt "to extract sunbeams from cucumbers," and
Hull evidently could not get cucumbers from sunbeams. When Con-
gress formally declared war, on June 18, 1812, word was at once sent to
DEFENCE OF FORT HARRISON
Hull, which was received before the British in western Canada had any
knowledge of it ; but Hull promptly managed to let this dispatch, with the
rest of his private papers, be captured by the British. Then the British
sent an expedition which took the fort at Maekinac by surprise, before
the commandant knew that war had begun, and they set all their agencies
to work to stir the Indians to hostilities. Hull helped on the good work
by sending orders to Captain Heald to evacuate the post at Chicago, and
bring his garrison to Detroit. Heald started on August 15, and the
troops were massacred by the Indians. If they had not been massacred
there, they probably would have been elsewhere, as Hull surrendered
Detroit to Brock on August 16. He was court-martialed afterwards,
and sentenced to be shot, but was pardoned. He later published a lengthy
268 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
defense, in which he dwells on the things lacking to his forces, but does
not mention that their one serious lack was a commander. Two weeks
later the results were manifested on the Indiana frontiers. Fort Wayne
was invested by hostile Indians and put in a state of siege. On Septem-
ber 3, Fort Harrison, which was held by Capt. Zachary Taylor, with a
company of the Seventh regulars, was attacked by Indians under the
Kickapoo chief Josey Renard (Na-ma-to-ha, x>r Standing, signifying
Man-on-his-Feet), but it was successfully defended under circumstances
ten times as disadvantageous as those that had confronted Hull ; and so
was Fort Wayne. On September 3, a war party of Shawnees invaded
the Pigeon Roost settlement, in Scott County, and in a few hours killed
one man and twenty-one women and children.
Fortunately Indiana was pretty well prepared for the storm. On
April 16, Governor Harrison had issued general orders directing the
militia offices to put their commands in readiness for active service, and
warning the people to build blockhouses at convenient points, in which
refuge could be found. These directions were followed in the spring and
summer of 1812, and in consequence there was little loss of life after the
first attacks. Governor Scott of Kentucky, was also active in preparation,
and in August appointed Harrison General of the Kentucky militia which
was to act for the defense of the frontier. As soon as news of the attack
on Fort Harrison reached Vincennes, Col. Russell of the Seventh regu-
lars marched from that place with 1,200 men, including one regiment of
Kentucky volunteers, two regiments of Indiana militia, and three com-
panies of "Rangers," who were State troops maintained by the United
States. Fort Harrison was relieved on September 16. Meanwhile Gen.
Harrison had marched from Piqua at the head of two thousand Ken-
tuckians and seven hundred Ohio men, to relieve Fort Wayne, which was
accomplished on September 12. On September 19 Gen. Harrison relin-
qiiished command of the troops at Fort Wayne to Gen. James Winchester,
and on the 24th received orders to take command of the army of the
Northwest. His orders, dated September 17, said: "Having provided
for the protection of the western frontier, you will retake Detroit ; and,
with a view to the conquest 'of Upper Canada, you will penetrate that
country as far as the force under your command will in your judgment
justify." He at once entered on the work of preparation for this task.
Early in October, Gen. Samuel Hopkins led a force of two thousand
mounted Kentucky volunteers from Vincennes on an expedition against
the hostile Indians between the Wabash and Illinois rivers. After wan-
dering rather aimlessly through the prairies for five days, his troops
mutinied and returned home. The militia and volunteer forces of this
period were wholly unmanageable unless they had confidence in their
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 269
officers, and this must be borne in mind to attain any just understanding
of the service of Harrison, which was performed with troops of this
character. His usual course on entering upon any hazardous or trying
enterprise, was to tell his men what would be expected, and request any
who did not relish what was before them to withdraw at the outset. At
the same time that Hopkins started on his expedition, Governor Edwards
of Illinois, marched from Cahokia with 360 men, including two com-
panies of Indiana Rangers under Col. Russell, against the Kickapoo
town at the head of Peoria Lake. The force destroyed the town, killed
twenty Indians, captured eighty horses, and destroyed a large amount of
corn and other Indian property, with a loss of only four men wounded.
After his return from his first expedition, Gen. Hopkins made another
one up the east side of the Wabash, with 1,250 men, and destroyed the
Winnebago town on Wildcat creek, in which the Prophet had taken
refuge after the battle of Tippecanoe. It contained ' ' about forty houses,
many of them from thirty to fifty feet in length," besides a number of
huts. He also destroyed a Kickapoo town, on the other side of the creek,
containing about one hundred and sixty cabins and huts, together with
a considerable amount of corn and other supplies; and met with no
casualties except that a detachment of Captain Beckes' Rangers fell
into an ambuscade, and lost sixteen men killed and three wounded. Cold
weather having set in, the force returned, after an absence of twenty
days.
Aa a number of hostiles had gathered on the Mississinewa River,
under orders from Gen. Harrison, a force of 600 men, commanded by
Col. John B. Campbell, of the 19th U. S. Infantry, marched from Dayton,
Ohio, against their villages on December 14. Early on the morning on
the 17th they surprised a Miami and Munsey town near Jalapa, killed
eight warriors, and captured eight warriors and thirty-six women and
children. Confining his prisoners in two or three of the houses, Camp-
bell had the rest of the town burned, and the cattle and stock shot ; and
then leaving his infantry to guard the prisoners, he proceeded down the
river with two companies of dragoons, destroyed three more villages,
killed a number of cattle, and captured some horses; after which he re-
turned to the first village and camped.. Shortly after four o'clock or.
the morning of the 18th his camp was attacked by a body of Indians which
he estimated to number three hundred, and for an hour a fierce fight
followed, in which eight of Campbell's men were killed, and forty-two
wounded. The Indians were driven off, leaving fifteen dead on the
field. As Campbell had lost a large number of his horses in the fight, a
large number of hostiles were reported to be at the principal village, at
the mouth of the Mississinewa known as the Osage Village and the
270
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
weather had become intensely cold, Campbell decided to return to Green-
ville. His return was slow, seventeen of his wounded being carried on
litters, and when he arrived at Greenville, 303 of his men were so badly
frost-bitten as to be unfit for duty. In his instructions to Campbell,
Ml-CI-KI-NOQ-KWA THE PAINTED TERRAPIN KNOWN AS THE
LITTLE TURTLE
(From the painting by Gilbert Stuart, made by order of President
Washington, and destroyed when the British burned the capital
in 1814)
Harrison had told him to avoid as far as possible any injury to chiefs
who had been friendly, naming Richardville (Pin-je-wa, or the Wildcat),
Silver Heels (Am-bau-wit-ta, or the Flyer), White Loon (Wa-pi-man-
gwa), Pecan (Pa-ka-na, or the Nut), Charley (Ki-tun-ga, or Sleepy),
and "the son and brother of the Little Turtle, who continued, to his last
moments, the warm friend of the United States, and who, in the course
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 271
of his life, rendered them many important services." He also gave in-
structions to avoid injury to Francois Godfroy, who had a trading house
near the mouth of the Mississinewa. The Little Turtle had died on July
14, 1812, at Fort Wayne, where he had gone for treatment for gout.
He was buried there with military honors, and his grave was treated with
veneration by the Indians for many years. Finally the city spread over
it, and its location was forgotten, until, on July 4, 1911, some workmen
making an excavation uncovered it. Fortunately this came to the notice
of Mr. J. M. Stouder, of Fort Wayne, who gathered up and preserved
the articles that had been buried with the chief, including the sword
presented to him by President Washington. It was due to the efforts of
Mr. Stouder that the grave was identified as that of the Little Turtle.
While these events were occurring, Harrison was preparing for opera-
tions against Detroit and Canada. His chief difficulty was in getting
sufficient provisions and supplies for an army to a point that was within
reach of his objective. The War Department seemed to think that all
that was necessary was men ; but the nearest point of supply was Cin-
cinnati, and there was no road from there to the Maumee, except that
the timber had been cut for the width of a roadway through part of the
intervening forest, in the expeditions of St. Clair, Wayne and others.
There has been much foolish criticism of Harrison for his delay in act-
ing ; but when one contemplates the absurdity of getting an army into a
wilderness without supplies, and with no chance of getting them, it is
apparent that Harrison's movement on the enemy was remarkably speedy.
After the forest was passed, the difficulties became even greater, as will
be seen from the following description by one familiar with it : "In this
part of the country, one of the greatest difficulties which an army has to
surmount is that which arises from the difficulty of transporitng pro-
visions and stores. At all seasons the road is wet and miry. The coun-
try, though somewhat level, is broken by innumerable little runs, which
are generally dry, except during or immediately after a heavy rain, when
they are frequently impassable until the subsiding of the water, which is
generally from twelve to twenty-four hours. Another of the difficulties
of transportation arises from the nature of the soil, which being generally
a rich loam, free from stones and gravel, in many places a horse will
mire for miles full leg deep every step." 15
Scant notice has been given by historians to the herculean task of
overcoming these difficulties, although Harrison's official papers indicate
the agency through which they were surmounted. In his orders of
September 19, 1812, when he turned the command at Fort Wayne over to
Palmer's Historical Register, Vol. 2, p. 31.
272
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Winchester, he said: "The supplies which have been reported to me,
or ordered by me, are as follows : 400,000 rations of beef and 150,000 of
flour, purchased by Mr. John H. Piatt, under the authority of Gen. Hull.
A part of this flour, and about 50,000 Ibs. of beef has been brought on
and consumed by the army. The balance of the flour is either on the
TECUMTHA
(From the only known portrait a pencil sketch by Pierre le Drou, a
young trader at Vincennes. Probably not an exact likeness. Repre-
sents Tecumtha in his British uniform)
way hither or to St. Mary's where it was to be deposited. I also directed
Mr. Piatt to purchase and send on to St. Mary's, whiskey, and other com-
ponent parts of the ration to make the 150,000 Ibs. of flour complete
rations." le On September 27, he wrote to Secretary Eustis, "Agreeably
to the authority given me by your letter of the 17th I have appointed
IB Dawson 'g Harrison, p. 295.
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS 273
Mr. John H. Piatt deputy commissary; he is the same person employed
by General Hull, and will, I think, make a most excellent officer." 17
On October 4, he wrote from Fort Defiance, "I have directed the com-
missary Mr. Piatt to procure all the wagons in his power for transporting
the provisions from St. Mary's to this place." 18 On October 22, he
wrote to Eustis, " I am not able to fix any period for the advance of the
troops to Detroit. It is pretty evident that it cannot be done upon proper
principles until the frost shall become so severe as to enable us to use
the rivers and the margin of the lake for transportation of the baggage
and artillery upon the ice. To get them forward through a swampy wil-
derness of*near two hundred miles, in wagons or on pack horses, which
are to carry their own provisions, is absolutely impossible. The enclosed
extract of a letter just received from the commissary Piatt, will give you
some idea of the state of the road, and the difficulty of getting provisions
even to Defiance. " 19 In fact Harrison depended on Piatt so fully that
certain contractors, notably the firm of Orr & Greeley, accused him of
favoritism, and intimated that he was interested with Piatt. On Decem-
ber 20, 1815, Harrison demanded a congressional inquiry into the matter,
in which the accusing parties offered no proof, and the satisfactory char-
acter of Piatt 's service was certified to by Generals James Taylor and
James Findlay, and Col. Thomas P. Jesup ; and the committee reported
that "Gen. Harrison stands above suspicion." 20
John H. Piatt was born in New Jersey, August 15, 1781. His father,
Jacob Piatt, was one of five sons of John Piatt (Pyatt) whose family,
being Huguenots, took refuge in Holland after the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes. The sons located in New Jersey, prior to 1760, and
three of them were officers in the Revolutionary army, and charter mem-
bers of the Society of the Cincinnati ; of these Jacob entered the army in
1775, and served to the close of the war. Another brother, William, after
serving through the Revolution, raised a company for St. Glair's expedi-
tion in 1791, and was mortally wounded in the disastrous defeat of that
year. His men undertook to carry him with them on the retreat, but he
told them that they were wasting their time to prop him up against a
tree, with his loaded rifle in his lap to take one last shot at the redskins
and so they left him. His grandson, John James Piatt, kept his memory
in his poem "An Unmarked Grave." John H. Piatt came to Cincinnati
at the age of fourteen, and having a natural aptitude for business, ac-
quired large wealth while quite young. He is mentioned by the Cin-
11 Dawson 's Harrison, p. 303.
is Ib., p. 307.
