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HISTOET
GRUNDY COUNTY
IIaLaIKOIB.
Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical,
geological, physical and climatic features ; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc. ; giving
an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer
incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County,
the judicial history, the business and industries, churches,
schools, etc. ; Biographical Sketches ; Portraits of
some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, etc.
ILaLaUSTRATRD.
I
CHICAGO:
O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS,
Lakeside Building.
1882.
i
^
^
PREFACE
TN this volume the publishers present the results of their efforts to secure a creditable com-
-*- pilation of the Historj- of Grundy County. In recounting the " short and simple annals " of
a community founded in the " piping times of peace," and more in the midst than on the front-
ier of new settlements, there is little material for a thrilling narrative or a record of interesting
exploits, but the authors of this enterprise believe that the essential facts of the early history
are here set forth with substantial accurac}'. No effort has been made to draw upon the imagina-
tion to embellish the story, but as it has been found, it has been given, in a plain, unvarnished
tale. The historical matter has been revised by L. W. Claypool, Esq., whose thorough knowl-
edge of the history and wide acquaintance with the people of the county assures its accuracy, and
has largely contributed to its completeness, and the publishers take this occasion to acknowledge
their indebtedness to him for his valuable assistance in the prosecution of this enterprise. The
chapters on Morris were contributed by the Hon. P. A. Armstrong, with whom the undertaking
was largely a labor of love, and to his cordial indorsement of the work and interesting contri-
butions to its pages is due much of its success. The chapters on Gardner were contributed by
Dr. C. M. Easton, to whom the publishers and patrons are greatly indebted for the intelligent
and persevering zeal with which he has discharged the duty imposed upon him. The publishers
also desire to thank the people ever3'where in the county for the uniform courtesj' and assistance
tendered our corps of writers, and trust the general accuracy of the work will in some part re-
pay the favors they have shown.
0. L. BASKIN & CO.
Pvhliskers.
CHICAGO:
CULVEE, PAGE, HOYXE S CO.. PRIXTER3,
lis AKD I'iO MoerB'JB Strbbt.
^;
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
INCLUDING A BKIEP
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
GEOGEAPHICAL POSITION.
"TTTTIEN the Northwestern Territory
VV was ceded to the United States bj
Viru-inia in ITS-i, it embraced only the terri-
tory lying between the Oliio and tlie Missis-
sippi "Rivers, and north to the nortlicrn lim-
its of the United States. It coincided witli
the area now embraced in the States ot'Oliio,
Indiana, Micliis^an, Illinois, Wisconsin, and
that portion of Minnesota lying on the east
side of the Misdssippi River. The United
States itself at that period extended no
fartlier west than the Mississippi liiver;
but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803,
the western boundary of the United States
was extended to the Rock}' Mountains and
the Northern Pacific Ocean. The new
territory thus added to the National do-
main, and subsequently opened to settle-
ment, has been called the "New North-
west," in contradistinction from the old
" Northwestern Territory."
In comparison with the old Northwest
this is a territory of vast mignitude. It
includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles;
being greater in extent than the united
areas of all the Middle and Southern States,
including Texas. Out of this magnilicent
territory liavebeen erected eleven sovereign
States and eight Territories, with an aggre-
gate population, at the present time, of
13,000,000 inhabitants, or ncarlj' one-third
of the entire population of the United
States.
Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the
larger rivers of the continent flow for a
thousand miles through its rich alluvial val-
leys and far-stretching prairies, more acres
of which are arable and productive of the
highest percentage of the cereals than of
any other area of like extent on the globe.
For the last twenty years the increase of
population in the Northwest has been about
as three to one in any other portion of the
United States.
EAELT EXPLORATIONS.
In the year loil, De Soto first saw the
Great West in the New Woi-ld. He, how-
ever, penetrated no fai-ther n(jrth than the
35th parallel of latitude. The expedition
resulted in his death and that of more than
half his army, tlie remainder of whom
found their wa}' to Cuba, thence to Spain,
in a famished and demoralized condition.
De Soto founded no settlements, produced
no results, and left no traces, unless it were
i\
12
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
that he awakened the liostility-of the red
man against tlie wliite man, and disheart-
ened such as might desire to follow up the
career of discovery for better purposes.
The French nation were eager and ready to
seize upon any news from this extensive
domain, and were the iirst to profit by De
Soto's defeat. Yet it was more tlian a
century before any adventurer took advan-
tasre of tliese discoveries.
In 1616, four years before the pilgrims
" moored their bark on the wild New Eng-
land shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan,
liad penetrated through the Iroquois and
and AVyandots (Ilurons) to the streams
which run into Lake Huron; and in 1634,
two Jesuit missionaries founded the first
mission among the lake tribes. It was just
one hundred j'ears from the discovery of
the Mississippi by De Soto (15-tl) until the
Canadian envoys met the savage nations of
the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary, be-
low the outlet of Lake Superior. This
visit led to no permanent result, j'et it was
not until 1659 that any of the adventurous
fur traders attempted to spend a winter in
the frozen wilds about tlie great lakes, nor
was it until 1660 that a station was estab-
lished upon their borders by Mesnard, who
perished in the woods a few months after.
In 1665, Claude Allouez built the earliest
lasting habitation of the white man among
the Indiairs of the Northwest. In 1668,
Claude Dablon and James Marquette
founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at
the Falls of St. Mary, and two years after-
ward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M.
Talon, Governor General of Canada, ex-
plored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far
south as the present City of Chicago, and
invited the Indian nations to meet him at
a grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the
following spring, where they were taken
under the protection of the king, and formal
possession was taken of the Northwest.
This same year Marquette established a
mission at Point St. Ignatius, where was
founded tlie old town of town of Michilli-
mackinac.
During M. Talon's explorations and Mar-
quette's residence at St. Ignatius, they
learned of a great river away to the west,
and fancied — as all others did then — that
upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's
children resided, to whom the sound of the
Gospel had never come. Filled with a
wish to go and preach to them, and in com-
pliance with a request of M. Talon, who
earnestly desired to extend the domain of
his king, and to ascertain whetiier the
river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico or the
Pacific Ocean. Marquette with Joliet, as
commander of the expedition, prepared for
the undertaking.
On the 13th of May, 1673, the exjilorers,
accompanied by five assistant French Can-
adians, set out from Mackinaw on their
daring voyage of discovery. The Indians,
who gathered to witness their departure,
were astonished at the boldness of the
undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade
them I'rom their purpose by representing
the tribes on the Mississippi as exceedingly
savage and cruel, and the river itself as
full of all sorts of frightful monsters ready
to swallow them and their canoes together.
But, nothing daunted by these terrific de-
scriptions, Marquette told them he was
willing not only to encounter all the per-
ils of tlie unknown region they were about
to explore, but to lay down his life in a
cause in wli'ch the -alvation of souls was
I
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
13
iiivol\'ed; and liaviii;^ prayed togetlier they
separated. Coasting along the northern
shore of Like Micliig;in, tlie adventurers
entered Green Bay, and passed thence up
the Fox River and Like Winnebago to a
village of the Mianiis and Kickajioos.
Here Marquette was delighted to find a
beautiful cross planted in the middle of the
town, ornamented with white skins, red gir-
dles and bows and arrows, which these
good ))eople had offered to the great Man-
itou, or God, to thank him for the pity he
had bestowed on them during the winter in
giving them an abundant "chase." This
was tlie fai thest outpost to which D.iblon and
Allouez had extended their missionary la-
. bors the year previous. Hero Marquette
drank mineral waters and was instructed in
the secret of a root which cures t'le bite of
the venomous rattlesnake. He assembled
the chiefs and old men of the village, and,
pointing to Joliet, said: " My friend is an
envoy of France, to discover new coun-
tries, and lam an ambassador from God to
enlighten them with the truths of the Gos-
pel." Two Miami guides were here fur-
nished to conduct them to the Wisconsin
River, and they set out from the Indian
village on the 10th of June, amidst a great
crowd of natives who had assembled to
witness their departure into a region where
no white man had ever yet ventured. The
guides, having condu'jted them across the
portage, returned. The explorers launched
their canoes upon the Wisconsin which
they descended to the Mississippi and pro-
ceeded down its unknown waters. What
emotions must have swelled their breasts
as they struck out into the broadening cur-
rent and became conscious that they were
now upon the bosom of the Father of Wa-
ters. The mystery was about to be lifted
from the long-sought river. The scenery
in that locality is beautiful, and on that
delightful seventeenth of June must have
been clad in all its primeval loveliness as it
hid been adorned by the hand of Nature.
Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold
blutfs on either hand " reminded them of
the castled shores of their own beautiful
rivers of France." By-and-by, as they
diifteil along, great herds of buffalo ap-
peared on the banks. On going to the
heads of the valley they could see a coun-
try of the greatest beauty and fertility, ap-
parently destitute of inhabitants yet pre-
senting the appearance of extensive man-
ors, under the fastidious cultivation of
lordly proprietors.
On June 25th, they went ashore and found
some fresh traces of men upon the sand,
and a path which led to the prairie. The
men remained in the boat, and Marquette
and Joliet followed the path till they dis-
covered a village on the banks of a river,
and two other villages on a hill, within a
half league of the first, inhabited by Indians.
They were received most hospitably by
these natives, who had never before seen a
white person. After remaining a few days
they re-embarked and descended the river
to about latitude 33°, where they found a
village of the Arkansas,, and being satisfied
that the river flowed into the Gulf of
Mexico, turned their course up the river,
and ascending the stream to the mouth of
the Illinois, rowed up that stream to its
source, and procured guides from that
point to the lakes. " No where on this
journey," says Marquette, " did we see such
grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes,
deer, wildcats, bustards, swans, ducks, par-
14
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
roquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois
Itiver." The party, witliout loss or injury,
reached Green Bay in September, and re-
ported their discover}' — -one of the most
important of the age, but of which no
record was preserved save Marquette's,
Joliet losing his by the upsetting of his
canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward
Marquette returned to the Illinois Indians
by their request, and ministered to them
until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that
year, as he was passing the mouth of a
stream — going with his boatmen up Lake
Michigan — he asked to land at its mouth
and celebrate mass. Leaving his men with
the canoe, he retired a shore distance and
began his devotions. As much time passed
and he did not return, his men went in
search of him, and found him upon his
knees, dead. He had peacefully passed
away while at prayer. He was buried at
tiiis spot. Charlevoi.K, who visited the
place fifty j'ears after, found the waters had
retreated from the grave, leaving the be-
loved missionary to repose in peace. The
river has since been called i\[arqnette.
While Marquette and his companions
were pursuing their labors in tiie West,
two men, diflering widely from him and
each other, were preparing to follow in his
footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well
begun ijy him. Tliese were Robert de La
Salle and Louis Hennepin.
After La Salle's return from the discovery
of the Ohio River (see the narrative else-
where), he established himself again among
the French trading posts in Canada. Here
he mused long upon the pet project of
those ages — a short way to China and the
East, and was busily planning an expedi-
tion up the great lakes, and so across
the continent to the Pacific, when Mar-
(juette returned Irom the Mississippi. At
once the vigorous mind of La Salle received
from his and his companions' stories the
idea that by following the Great River
northward, or by turning up some of the
numerous western tributaries, the object
could easily be gained. He applied to
Fronten:ic, Governor General of Canada,
and laid before him the plan, dim but
gigantic. Fnuitenac entered warmly into
his phxns, and saw that La Salle"s idea to
connect the great lakes by a chain of forts
witli the (riilf of Mexico would bind the
country so wonderfully together, give un-
measui-ed power to France, and glory ti)
himself, under whose administration he
earnestly hoped all would be realized.
La Salle now rejiaired to France, laid his
plans before the King, who warmly ap-
proved of them, and made him a Chevalier.
He also received from all the noblemen the
warmest wisiies for his success. The Chev-
alier returned to (^anada, and busily en-
tered ui)on his work. He at once rebuilt
Fort I-'ronteuHC and constructed the first
ship to sail on tliese fresh-water seas. On
the Ttli of August, 1679, having been joined
by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the
Gritlin up Lake Erie. He passed over
this lake, through the straits beyond, up
Lake St. Clair and into Huron. In this
lake they encountered heavy storms. Tliej'
were some tiineatMichillimackinae, where
La Salle founded a fort, and passed on to
Green Bay, the " Baie des Ptians " of the
Frencli, where he found a large quantity of
furs collected for him. He loaded tiie
Griffin witli these, and placing her under
the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors,
started her on her return vova2e. The ves-
THE NORTHWEST TERRITOnY.
15
8cl wiis never afterward licard of. He re-
mained about these parts until early in the
winter, when, hearing nothing from the
Griffin, he collected all his men— thirty
working men and three monk? — and
started again upon his great undertaking.
By a short portage they passed to the Il-
linois or Kankakee, called by the Indiana,
" Theakeke,'' wolf, because of the tribes of
Indians called by that name, commonly
known as the Mahingans, dwelling there.
The French pronounced it Kiakil-i, which
became corrupted to Kankakee. " Falling
down the said river by easy journeys, the
better to observe the country," about the
last of December they reached a village of
the Illinois Indians, containing some five
hundred cabins, but at that moment no in-
hcibitants. The Seur de La Salle being in
want of some breadstufFs, took advantage
of the absence of the Indians to help him-
self to a sufficiency of maize, large quanti-
ties of which he found concealed in holes
under the wigwams. This village was sit-
uated near the present village of Utica in
La Salle County, Illinois. The corn being
securely stored, the voyagers again betook
themselves to the stream, and toward even-
ing on the 4th day of January, 16S0, they
came into a lake, which must have been
the lake of Peoria. Tiiis was called by the
Indians Pim-i-fe-wi, that is a place whei'e
there are mamj fat beasts. Here the na-
tives were met with in large numbers, but
they were gentle and kind, and having
spent some time with them, La Salle deter-
mined to erect another fort in that phice,
for he had heard rumors that some of the
adjiiining tribes were trying to disturb the
good feeling which existed, and some of
his men were disposed to complain, owing
to the hardships and perils of the travel.
He called this fort " 6'/'6'?;(7effM/'" (broken-
heart), a name expressive of the very nat-
ural sorrow and anxiety which the pretty
certain loss of his ship, Griffin, and his con-
sequent impoverishment, the danger of
hostility on the part of the Indians, and of
mutiny among his own men, might well
cause him. His fears were not entirely
groundless. At one time poison was placed
in his food, but fortunately was discovered.
While building this fort, the winter
wore away, the prairies began to look
green, and La Salle, despairing of any rein-
forcements, concluded to return to Canada,
raise new means and new men, and embark
anew in the enterprise. For this purpose
he made Hennepin the leader of a party to
explore the head waters of the Mississippi,
and he set out on his journey. This jour-
ney was accomplished with the aid of a
few pei'sons, and was successfully made,
though over an almostunknown route, and
in a bad season of the year. He safely
reached Canada, and set out again for the
object of his seai'ch.
Hennepin and his party left Fort Creve-
coeur on the last of February, 16S0. "When
La Salle reached this place on his return ex-
pedition, he found the fort entirely desert-
ed, and he was obliged to return again to
Canada. He embarked the third time,
and succeeded. Seven days after leaving
the fort, Hennepin reached the ilississippi,
and ]iaddling up the icy stream as best he
could, reached no higher tiian tlie Wis-
consin River by the 11th of April. Here
he and his followers were taken prisoners
by a band of Northern Indians, who treat-
ed them with great kindness. Hennepin's
comrades were Anthony Auguel and Mi-
^
16
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
cliael Ako. On tliis voyage thcj f'onml sev-
eral beaHtit'ul lakes, and " saw some cliarin-
iiiii; prairies." Their captors were the
Isante or Sauteurs, Chippewas, a tribe of
the Sioux nation, who took them up the
river until about the tirstof May, wiien
they reached some falls, which Hen-
nepin christened Falls of St. Antliony
in honor of his ])atron saint. Here they
took the land, and traveling nearly two
hundred miles to the northwest, brought
them to their villages. Here they were
kept about tliree months, were treated kind-
ly' by their captors, and at the end of that
time, were met by a baud of Frenchmen,
headed by one Seur de Luth, who, in ]>iir-
s\iit of trade and game, had penetrated thus
far by the i-outeof Lake Superior; and
with these fellow-countrymen Hennepin and
liis companions were allowed to return to
the borders of civilized life in Xovomber,
16S0, just after La Salle liad returned
to the wilderness on his second trip. Hen-
nepin soon after went to France, wliere
lie published an account of Lis adven-
tures.
