See other formats

Full text of "Pioneer history of Indiana : including stories, incidents, and customs of the early settlers"

Google 



This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project 

to make the world's books discoverable online. 

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject 

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books 

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover. 

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the 

publisher to a library and finally to you. 

Usage guidelines 

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the 
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to 
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. 
We also ask that you: 

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for 
personal, non-commercial purposes. 

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine 
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the 
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help. 

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find 
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it. 

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just 
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other 
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of 
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner 
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe. 

About Google Book Search 

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers 
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web 

at |http: //books .google .com/I 



"^ 




F 




WILLIAM M. COCKRL'M 



^ 



PIONEER 



His for J of Indiana 



Stories^ Incidents and Customs of the 
Early Settlers 



COL. fVILLIAM AffCOCKRUM 




Oakland City, Indiana 

PRESS OF OAKLAND CITV JOURNAL 

1907 



Bntered ftccordlog to ta Act of Coiip«M In the 
year 1907 

By WlUIAH 11. COCKXDH 

in the office of the LibrKiiifi pf ConKTew et Walk- 
Ington, D. C. All TlgttlTf«^ed. 



ro MT ff^IFE, 

Wha for fifty years has been my 
faithful partner and true help- 
matet this book ij affectionately 
dedicated hy THE AUTHOR. 



1 






PREFACE. 



In this voltnne many of the early happening's that oc- 
curred during the settling of Indiana are given for the first 
time and if this opportunity wete not improved, a large 
amount of interesting history of our state would be lost. 

The wri4)cr claims no special credit for securing this his- 
tory as it has been a pleasing task, self assigned. If the 
reader shall gain as much satisfaction from reading this vol- 
ume as the autiior has from gathering the data from which 
to compile it, he will be amply repaid for the few hours he 
^^ is so engaged. 

It is very ^rratifying to be able to go back to the settling" 

^of Indiana and tell about the brave men and women who first 

'^ invaded its wildness and from whom sprang the hardy and 

* superior race of people in all stations of life that now live 

within its confines. 

For fifty years the data for this volume has been collect- 
ing: From personal acquaintance with the pioneers, from a 
history of incidents transmitted from parents to children and 
from tradition that is accepted as reliable. 

From the above three sources it is believed that the truest 
history of the people of that early date, their manners and 
customs, the dangers they encountered from the Indians, the 
hunting for game and the many terrible encounters with sav- 
age beasts, has been secured. 

In submitting this work to the public the author wishes 
here to acknowledge his indebtedness to those who aided him 
in his researches and made the existence of this volume pos- 
sible. These favors have come from all parts of the country^— 
from historical societies, public libraries and men in official 
positions. The names of those giving the most valued assist- 
ance is hereby ^fiveii. 



8 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

The City Library of Quebec and the librarian of Public 
Library of Montreal, Canada. 

The State Library of Indianapolis and the assistant li- 
brarian, Miss Jennie M. Elrod. 

The Hon. Henry S. Lane, when U. S. Senator from In- 
diana, for favors shown me in the office of Public Documents 
in Washington. 

The Hon. Oliver P. Morton for his aid in securing* a per- 
mit to examine official papers in the War Department. 

The Hon. Daniel S. Lamont, Ex-Secretary of War, for 
favors shown me in the War Department. 

Gen. Lew Wallace for valuable suggestions. 

Gen. Russel A. Alger, Ex-Secretary of War, for a copy 
of official documents. 

Hon. Benjamin Harrison, Ex-President of the United 
States, for the use of his notes on the unpublished history of 
Gen. William Henry Harrison. 

Gen. John I. Nealy for manuscript and data. 

Joseph P. McClure for incidents of pioneer history. 

David Johnston for the data for many hunting and excit- 
ing experiences in the early days of Indiana. , , . 

Woolsey Pride, Jr., for the history of his father's settling 
at White Oak Springs, near Petersburg, Indiana. 

Captain Graham, of near Corydon, Indiana, for the data 
for many pioneer incidents. 