Ib., p. 313.
20 Am. State Papers, Mil. Aff., Vol. 1, pp. 644-61, 667.
Vol. 118
272
INDIANA AND INDIANAXS
Winchester, he said: "The supplies which have beeu reported to me,
or ordered by me, are as follows : 400,000 rations of beef and 150,000 of
flour, purchased by Mr. John H. Piatt, under the authority of Gen. Hull.
A part of this flour, and about 50,000 Ibs. of beef has been brought on
and consumed by the army. The balance of the flour is either on the
TECUMTHA
(From the only known portrait a pencil sketch by Pierre le Drou, a
young trader at Vinccnnes. Probably not an exact likeness. Repre-
sents Tecumtha in his British uniform)
'r-'''
way hither or to St. Mary's where it was to be deposited. I also directed
Mr. Piatt to purchase and send on to St. Mary 's, whiskey, and other com-
ponent parts of the ration to make the 150,000 Ibs. of flour complete
rations." 1G On September 27, he wrote to Secretary Eustis, "Agreeably
to the authority given me by your letter of the 17th I have appointed
Dawson 's Harrison, p. 295.
INDIANA AND INDIANAN.S 273
Mr. John H. Piatt deputy commissary; he is the same person employed
by General Hull, and will, I think, make a most excellent officer. " ' 17
On October 4, he wrote from Fort Defiance, "I have directed the com-
missary Mr. Piatt to procure all the wagons in his power for transporting
the provisions from St. Mary's to this place." 18 On October 22, he
wrote to Eustis, "I am not able to fix any period for the advance of the
troops to Detroit. It is pretty evident that it cannot be done upon proper
principles until the frost shall become so severe as to enable us to use
the rivers and the margin of the lake for transportation of the baggage
and artillery upon the ice. To get them forward through a swampy wil-
derness of near two hundred miles, in wagons or on pack horses, which
are to carry their own provisions, is absolutely impossible. The enclosed
extract of a letter just received from the commissary Piatt, will give you
some idea of the state of the road, and the difficulty of getting provisions
even to Defiance." 19 In fact Harrison depended on Piatt so fully that
certain contractors, notably the firm of Orr & Greeley, accused him of
favoritism, and intimated that he was interested with Piatt. On Decem-
ber 20, 1815. Harrison demanded a congressional inquiry into the matter,
in which the accusing parties offered no proof, and the satisfactory char-
acter of Piatt 's service was certified to by Generals James Taylor and
James Findlay, and Col. Thomas P. Jesup ; and the committee reported
that "Gen. Harrison stands above suspicion." 20
John H. Piatt was born in New Jersey, August 15, 1781. His father,
Jacob Piatt, was one of five sons of John Piatt (Pyatt) whose family,
being Huguenots, took refuge in Holland after the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes. The sons located in New Jersey, prior to 1760, and
three of them were officers in the Revolutionary army, and charter mem-
bers of the Society of the Cincinnati ; of these Jacob entered the army in
1775, and served to the close of the war. Another brother, William, after
serving through the Revolution, raised a company for St. Glair's expedi-
tion in 1791, and was mortally wounded in the disastrous defeat of that
year. His men undertook to carry him with them on the retreat, but he
told them that they were wasting their time to prop him up against a
tree, with his loaded rifle in his lap to take one last shot at the redskins
and so they left him. His grandson, John James Piatt, kept his memory
in his poem "An Unmarked Grave." John H. Piatt came to Cincinnati
at the age of fourteen, and having a natural aptitude for business, ac-
quired large wealth while quite young. He is mentioned by the Cin-
I'Dawson's Harrison, p. 303.
is Ib., p. 307.
ts Ib., p. 313.
20 Am. State Papers, Mil. Aff., Vol. 1, pp. 644-61, 667.
Vol. 118
274 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
cinnati historians as one of the most enterprising and public spirited of
the early business men of the place. An interesting account of his first
step in supplying the army is preserved in a narrative by Samuel Wil-
liams. 21 Gen. Hull withdrew his army to Detroit on July 5, 1812, and
on the llth wrote to Gov. Meigs of Ohio, that he was short of provisions,
and had authorized Piatt to purchase two months' supply. At the same
time that he received this, Meigs received a message from Piatt, then at
Urbana, that the supplies would be ready as soon as the escort asked by
Hull was ready. The next morning Meigs called a meeting of the citizens
of Chillicothe, and in two hours ninety-five men volunteered to go as an
escort. They chose Capt. Henry Brush as commander, and the next
morning, July 21, started on their march. At Urbana they picked up
the train of "seventy pack-horses, each laden with two hundred pounds
of flour, in a bag, lashed on a pack-saddle ; and a drove of about three
hundred beef cattle," and were joined by twenty soldiers of the Fourth
U. S. Infantry. Williams' description of the march presents some of the
features of frontier service, such as sleeping on the ground without
tents, drinking from wagon ruts, and dining thus: "Our company is
divided into 'messes' of six men each. Our rations are delivered together
to each mess when we encamp at night. This consists of flour, fat bacon
and salt. The flour is kneaded in a broad iron camp-kettle, and drawn
out in long rolls the size of a man's wrist, and coiled around a smooth
pole some three inches in diameter and five or six feet long, on which
the dough is flattened so as to be half an inch or more in thickness. The
pole, thus covered with dough, except a few inches at each end, is placed
on two wooden forks driven into the ground in front of the camp-fire,
and turned frequently till it is baked. Our meat is cooked thus : a branch
of a tree having several twigs on it is cut, and the ends of the twigs
sharpened ; the fat bacon is cut in slices and stuck on these twigs, leaving
a little space between each, and then held in the blaze and smoked till
cooked. Each man then takes a piece of the pole bread, and lays thereon
a slice of bacon, and with his knife cuts therefrom, and eats his meal
with a good appetite. Enough is thus cooked each night to serve for
the next day ; each man stowing in his knapsack his own day's provision."
The train was following Hull 's trace, and a few miles north of Find-
lay, "the expedition entered the Black Swamp, through which the road
passed for many miles, much of which was almost impassable." They
reached the Maumee on August 2, and on the 9th came to the River
Raisin, where there was a post, and there they had orders from Hull to
21 Ohio Valley Historical series, Miscellanies, No. 2. Cincinnati, Robert Clarke
& Co., 1871.
'
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 275
stop until he sent a convoy. Hull tried this twice. His first detachment,
under Major Vanhorne, was met by the British and Indians at Maguaga,
and driven back to Detroit after a hard fight. Col. Miller was then sent
with nine hundred men. He was met by the enemy at Brownstown, and
defeated them in a fierce battle, but his force was so crippled that he re-
turned to Detroit. A third detachment was sent, by a circuitous route,
under Col. McArthur, but it did not get to its destination. On August
17, Captain Elliott, of the British army, arrived at the River Raisin
under a flag of truce, with the astounding news that Hull had surren-
dered not only Detroit, but Brush's volunteers. Brush decided that
Elliott was a British spy, and imprisoned him, but in the evening two
Ohio soldiers who had escaped from Detroit, arrived with confirmation
of the surrender. The Chillicothe volunteers did not propose to be sur-
rendered, so at ten o'clock that night they released Elliott, and started
for home, which they reached safely on August 23 ; however, the Govern-
ment conceded that they were properly prisoners of war, and they were
duly exchanged for British prisoners. They were fully convinced that
Hull was a deep-dyed traitor; and for that matter so were most of the
people of the West, though some only charged him with cowardice or
incompetence. For years afterwards there was a popular western song
running,
"Let General Hull
Be counted null,
And let him not be named
Among Columbia's gallant sons,
For worth and valor famed."
Piatt continued as Commissary General of the Army of the Northwest
until January 26, 1814, when he entered into a contract to furnish rations
to the army for one year from June 1, at a rate of twenty cents a ration.
At that time the Government's credit was good, and it was paying its
debts in gold and silver, ' ' and as the usage then was to make advances in
money to contractors, he retaining in his hands, as an advance from the
department, the balance of the commissariat fund ; which at the close of
his engagements amounted to $48,230.77." This contract was made with
General John Armstrong, then Secretary of War, who retired during the
year, whereupon James Monroe, then Secretary of State, acted also as
Secretary of War. By June 1, the Government was financially em-
barrassed, and had to issue paper money, which at once went to a dis-
count. In August the British captured Washington, and burned the
capitol. A panic came on, and all the banks south and west of New
York suspended specie payments. Prices of course went up, until supplies
274 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
cinnati historians as one of the most enterprising and public spirited of
the early business men of the place. An interesting account of his first
step in supplying the army is preserved in a narrative by Samuel Wil-
liams. 21 Gen. Hull withdrew his army to Detroit on July 5, 1812, and
on the llth wrote to Gov. Meigs of Ohio, that he was short of provisions,
and had authorized Piatt to purchase two months ' supply. At the same
time that he received this, Meigs received a message from Piatt, then at
Urbana, that the supplies would be ready as soon as the escort asked by
Hull was ready. The next morning Meigs called a meeting of the citizens
of Chillicothe, and in two hours ninety-five men volunteered to go as an
escort. They chose Capt. Henry Brush as commander, and the next
morning, July 21, started on their march. At Urbana they picked up
the train of ' ' seventy pack-horses, each laden with two hundred pounds
of flour, in a bag, lashed on a pack-saddle ; and a drove of about three
hundred beef cattle, ' ' and were joined by twenty soldiers of the Fourth
U. S. Infantry. Williams' description of the march presents some of the
features of frontier service, such as sleeping on the ground without
tents, drinking from wagon ruts, and dining thus: "Our company is
divided into 'messes' of six men each. Our rations are delivered together
to each mess when we encamp at night. This consists of flour, fat bacon
and salt. The flour is kneaded in a broad iron camp-kettle, and drawn
out in long rolls the size of a man's wrist, and coiled around a smooth
pole some three inches in diameter and five or six feet long, on which
the dough is flattened so as to be half an inch or more in thickness. The
pole, thus covered with dough, except a few inches at each end, is placed
on two wooden forks driven into the ground in front of the camp-fire,
and turned frequently till it is baked. Our meat is cooked thus : a branch
of a tree having several twigs on it is cut, and the ends of the twigs
sharpened ; the fat bacon is cut in slices and stuck on these twigs, leaving
a little space between each, and then held in the blaze and smoked till
cooked. Each man then takes a piece of the pole bread, and lays thereon
a slice of bacon, and with his knife cuts therefrom, and eats his meal
with a good appetite. Enough is thus cooked each night to serve for
the next day ; each man stowing in his knapsack his own day 's provision. ' '
The train was following Hull's trace, and a few miles north of Find-
lay, "the expedition entered the Black Swamp, through which the road
passed for many miles, much of which was almost impassable." They
reached the Maumee on August 2, and on the 9th came to the River
Raisin, where there was a post, and there they had orders, from Hull to
21 Ohio Valley Historical series, Miscellanies, No. 2. Cincinnati, Robert Clarke
& Co., 1871.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 275
stop until he sent a convoy. Hull tried this twice. His first detachment,
under Major Vanhorne, was met by the British and Indians at Maguaga,
and driven back to Detroit after a hard fight. Col. Miller was then sent
with nine hundred men. He was met by the enemy at Brownstown, and
defeated them in a fierce battle, but his force was so crippled that he re-
turned to Detroit. A third detachment was sent, by a circuitous route,
under Col. Me Arthur, but it did not get to its destination. On August
17, Captain Elliott, of the British army, arrived at the River Raisin
under a flag of truce, with the astounding news that Hull had surren-
dered not jpnly Detroit, but Brush's volunteers. Brush decided that
Elliott was a British spy, and imprisoned him, but in the evening two
Ohio soldiers who had escaped from Detroit, arrived with confirmation
of the surrender. The Chillicothe volunteers did not propose to be sur-
rendered, so at ten o'clock that night they released Elliott, and started
for home, which they reached safely on August 23 ; however, the Govern-
ment conceded that they were properly prisoners of war, and they were
duly exchanged for British prisoners. They were fully convinced that
Hull was a deep-dyed traitor; and for that matter so were most of the
people of the West, though some only charged him with cowardice or
incompetence. For years afterwards there was a popular western song
running,
"Let General Hull
Be counted null,
And let him not be named
Among Columbia's gallant sons,
For worth and valor famed."