The Mississippi was first discovered by
De Soto in April, lo-il, in his vain endeav-
or to find gold and precious gems. In the
following spring, De Soto, weary with hope
long deferred, and worn out with his wan-
derings, fell a victim to disease, and on
the 21st of May, died. His followers, re-
duced by fatigue and disease to less than
three hundred men, wandered about the
country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor
to rescue themselves by land, and finallv
constructed seven small vessels, called brio--
antines, in which they embarked, and de-
scending the river, supposing it would
lead them to the sea, in July they came to
tlie sea (Gulf of Mexico), and by Septem-
ber reached the Island of Cnba.
They were the first to see the great out-
letof the Mississippi; but, being so weary
and discouraged, made no attempt to claim
the country, and hardly had an intelligent
idea of what they had passed through.
To LaS die, the intrepid explorer, belongs
the honor of giving the first account of
the mouths of the river. His great desire
was to possess this entire country for his
king, and in January, 1GS2, he and his
band of explorers left the shores of Lake
Michigan on their third attempt, crossed
the portage, passed down tiie Illinois Riv-
er, and on the (Jth of February, reached the
banks of the Mississippi.
On the 13th they commenced their down-
ward course, which they pursued with but
one interruption, until upon the Cth of
March they discovered the three great pas-
sages by which the river discharices its
waters into the gulf. LaSade thus narrates
the event:
" We landed on the bank of the most
western channel, about three leagues (nine
miles) from its mouth. On the seventh,
M. de La Salle went to reconuoiter the shores
of the nei:^hboring sea, and M. do Tonti
meanwhile examined the great middle chan-
nel. They found the main outlets beau-
tiful, large and deep. On the Sth we reas-
cended the rivei, a little above its conflu-
ence with the sea, to find a dry place be-
yond the reach of inundations. The el-
evation of the North Pole was here about
twenty- seven degrees. Here we prepared
a column and a cross, and to the column
were affixed the arms of France with this
inscription:
Louis LeGrand, Roi De France et de Navarre,
regne; Le neuvieme Avril 1682.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
17
The whole party, uiuler arms, chanted
the Te Deum, and then, atte;- a salute and
cries of-' Vive le Boi," the column was
ei'ected by .M. de La Salle, who, standing
near it, jiroclalmed in a loud voice the au-
thority of the King of France. La Salle
returned and laid the foundations of the
Mississippi settlements in Illinois, thence
he proceeded to France, where another ex-
pedition was fitted out, of which he was
commander, and in two succeeding voy-
ages failed to find the outlet of the river
by sailing along the shore of the gulf. On
his third voyage he was killed, through
the treachery of his followers, and the ob-
ject of his expeditions was not accom-
plished until 1609, when 1)' Iberville, un-
der the authority of the crowji, discovered,
on the second of March, by way of the sea,
the mouth of the " Hidden River." This
majestic stream was called by the natives
^^ Malltouc/ua," and by the Spaniards, "■!((
Palissade, " from the great number of
trees about its mouth. After traversing the
several outlets, and satisfying himself as to
its certainty, he erected a fort near its
western outlet and returned to France.
An avenue of trade was now opened out,
which was fully improved. In 1718, New
Orleans was laid out and settled by some
European colonists. In 176-, the colony
was made orer to Spain, to be regained by
France under the consulate of Napoleon.
In 1803, it was purchased by the United
States for the sum of fifteen million dollars,
and the territory of Louisiana and com-
merce of the Mississippi lliver came under
the charge of the United States. Although
La Salle's labors ended in defeat and death,
he had not worked and suffered in vain,
lie had thrown open to France and the
world an immense and most valuable coun-
try; had established several ports, and laid
the foundations of more than one settle-
ment there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Ca-
hokia, are to this day monuments of La
Salle's labors; for, though he had founded
neither of them (unless Peoria, which was
built nearly upon the site of Fort Creve-
coeur,) it was by those whom he led into the
West that these places were peopled and
civilized. He was, if not the discoverer,
the first settler of the Mississippi Valley,
and as such deserves to be known and
honored."
The French early improved the opening
made for them. Before the year IGliS, the
Rev, Father Gravier began a mission among
the Illinois, and founded Kaskaskia. For
some time this was merely a missionary
station, where none but natives resided, it
being one of three such villages, the other
two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is
known of these missions is learned from a
letter written by Father Gabriel Marest,
dated "Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de
I'Immaculate Conception de la Sainte
Yierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after
the founding of Kaskaskia, the missionary,
Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while
Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Creve-
coeur. This must have been about a year
1700. The post at Vincennes on the
Oubache river, (jironounced Wa-ba, mean-
ing summer cloud moving swifthj) was es-
tablished in 170U, according to the best
authorities.* It is altogether probable that
* There is considerable dispute about this date,
some asserting it was found 'd as late as 1742. When
thi' new court house at Vincennes was erected, all
authorities on the suVy'ect were carefully examined,
and 1702 fixed upon as the cotxeot date. It was ac-
cordingly engraved on the comer-etone of the court
house-
IS
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
on Lii Salle'd last trip he established the
stations at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. In
July, 1701, the foundations of Fort Pon-
cluirtrain were laid by De la Motte Cadillac
on the Detroit liiver. These stations, with
those established further north, were the
earliest attempts to occupy the Nortliwest
Territory. At the same time eftbrts were
being made to occupy the Southwest, which
finally culminated in the settlement and
fuundin<)^ of tlie City of New Orleans by a
colony from England in 1718. This was
mainly accomplished throngh the efforts of
the famous ]\Iississip]n Companj-, estab-
lislied by the notorious John Law, who so
quickly arose into pi-ominence in France,
and who with his scheme so quickly and so
ignominiously passed away.
From the time of the founding of these
stations for lilty years the French nation
were engrossed with the settlement of the
lower Mississi]>pi, and the war with the
Chicasaws, who had, in revenge for repeated
injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez.
Although the company did little for Louis-
iana, as the entire West was then called,
yet it opened the trade through the Missis-
sippi River, and started the raising of
grains indigenous to that climate. L"^ntil
the year 1750, but little is known of the
settlements in the Northwest, as it was not
until this time that tlie attention of the
English was called to the occupation of
this portion of the N ew World, which thej'
then supposed they owned. Yivier, a mis-
sionary among the Illinois, writing from
"Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort
Chartres, June 8, 1750, says: "We have
here whites, negroes and Indians, to say
nothing of cross-breeds. There are five
French villages, and three villages of the
natives, within a space of twenty-one
leagues situated between the Mississippi
and another river called the Karkadaid
(Kaskaskias). In the iive French villages
are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites, three
hundred blacks and some sixty red slaves
or savages. The three Illinois towns do
not contain more than eight hundred souls
all told. Most of the French till the soil ;
they raise wheat, cattle, pigs and horses,
and live like princes. Three times as much
is produced as can be consumed ; and great
quantities of grain and flour are sent to
New Orleans." This city was now the
seaport town of the Northwest, and save
in the extreme northern part, where only
furs and copper ore were found, almost all
the products of the country found their
way to France by the mouth of the Father
of Waters. In another letter, dated No-
vember 7, 1750, tliis same priest says:
"For fifteen leagues above the mouth of
the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the
ground being too low to be habitable.
Thence to New Orleans, the lands are oidy
partially occupied. New Orleans contains
black, white and red, not more, I think,
than twelve hundred persons. To this
point come all lumber, bricks, salt-beef,
tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and
above all, pork and flour from the Illinois.
These things create some commerce, as
forty vessels and more have come hither
this year. Above New Orleans, plantations
are again met with ; the most considerable
is a colony of Germans, some ten leagues
up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty-five
leagues above the German settlement, is a
fort. Along here, within five or six leagues
are not less than sixty habitations. Fifty
leagues farther up is the Natchez post,
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
10
where we liiive a garrison, wlio are kept
prisoners tlirougli fear oF tlie Ciiicasaws.