Hon. Conrad Baker, Ex-Crovemor of Indiana, for data. 

Gen. Joseph Lane, Ex-Crovernor of Oregon, for interest- 
ing letters. 

Captain A. Miler for many interesting incidents. 

Col. James G. Jones and Hon. A. L. Robinson, of Evans- 
ville, Indiana, for letters corroborating underground railroad 
incidents. 

John T. Hanover, of **Freedmans Bureau," for valuable 
papers in making underground railroad chapter. 

Dr. John W. Posey for data on the kidnapping of free 
necrroes. 

Rev. D. B. Montgomery for especial favors in data and 
manuscripts of the pioneer days of Indiana. 



PIONEER HISTORY OP ITTOIANA. 9 

» 

Charles C. Waters for manuscript and data. 

Jacob W. Hargrove for manuscript. 

Delome^s unpublished manuscript of his twenty-seven 
years among various Indian tribes in what is now the State 
of Indiana. 

John B. Dillon's '*History of Indiana." 

John P. J)unii Jr.'s,.*'History of Indiana." 

President Theodore Roosevelt's "Winning of the West.'* 

Goodrich's * 'History of Indiana." 

Mrs. Ella C. Wheatley for valuable assistance in prepar- 
ing this work. 

William Mc Adams' * 'Record of Ancient Races. 

Dr. J. R. Adams, of Petersburg, Indiana, for valuable 
data. 

Hon. Oliver H. Smitk for valuable assistance. 

Beard's **Battle of Tippecanoe." 

Prof. W. D. Pence, Purdue University. 

Dr. Greorge C. Mason for data. 

E. C. Farmer for data. 

Rev. W. P. Dearing for assistance. 



Crawfordsville, Indiana, 

April 12, 1902. 
Col. W. M. Cockrum, 

Oakland City, Indiana. 
My dear Sir and Companion: 

Your letter of the 8th inst. is received. 

There is no rule in literary work that two want to follow 
in the same way. Writing on any subject, they might differ 
in their way of expression; but there is one rule, as you sug- 
gest, that is safe for all to follow — have your data well pre- 
pared and follow closely the subject. 

I am pleased to learn that you have been securing data 
for more than fifty years, and intend writing a Pioneer His- 
tory of Southern Indiana, in which you will give the old 
heroes that drove the Indians away and blazed the pathway 
for our greatness, a deserving tribute for their noble work. 

Why not extend your boundary and include the State for 
your field of labor? Your lament that the opportunity for a 
finished education in your day was so limited that you doubt 
your ability to give the smooth and pleasing touch to your 
writing that is needed in a book to be read by the cultured 
people of this date, is not well taken. Let me suggest that 
your amanuensis may have all that is required, but good 
horse sense is not in the market. 

Your friend. 

Lew Wallace. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



General Lew Wallace's Letter . . . .* Page 10 

CHAPTER I. 

French Colonization of Indiana. Explorations. Settlements. 
Trading Stations. Forts. Relations with Indians. 
Post Vincennes. Treatment of English Explorers. 
Pontiac Pages 16-23 

CHAPTER II. 

Gborgb Rogbrs Clark and the English. 
Treatment of Inhabitants of the Northwest by the English 
and Their Indian Allies. Clark's Resolve to Reduce the 
Forts. His Alliance With the French Inhabitants. 
Reduction of Fort Kaskaskia. Reduction of Post Vin- 
cennes. Vincennes Recaptured by Lieutenant (Jovernor 
Hamilton. Attempt of Hamilton to Dislodge Clark and 
Drive Him From the Territory. Capture of Francis 
Vigo. Clark's March . from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. 
Capture of Vincennes. Regaining the Confidence of the 
Indians. Later Achievements and Failures of Clark. 
Pages 24-68 

CHAPTER III. 

The Territory Captured by General Clark from 1779 
TO THE Organization of the Northwest Territory. 