Piatt continued as Commissary General of the Army of the Northwest
until January 26, 1814, when he entered into a contract to furnish rations
to the army for one year from June 1, at a rate of twenty cents a ration.
At that time the Government's credit was good, and it was paying its
debts in gold and silver, ' ' and as the usage then was to make advances in
money to contractors, he retaining in his hands, as an advance from the
department, the balance of the commissariat fund ; which at the close of
his engagements amounted to $48,230.77. ' ' This contract was made with
General John Armstrong, then Secretary of War, who retired during the
year, whereupon James Monroe, then Secretary of State, acted also as
Secretary of War. By June 1, the Government was financially em-
barrassed, and had to issue paper money, which at once went to a dis-
count. In August the British captured Washington, and burned the
capitol. A panic came on, and all the banks south and west of New
York suspended specie payments. Prices of course went up, until supplies
276
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
could not be bought for less than forty-five cents a ration; but Piatt
went on with his contract until December, when his drafts on the Govern-
ment for supplies furnished, to the amount of $210,000, had gone to
protest. On December 26, General McArthur, made a requisition on him
for 800,000 rations, to be furnished within thirty days. Unable to com-
ply, on account of the Government's failure to pay, Piatt hastened to
Washington, and, as found to be the facts by the Court of Claims, "at a
.... .--. .
JOHN H. PIATT
personal interview there with him, notified to Mr. Monroe, then Secre-
tary of War, that he would furnish no more rations under the contract.
Secretary Monroe admitted to Piatt the inability of the Government to
comply with the terms of the contract on their part, both as to money
already due, and as to money which might become due "for future sup-
plies. But the military exigency then rendering it necessary that a
large quantity of rations should be furnished immediately for the North-
western Army, it was thereupon agreed by parol, between Piatt and the
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 277
secretary, that if Piatt would furnish the rations which might be re-
quired, he should receive for them whatever price they should be rea-
sonably worth at the time and place of delivery ; and that the defendants
(the United States), instead of paying as required by the terms of the
original contract, should defer payment until such time or times as they
should have the requisite funds." 22
Under this agreement, Piatt furnished the army 730,070 rations,
which the evidence showed to be worth $328,531.54, and also furnished,
under orders from the commander of the army, transportation and goods
to distressed refugees of Michigan and friendly Indians, to the amount
of $63,620.^8. But when he came to settle with the Government, Wm.
H. Crawford, then Secretary of War, would only allow the original con-
tract price of twenty cents a ration, refusing the parol contract because
"by reason of what he considered countervailing evidence, he had doubts
whether such assurances had been given. "Inasmuch as Mr. Monroe
was then President, it can only be inferred that the ' ' countervailing evi-
dence ' ' came from him. This presumption is supported by the fact that
Piatt secured several statements addressed to the President, in support
of the parol agreement, and the makers state that they made them at
the request of the President, but this was at a later date. At the time,
Piatt was allowed $148,791.87, or the original contract price, for the
rations, and the claim for what was furnished to the Indians and refugees
was refused in toto. In September, 1819, while Piatt was in Washington
trying to get nearly a quarter of a million dollars that was still due to
him, the United States brought suit against him for the $48,230.77
balance of the commissariat fund, which had been advanced to him on
his contract. He was arrested on a capias ad respondendum, and would
have been imprisoned but for the intervention of friends. As it was he
was allowed to give bail, and remain "on the bounds" in "Washington.
On May 8, 1820, while this action was pending, Congress passed a private
bill for his relief as follows :
"Be it enacted, That the proper accounting officers of the Treasury
Department be, and they are hereby authorized and required to settle
the accounts of J. H. Piatt, including his accounts for transportation, on
just and equitable principles, giving all due weight and consideration to
the settlements and allowances already made, and to the assurances and
decisions of the Wat Department :
"Provided, That the sum allowed under the said assurances shall
not exceed the amount now claimed by the United States, and for which
suits have been commenced against the said Piatt."
22 Piatt 's Administrator vs. United States, 22 Wallace, p. 496.
276
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS
could not be bought for less than forty -five cents a ration; but Piatt
went on with his contract until December, when his drafts on the Govern-
ment for supplies furnished, to the amount of $210,000, had gone to
protest. On December 26, General McArthur made a requisition on him
for 800,000 rations, to be furnished within thirty days. Unable to com-
ply, on account of the Government's failure to pay, Piatt hastened to
Washington, and, as found to be the facts by the Court of Claims, "at a
JOHN H. PIATT
personal interview there with him, notified to Mr. Monroe, then Secre-
tary of War, that he would furnish no more rations under the contract.
Secretary Monroe admitted to Piatt the inability of the Government to
comply with the terms of the contract on their part, both as to money
already due, and as to money which might become due 'for future sup-
plies. But the military exigency then rendering it necessary that a
large quantity of rations should be furnished immediately for the North-
western Army, it was thereupon agreed by parol, between Piatt and the
.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 277
secretary, that if Piatt would furnish the rations which might be re-
quired, he should receive for them whatever price they should be rea-
sonably worth at the time and place of delivery ; and that the defendants
(the United States), instead of paying as required by the terms of the
original contract, should defer payment until such time or times as they
should have the requisite funds." 22
Under this agreement, Piatt furnished the army 730,070 rations,
which the evidence showed to be worth $328,531.54, and also furnished,
under orders from the commander of the army, transportation and goods
to distressed refugees of Michigan and friendly Indians, to the amount
of $63,620.18. But when he came to settle with the Government, Win.
H. Crawford, then Secretary of War, would only allow the original con-
tract price of twenty cents a ration, refusing the parol contract because
' ' by reason of what he considered countervailing evidence, he had doubts
whether such assurances had been given. "Inasmuch as Mr. Monroe
was then President, it can only be inferred that the ' ' countervailing evi-
dence" came from him. This presumption is supported by the fact that
Piatt secured several statements addressed to the President, in support
of the parol agreement, and the makers state that they made them at
the request of the President, but this was at a later date. At the time,
Piatt was allowed $148,791.87, or the original contract price, for the
rations, and the claim for what was furnished to the Indians and refugees
was refused in toto. In September, 1819, while Piatt was in Washington
trying to get nearly a quarter of a million dollars that was still due to
him, the United States brought suit against him for the $48,230.77
balance of the commissariat fund, which had been advanced to him on
his contract. He was arrested on a capias ad respondendttm, and would
have been imprisoned but for the intervention of friends. As it was he
was allowed to give bail, and remain "on the bounds" in Washington.
On May 8, 1820, while this action was pending, Congress passed a private
bill for his relief as follows :
"Be it enacted, That the proper accounting officers of the Treasury
Department be. and they are hereby authorized and required to settle
the accounts of J. H. Piatt, including his accounts for transportation, on
just and equitable principles, giving all due weight and consideration to
the settlements and allowances already made, and to the assurances and
decisions of the War Department :
"Provided, That the sum allowed under the said assurances shall
not exceed the amount now claimed by the United States, and for which
suits have been commenced ajrainst the said Piatt."
22 Piatt 's Administrator vs. United States, 22 Wallace, p. 496.
.;.... .
278 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Apparently Mr. Monroe was now convinced that he had given assur-
ances, for he approved this bill. But no appropriation was made for the
settlement; and the Second Comptroller and Third Auditor disagreed
as to the meaning of the bill, the latter claiming that the total allowance
could not exceed the $48,230.77 for which the Government had brought
suit, and the former holding that the limitation of the proviso applied
only to the "assurances," i.e., the parol contract for additional rations.
In consequence Piatt received nothing^ whatever, except credit for the
amount for which the Government was unjustly suing him. The obvious
injustice of the bill was in making any limitation, for if the assurances
were not made, the Government owed Piatt nothing, and he owed it the
$48,230.77 ; but if they were made he was entitled to the full amount of
his claim. Meanwhile he had borrowed money to appease pressing credi-
tors, and had assigned his claim against the Government as collateral;
and scarcely was he released from imprisonment on the Government's
suit, when creditors had him arrested on another action for debt. Worn
out by his vain efforts to obtain justice, and depressed by the financial
ruin that faced him, he died on February 12, 1822, a prisoner on the
bounds at Washington. Congressman John E. Follett, of Ohio, who later
made a thorough study of the case, said that he knew of nothing in
history to equal it since Columbus was brought home in chains.
Piatt had married Martha Ann Willis, a niece of Mrs. Nicholas Long-
worth, of Cincinnati, and after his death Nicholas Longworth and Ben-
jamin M. Piatt, a brother of John H., were appointed administrators of
his estate. They at once presented a petition to Congress asking for a
construction of the bill of 1820. This went to a committee of which
John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, was chairman he who was the Whig
candidate for Vice President in 1832. Sergeant made a very careful
investigation of the case in all its ramifications, and in his report pays
high tribute to Piatt 's honor and patriotism. 23 He supported the Comp-
troller's view of the act of 1820, and recommended an appropriation of
$63,620.48 to pay what was due for aid to refugees and friendly Indians,
and this was done by act of May 24, 1824. The singular feature of the
report is that while Sergeant found that Piatt had furnished the rations
as claimed, and that they were worth what was claimed, he only urged on
the House that the Government was making a good thing by settling on
the basis recommended. Throughout the entire history of the case, no-
body questioned that Piatt furnished the rations as claimed, or that they
were worth what was claimed, or that the most disastrous results would
have followed in the war if he had not furnished them. In the entire
Am. State Papers, Claims, p. 894.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
279
report, the only discordant note is a statement by Tench Ringold, who
was Monroe's assistant, and whose statement conclusively established
the parol agreement, that he "was certain that Piatt had made a fortune
out of the contract." Sergeant disposed of this by letters from Judge
Burnet, and John McLean, showing that in reality Piatt was ruined by
it. As a matter of fact, at that very time Piatt owed the Bank of the
GOVERNOR POSEY
United States at Cincinnati, $300,000, which he had borrowed to buy
these rations for the Government, and which he had mortgaged his real
estate to secure.
Piatt 's sister Hannah, who had married Philip Grandin, his partner
in the banking house of J. H. Piatt & Co., which is said to have been the
first private bank in the Ohio Valley, was determined that justice should
be done to her brother's memory, and she showed as much courage and
persistence in her fight as Myra Gaines did in her long struggle for
278
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Apparently Mr. Monroe was now convinced that he had given assur-
ances, for he approved this bill. But no appropriation was made for the
settlement; and the Second Comptroller and Third Auditor disagreed
as to the meaning of the bill, the latter claiming that the total allowance
could not exceed the $48,230.77 for which the Government had brought
suit, and the former holding that the limitation of the proviso applied
only to the "assurances," i.e., the parol contract for additional rations.
In consequence Piatt received nothing whatever, except credit for the
amount for which the Government was unjustly suing him. The obvious
injustice of the bill was in making any limitation, for if the assurances
were not made, the Government owed Piatt nothing, and he owed it the
$48,230.77 ; but if they were made he was entitled to the full amount of
his claim. Meanwhile he had borrowed money to appease pressing credi-
tors, and had assigned his claim against the Government as collateral;
and scarcely was he released from imprisonment on the Government's
suit, when creditors had him arrested on another action for debt. Worn
out by his vain efforts to obtain justice, and depressed by the financial
ruin that faced him, he died on February 12, 1822, a prisoner on the
bounds at Washington. Congressman John E. Follett, of Ohio, who later
made a thorough study of the case, said that he knew of nothing in
history to equal it since Columbus was brought home in chains.
Piatt had married Martha Ann Willis, a niece of Mrs. Nicholas Long-
worth, of Cincinnati, and after his death Nicholas Longworth and Ben-
jamin M. Piatt, a brother of John H., were appointed administrators of
his estate. They at once presented a petition to Congress asking for a
construction of the bill of 1820. This went to a committee of which
John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, was chairman he who was the Whig
candidate for Vice President in 1832. Sergeant made a very careful
investigation of the case in all its ramifications, and in his report pays
high tribute to Piatt 's honor and patriotism. 23 He supported the Comp-
troller's view of the act of 1820, and recommended an appropriation of
$63,620.48 to pay what was due for aid to refugees and friendly Indians,
and this was done by act of May 24, 1824. The singular feature of the
report is that while Sergeant found that Piatt had furnished the rations
as claimed, and that they were worth what was claimed, he only urged on
the House that the Government was making a good thing by settling on
the basis recommended. Throughout the entire history of the case, no-
body questioned that Piatt furnished the rations as claimed, or that they
were worth what was claimed, or that the most disastrous results would
have followed in the war if he had not furnished them. In the entire
23 Am. State Papers, Claims, p. 894.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
279
report, the only discordant note is a statement by Tench Ringold, who
was Monroe's assistant, and whose statement conclusively established
the parol agreement, that he ' ' was certain that Piatt had made a fortune
out of the contract." Sergeant disposed of this by letters from Judge
Burnet, and John McLean, showing that in reality Piatt was ruined by
it. As a matter of fact, at that very time Piatt owed the Bank of the
GOVERNOR POSEY
United States at Cincinnati, $300,000, which he had borrowed to buy
these rations for the Government, and which he had mortgaged his real
estate to secure.