Here ami at point Conpee, they raise excel-
lent tubaceo. Another hundred leajrues
brinies u> U> tlie Arkansas, where we have
also a fort and a irarrison for tlie benellt of
the river traders. * * * From the Ar-
kansas to the Illinois, nearl)^ five hundred
leagues, there is not a settlement. Tliere
should be. however, a fort at the Onbache
(Ohio), the only path by which the English
can reach the Mississippi. In the Illinois
country are numberless mines, but no one
to work thorn as they deserve." Father
Marest, writing from the post at Vincennes,
in 1812, makes the same observation. Vi-
vien also saj's: " Some individuals dig
lead near the surface and supply tlie Ind-
ians and Canada. Two Spaniards now here,
who claim to be ade])ts, say that our mines
are like those of Mexico, and that if wo
would dig deeper, we should find silver un-
der the lead ; and at any rate the lead is
excellent. There is also in this country,
beyond doubt, copper ore, as irom time to
time iarije jiieces are found in the streams."
At the close of the year 1750, the French
occupied, in adilition to the lower Missis-
sippi posts and those in Illinois, one at
Du Quesne, otie at the Maumee in the
country of the Jliamis, and one at Sandus-
kj", in what mav be termed the Ohio Val-
ley. In the nijtliern part of the North-
west tliey had stations at St. Joseph's on
the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan, at Fort
Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimack-
anac or ila^sillimacanac. Fox Iliver of
Green Bay, and at Sanlt Ste. Marie. The
fondest dreams of La Salle were now fully
realized. Tlie French alone were possess-
ors of this vast realm, basing their claim
on discovery and settlement. Another na-
tion, however, was now turning its atten-
tion to this extensive country, and hearing
of its wealth, began to lay plans for oc-
cujiying it and for securing the great
pi'otits arising therelrom.
The French, Jiowever, iiad another claim
to this country, namely, the
DISCOVERY or THE OUIO.
This "Beautiful" river was discovered
by Robert Cavalier de La Salle in 1(369, four
years before the discovery of the Missis-
sippi by Joliet and Marquette.
While La Salle was at his trading post
on the St. Lawrence, he found leisure to
study nine Indian dialects, the chief of
which was the Iroquois. lie not only de-
sired to facilitate his intercourse in trade,
but he longed to travel and exi)lore the un-
known regions of the AVest. An incident
soon occurred which decided him to fit out
an exploring expedition.
"While conversing witii some Senecas, he
learned of a river called tlie Oiiio, which
rose in their country and flowed to the sea,
but at such a distance that it required
eight montiis to reach its month. In this
statemetit the Mississippi and its tributa-
ries were considered as one stream. La
Salle, believing, as most of the French at
that period did, that the great rivers flow-
ing west emptied into the Sea of Califor-
nia, was anxious to embark in the enter-
prise of discovering a route across the con-
tinent to the commerce of China and
Japan.
He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain
the approval of the Governor. His elo-
quent appeal prevailed. The Governor
and the Intendant, Talon, issued letters
20
THE NORTHWEST TERKITORY.
patent authorizing the enterprise, but made
uo provision to defray the expenses. At
this juncture the seminary of St. Sulpice
decided to send out missionaries in connec-
tion with the expedition, and La Salle offer-
ing to sell his improvements at LaCiiine to
raise money, the offer was accepted by the
Superior, and two thousand eight hundred
dollars were raised, with which La Salle
purchased four canoes and the necessary
6up])Iies for the outfit.
On the 6th of July, 1669, the party, num-
bering twenty-four persons, embarked in
seven canoes on the St. Lawrence; two ad-
ditional canoes carried the Indian guides.
In three days they were gliding over the
bosom of Lake Ontario. Their guides con-
ducted them directly to the Seneca village
on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity
of the present City of Ilochester, New
York. Here they expected to procure
guides to conduct them to the Ohio, but in
this they were disappointed.
The Indians seemed unfriendly to the
enterprise. La Salle suspected that the
Jesuits had prejudiced tlieir minds
against his plans. After waiting a month
in the hope of gaining their object, thev
met an Indian from the Iroquois colony at
the head of Lake Ontai'io, who assured
them that they could there find guides, and
offei'ed to conduct them tlieiice.
On tlicir way the}' passed the moutli of
the Niagara River, wlienthey heard for the
first time the distant thunder of the cata-
ract. Arriving among the Iroquois, tiiey
met with a friendly reception, and learned
from a Shawauee prisoner that they conkl
reaeii tl;e Ohio in six weeks. Delighted
with the unexpected good fortune, they
made ready to resume their journey; but
just as they were about to start they heard
of the arrival of two Frenchmen in a neigh-
boring village. One of them proved to be
Louis Joliet, afterward famous as an ex-
plorer in the West. He had been sent by
tiie Canadian Government to explore the
copper mines on Lake Superior, but had
failed, and was on his way back to Quebec.
lie gave the missionaries a map of the
country he had explored in the lake region,
togetlier with an account of the condition
of the Indians in that quarter. This in-
duced the priests to determine on leaving
the expedition and iroing to Lake Superioi'.
La Salle warned them that the Jesuits were
probably occupyins that field, and that
they would meet with a cold reception.
Nevertheless they persisted in their pur-
pose, and after worship on the lake shore
parted from La Salle. On arriving at Lake
Superior, they found, as La Salle had pre-
dicted, the Jesuit Fathers, Marquette and
Dablon, occupying the field.
These zealous disciples of Loyola in-
formed them that they wanted no assistance
from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made
him their patron saint; and thus repulsed,
they returned to Montreal the following
June without having made a single discov-
ery or converted a single Indian.
Alter parting with the priests, La Salle
went to the chief Iroquois village at Onon-
daga, where he obtained guides, and passing
thence to a tributary of the Ohio south of
Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far as
the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio
discovered by La Salle, the persevering and
successful French explorer of the West, in
1069.
The account of the latter part of his
journey is found in an anonymous paper,
THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY.
27
wliii'li ])iir]i(ii-ts toliavc been taken from tlie
lips of La Salle liimself during a subsequent
visit to Paris. In a letter written to Count
Frontenac in lfi67, shortly after the discov-
er}', he himself says that he discovered the
Ohio and descended it to the falls. This
was regarded as an indisputable fact by the
French authorities, who claimed the Ohio
Valley upon another ground. When "Wash-
ington was sent by the colony of Virginia
in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre
why the French had built a fort on the Mo-
nongahela, the haughty commandant at
Quebec replied: " We claim the country on
the Ohio by virtue of the discoveries of
La Salle, and will not give it up to the Eng-
lish. Our orders are to make prisoners of
ever}' Englishman found trading in the
Ohio Valley."
ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.
When the new year of 1750 broke in up-
on the Father of AVaters and the Great
Northwest, all was still wild save at the
French posts already described. In 1749,
when the English first began to think seri-
ously about sending men into the West,
the greater portion of tlje States of Indi-
ana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin,
and Minnesota were yet under the domin-
ion of the red men. The English knew,
however, pretty conclusively of the nature
of the wealth of these wilds. As early as
]710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia,
had commenced movements to secure the
country west of the Alleghanies to the
English crown. In Pennsylvania, Gover-
nor Keith and James Logan, secretary of
the province, from 1719 to 1731, represent-
ed to the powers of England the necessity
of securing the Western lauds. Nothing
was done, however, by that power save to
take some diplomatic steps to secure the
claims of Britain to this unexplored wilder-
ness.
England had from the outset claimed
from the Atlantic to the Paciiic, on the
ground that the discovery of the seacoast
and its possession was a discovery and pos-
session of the country, and, as is well known,
her grants to the colonies extended "from
sea to sea." This was not all her claim.
She had purchased from the Indian tribes
large tracts of land. This latter was also a
stiong argument. As early as 1GS4, Lord
Howard, Governor of Virginia, held a trea-
ty with the six nations. These were the
great Northern Confederacy, and comprised
at first the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagaa,
Cayugas, and Senecas. Afterward the Tus-
caroras were taken into the confederacy,
and it became known as the Six Nations.