General Todd's Proclamation. The Court of Vincennes. 
Virginia Cedes Northwest Possessions to the United 
States. Town of Clarksville Laid Off. Deed of Cession. 
Ordinance of 1787 Pages 69-75 

CHAPTER IV. 
Thia Northwest Territory Organijzed. Laws Governing It. 



12 PIONEER HISTORY OF mDIANA. 

Governor St. Clair and the Indians. Militia Established 
and Civil and Military Officers Appointed. Laws Adopts 
ed at Vincennes. Defeat of St. Clair's Army by the 
Indians. General Wayne's Victory Near the Maumee. 
First Territorial Legislature Pages 76-104 

CHAPTER V. 

Prisoners Recaptured from the Indians. Terrible Fighting 
Around the Place Where Owensville, Indiana, No'vr 
Stands Pages 105-129 

CHAPTER VI. 

Organization of Indiana Territory. William Henry Har* 
rison, Governor. General Gibson, Secretary. Territor- 
ial Judges Appbinted. Slavery Question. Laws of In- 
denture. Specimens of Indenture Papers . . Pages 130-148^ 

CHAPTER VII. 

Settlement of Southern Indiana. The Cruelty of the 
French Pages 149-lSZ 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Pioneer. Character. Hardships. Routes Followed- 
Settlements. Food. Education. Customs. Thrilling 
and Amusing Incidents. Weddings. Work. Dress. 
Crude Manufactures Pages 153-196- 

CHAPTER IX. 

Land Claims and Territorial Affairs. Indian Depredations.. 
Letters of Instruction and Orders to Captain William 
Hargrove. Burning of an Indian Town Near Owens* 
ville. Division of Indiana Territory. Elections. Land 
Offices Pages 197-236^ 

CHAPTER X. 

The Battle of Tippecanoe. Importance of the Victory.- 
Cause of Battle. The Principal Contestants. Negotia- 
tions for Peace. Collecting Army at Vincennes. Move- 
ment of Army From Vincennes. Fort Harrison Estab- 
lish efl. Advance on Prophet's Town. Encampment. 
The Battle. Grovernor Harrison's Report of the Battle.. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. U 

Incidents of the Battle. Resolutions Adopted by Terri- 
torial Le£:islature. Roll of the Army that Foug:ht at 
Tippecanoe Pages 237-308 

CHAPTER XI. 
Indiana's Tribute to Kentucky Pages 309-310 

CHAPTER XII, 
further History of Tecumseh and the Prophet . .Pages 311-317 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Pioneer Industries. 

Orude Farming. Implements. Cooking. Milling. Flax. In- 
dustry. Loom. Whipsawk Shoe Making. Rope Walk. 
Bee Hunting. Witchcraft P«e8»318-341 

CHAPTER XIV. 
.Amusements and Sports of the Early Pioneers. .Pages 343-344 

CHAPTER XV. 

Indiana During the War of 1812. 
Pigeon Roost Massacre. Attack on Fort Harrison. General 
Disturbance Among the Indians. General Hopkins Re- 
port to the Grovernor. Expeditions Against the Indians. 
Delaware Indians Removed, to Ohio. General Gibson's 
Message to House of Representatives in 1813. Territor- 
ial Government Moved From Vincennes to Corydon. 
Miss McMurtne's Statement. Treaty of Friendship and 
Alliance With the Indians. General John Gibson. Grov- 
ernor Thomas Posey. Logan, the Indian Chief. Terri- 
tory Laid Off Into Five Districts. Judicial System Im- 
proved. Charters Granted to Banks. Rappites at Har- 
mony. New Harmony Sold to Robert Owens 

Pages 345-387 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Indiana Becomes a State 

^Constitution Adopted. Officers Selected. Governor Jennings' 
First Message. Boundary and Area of State. Survey. 
Taxes. Internal Improvements. Purchase of Indian 



14 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Claims. Counties Organized. Ag-ue and other Illness.^ 
Failure of State Banks. William Hendrick elected Gov- 
ernor. Site of Indianapolis chosen for Capital. Land 
Sharks. Indianians called **Hoosiers". Counties Organ- 
ized. White men executed for Murder of Indians. Let- 
ter from Oliver H. Smith. Improvements recommended 
by Governors Hendricks and Ray Pages 388-426. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Animals of Early Indiana. 