Piatt 's sister Hannah, who had married Philip Grandin, his partner
in the banking house of J. H. Piatt & Co., which is said to have been the
first private bank in the Ohio Valley, was determined that justice should
be done to her brother's memory, and she showed as much courage and
persistence in her fight as Myra Gaines did in her long struggle for
280 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
justice. The claim for the balance due Piatt was kept before Congress
almost continuously for years. Committee after committee reported
favorably on it, but Congress took no action. Finally the Court of
Claims was organized, and Mrs. Grandin was appointed administratrix
de bonis non, and brought suit in the new court. At this point the
representatives of the Government raised the new point that Piatt had
barred suit by accepting the benefits of the act of 1820. The court
divided evenly, and the case went to the Supreme Court of the United
States, which, in 1875, gave judgment for $131,508.90 in full of the
amount originally claimed by Piatt, though four of the justices dissented
on the theory of estoppel. The court held that the act of 1820 did not
imply a final settlement, and that if it did, it could not estop Piatt, who
was under duress when he accepted his release under the act, and his
release was all that he received under it. Moreover, as Sergeant showed,
Piatt had protested against the injustice of the act during its passage.
No interest was allowed, under the legal fiction that the United States
is always ready to pay its debts, when claims are properly presented.
Ever since the Piatt heirs have been vainly trying to induce Congress to
allow them the interest which any court would allow at once in a case
between man and man.
It is probable that Piatt 's heirs would never have recovered anything
buf for the fact that when he went to see Monroe he took with him John
McLean, then Representative of the Cincinnati district, and later Justice
of the Supreme Court. In 1857 Judge McLean made a statement in
behalf of the heirs, which shows the probable cause of Mr. Monroe's for-
getfulness. After a preliminary statement of the situation, Judge Mc-
Lean says: "It would be difficult, if not impossible, at this time, to
impress anyone fully with the. distressing embarrassments of the Govern-
ment at this time. * * * Public credit seemed to be utterly pros-
trated. Under the circumstances, Mr. Piatt came to Washington with
the determination, as I understood, to surrender the contract. He in-
formed me that he had tried to have an interview with Mr. Monroe,
acting Secretary of War, but was not admitted. I accompanied him to
the private residence of Mr. Monroe, and we were admitted. Mr. Monroe
was exceedingly feeble. I understood that he had not sufficient strength
to go to his office. His system appeared to be nearly exhausted by the
pressure of his public duties; and I observed that he was very nervous.
I have no distinct recollection of the words used in the, interview ; nor
whether Mr. Piatt or myself first stated to the Secretary the failures of
the Government to meet his drafts; but I have a distinct recollection that
Mr. Piatt expressed to me a strong determination, before the interview,
that he should give up his contract, as it would be ruinous to him to
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 281
continue it under the circumstances ; and on his return he expressed him-
self satisfied with the assurances given, and that at all hazards he would
continue the supplies. I entertained no doubt, under the circumstances,
the Government's failures had released him from the obligations of his
contract, and this being the case he had a right to expect an indemnity.
I did not understand that Mr. Piatt claimed anything more than this.
"I urged Mr. Piatt strongly not to withhold his supplies, and I could
not have done this had I not believed the conversation with Mr. Monroe
authorized him to rely on the assurances given. I am impressed that it
was on th same occasion Mr. Monroe said that he had made temporary
loans from the banks of the District of Columbia, and the adjoining
states, for the use of the Government, and that these loans had become
payable, and he had not the means of paying them. He said that treasury
notes would not be taken in the North for provisions, and that unless
Congress should do something to revive the public credit he was appre-
hensive that our northern army could not be kept in the field. These
facts were so impressed upon my mind, and I have so often adverted to
them in conversation and in writing, that I remember them as well as if
I had heard them recently. * * * When we had the interview with
Mr. Monroe, I was but little acquainted with public affairs, and I have
never recurred to the circumstances that I did not regret that a written
assurance was not required. Before Mr. Piatt engaged in the above
contract he had the means, as I supposed, of acquiring the largest fortune
of any individual in Cincinnati. I think his resources were greater than
those of any other individual of my acquaintance. I have always under-
stood, and believed, that he was ruined by the contract. Being in "Wash-
ington, urging his claims, I was informed and believe that he was arrested
by a creditor, and that he was confined to the prison limits, where he
died. This, as I believe, was the fruit of a devotion to his country, un
surpassed, if equalled, by any army contractor. ' ' 24
Although Piatt 's estate was announced to be insolvent after his
death, it included a large amount of real estate. His administrators
made a settlement with the Bank of the United States by which it took
the mortgaged real estate for its debt of over $300,000 ; after which they
proceeded to sell the remainder, and buy most of it in themselves, in the
name of third parties. This was not learned by Piatt 's heirs for years
afterwards; and then, in March, 1850, they brought suit for the recovery
of these lands. This case was in the Ohio courts for twenty-five years,
and at the December Term, 1875, the Supreme Court of Ohio gave the
heirs judgment for about one hundred pieces of property, much of it in
2* This document, with the other evidence in the case, is in Printed Records
of the Court of Claims, Dec. Term, 1872, Vol. 45, P to S, No. 2205.
282
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
the heart of Cincinnati. The original parties were now long since dead,
much of the property had been reconveyed, and the settlement involved a
lengthy accounting for rents, improvements, profits, etc., so the Longworth
heirs offered the Piatt heirs a compromise settlement of $400,000 in cash,
which was accepted. 25 Half of this amount went for attorneys' fees,
under contract, as was also the case in the recovery from the United
States. Such was the wrecking of one of the finest estates west of the
Alleghenies. Piatt 's name belongs with those of Vigo, St. Glair and
Pollock, as a man who let his patriotism get the better of his business
judgment. But he saved the Army of the Northwest, and the Army of
BATTLE OF THE THAMES DEATH OP TECUMSEH
(From Brackenridge 's History of the Late War)
the Northwest saved the United States in the War of 1812, by showing
England that she stood fair to lose Canada ; and that lesson has given a
century of peace between the two countries since then.
There was no trouble in finding men for that war, on the American
side. The indignation in the west over the employment of Indians in-
creased with the surrender of Hull, and went to fever heat at the
massacre at the River Raisin. The battle-cry of the western troops was
"Remember the River Raisin." Detroit was reoccupied without resist-
ance, and Perry's victory on the lake, and Harrison's victory on the
Thames put an effective damper on British hostilities in the west. The
career of Tecumtha also ended with the battle of the Thames, in which
25 Piatt et al. vs. Longworth et al., 27 Ohio State, p. 159.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 283
he was probably killed, though Harrisou and his staff were not assured
of it until after they returned to Detroit. He made almost as much dis-
turbance in his death as in his life, for the question got into politics when
Col. Richard Johnson was a candidate for the Vice Presidency. There
are three lines of evidence, one that he was killed by Col. Johnson, one
that he was killed by Col. Whitley, one that he was killed by a private
named David King. Each of these is supported by affidavits and state-
ments, neither of which would furnish satisfactory historical evidence
if it stood alone. 20 There is also an Indian statement that he was not
killed at the battle, but lived for some time later. It appears to be con-
ceded that he is dead now. The conventional portraits of Tecumtha and
the Prophet were originally published by Benson J. Lossing, who said
that they were drawn by Pierre LeDru, a young trader on the Wabash,
from whose son he obtained them. 27 There is, however no such name
as LeDru, or LeDrou, given in Tanguay's Geneological Dictionary, or
in Lasselle's list of traders on the Wabash. 28 LeDru may be a nick-name,
as it means "The Thickset," and French nick-names often became family
names by adoption. There was a Pere LeDru, whom Shea describes as
"an apostate Dominican," who officiated for a time at Vincennes and in
the Illinois country, and then took an appointment at St. Louis. 29 Pos-
sibly he was the artist who made the pictures.
Harrison's war activities took him away from Vincennes late in the
spring of 1812, and Secretary John Gibson became acting Governor, and
served until the arrival of Governor Posey, about a year later. His
duties were largely military, in the keeping of the frontier in a state of
defense. The most notable thing of his administration is that in his
message to the legislature, which conVened in February, 1813, he made
the first known suggestion in the line of modern civil service reform in
the United States. At that time the militia elected their own officers, and
with little regard to fitness. Discussing the evils of this, Gibson said :
' ' This evil having taken root, I do not know how it can be eradicated ;
but it may be remedied. In place of men searching after, and accepting
of commissions, before they are even tolerably qualified, thereby sub-
jecting themselves to ridicule, and their country to ruin, barely for the
name of the thing, I think may be remedied by a previous examination.
This, however, among other important territorial concerns, rests with tlis
ae Drake's Tecumseh, p. 199.
" Field Book of the War of 1812, p. 189.
2Ind. Mag. of Hist, 1906, p. 1.
"Shea's Life of Archbishop Carroll, pp. 471, 479; 111. Hist. Coll., Vol. 5,
pp. 510, 515.
282
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
the heart of Cincinnati. The original parties were now long since dead,
much of the property had been reconveyed, and the settlement involved a
lengthy accounting for rents, improvements, profits, etc., so the Longworth
heirs offered the Piatt heirs a compromise settlement of $400,000 in cash,
which was accepted. 23 Half of this amount went for attorneys' fees,
under contract, as was also the case in the recovery from the United
States. Such was the wrecking of one of the finest estates west of the
Alleghenies. Piatt 's name belongs with those of Vigo, St. Clair and
Pollock, as a man who let his patriotism get the better of his business
judgment. But he saved the Army of the Northwest, and the Armv of
BATTLE OF THE THAMES DEATH OP TECUMSEH
(From Brackenridge 's History of the Late War)
the Northwest saved the United States in the War of 1812, by showing
England that she stood fair to lose Canada ; and that lesson has given a
century of peace between the two countries since then.
There was no trouble in findftig men for that war, on the American
side. The indignation in the west over the employment of Indians in-
creased with the surrender of Hull, and went to fever heat at the
massacre at the River Raisin. The battle-cry of the western troops was
"Remember the River Raisin." Detroit was reoccupied without resist-
ance, and Perry's victory on the lake, and Harrison's victory on the
Thames put an effective damper on British hostilities in the west. The
career of Tecumtha also ended with the battle of the Thames, in which
25 Piatt et al. vs. Longworth et al., 27 Ohio State, p. 159.
-
j
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 283
he was probably killed, though Harrison and his staff were not assured
of it until after they returned to Detroit. He made almost as much dis-
turbance in his death as in his life, for the question got into politics when
Col. Richard Johnson was a candidate for the Vice Presidency. There
are three lines of evidence, one that he was killed by Col. Johnson, one
that he was killed by Col. Whitley, one that he was killed by a private
named David King. Each of these is supported by affidavits and state-
ments, neither of which would furnish satisfactory historical evidence
if it stood alone. 2 " There is also an Indian statement that he was not
killed at the battle, but lived for some time later. It appears to be con-
ceded that he is dead now. The conventional portraits of Tecumtha and
the Prophet were originally published by Benson J. Lossing, who said
that they were drawn by Pierre LeDru, a young trader on the Wabash,
from whose son he obtained them. 27 There is, however no such name
as LeDru, or LeDrou, given in Tanguay's Geneological Dictionary, or
in Lasselle's list of traders on the Wabash. 28 LeDru may be a nick-name,
as it means "The Thickset," and French nick-names often became family
names by adoption. There was a Pere LeDru, whom Shea describes as
"an apostate Dominican," who officiated for a time at Vincennes and in
the Illinois country-, and then took an appointment at St. Louis. 2y Pos-
sibly he was the artist who made the pictures.