They came under the pirotection of the
mother country, and again in 1701, they
repiented the agreement, and in September,
1726, a formal deed was drawn up and
signed by the chiefs. The validity of this
claim has often been disputed, but never
successtnlly. In 1744, a purchase was made
at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, of certain lands
within the "Colony of Virginia," for which
the Indians received £200 in gold and a
like sum in goods, with a promise that, as
settlements increased, more shuuld be paid.
The Commissioners from Virginia were
Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel AVilliam
Beverley. As settlements extended, the
]iromise of more pay was called to mind,
and Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the
mountains with presents to appease the
savages. Col. Lee, and some Viririnians
accompanied him with the intention of
22
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
souridiiio; the Indians upon their feelings
regarding the English. They were not
satisfied with their treatment, and plainly
told the Comniissioners why. The English
did not desire the cultivation of the country,
but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In
1748, the Ohio Company was formed, and
petitioned the king for a grant of land
beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted,
and the government of Virginia was or-
dered to grant to them a half million acres,
twi. hundred thousand of which were to be
located at once. Upon the 12th of June,
17-1!>, S00,000 acres from the line of Canada
north and west was made to the Loyal
Comi)any, and on the 29th of October,
1751, 100.000 acres were given to the
Greenhriar Company. All this time the
French were not idle. They saw that,
should the British gain a footiiold in the
West, especially upon the Ohio, they
might not only prevent the French set-
tling upon it, but in time would come to
the lower posts and so gain jiossession of
the whole country. Upon tlie lOtii of May,
1774-, Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada and
the French possessions, well knowing the
consequences that must arise from allow-
ing the English to build trading posts in
tlie Northwest, seized some of their frontier
posts, and to further secure the claim of the
Fi-ench to the West, he, in 1749, sent Louis
Celeron with a party of soldiers to plant
ailing the Ohio River, jn the mounds and
at the mouths of its ])rincipal tributaries,
plates of lead, on which-were inscribed the
claims of France. These were heard of in
1752, and within the memory of residevits
now living along the "Oyo," as the beauti-
ful river w;is called by the French. One
ot tliese plates was found with the inscrip-
tion partly defaced. It bears date August
16, 1749, and a copyot the inscription with
particular account of the discovery of the
plate, was sent by DeWitt Clinton to the
American Antiquarian Society, among
whose journals it may now be found.*
These measures did not, however, deter the
English from going on with their explora-
tions, and though neither part}' resorted to
arms, yet the conflict was gathering, and it
was only a question of time when the storm
would burst upon the frontier settlements.
Ill 1750, Christopher Gist was sent by the
Ohio Company to examine its lands. He
went to a village of the Twigtwees, on the
Miami, about one hundi'ed and fifty miles
above its mouth. He afterwani spoke of it
as very populous. From there he went
down the Ohio lliver nearly to the falls at
the present City of Louisville, and in
November he commenced a survey of the
Company's lands. During the winter.
General Andrew Lewis performed a similar
work for the Greenbriar Company. Mean-
while the French were busy in preparing
their firts for defense, and in opening
roads, and also sent a small party of soldiers
to keep the Ohio clear. This party, having
heard of the English post on the Miami
* The following is a translation of the insciiption on
the plat": "In the year 1749, reign of Ijoiiis XV.,
King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a de-
tachment by Mo sieur the Marquis of GalIi.soniere,
commander-in-chief of New France, to establish tran-
quility in certain Indian villages o*. these cantons,
have buried this plate at the confluence of the
Toradakoin, this twenty-ninth of .July, near the river
Ohio, otiierwise Beautiful River, as a monument of
renewal of possession which we have taken of the
said river, and all its tributaries; inasmuch as the
preceding Kings of France have enjoyed it, and
maintained it by their arms and treaties; esp cially
by thoBe of Eyswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle."
THE iNORTHWEST TEREITORY.
23
Kivor, early in 1652, assisted by the
Ottawas and Cliippevvas, attacked it, and,
after a severe battle, in which fourteen of
the natives were killed and others wounded,
captured the garrison. (They were prob-
ably garrisoned in a block house). The
traders were carried away to Canada, and
one account says sereral were burned. This
fort or post M-as called by the English
Pic-kawillany. A memorial of the king's
ministers refers to it as " Pickawillanes, in
the center of the territory between the Ohio
and the Wabash. The name is probably
some variation of Pickaway or Picqna, in
1773, written by Ilev. David Jones, Pick-
aweke."
This was the first blood shed between the
French and English, and occurred near the
present City of Piqna, Ohio, or at least at
a point about forty-seven miles north of
Dayton. Eaeli nation became now more
interested in the progress of events in the
jS'ortiiwest. The English determined to
purchase from the Indians a title to the
lands they wished to occupy, and Messrs.
Fry (afterward C'ommander-in-chief over
Washington at the coinmencemjnt of the
French War of 1775-1763), Loniax and
Patton were sent in the spring of 1752 to
bold a conference with the natives at Logs-
town to learn what they objected to in the
treaty of Lancaster already noticed and to
settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June,
these Commissioners mei the red men at
Logstown, a little village on the north
bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles
below the site of Pittsburgh. Here had
been a trading point for many years, but it
was abandoned by the Indians in 1750. xVt
first the Indians declined to recognize the
treaty of Lancaster, but, the Cuuimission-
ers taking aside Montour, the interpreter,
who was a son of the famous Catharine Mon-
tour, and a chief among the Six Nations,
induced him to use his infiuenco in their
favor. This lie did, and upon the i;>tli of
June they all united in signing a deed, con-
firming the Lancaster treaty in its full ex-
tent, consenting to asettlement of the soul h-
east of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it
should not be disturbed by them. These
were the means used to obtain the first
treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley.
Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea
were trying to ont-maneuver each other,
and were professing to be at peace. The
English generally outwitted the Indians,
and failed in many instances to fulfill their
contracts. They thereby gained the ill-
will of the red men, and further increased
the feeling by failing to provide them with
arms and ammunition. Said an old chief,
at Easton, in 175S: "The Indians on the
Ohio left you because of your own fault.
When we heard the French were comini;,
we asked you for help and arms, but we ilid
not get them. The French came, they
treated us kindly, and gained our affections.
The Governor of Virginia settled on our
lands for his own benefit, and, when we
wanted help, forsook us."
At the beginning of 1653, the English
thought they had secured by title the lands
in the West, but the French had quietly
gathered cannon and military stores to be
in readiness for the expected blow. The
English made other attempts to ratify these
existing treaties, but not until the s nnmer
could the Indians be gathered together to
discuss the plans of the French. They had
sent messages to the French, warning them
away; but they replied that they intended
24
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
to complete tlie chain of forts already be-
gun, and would not abandon the field.
Soon after this, no satisfaction bein;^ ob-
tained froin the Ohio regardinif the posi-
tions and purposes of the French, Governor
Dinwiddie of Virginia determined to send
to tlieni another messenger and learn from
them, if possible, their intentions. For
this purpose he selected a young man, a
surveyor, who, at the early age of nineteen,
had received the rank of major, and who
was thoroughly posted regarding frontier
life. This personage was no other than the
illustrious George Washington, who then
held considerable interest in AVestern lands.
He was at this time just twenty-two years
of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two,
accompanied by four servitors, set out on
their perilous march. They left Will's
Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and
on the "2'2d reached the Monongahela, about
ten miles above the fork. From there they
went to Logstown, where Washington had
a long conference with the chiefs of the Six
Nations. From them he learned the con-
dition of the French, and also heard of
their determination not to come down the
river till the following spring. The Indi-
ans were non-committal, as they were afraid
to turn either way, and, as fur as they
could, desired to remain neutral. Wash-
ington, finding nothing could be done
with them, went on to Venango, an old
Indian town at the mouth of French Creek.
Here the French had a fort, called Fort
Machault. Through the rum and flattery
of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian
followers. Finding nothing of importance
here, lie pursued his way amid great priva-
tions, and on the 11th of December reached
the fort at the head of French Creek. Here
he delivered Governor Dinwiddie's letter,
received his answer, took his observations,
and on the Ifith set out upon his return
journey with no one but Gist, his guide,
and a few Indians who still remained true
to him, notwithstanding the endeavors of
the French to retain them. Their home-
ward journey was one of great peril and
Ruft'ering from the cold, yet they reached
home in safety on the 6th of January,
1754.