Harrison's war activities took him away from Vincennes late in the
spring of 1812, and Secretary John Gibson became acting Governor, and
served until the arrival of Governor Posey, about a year later. His
duties were largely military, in the keeping of the frontier in a state oi!
defense. The most notable thing of his administration is that in his
message to the legislature, which conVened in February, 1813, he made
the first known suggestion in the line of modern civil service reform in
the United States. At that time the militia elected their own officers, and
with little regard to fitness. Discussing the evils of this. Gibson said :
' ' This evil having taken root, I do not know how it can be eradicated ;
but it may be remedied. In place of men searching after, and accepting
of commissions, before they are even tolerably qualified, thereby sub-
jecting themselves to ridicule, and their country to ruin, barely for tlio
name of the thing, I think may be remedied by a previous examination.
Tin's, however, among other important territorial concerns, rests with th.'
20 Drake's Tecumseh, p. 199.
27 Field Book of the War of 1812, p. 189.
2s Ind. Mag. of Hist, 1906, p. 1.
2 Shea's Life of Archbishop Carroll, pp. 471, 479; 111. Hist. Coll., Vol. 5,
pp. 510, 515.
284 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
legislature." 30 The United States did not adopt any law for "pass ex-
aminations" until 1853, although they had been used for a few years
earlier than that in the Treasury Department. 31 The test of "fitness"
had been urged since the time of Washington, but the idea of ascertain-
ing fitness by an examination was not suggested until long after Gibson
had proposed it in Indiana. This same legislature of 1813 provided for
the removal of the capital of the Territory to Corydon, and the removal
was made that year.
Gen. Posey was serving as senator from Louisiana when he was ap-
pointed Governor of Indiana Territory by President Madison. The
appointment was confirmed on March 3, 1813. He was a native of Vir-
ginia, born July 9, 1750, on a farm on the Potomac River, near Mount
Vernon. He served in Dunraore's war, raised a company at the begin-
ning of the Revolution, in 1775, and served through that war, served
under Wayne in 1793, and raised a company in Louisiana for the war of
IS! 2, from which he was appointed to the senate. He was identified with
the old Harrison party in the Territory, being their candidate for
Governor against Jonathan Jennings in 1816, but did not take any great
intei'est in politics. In fact his healfh was so bad that he was unable to
live at Corydon during most of his term, his physician living at Louis-
ville, and, as he officially advised the legislature of 1813-4, ' ' I have taken
all the medicine brought with me." The legislature, which was not of
his politics, was very conciliatory, and finally adjourned after authoriz-
ing the president of the council and speaker of the house, with the clerks
of the two bodies, to receive bills and messages from the Governor, as if
the houses were in session, and make the necessary entries, in order to
avoid "the expense of near fifty dollars a day," which would result
from keeping the legislature in session. The legislature and the Gov-
ernor continued in admirable harmony during the remainder of the
Territorial period ; but the legislature and the Judges were not so har-
monious. The legislature undertook to fix the districts in which the
three judges of the Territorial Court should sit at nisi prius, and the
judges promptly refused to obey "the law, stating that they derived all
their powers from Congress, and the legislature had no power over them.
The legislature then petitioned Congress to make provision by which
litigants could have their cases tried somewhere near their places of
residence. The Jennings party had the legislature and the Congressman ;
and they were showing real political discretion in developing as little
friction as possible with the Governor and the Judges. But they were
sn Western Sun, Feb. 6, 1813.
31 The Civil Service and Patronage, Harvard Hist. Studies, Fish, p. 183.
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS 285
not losing any political opportunities. In December, 1815, when the
legislature petitioned Congress for admission as a state, the leading issue
of Territorial politics was deftly introduced as follows: "And whereas
the inhabitants of this territory are principally composed of emigrants
from every part of the Union, and as various in their customs and senti-
ments as in their persons, we think it prudent, at this time, to express to
the general government our attachment to the fundamental principles
of legislation prescribed by congress in their ordinance for the govern-
ment of this territory, particularly as respects personal freedom and
involuntary servitude, and hope they may be continued as the basis of
the constitution."
CHAPTER VII
THE NEW STATE
There seems to be a hazy idea with some writers that there was a
golden age in the United States when politics was unknown. If there
was ever such a period in the world, it was in prehistoric times. The
one constant factor in history is human nature; and wherever society
has existed, there has been the desire for preferment, position and power.
It is manifested not only in public life but also in societies, churches, and
all the various kinds of organizations of mankind. The politics of early
Indiana did not have the outward manifestations of the party organiza-
tions of the present, but it was of a very similar character, and offiee-
holding and personal advantages of different kinds were its chief ends.
National politics was at low ebb. The Federalist party was in a comatose
condition, and nearly everybody called himself a Republican. Whenever
that state is reached in any community, factions grow up within the
dominant party which result in the formation of new parties. This con-
dition had existed in Indiana Territory almost from its formation; and
after the separation of Illinois Territory it crystallized as a Harrison and
anti-Harrison division of the voters. Harrison, as Governor, controlled
most of the local patronage, but from 1809, the anti-Harrison party, led
by Jonathan Jennings, controlled the legislature and elected the delegate
to Congress.
The chief division in matters of principle was on the slavery ques-
tion, the Harrison party having tied itself hopelessly to the proposal to
admit slavery to the Territory, and the Jennings party having openly
opposed it. The greatest strength "of the Harrison party was naturally
in Knox, and adjoining counties where most of the slaves were held.
Moreover, most of the Territorial officers lived at Vincennes, and had
their property interests there. It was certain that the removal of the seat
of government from that place would be a serious injury to local property
interests ; but it was equally certain that the remainder of the Territory
would not long consent to its continuance on the western border. These
considerations were the bases of the political issues of the later Terri-
torial period. There were no formal party names, but there were some
epithets used in discussion. In moderate discussion, the adherents of
286
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 287
Jennings were called his ' ' friends, ' ' but this was intended and understood
simply as his party friends. Jennings was an adroit politician. He had
an important advantage over the opposition in the slavery question, and
that issue was not allowed to die, even after the legislature of 1810 had re-
pealed the indenture law. The repeal law practically annulled existing
indentures by removing the provision for their enforcement by the
courts ; but there was no effort made to release the indentured servants.
Indeed the anti-Harrison legislature of 1813 recognized the indentures by
levying a tax of two dollars on "every slave or servant of color."
The first effort to remove the capital was in the legislature of 1811.
While the tnembers who wanted it removed from Vincennes were in
large majority they were much divided as to where it should go. The
location of the seat of government was an important factor in real estate
prices, and every enterprising town wanted it. Madison was always
active in looking after its own welfare, and it was first on the field.
William MeFarland, the active and able representative of Jefferson
County, after much effort, succeeded in getting a law passed locating
the capital at Madison and then Governor Harrison vetoed it. General
W. Johnston, who defended the Governor's veto, said: "The many and
various attempts to remove it to Madison failed in either one or the other
of the Houses, or before the Executive ; for said he ' remove it to a more
centrick scite, and it shall meet my most hearty approbation'." It is
interesting to note that Johnston says to his Knox County constituents in
this same article, ' ' I have resigned my seat as representative ; and have
been honored by his Excellency Governor Harrison with the office of
Attorney General of the territory and prosecuting attorney for your
court." 1 The Madison people were naturally disappointed at losing
their plum; and on January 20, 1812, Jennings presented to Congress
the "representation of sundry inhabitants of Indiana Territory com-
plaining of the arbitrary conduct of the Governor of that Territory in
withholding his approbation to an act passed by the legislature, for the
removal of the seat of the Territorial Government. ' ' But Jennings was
not dependent on Madison for presenting to Congress the woes of Indiana.
On January 1, he had presented two petitions from the legislature of
1812, one asking for admission as a state, and the other asking that
"the inhabitants of that Territory may be authorized and empowered
to elect the sheriffs of their respective counties. " On the 13th the speaker
presented a letter containing a protest against the petition for admission
as a state, signed by James Dill and Peter Jones, members of the legisla-
ture. Jones was a Vincennes man, and a member of the Harrison party.
Western Sun, December 28, 1811.
288 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Dill was the chief representative of the Harrison party in Dearborn
County, and was kept in office in that county by Harrison, as clerk,
recorder and prosecuting attorney all through the Territorial period, as
well as being in the legislature a large part of the time.
In April Jennings offered a resolution for a committee to inquire into
the desirability of authorizing changes of venue in the Indiana courts.
The official record says : ' ' Mr. J. made a number of remarks on presenting
his resolution. He lamented the general prevalence of a party spirit in
the community, which, in the Territory in question, actuated every officer,
from the Executive to the lowest the judicial officers not excepted in-
somuch as to corrupt the fountain of justice. The sheriffs were appointed
by the Executive, and juries selected at their discretion, etc. It was
essential, he said, to the interest and welfare of every individual in the
community, that the purity of jury trial should be preserved; and for
that purpose, he wished some provision to be reported by the committee
referred to in the resolution." 2 This evidently refers to charges then
in circulation that the jury in the case of Harrison against Mclntoeh was
packed. The committee requested was appointed, but did nothing. The
legislature of 1813 then passed an elaborate law for changes of venue.
This legislature also passed a law for the removal of the seat of govern-
ment to Corydon. The removal was directed to be made by May 1, 1813.
and, presumably, to forestall any failure on the plea that removal would
be unsafe, it was provided that the Governor could call out ' ' any number
of militia that he may deem necessary for the more safe conveyance of
any books, papers, or other thing by this act made necessary to be con-
veyed to the said town of Corydon." The choice of Corydon was not
made until after a long contest. Madison was on hand again, with an
offer of a donation of $10,000, if given the capital, and the House voted
for Madison, notwithstanding Harrison's former veto; but the Council
would not consent to it. Charlestown, Lawrenceburg, Clarksville and
Jeffersonville received some votes, and Corydon was finally accepted as
a compromise.
The Jennings party now had .everything except control of the appoint-
ments, and that could be obtained only by admission as a state. The
request of 1812 for admission had been referred to a committee of which
Jennings was chairman, and he had reported favorably, and introduced
a resolution that Indiana should be admitted when it had 35,000 popula-
tion. Congress, however, decided to wait for the 60,000 inhabitants stip-
ulated by the Ordinance of 1787. This political warfare continued on
the same lines after Harrison had ceased to be Governor, for his party
2 Annals of Cong. 1811-12, p. 1248.
JONATHAN JENNINGS OP CHARLESTOWN, INDIANA,
FIRST STATE GOVERNOR
(From a miniature owned by Mr. Willis Barnes)
Vol. 119
288 INDIANA AND IXDJANAXS
'
Dill was the chief representative of the Harrison party in Dearborn
County, and was kept in office in that county by Harrison, as clerk,
recorder and prosecuting attorney all through the Territorial period, as
well as being in the legislature a large part of the time.
In April Jennings offered a resolution for a committee to inquire into
the desirability of authorizing changes of venue in the Indiana courts.
The official record says: "Mr. J. made a number of remarks on presenting
his resolution. He lamented the general prevalence of a party spirit in
the community, which, in the Territory in question, actuated every officer,
from the Executive to the lowest the judicial officers not excepted in-
somuch as to corrupt the fountain of justice. The sheriffs were appointed
by the Executive, and juries selected at their discretion, etc. It was
essential, he said, to the interest and welfare of every individual in the
community, that the purity of jury trial should be preserved ; and for
that purpose, he wished some provision to be reported by the committee
referred to in the resolution." 2 This evidently refers to charges then
in circulation that the jury in the case of Harrison against Mclntosh was
packed. The committee requested was appointed, hut did nothing. The
legislature of 1813 then passed an elaborate law for changes of venue.
This legislature also passed a law for the removal of the seat of govern-
ment to Corydon. The removal was directed to be made by May 1, 1813.
and, presumably, to forestall any failure on the plea that removal would
be unsafe, it was provided that the Governor could call out "any number
of militia that he may deem necessary for the more safe conveyance of
any books, papers, or other thing by this act made necessary to be con-
veyed to the said town of Corydon." The choice of Corydon was not
made until after a long contest. Madison was on hand again, with an
offer of a donation of $10,000, if given the capital, and the House voted
for Madison, notwithstanding Harrison's former veto; but the Council
would not consent to it. Charlestown, Lawrenceburg, Clarksville and
Jeffersonville received some votes, and Corydon was finally accepted as
a compromise.