From the letter of St. Pierre, commander
of the French fort, sent by Washington to
G.ivernor Dinwiddie, it was learned that
tlie French wonld not give up without a
struggle. Active preparations "were at
once made in all the English colonies for
tlie coming conflict, while the French fin-
ished the fort at Venango aud strengthened
their lines of fortifications, and gathered
their forces to be in readiness.
The Old Dominion was all alive. Vir-
ginia was the center of great activities; vo,-
unteers were called for, and from all the
neighboring colonies men rallied to the
conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac
men were enlisting under the governor's
proclamation — which promised two hun-
dred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along
this river they were gathering as far as
Will's Creek, and far beyond this point,
whither Trent had come for assistance for
his little band of forty-one men, who were
working away in hunger and want, to for-
tify that point at the fork of the Ohio, to
which both parties were looking with deep
interest.
"The first birds of spring filled the air
with their song; the swift river rolled by
the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the
melting snows of spring and the April
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
25
sliowers. Tlie leaves were appearing: a
tbw Indian scouts were seen, but no eueinj
seemed near at hand; and all was so (juiet,
that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader,
who liad been left by Trent in coniniand,
ventured to his home at the mouth of
Turtle Creek, ten miles up the Monongahela.
But, though all was so quiet in that wilder-
ness, keen eyei had seen the low intrench-
n;e it rising at the fork, and swift feet had
borne the news of it up the river; and upon
the morning of the 17th of April, Ensign
Ward, wlio then had charge of it, saw upon
the Allegheny a sight that niade his heart
sink — sixty batteaux and three hundred
canoes filled with men, and laden deep with
cannon and stores. * * * That evening
lie su])ped with his captor, Oontrecoeur, and
the next day he was bowed oft" by the
Frenchman, and with his men and tools,
marched up the Monongaliela."
The French and Indian war had begun.
The treaty of Aix la Chapelle, in I74S, had
left the boundaries between the French and
English possessions unsettled, and the
events alread}^ narrated show the French
were determined to hold the country wa-
tered by the Mississippi and its tributaries;
while the English laid claims to the country
by virtue of the discoveries of the Cabots,
and claimed all the country from New-
foundland to Florida, extending ironi the
Atlantic to the Pacific. The first decisive
blow had now been struck, and the first
attempt of the English, through the Ohio
Com]iany, to occupy these lands, had re-
sulted disastrously to them. The French
and Indians immediately completed the
fortifications begun at the Fork, which they
bad so easily captured, and when completed
gave to the fort the name of Du Quesne.
Washington was at Will's Creek when the
news of the cajitureof the fort arrived. lie
at once departed to recapture it. On his
way he entrenched liimself at a place called
the " Jleadows," where he erected a f irt
called bv him Fort Necessity. From thci-e
he surprised and captured a force of French
and Indians marching against him, but was
soon after attacked in his fort by a ranch
superior force, and was obliged to yield on
the morningof July 4th. He was allowed
to return to Virginia.
The English Government immediately
jilanned four campaigns; one against Fort
L)u Quesne; one against Nova Scotia; one
against Fort Niagara, and one against
Crown Point. These occurred during
1755-6, and were not successful in driving
the French from their possessions. The
expedition against Fort Dii Quesne was led
by the famous General Braddock, who, re-
fusing to listen to the advice of Washington
and those acquainted with Indian warfare,
suffered such an inglorious defeat. This
occurred on the morning of July 9th, and
is generally known as the battle of Monon-
gahela, or " Braddock's Defeat." The war
continued with various vicissitudes through
the years 175G-7; when, at the conimence-
of 1758 in accordance with the plans of
William Pitt, then Secretary of State,
afterward Lord Chatham, active prepara-
tions were made to carry on the war.
Three expeditions were ]ilanncd for this
year: one, under General Amherst, against
Louisburg; another, under Abercrombie,
against Fort Ticonderoga; and a third, un-
der General Forbes, against Fort Du
Quesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg
surrendered after a desperate resistance of
more than forty days, and the eastern part
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
of the Canadian possessions tell into the
hands of the British. Abercrombie cap-
tured Fort Froiitenac, and when the ex-
pedition against Fort Du Quesne, of which
Washington had the active command, ar-
rived there, it was found in flames and de-
serted. The English at once took posses-
sion, rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their
illustrious statesman, changed the name to
Fort Pitt.
The great object of the campaign of
1759, was the reduction of Canada. Gen-
eral Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec; Ara-
lierst was to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown
Point, and General Prideaux was to cap-
ture Niagara. This latter place was taken
in Jul}', but the gallant Prideaux lost his
life in the atteinjit. Amherst captured
Ticonderoga and Crown Point without a
blow; and Wolfe, after making the men:or-
able ascent to the plains of Abraham, on
September 13th, defeated Montcalm, and
on the ISth, the city capitulated. In this
engagement Montcalm and "Wolfe both
lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm's suc-
cessor, marched to Sillery, three miles
above the city, with tlie purpose of defeat-
ing the English, and there, on the 2Sth of
the following April, was fought one of the
bloodiest battles of the French and Indian
war. It resulted in the defeat of the
French, and the fall of the city of Montreal.
The Governor signed a capitulation, by
which the whole of Canada was surrendered
to the English. Tiiis practically conclu-
ded the war, but it was not until 1763 that
the treaties of peace between France and
England were signed. This was done on
the 10th of February of that year, and un-
der its provisions all the country east of
the Mississippi and north of the Iberville
river, in Louisiana, were ceded to England.
At the same time Spain ceded Florida to
Great Britain.
On the 13th of September, 17G0, Major
Robert Rogers was scivti fr6m Montreal to
take charge of l*)t!troit, the only remaining
French post in the territcvj-y. He arrived
thereon the 19th of November, and sum-
moned the place to surrender. At tirst the
commander of the post,- Beletre, refused,
but on the 29th, hearing of the continued
defeat of the French arms, surrendered.
Rogers renminqd -there until December 23d,
under the personal protection of the cele-
brated chief, Pontiac, to whom, no doubt,
he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here
to inquire the purposes of the English in
taking possession of the country. lie was
assured that tiiey came simply to trade
with the natives, and did'not desire their
country. This answer conciliated the sav-
a-2, France, by a secret treaty, ceded
Louisiana to Spain, to prevent it falling
into the hands of the English, who were
becoming masters of the entire West. The
next year the treaty of Paris, signed at
Fontainbleau, gave to the English the do-
main of the country in question. Twenty
years after, by the treaty of peace between
the United States and England, that part
of Canada lying south and west of the
Great Lakes, comin-ehending a large terri-
tory which is the subject of these sketches,
was acknowledged to be a portion of the
United States; and twenty years still later,
in 1S03, Louisiana was ceded by Spain
back to France, and by France sold to the
United States.
In the half century, from the building
of the Fort of Crevecoeur by Lx Salle, in
1680, up to the erection of Fort Chatres,
many Fi-ench settlements had been made in
that quarter. These have already been
noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Yin-
cennes). Koliokia or Gahokia, Kaskaskia
and Prairie du Rojher, on the American
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
31
Bottom, a large tract of ricli alluvial soil
in Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the
site of St. Louis.
By tlic treaty of Paris, the regions cast
of tiie Mississippi, including all these and
other towns of the Northwest, were given
over to England, but they do not appear to
have been taken possession of until 17(3.5,
when Captain Stirling, in the name of tlie
]\[ajest3' of England, establislied himself at
Fort Chartres bearing with him the procla-
mation of General Gaire, datecl December
oO, 17G4, which promised religious freedom
to all Catholics who worshipped here, and
a right to leave the country with their
eifects if they wished, or to remain with
the privileges of Englishmen. It was
shortly after the occupancy of the West by
the British that the war with Pontiac
opened. It is already noticed in the sketch
of tiiat chieftain. By it many a Briton lost
his life, and many a frontier settlement in
its infancy' ceased to exist. This was not
ended until the year 1704, when, failing to
capture Detroit, Niagara and Fort Pitt,
his confederacy became disheartened, and,
receiving no aid from the French, Pontiac
abandoned the enterprise and departed to
the Illinois, among whom he afterward
lost his life.