The Jennings party now had everything except control of the appoint-
ments, and that could be obtained only by admission as a state. The
request of 1812 for admission had been referred to a committee of which
Jennings was chairman, and he had reported favorably, and introduced
a resolution that Indiana should be admitted when it had 35,000 popula-
tion. Congress, however, decided to wait for the 60,000 inhabitants stip-
ulated by the Ordinance of 1787. This political warfare continued on
the same lines after Harrison had ceased to be Governor, for his party
2 Annals of Cong. 1811-12, p. 1248.
JONATHAN JENNINGS OP CHARLESTOWN, INDIANA,
FIRST STATE GOVERNOR
(From a miniature owned by Mr. Willis Barnes)
Vol. 116
290 INDIANA AND 1NDIANANS
. - .
still existed, its leaders being the men whom he had put in office. Owing
to the mode of party formation, the political controversies were in
appearance personal, the assaults of the Harrison party being directed at
Jennings, and the "counter offensive" at Harrison. This continued to
the last. In 1816 Jennings introduced la resolution in Congress for an
investigation of the conduct of Indian affairs in the Territory, which was
under the Governor, stating expressly that it was not directed at Gover-
nor Posey, but at Gen. Harrison. The only material result of this was
a warm attack on Jennings by the editor of the "Western Sun. 8 With
these facts in mind, it is easy to understand the political atmosphere in
which the state came into being.
The legislature of 1814 sent a memorial to Congress asking for admis-
sion, which was presented by Jennings on February 1, 1815, and was
laid on the table. In the meantime a census of the state was being taken,
which was ready when the legislature met on December 4, 1815, and it
showed a population of 63,897. The legislature at once prepared another
memorial for statehood, which was presented in Congress on December
28, but was printed in Niles' Register on December 14. If there were any
question as to the political complexion of that legislature, it would !be
disposed of by the concluding sentence of the memorial, which reads.:
"And whereas the inhabitants of this territory are principally composed
of emigrants from every part of the Union, and as various in their cus-
toms and sentiments as in their persons, we think it prudent, at this time,
to express to the general government our attachment to the fundamental
principles of legislation prescribed by congress in their ordinance for
the government of this territory, particularly as respects personal free-
dom and involuntary servitude, and hope they may be continued as the
basis of the constitution." This memorial was referred to a committee
of which Jennings was chairman, and on January 5, 1816, he reported
an enabling act. Then followed a delay of three months, which was not
due to any objection to the admission of Indiana, but to opposition to
the admission of Mississippi, ft was here that Congress inaugurated the
"twin state" process, i. e., admitting. a free state and a slave state at
the same time. The enabling acts for the two states finally passed the
House on April 13, 1816, at the same sitting and without any intervening
business. On Monday, the 15th, the House concurred in the Senate
amendments, and on April 19 the bill was signed by the President.
Meanwhile the opponents of the Jennings party had trained their
guns on Jennings in the columns of the Sun. On January 20 there began
a series of articles signed "Farmers & Patriots Rights," complaining
Annals 14th Cong., p. 1273; Western Sun, April 20, 1816.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 291
of a proclamation which President Madison had issued in December
ordering people who had settled on the public lands, that had not been
offered for sale, to be removed; and urging that he had no authority to
do so under the land law of 1807. On February 10, "A Settler" joined
in the discussion, suggesting that the President had been imposed on by
designing advisors, and adding: "Might not Mr. Jennings (as I have no
doubt his cunning lead him) say to himself, my friends make the repre-
sentations to the President, get the proclamation issued and then 1 can
move Congress to pass a special act or resolution excepting the settlers
on the public lands in the Indiana Territory. Then, forsooth, I can,
with more assurance & prospect of success, offer as a candidate for Gov-
ernor of the state. And this deep laid scheme I am informed is going
fast into operation. The proclamation issued The motion made and
Jonathan Jennings declared by his friends in this quarter of the territory
as a candidate for the Gubernatorial chair ! ! ! Let my fellow citizens
judge these men they want offices." To this, "Farmers & Patriots
Rights" offered a feeble defense on the 17th, insisting that the President
was to blame, and saying: "Mr. Jennings at the present moment is
discharging his duties as the peoples representative, and such of his
particular friends here as I am intimate with, are pure, incapable of
such conduct, and should be unsuspected. ' ' Then, on February 24th, ' ' A
Settler" replied with an inquiry as to the occupation of Mr. Jennings in
past moments, and sarcastic comment on his "duties," and the purity of
his friends, concluding his article : "Mr. Jennings and his friends should
no longer be confided in they must no longer force themselves upon the
people if they have only studied their own selfish and contracted views,
their ascendency will be more injurious hereafter than it has been here-
tofore our approaching change into a state points to the necessity of
changing men also, and for that change I pray. ' '
This assault had little effect. It was glaringly inconsistent in holding
Jennings up as the power behind the throne who was controlling the
action of the President, and at the same time portraying him as an insig-
nificant character; and the whole alleged controversy was on its face
either the work of one man, or of two acting in conjunction. It was
promptly charged that John Ewing was the author of all of the letters.
This he denied with a show of great indignation at being charged with
such base conduct, but he did not deny that he was the author of
"Farmers & Patriots Rights," and he clearly intimated that he knew "A
Settler," to whose personal character he paid high compliment. 4 The
only public attention paid to the attack by Jennings was the publication
< Western Sun, Aug. 17, 1816.
292 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
on March 30, of his bill for the relief of the settlers who had been ordered
out of the public lands, which gave them the right of pre-emption on
lands actually occupied by them.
On May 3 the Sun published the enabling act, stating that it had
been received the day before, and assailed Jennings for allowing only
ten days for preparation for the election, which was set for May 13.
This complaint was feeble, for the memorial of the legislature had ex-
pressly asked that the election be held on that date, and the Sun had
published the memorial on January 27, with the clause as to the date
of the election in italics; and it had thereafter printed several notices
of the progress of the bill, with assurances that it would pass. This was
generally understood throughout the Territory. The correspondence
above quoted is based on the announced facts that Indiana was to be a
state, and Jonathan Jennings was to be a candidate for Governor. Like
the other attacks of the Sun in this campaign, it failed to do any damage.
The principal attacks had been made in the Sun of April 20. One of
these, signed "Farmer of Knox County," complained of the change of
the payment of congressman from a per diem basis to a salary, observ-
ing that whereas Jennings had heretofore "received six dollars a day
of the people's money," he would now get fifteen hundred dollars a year.
He also objected to a law, for which Jennings had voted, giving to
Canadians who had volunteered in our army in the war of 1812 a land
bounty, ranging from 960 acres for a colonel to 320 acres for a private.
But the war was too recent, and the sense of obligation to the Canadians
who had sacrificed their interests in Canada from sympathy with the
American cause was too strong, for this to arouse any material complaint.
A third, and more substantial charge was that Jennings had attended
a caucus at Washington for the nomination of a candidate for President
"thus influencing improperly the free and unbiased voice of the people
on that important subject." But, on the other hand this demonstrated
that the insignificant Jennings must be a man of some importance in
Washington.
While the attacks of the Sun did little damage, it gave the Jennings
party aid and comfort by opening its columns to a discussion of the
slavery question early in the campaign. 5 This so quickly and thoroughly
aroused the people that Mr. Timothy Flint, who was traveling in the
Territory at the time, was impressed with the idea that it was the only
thing in issue. He says: "The population was very far from being
in a state of mind, of sentiment, and affectionate mutual confidence,
favoiirable to commencing their lonely condition in the woods in har-
Western Sun, Feb. 3, March 2, 20.
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 293
monious intercourse. They were forming a state government. The ques-
tion in all its magnitude, whether it should go a slave-holding state or
not, was just now agitating. I was often compelled to hear the question
debated by those in opposite interests, with no small degree of asperity.
Many fierce spirits talked, as the clamorous and passionate are accus-
tomed to talk in such cases, about opposition and ' resistance unto blood. '
But the preponderance of more sober and reflecting views, those habits of
order and quietness, that aversion to shedding blood, which so generally
and so honorably appertain to the American character and institu-
tions, operated in these wildernesses, among these inflamed and bitter
spirits, wim all their positiveness, ignorance, and clashing feeling, and
with all their destitution of courts and the regular course of settled
laws, to keep them from open violence. The question was not long after
finally settled in peace." 6
That this was the chief matter of consideration in the election of
May 13 is shown by the following statement in the next issue of the
Western Spy, an Ohio paper: "A gentleman of respectability from
Indiana informs us that from the sentiments of the members elected to
the convention as far as they are known, he has no doubt that a constitu-
tion will be formed which will exclude involuntary slavery from that
rising state. We sincerely hope this expectation will be realized." 7
There is scant room to doubt that the counties were all pretty thoroughly
organized on the established party lines long before the enabling act
was passed, and the Jennings party won by an overwhelming majority.
They carried all the counties but Knox, Gibson and Posey, with the ex-
ception of a few scattering delegates elsewhere. In its issue of May 3,
announcing the election, the Vincennes Sun announced the following
named persons as candidates: G. W. Johnston, J. Ewing, W. Wilson,
G. R. C. Sullivan, S. T. Scott, John Badollet, William Polke, John John-
son, Benjamin Parke, and Elias McNamee. It ingenuously stated that it
had not consulted these gentlemen, but that it considered them desirables.
It was more probably announcing agreed-on names of strong men in
its own party, and weak ones of the opposition party. Benjamin Parke,
John Badollet, William Polke and John Johnson were strong men of the
Harrison party, and were elected. General W. Johnston was as able
a man as there was in the Territory, and might have been elected in any
anti-slavery county, but he had killed himself with the Knox County
voters by his stand against slavery. John Ewing was an able man, but he
was then a comparative new comer at Vincennes, was of Irish birth, and
Recollections of the Last Ten Years, p. 57.
7 Quoted in Liberty Hall, May 27, 1816.
FIRST STATE HOUSE OF INDIANA, LOCATED AT COBYDON
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 295
was charged in the campaign with being pro-British, which was about as
popular then as being pro-German is at present. G. R. C. Sullivan was
an active young lawyer, but was a new comer, not well known and not
popular. Dr. William Wilson was a new comer, and not popular. Dr.
Elias McNamee had long been known as an anti-Harrison man, was very
unpopular politically at Vincennes, and could not have been elected to
anything. On May 11, two days before the election, the Sun announced
four more names "Moses Hoggett, John Benefield, Posey, and
Ebenezer Jones." Benefiel had some personal popularity, and was
elected, chiefly, no doubt, on account of the weakness of the Sun 's other
candidates.' He was the only anti-slavery man that was elected from
Knox County. 8
On June 10, as provided by the enabling act, the convention assembled
at Corydon, all of the members being present except Benjamin Parke,
who did not appear until the 14th. Corydon would not be classed as
overgrown at present, but it is quite metropolitan as compared with what
it was in 1816. The town had been laid out in 1808 by R. M. Heth. On
December 8, of that year, Harrison County was organized, and Corydon
was made the county seat. The court house was built in 1811-12 by
Dennis Pennington, and was a rather imposing building for the time in
Indiana. It was built of limestone, and was forty feet square. The
foundations were three feet under ground, the walls two and a half feet
thick in the first story and two feet in the second story. On the lower
floor there was but one room, with a stone floor and two fire places, and
a ceiling fifteen feet high. Originally there was a stairway from the
lower room to the second floor, but in 1873 this was removed to the out-
side of the building. This building was the Territorial and State capitol
from 1813 to 1825, the House of Representatives meeting in the lower
room and the Council later the senate in the rooms above. It was
in this building that the convention of 1816 met, though at times they
held sessions under a wide-spreading elm tree, some two hundred yards
away. There were not accommodations in the town for the convention
crowds. Sometimes there were as many as eighty non-residents there in
one day. Hence most of the delegates lodged at a hotel a mile east of
town on the road to New Albany, a fine old limestone building, built in
1809 by Jacob Conrad, a Pennsylvania Dutchman, and still standing and
used as a residence. It is now known as the old Capitol Hotel. There is
here a fine spring which is said to furnish excellent water for mixed
drinks.
8 This name is commonly printed Benefield, or Bennefield in local histories, but
he wrote it Benefiel.
.
FIRST STATE HOUSE OF INDIANA, LOCATED AT CORYDON
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 295
was charged in the campaign with being pro-British, which was about as
popular then as being pro-German is at present. G. R. C. Sullivan was
an active young lawyer, but was a new comer, not well known and not
popular. Dr. William Wilson was a new coiner, and not popular. Dr.