As soon as these difficulties were defi-
nitely settled, settlers began rapidly to sur-
vey the country, and prejiare for occupa-
tion. During the year 1770, a number of
persons from Virginia and other British
provinces explored and marked out nearly
all tlie valuable lands on the Monongihela
and ahing the banks of the Ohio, as far as
the Little Kanawha. This was followed by
another exploring expedition, in which
George Washington was a party. The
latter, accompanied by Dr. Craik, Capt.
Crawford and others, on the 20th of Octo-
ber, 1770, descended the Ohio from Pitts-
burgh to the mouth of the Kanawlui ; as-
cended that stream about fourteen miles,
marked out several large tracts of land,
shot several bufl'alo, which were then abun-
dant in the Ohio valley, and returned to
the fort.
Pittsbnrgli was at tliis time a trading
post, abiut which was clustered a village
of some twenty houses, inhabited by In-
dian traders. This same year, Capt. Pitt-
man visited Kaskaskia and its neighbor-
ing villages. He found there about sixt}--
five resident families, and at Cahokia only
fortv-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was
another small settlement, and at Detroit
the garrison were quite prosperous and
strong. For a year or two settlers con-
tinued to locate near some of these posts,
generally Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to
the fears of the Indians, who still main-
tained some feelings of hatred to the Eng-
lish. The trade from the posts was quite
good, and from those in Illinois large quan-
tities of pork and flour found their way to
the New Orleans market. At this time
the policy of the Britisli Government was
strongly opposed to the extension of the
colonies west. In 1763, the King of Eng-
land forbade, by royal proclamation, his
colonial subjects fi\)in making a settle-
ment beyond the sources of the rivers
which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. At the
instance of the Board of Trailo, measures
were taken to prevent the^settlement with-
out the limits prescribeil, and to retain the
commerce within easy reach of Great
Britain.
The commander-in-chief of the king's
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
forces wrote in 17(31} : " In the course of a
few 3'ears necessity will compel the colo-
nists, should they extend their settlements
west, to provide mannfacturesof some kind
for themselves, and when all connection
upheld by commerce with the mother coun-
try ceases, an independency in their ^gov-
ernment will soon tollow."
In accordance with this policy. Gov.
Ga;i;e issued a jiroclamatiou in 1772, com-
manding the inhuliitants of A^incennes to
abandon their settlements and join some
of the Eastern English colonies. To this
they strenuously objected, giving good
reasons therefor, and were allovved to re-
main. The strong opposition to this pol-
icy of Great Britain led to its change, and
to such a course as to gain the attachment
of the French population. In December,
1773, influential citizens of Quebec peti-
tioned the king for an extension of the
boundary lines of that province, which was
granted, and Parliament passed an act on
June 2, 1774-, extending the boundary so
as to include the territory lying within the
present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois
and Michigan.
In consequence of the liberal policy pur-
sued by the British Government toward
the French settlers in the "West, they were
disposed to favor that nation in the war
which soon followed with the colonies; but
the early alliance between France and
America soon brought them to the side of
the war for independence.
In 1774, Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia,
began to encourage emigration to the
Western lands. He appointed magistrates
at Fort Pitt, under the pretense that the
fort was under the government of that
commonwealth. One of these justices,
John Connelly, who possessed a tract of
land in the Ohio Valley, gathered a force
of men and garrisoned the fort, callin" it
Fort Dunmore. This antl other parties
were formed to select sites for settlements,
and often came in conflict with the Indians,
who yet claimed portions of the valley, and
several battles followed. These ended in
the famous battle of Kanawha, in July,
where the Indians were defeated anil driv-
en across the Ohio.
During the years 1775 and 177G, by the
operations of land companies and the par-
severance of individuals, several settle-
ments were rirmly established between the
AUeghenies and the Ohio Kiver, and west-
ern land speculators were busy in Illinois
and on the Wabasli. At a council held in
Kaskaskia, on July 5, 1773, an association
of English traders, calling themselves the
"Illinois Land Companj'," obtained from
ten chiefs of the Kaskaskia, Cahokia and
Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying
on the east side of the Mississippi River
south of the Illinois. In 1775, a merchant
from the Illinois country, named Viviat,
came to Post Vincenues as the agent of the
association called the "Wabash Laud Com-
pany." On the 8th of October he ol)tained
froni eleven Piankeshaw chiefs, a deed tor
37,407,000 acres of land. This deed was
signed Ity the grantora^fctested by a num-
ber of the inhabitants oT Vincenues, and
afterward rccoi-ded in the oftice of a notary
public at Kaskaskia. This and other land
ccim]ianies had extensive schemes for the
colonization of the West; but all were frus-
trated by the breaking out ot the Kevolu-
tion. On the 20th of April, 17S0, the two
companies named consolidated under the
name of the " L'nited Illinois and Wabash
TlIK NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
33
Land ("oinpany." Tlie^- afterward made
stremioiis eiforts to have tliese grants sanc-
tioned b}' Congress, but all signally failed.
When the War of the llevolution corn-
ipenced, Kentucky was an unorganized
country', though there were several settle-
ments within her borders.
In Ilutchins' To])ography of Virginia,
it is stated that at that time "Kaskaskia
contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000
white and black inhabitants — the whites
being a little the more numerons. Caho-
kia contains 50 houses and 300 white in-
habitants and SO negroes. There were
east of the Mississippi River, about the
year 1771 " — when these observations were
made — "300 white men capable of bearing
arras, and 230 negroes."
From 1775 until the expedition of Clark,
nothing is recorded and nothing known of
these settlements, save what is contained
in a report made by a committee to Con-
gress in June, 1778. From it the follow-
ing extract is made:
"Kear the mouth of the River Kaskas-
kia, there is a village which appears to
have contained nearly eight}' families from
the beginning of the late revolution.
There are twelve families in a small villaije
at la Prairie du Rocliers, and near fifty
families at the Kahokia Village. There
are also four or five families at Fort Char-
tres and St. Phillips, which is five miles
farther up the river."
St. Louis had been settled in Febi'uary,
1764., and at this time contained, including
its .neighboring towns, over six hundred
whites and one hundred and fifty negroes.
It must be remembered that all the coun-
trj' west of the Mississippi was now under
French rule, and remained so until ceded
again to Spain, its original owner, who
afterwards sold it and the country includ-
ing New Orleans to the United States.
At Detroit there were, according to Capt.
Carver, who was in the northwest from
17CG to 1768, more than one hundred houses
and the river was settled for more than
twenty miles, although poorly cultivated —
the people being engaged in the Indian
trade. This old town has a history, which
we will here relate.
It is the oldest town in the Northwest,
having been founded by Antoine Lade-
motte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out
in the form of an oblong square, of two
acres in length and an acre and a half in
width. As described by A. D. Frazer, who
first visited it and became a permanent
resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised
within its limits that space between Mr.
Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt.
Perkins' house (near the Arsenal building),
and extended back as far as the public
barn, and was bordered in front by the
Detroit River. It was surrounded by oak
and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set
in the ground, and liad four gates-east, west,
north and south. Over the first three of
these gates were block houses provided with
four guns apiece, each a six pounder. Two
six-gun batteries were planted fronting the
river, and in a parallel direction with the
block houses. There were four streets
running east and west, the main street be-
ing twenty feet wide and the rest fifteen
feet, while the four streets crossing these at
right angles were from ten to fifteen feet
in width.
At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer,
there was no fort within the enclosure, but
a citadel on the ground corresponding to
34
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
the present northwest corner of Jefferson
Avenue and Wayne Street. Tlie citadel
was inclosed by pickets, and within it were
erected barracks of wood, two stories high,
siitiicient to contain ten officers, and also
barracks sufficient to contain four liundred
men, and a provision store built of brick.