Elias McNamee had long been known as an anti-Harrison man, was very
unpopular politically at Vincennes, and could not have been elected to
anything. On May 11, two days before the election, the Sun announced
four more names "Moses Hoggett, John Benetield, Posey, and
Ebenezer Jones." Benefiel had some personal popularity, and was
elected, chie^y, no doubt, on account of the weakness of the Sun's other
candidates. He was the only anti-slavery man that was elected from
Knox County. 8
On June 10, as provided by the enabling act, the convention assembled
at Corydon, all of the members being present except Benjamin Parke,
who did not appear until the 14th. Corydon would not be classed as
overgrown at present, but it is quite metropolitan as compared with what
it was in 1816. The town had been laid out in 1808 by R. M. Heth. On
December 8, of that year, Harrison County was organized, and Corydon
was made the county seat. The court house was built in 1811-12 by
Dennis Pennington, and was a rather imposing building for the time in
Indiana. It was built of limestone, and was forty feet square. The
foundations were three feet under ground, the walls two and a half feet
thick in the first story and two feet in the second story. On the lower
floor there was but one room, with a stone floor and two fire places, and
a ceiling fifteen feet high. Originally there was a stairway from the
lower room to the second floor, but in 1873 this was removed to the out-
side of the building. This building was the Territorial and State capitol
from 1813 to 1825, the House of Representatives meeting in the lower
room and the Council later the senate in the rooms above. It was
in this building that the convention of 1816 met, though at times they
held sessions under a wide-spreading elm tree, some two hundred yards
away. There were not accommodations in the town for the convention
crowds. Sometimes there were as many as eighty non-residents there in
one day. Hence most of the delegates lodged at a hotel a mile east of
town on the road to New Albany, a fine old limestone building, built in
1809 by Jacob Conrad, a Pennsylvania Dutchman, and still standing and
used as a residence. It is now known as the old Capitol Hotel. There is
here a fine spring which is said to furnisli excellent water for mixed
drinks.
* This name is commonly printed Benefield, or Beimefield in local histories, but
he wrote it Benefiel.
296 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
The members of the convention were as good an assembly as could
have been picked in the Territory, men in whom the people trusted from
personal acquaintance with them. Joseph Holman was the leading man
of the four delegates from Wayne County, and had been a close friend
of Jennings ever since the campaign of 1809. He served in the war
of 1812, and had a blockhouse on his farm near Centerville. He was
prominent in the state for years afterwards, among other official posi-
tions being receiver of public moneys for six years under appointment
from President Monroe. With him were two North Carolina Quakers,
Patrick Baird and Jeremiah Cox, who had come North to get away from
slavery, and Hugh Cull, a Methodist circuit rider and local preacher.
Cull located in the Whitewater Valley in 1805, and at the close of 1808
he and Joseph Williams had 165 white and one colored member in the
circuit. At the head of the five delegates from Franklin County was
James Noble, a lawyer of Virginia birth, and one of the most effective
public speakers in the Territory. He was a militia general, and when
mounted on his charger, "Wrangler," was an impressive military figure.
He was one of the first senators from the new state. With him was
Robert Hanna jun., better known as Gen. Robert Hanna, also a fine
looking military man, who succeeded Noble in the Senate at the latter 's
death in 1831. The others were Enoch McCarty, a prominent citizen of
Brookville, as was his father before him, who served later as legislator,
clerk and judge ; William H. Eads, uncle of Capt. J. B. Eads the cele-
brated engineer, who had a store and a tannery at Brookville ; and James
Brownlee, father of Judge John Brownlee of Marion, who was a Penn-
sylvanian of Scotch-Irish descent, and who represented the county in
the legislature for four sessions, and at the time of his death in 1828,
was circuit judge.
The Dearborn County delegation was not united politically. James
Dill was the head of the Hajrison party in the county. He had married
a widowed daughter of Gov. St. Clair, whose daughter by her former
marriage was the wife of Thomas Randolph, the former Attorney General
of the Territory. Dill was of Irish birth and a lawyer by profession,
who was clerk of the local courts, Territorial and State, for about thirty
years. He paid much attention to dress, wearing knee-breeches with
silver buckles, and a long, carefully plaited queue ; but notwithstanding
this fastidiousness he was popular with the people for his wit and his
courtly politeness. His election was due to his personal popularity, for
the people of Dearborn were not with him politically, nor were his col-
leagues Ezra Ferris and Solomon Manwaring. Ferris was a native of
Connecticut, brought west by his parents in 1789, when six years old, but
educated in the East, and licensed as a Baptist preacher. He practised
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 297
medicine and kept a drug store at Lawrenceburgh, preaching for the
Baptist churches of the vicinity. He was the backbone of the Baptist
church in the county, and wrote the best account we have of the early
settlement of the region. 9 Manwaring was a lawyer, born in Delaware
in 1776. He was made a Common Pleas Judge in 1810, and after the
Councilors were made elective, was elected to the Territorial Council
from 1810 to 1816. Switzerland County's one delegate was William
Cotton, who was one of the county's earliest settlers, having located on
Indian Creek in 1798. At the first recorded Fourth of July celebration,
in 1805, he read the Declaration of Independence, and John Francis
Dufour made the oration. Cotton served as a justice of the peace and
an associate judge. His popularity is shown by the fact that in the elec-
tion for the convention he defeated John Dumont, who was a very promi-
nent man, later a candidate for Governor. It may be noted here that
this election did not go by default. There were rival candidates in all
the counties, and two contested elections reported to the convention.
The ablest man in the Jefferson County delegation was Dr. David
Hervey Maxwell, who was a son of Bezaleel Maxwell, a Virginian Revolu-
tionary soldier, who located three miles southwest of Hanover in 1810,
and who left a large line of descendants, including a number of the most
prominent people of Indiana. David H. Maxwell read medicine in Ken-
tucky with Dr. Ephraim McDowell, the man who performed the first
operation of ovariotomy in the United States. He practised medicine
at Hanover and Madison until 1819, and then removed to Bloomington.
He was the chief factor in the establishment of the State University, and
was a member of the Board of Trustees, usually president, until his death
in 1854. Maxwell Hall at the University commemorates him and his son,
Dr. James Darwin Maxwell. During the war of 1812 Maxwell served as
surgeon in the Ranger company of his brother-in-law Capt. Williamson
Dunn. The other two delegates from Jefferson, Nathaniel Hunt and
Samuel Smock, had been officials in Jefferson County for a number of
years; Hunt serving as county commissioner and associate judge, and
Smock as justice of the peace, militia officer, Judge of the Common Pleas
Court, and Judge of the Circuit Court.
The leader of the Clark County delegation, and the master spirit of
the Convention, was Jonathan Jennings. With him was James Scott,
an able judge who had been appointed Prosecuting Attorney of Clark
County in 1810; and elected to the Territorial House of 1813, of which
he was Speaker, and from which he resigned on being appointed Chan-
cellor of the Territory. The remaining three delegates from Clark were
Ind. Hist. Soc. Pubs., Vol. 1, Appendix.
298 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
James Lemon, John K. Graham, and Thomas Carr. Lemon had been a
justice of the peace, and a popular militia officer. Graham was a sur-
veyor, and was later one of those who located the Michigan Road.
Thomas Carr was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, December 12,
1777. His father died in 1784, and he went to live with an uncle at
Perrysville, Kentucky, where he grew up, married, and in 1804 removed
to Indiana, locating near Charlestown. In 1813 he moved to Valonia,
where he had command of the blockhouse. He had two bachelor brothers,
John and Samuel, who were in the mounted Rangers, and were with
Harrison at Tippecanoe. In 1816, after the war, he located on a farm
on "Pea Ridge," where he lived until his death, March 10, 1847. He
was the father of George W. Carr, the President of the Constitutional
Convention of 1851, and John F. Carr, who was a delegate to the Con-
vention of 1851.
There were two men of commanding natures in the Harrison County
delegation. Dennis Pennington, who came to the county in 1802, had
been a justice of the peace since 1807, and was speaker of the House of
Representatives in 1811 and 1815. His strong common sense and sterling
character made him the most influential man in the county. He was
later noted as a personal friend and supporter of Henry Clay. Davis
Floyd was better educated, being a lawyer by profession, and very effec-
tive before a jury. He also kept a tavern and operated a ferry at the
Falls of the Ohio. Governor Harrison had early made him a favorite,
appointing him Recorder in 1801, Sheriff in 1802, and Pilot at the Falls
in 1803. But Floyd became involved in the Aaron Burr conspiracy, and
in 1808 Harrison revoked his commissions, possibly at the suggestion
of President Jefferson; though Floyd's acting as Secretary of the anti-
slavery convention at Springville in 1807 may have reconciled him to
the action. There is no question that Floyd and Robert A. New were
Burr's agents at Jeffersonville, or that they raised two boat-loads of
men there, who accompanied Burr on his expedition. Floyd was in-
dicted and convicted, and received a depressing sentence of three hours
imprisonment. He had been elected Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives while he was under indictment, and was made Auditor of the Ter-
ritory in 1813. New was elected assistant secretary of the convention
of 1816, and Secretary of State by the first state legislature. It is not
apparent that Burr's treason was very odious in the West, and it cer-
tainly had little effect on the public esteem of these men. It may be
added that Floyd was a prominent Mason, and one of the founders of
the Grand Lodge of Indiana. With Pennington and Floyd were John
Boone, Daniel C. Lane and Patrick Shields. Boone, better known as
Squire Boone, was a brother of Daniel Boone, who had come from Ken-
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 299
tucky in 1802, and had been a justice of the peace since 1808. Lane
had been associate judge, and was the first Treasurer of State, serving
for seven years. Shields was an Irishman, who came to Indiana in 1805,
after previous residence in Virginia and Kentucky. He served as a
private at the Battle of Tippecanoe, and was a judge of the Common
Pleas Court.
There were five delegates from Washington County. John DePauw
was a son of the Charles DePauw who came over with LaFayette, and
fought under him in the Revolution. John laid out the town of Salem
in 1814. H^e was a merchant, a colonel of militia, and represented his
county in the legislature at numerous sessions. He became quite wealthy,
and his son, Washington DePauw endowed DePauw University. Wil-
liam Graham was the only member of the convention who was born at
sea, which nautical event occurred on March 16, 1782. His parents lo-
cated in Kentucky, and William received his early education at Harrods-
burg. In 1811 he removed to Vallonia, where he studied law, and was
elected to the legislature in 1812. Subsequently, he was speaker of the
House of Representatives in 1820, and represented his district in Con-
gress for eight years, 1831-9, being elected as a Whig. He died near
Vallonia, August 17, 1858. William Lowe had been an associate judge,
and was later the first clerk of Monroe County, and for six years post-
master at Bloomington. He died in 1840, aged 73. Robert Mclntire
had been a justice of the peace, and later served in the legislature. Gen.
Samuel Milroy was born in Mifflin County Pennsylvania, August 14,
1780, and is said to have been a lineal descendant of Robert Bruce. He
removed to Kentucky in 1806, and to Indiana in 1814. He was a popu-
lar militia officer being appointed Major in 1816, Colonel in 1817, and
Brigadier General in 1819. He was prominent in politics for years
afterwards, serving in the legislature repeatedly, and distinguishing
himself by the unusual record of opposing the State's borrowing $10.-
000,000 for internal improvements. President Jackson appointed him
a visitor to West Point, and he was for some time Register of the Land
Office at Crawfordsville, but Jackson removed him for criticising his
veto of the Wabash improvement bill. Milroy removed to Carroll
County in 1826. He secured the passage of the act for the organization
of the county, and gave the name of Delphi to the county seat. He was
the father of Major General Robert H. Milroy, of Civil War fame, and
of Major John B. Milroy.
It was natural that Knox County should send a strong delegation.