Tlie citadel also contained a liospital and
a gnard-honse. The old town of Detroit,
in 1778, contained about sixty houses,
most of them one story, with a few a story
and a half in lieiijht. They were all of
logs. Some hewn and some round. There
was one building of splendid appearance,
c.iiled the '* King's Palace," two stories
high, which stood near the east gate. It
was built for Governor Hamilton, the first
governor commissioned by the British.
There were two guard-houses, one near tlie
west gate and the other near the Govern-
ment House. Each of the guards con-
sisted of twenty-four men and a subaltern,
wlio mounted regularly every morning be-
tween nine and ten o'clock. Each fur-
nished four sentinels, who were relieved
every two hours. There was also an offi-
cer of the day, who performed strict duty.
Each of the gates was shut regularly at
sunset ; even wicket gates were shut at
nine o'clock, and all the keys were deliv-
ered into the hands of the commanding
officer. Tliey were opened in the morning
at sunrise. No Indian or squaw was per-
mitted to enter town with any weapon,
such as a tomahawk or a knife. It was a
standing order that the Indians should de-
liver their arms and instruments of everv
kind before they were permitted to pass
the sentinel, and they were restored to
them on their return. No more than
twenty-five Indians were allowed to enter
the town at any one time, and they were
admitted only at the east and west gates.
At sundown the drums beat, and all the
Indians were required to leave town in-
stantly. There was a council bouse near
the water side for the purpose of holding
council with the Indiai\s. The population
of the town was about sixty families, in all
about two hundred males and one hundred
females. This town was destroyed by fire,
all except one dwelling, in 1805. After
which the preseut " new " town was laid
out.
On the breaking out of the Revolution,
the British held every post of importance
in the West. Kentucky was formed as a
component part of Virginia, and the sturdy
pioneers of the West, alive to their inter-
ests, and recognizing the great benefits of
obtaining the control of the trade in this
part of the New World, held steadily to
their pnri)oses, and those within the com-
monwealth of Kentucky proceeded to ex-
ercise their civil privileges, by electing
John Todd and Richard Calloway, burgess-
es to represent them in the Assembly of
the parent state. Early in September of
that year (1777) the first court was held in
Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, afterward
major, who had arrived in August, was
made the commander of a militia organiza-
tion which had been coiumenecd the March
previous. Thus the tree of loyalty was
growing. The chief spirit in this far-ont
colony, who had represented her the year
previous east of the mountains, was now
meditating a move unequaled in its bold-
ness. He had been watcliing the move-
ments of the British throughout the North-
west, and understood their whole plan.
He saw it was through their posoesoioa of
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
35
the posts at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia,
and other places, which would give them
constant and easy access to the various In-
dian tribes in the Xorthwest, that the Brit-
ish intended to penetrate the country from
the north and south, and annihilate the
frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic
man was Colonel, afterward General,
George Tlogers Clark. lie knew the In-
dians were iiot unanimously in accord with
the English, and he was convinced that,
could the British be defeate I and expelled
from the Xorthwest, the natives might be
easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies
sent for the purpose, he satisfied himself
that the enterprise against the Illinois set-
tlements might easily succeed. Having
convinced himself of the certainty of the
project, he repaired to tlie Capital of Vir-
ginia, which place he reached on Xovember
5th. While he was on his way, fortunately,
on October 17th, Burgoyne had been de-
feated, and the spirits of the colonists
greatly encouraged thereby. Patrick Henry
was Governor of Virginia, and at once
entered heartily into Clark's plans. The
same plan had before been agitated in the
Colonial Assemblies, but there was no one
until Clark came who was sufficiently
acquiiinted with the condition of affairs at
the scene of action to be able to guide them.
Clark, having satisfied the Virginia lead-
ers of the feasibility of his plan, received,
on the 2d of January, two sets of instruc-
tions — one secret, tlie other open — the lat-
ter authorized him to proceed to enlist
seven com]ianies to go to Kentucky, sub-
ject to his orders, and to serve three months
from their arrival in the West. The secret
order authorized him to arm these troops,
to procure his powder and lead of General
Hand at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at
once to subjugate the country.
Witli these instructions Clark repaired
to Pittsburgh, choosing rather to raise his
men west of the mountains, as he well
knew all were needed in the colonies in
the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B.
Smith to Holston for the same purpose,
but neither succeeded in raising the re-
quired number of men. The settlers in
these parts were afraid to leave their own
firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but
few could be induced to join the proposed
expedition. With three companies and
several private volunteers, Clark at length
commenced his descent of the Ohio, which
he navigated as far as the Falls, where he
took possession of and fortified Corn Isl-
and, a small island between the present
cities of Louisville, Kentucky, and Xew
Albany, Indiana. Remains of this forti-
fication may yet be found. At this place
he appointed Col. Bowman to meet him
with such recruits as had reached Ken-
tuck}^ by the southern route, and as many
as could be spared from the station. Here
he announced to the men their real desti-
nation. Having completed his arrange-
ments, and chosen his party, he left a small
garrison upou the island, and on the 24rtli
of June, during a total eclipse of the sun,
which to them augured no good, and which
fixes beyond dispute the date of starting,
he with his chosen band, fell down the
river. His plan was to go bj' water as far
as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence
march direct to Kaskaskia. Here he in-
tended to surprise the garrison, and after
its capture go to Cahokia, then to Vincen-
nes, and histly to Detroit. Should he fail,
he intended to march directly to the Miss-
36
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
issip]ji Eiver and cross it into the Spanish
country. Before his start he received two
ijood items of infoririation ; one that the
alliance had been formed between Fi-ance
and the United States ; and the other that
the Indians tlirou;^hont the Illinois country
and the inhabitants, at the various frontier
posts, liad been led to believe by tlie Brit-
ish that the "Long Knives" or Virginians,
were the most fierce, bloodthirsty and cruel
savages that eversca]])ed a foe. With this
imprecsion on their minds, Clark saw that
proper management would cause them to
submit at once fri.im fear, if surprised, and
then from gratitude would become friendly
if treated with unexpected leniency.
The march to Kaskaskia was accon)plish-
ed through a hot July sun, and the town
reached on the evening of July 4. He cap-
tured the fort near the village, and soon
after the village itself by surprise, and with-
out the loss of a single man or by killing
any of the enemy. After sufficiently work-
ing upon the fears of the natives, Clark
toid them they were at perfect liberty to
worship as they pleased, and to take which-
ever side of the great conflict they would,
also, he would protect them from any bar-
barity from British or Indian foe. This
had the desired effect, and the inhal)itants,
so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised
by the unlooked-for turn of affairs, at once
swore allegiance to the American arms, and
when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on
the 6th of July, they accompanied him,
and through their influence the inhabitants
of the place surrendered, and gladly placed
themselves under his protection. Thus
the two important posts in Illinois passed
from the hands of the English into the pos-
session of Yiririnia.
In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia,
II. Gibanlt, Clark found a powerful ally
and generous friend. Clark saw that, to
retain possession of the Northwest and
treat successfully with the Indians within
its boundaries, he must establish a govern-
ment for the colonies he had taken. St.
Yincent, the next important post to De-
troit, remained yet to be taken before the
Mississippi Valley was conquered. M. Gib-
anlt told him that he would alone, by per-
suasion, lead Vinccnnes to throw oft' its
connection with England. Clark gladly
accepted his ofler, and on the 14th of July,
in company with a fellow-towiismm, M.
Gibault started on his mission of peace
and on the 1st of August returned wita the
cheerful intelligence that the post on the
"Oubache" had taken the oath of allegi-
ance to the Old Dominion. During this
interval, Clark established his courts, placed
garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, suc-
cessfully re-enlisted his men, sent word to
have a fort, which proved tiiegerra of Louis-
ville, erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and
dispatched M. Rocheblave, who had been
commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner of
war to Richmond. In October the County
of Illinois was established by the Leiris-
lature of Virginia, John Todd appointed
Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor,
and in November General Clark aul his
men received the thanks of the O.d Dj-
minion through their Legislature.
In a speech a few days afterward, Clark
made known fully to the natives his platis,
and at its close all came forward and swore
allegiance to the Long Knives. While he
was doing this Governor Hamilton, having
made liis various arrangements, had left
Detroit and moved down the Wabash to
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
37
Yincennes iuteiuliii;^ to 0])er