It was the seat of the oldest settlement, and Vincennes had long been the
capital and metropolis of the Territory. John Johnson was unquestion-
ably the leader of the delegation in the convention. He was a Virginian
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 301
and was probably the best lawyer in the Territory. If any of the other
delegates from Knox could have contested intellectual superiority with
him, it was Benjamin Parke, but he was a younger man, and recognized
Johnson's seniority. Parke was born in New Jersey, in 1777, and went
to Lexington, Kentucky, at the age of twenty. Here he read law in
the office of James Brown, later Minister to France. He married Eliza
Barton, and in 1801 they removed to Vincennes. He formed a warm
friendship with Governor Harrison, who appointed him Attorney Gen-
eral. He was elected to the first Territorial Legislature, and twice to
Congress. In 1808 President Jefferson made him a Territorial Judge,
and he held^hat position until Indiana became a state. A third mem-
ber was John Badollet, a Swiss friend of Albert Gallatin. The tradition
is that the two wanted to come to America, but had only enough money
between them for one fare. They drew lots and it fell to Gallatin to
come first. He prospered in the new world, and sent back money to
help Badollet over. As a member of Jefferson's cabinet, Gallatin se-
cured for him the position of Register of the Land Office at Vincennes,
which opened January 1, 1805. Harrison made him Chancellor of the
Territorial Court of Chancery, but he resigned this position after a few
months. Judge William Polke served the public in various capacities
at various times and always well. At this time he was best known as
Harrison's chief of scouts in the Tippecanoe expedition. Col. John
Benefiel, the fifth member of the Knox County delegation, as has been
mentioned, was the only anti-slavery member of it, and the only one
from outside of Vincennes. He was one of the pioneers of the Busseron
settlement, in the vicinity of Carlisle, which at that time was included
in Knox County.
Gibson County had four delegates, of whom Major David Robb was
the most influential. He was bdrn in Ireland. July 12, 1771. His father
emigrated to America, and settled in Kentucky. From there David
came to Indiana, in 1800, and located near the present town of Hazel-
ton. He had served as justice of the peace, surveyor, and President of
the Legislative Council. He was a captain at Tippecanoe, and a per-
sonal friend of Harrison. He was a slave-holder, having purchased two
slaves at the sale of Captain Warrick's estate, and having also two in-
dentured servants of his own. Major James Smith of this delegation
was a Virginian, who served as aide-de-camp to Harrison at Tippecanoe,
and took command of Warrick's company when that officer fell mortally
wounded. He was for years a school commissioner, and also served
as county surveyor. A third member was Alexander Devin, a Baptist
minister, who came to Indiana from Warren County, Kentucky, in 1810.
His son, Joseph, married a daughter of Major Robb. The fourth mem-
.
INDIANA AND IXDIANANS 301
and was probably the best lawyer in the Territory. If any of the other
delegates from Knox could have contested intellectual superiority with
him. it was Benjamin Parke, but he was a younger man, and recognized
Johnson's seniority. Parke was born in New Jersey, in 1777, and went
to Lexington. Kentucky, at the age of twenty. Here he read law in
the office of James Brown, later Minister to France. He married Eliza
Barton, and in 1801 thev removed to Vincennes. He formed a warm
. ' .
friendship with Governor Harrison, who appointed him Attorney Gen-
eral. He was elected to the first Territorial Legislature, and twice to
Congress. In 1808 President Jefferson made him a Territorial Judge,
and he held fliat position until Indiana became a state. A third mem-
ber was John Badollet, a Swiss friend of Albert Gallatin. The tradition
is that the two wanted to come to America, but had only enough money
between them for one fare. They drew lots and it fell to Gallatin to
come first. He prospered in the new world, and sent back money to
help Badollet over. As a member of Jefferson's cabinet, Gallatin se-
cured for him the position of Register of the Land Office at Vincennes,
which opened January 1, 1805. Harrison made him Chancellor of the
Territorial Court of Chancery, but he resigned this position after a few
months. Judge William Polke served the public in various capacities
at various times and always well. At this time he was best known as
Harrison's chief of scouts in the Tippecanoe expedition. Col. John
Henefiel, the fifth member of the Knox County delegation, as has been
mentioned, was the only anti-slavery member of it, and the only one
from outside of Vincennes. He was one of the pioneers of the Busseron
settlement, in the vicinity of Carlisle, which at that time was included
in Knox County.
Gibson County had four delegates, of whom Major David Robb was
the most influential. He was bdrn in Ireland. July 12, 1771. His father
emigrated to America, and settled in Kentucky. From there David
came to Indiana, in 1800, and located near the present town of Hazel-
ton. He had served as justice of the peace, surveyor, and President of
the Legislative Council. He was a captain at Tippecanoe, and a per-
sonal friend of Harrison. He was a slave-holder, having purchased two
slaves at the sale of Captain Warrick's estate, and having also two in-
dentured servants of his own. Major James Smith of this delegation
was a Virginian, who served as aide-de-camp to Harrison at Tippecanoe,
and took command of Warrick's company when that officer fell mortally
wounded. He was for years a school commissioner, and also served
as county surveyor. A third member was Alexander Devin, a Baptist
minister, who came to Indiana from Warren County, Kentucky, in 1810.
His son, Joseph, married a daughter of Major Robb. The fourth mem-
302 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
her was Frederick (Reichart) Rapp, the adopted son of George Rapp,
the founder of New Harmony.
Posey County had one delegate, Dan Lynn. He operated the Dia-
mond Island Ferry, twelve miles above Mount Vernon, at the present
site of West Franklin. He had served as justice of the peace and asso-
ciate judge, and was later a member of the Legislature. The one repre-
sentative of Warrick County was Daniel Grass. He entered the land
on which Rockport now stands, in 1807, and settled there. In 1808 he
was made a justice of the peace, and in 1814 an associate judge. He
was elected representative and senator several times after the admis-
sion of the state. Perry County also had one delegate, Charles Polke.
He was a Baptist minister, who has been heretofore mentioned in con-
nection with the Maria Creek Church. He was the father of William
Polke, the delegate from Knox County.
The convention organized by electing Jonathan Jennings President
and William Hendricks Secretary. William Hendricks was a man who
would have become prominent anywhere. He was born at Ligonier,
Pennsylvania, of Huguenot ancestors, who had settled among the Ger-
mans of the Ligonier Valley. His father, Abraham Hendricks, repre-
sented the county for four terms in the Pennsylvania Legislature.
William was educated at Jefferson College, at Cannonsburg later
united with Washington, as Washington and Jefferson where he was
a classmate of Andrew Wylie, afterwards President of Indiana Uni-
versity. After reaching manhood he came west and located at Cin-
cinnati, where he studied law, and was admitted to the bar ; In 1814 he
removed to Madison, Indiana, where he located permanently. He brought
with him a printing press, and established the second paper in the Terri-
tory, known as The Western Eagle. He was received with open arms
by the Jennings party, whose members had no love for Elihu Stout, of
the Vincennes Sun. They 'nominated and elected him to the Legislature
in 1814, and took the public printing away from Stout, and gave it to
the Eagle. This was the cause of the meager and belated notices of
public affairs in the Sun after that time, which has been commented on
by some students of our history. It was soon found that Hendricks
had rare political sagacity, and he took rank as one of the party leaders.
He married a daughter of Col. John Paul, the founder of Madison, a
connection which added materially to his influence in the Territory.
The first question that the convention was to decide, under the
enabling act, was whether it was expedient for it to form a constitu-
tion. The determination to form one was so manifest that the leaders
of the Harrison party wisely decided to make no serious issue on it, and
so, by a vote of 33 to 8, the convention resolved "to launch our political
INDIANA AND INDIANANS 303
vessel of state," as the Western Sun expressed it. The formation of
the constitution was not a really great task. There were few questions
on which there was any material difference of opinion, and on these
the majorities were usually overwhelming. It is plainly apparent that
the members had before them the constitutions of Virginia, Ohio and
Kentucky, for most of the constitution adopted was taken from these
three sources. Virginia furnished the bill of rights, and Ohio and Ken-
tucky the remainder, except the provisions for schools and amendments ;
so that there is some justice in the statement of Mr. Dillon : "In the
clearness and conciseness of its style in the comprehensive and just
provisions which it made for the maintenance of civil and religious
liberty in its mandates, which were designed to protect the rights of
the people, collectively and individually, and to provide for the public
welfare the Constitution that was formed for Indiana, in 1816, was not
inferior to any of the State Constitutions which were in existence at
that time." Incidentally this explains why the convention was in ses-
sion for only seventeen days.
The nearest approach to a party vote was on the slavery proviso of
the amendment section. As originally reported this section only pro-
vided for a vote by the people every twelfth year, and for the Legisla-
ture calling an election for a convention if the vote favored it. In com-
mittee of the whole house, this was amended by adding: "and which
convention, when met, shall have it in their power to revise, amend, or
change the constitution. But, as the holding any part of the human
Creation in slavery, or involuntary servitude, can only originate in
usurpation and tyranny, no alteration of this constitution shall ever
take place so as to introduce slavery or involuntary servitude in this
State, otherwise than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted." On June 20, Johnson moved to strike
out these words, and substitute these: "But as the holding any part
of the human family in slavery or involuntary servitude, can only origi-
nate in usurpation and tyranny, it is the opinion of this convention
that no alteration of this Constitution ought ever to take place, so as
to introduce slavery or involuntary servitude in this State, otherwise
than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party has been duly
convicted." This was an ingenious presentation of two questions, 1,
authorizing a convention to change the constitution without a vote of
the people, and 2, prohibiting any change in one particular. The first
question was not difficult. Most of the constitutions then in existence
had been adopted without submission to a vote of the people, and the
enabling act authorized this convention to adopt a constitution. They
were going to adopt a constitution without submission to the people.
304 INDIANA AND INDIANANS
They were the chosen representatives of the people. Why "ask anything
more of a future body of similar representatives T But as to the second
question, a committee had already reported a provision that the people
"have at all times an unalienable and indefeasible right to alter or
reform their Government in such manner as they may think proper."
If this were true, they could not bind a future convention as to slavery
or any other subject. True, the mere expression of an opinion in a
constitution had no force, but there was a precedent for it in the pro-
vision of the Ordinance of 1787, that "no law ought ever to be made,
or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever,
interfere with or affect private contracts." On the other hand, the
legislature of 1815 had specially asked Congress for a prohibition of
slavery, and the enabling act expressly provided that the new consti-
tution should not be repugnant to the articles of the Ordinance "which
are declared to be irrevocable;" and among these was the provision that
there "shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said
territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party
shall have been duly convicted." If they meant to keep this compact,
why not say so? Practically it was a question whether the delegates
favored putting every possible bar in the way of admitting slavery.
Those who voted for Johnson 's amendment were : Badollet, . Dill, Devin,
Johnson, Lane, Lemon, Lynn, Polke (of Knox), Parke, Bapp, Robb,
Smith and Scott. The remaining members voted against the amend-
ment, with the exception of Daniel Grass, who had been given leave of
absence on the 19th, on account of illness, and did not return. The
vote therefore stood 13 to 29; and even this was probably due to Lane,
Lemon and Scott, acting on the theory that they should not attempt
to bind a subsequent convention.
Johnson next moved, to strike out the provision that a subsequent
convention could revise the constitution without submission to the peo-
ple, leaving the slavery clause as it stood. On this Floyd, Graham
(of Clark) and Jennings joined the thirteen who had voted for the
original amendment. Then Johnson moved to strike out the words "or
involuntary servitude," and this was negatived without division. It is
to be noted that on these questions William Polke voted on one side and
his father on the other, although both were members of the Maria Creek
Church, with its anti-slavery article. The probable explanation is that
William considered himself bound by the known sentiments of his Knox
County constituents. The evident purpose of Johnson's last amend-
ment was to save the possibility of indentured servants, and while the
convention was clearly against the introduction of these in the future,
it was not so explicit as to those already in the Territory. The provision
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
305
for the exclusion of slavery, 10 as originally reported read: "There shall
be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, in this State, otherwise
than for the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been
duly convicted ; nor shall any male person, arrived at the age of twenty-
one years, nor female person, arrived at the age of eighteen years, be
held to serve any person as a servant under pretense of indenture or other-
wise, unless such person shall enter into such indenture while in a state
of perfect freedom, and on condition of a bona fide consideration received
or to be reoeived for his or her service, except as before excepted : Nor
shall any indenture of any negro, or mulatto, hereafter made and exe-
OLD CAPITOL HOTEL
cuted out of the bounds of this State be of any validity within the State ;
neither shall any indenture of any negro or mulatto, hereafter made
within the State, be of the least validity except in the case of appren-
ticeships." In committee of the whole, this was amended to read as it
went into the constitution: "There shall be neither slavery nor invol-
untary servitude in this State, otherwise than for the punishment of
crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted ; nor shall any
indenture of any negro, or mulatto, hereafter made and executed out
of the bound 