Game Animals. Game Birds. Ferocious Animals. Fur- 
Beaiing Animals. Birds of Prey .Pages 427-457, 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Schools of Early Indiana. 
Houses. Books. Danger from Wild Animals. Opposition 
to Free Schools Pages 458-468. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Noble Act of returning soldiers of the Battle of Tippe- 
canoe. Aaron Burr's Conspiracy and the misfortunes 
attending it. DiflSculty of procuring salt and desperate 
battle with two Bears. Incidents of Burr's Conspiracy. 
Governor Jennings' Temperance Lecture. Battle be- 
tween two bears and two panthers. Panthers killing In- 
dians. A Hermit. Panthers kill a man and boy. Early 
days near Petersburg, Indiana. Panthers killing one 
and desperately wounding another man of a surveying 
party. Wild Hogs. Shooting matches. Early Days in 
Dubois County, Indiana. Killing of eight Indians. 
Hunting. Early days near Sprinklesburg, now New- 
burg, Warrick County, Indiana. A young woman killed 
by panthers. Hunting Wolves. Hunting Deer. An 
amusing incident of an Irishman and the hornet's nest 
; . . ; Pages 469-507. 

CHAPTER XX. 
Flat Boating \ Pages 508-510. 

CHAPTER XXI. 
General Joseph Lane. A Short Biography. Letters 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 15 

...:,.:. . . : ;. Pages 511-516. 

CHAPTER XXII. 
The State Bank and Other Interesting Matter. Counties. 

Organized. Michigan's Attempted Theft. Speech of 
Hon. Isaac Montgomery. Land Sharks. Land Specu- 
lators. Brave Women Pages 517-532 

CHAPTER XXIIL 

Internal Improvements. 

Canals. Railroads. State Debt. Turnpike Roads. Wabash 
Rapids. Pottowattamie and Miami Indians Removed 
From the State : Pages 533-542 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Penal, Benevolent and Educational Institutions. 

State Prison. Asylum for Deaf and Dumb. Asylum for 
Blind. Hospital for the Insane. State Universities. 
State Library Pages 543-548. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The Mexican War. 

Indiana in the Mexican War Pages 549-554 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Indian Barbarity and the Prodigal's Return. This chapter 
is given to show one of many spies that the Anti-Slavery 

people had on all strangers during the fifties 

Pages 555-55a 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

The Experience of Two Young Boys With Two Bear Cubs. 
The Amusing Story of How Hogs Were Induced to Re- 
turn to Their Own Range Pages 559-561 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

• 

Kidnapping Free Negroes. Kidnapping of Reube at Prince- 
ton. Liberating two negroes near Princeton, Indiana.. 
Kidnapping two free negroes three miles west of Prince- 
ton. Attempt to kidnap a Barber at Petersburg, In- 



16 PIONEER fflSTORY OF INDIANA. 

diana. Several attempts to kidnap negroes. Dr. John 
W. Posey and Rev. Eldridge Hopkins liberating two kid- 
naped negroes. A slave hunt at Kirk's Mills Bridge in 
Gibson County. An attempt to catch runaway negroes 
ending in a desperate battle with wild hogs. Jerry Sul- 
livan Raid at Dongola Bridge. Kidnapping the Gothard 
Boys. Rev. Hiram Hunter relieving kidnaped negroes 
Pages 562-597. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Underground Railroad. 

Fugitive Slave Law. Anti-Slavery League. Routes of Fu- 
gitive Slaves. Interesting Letters. Rev. T. B. McCor- 
mick Pages 608-619 

CHAPTER XXX. 
Indian Religion Pages 620-622. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

The Mound Buildbrs. 

Age of Mounds. Workmanship of Builders. The Tradition 
of the Piassa. Remains. Difference between Mound 
Builders and Indians Pages 623-632. 



CHAPTER I. 



FRENCH COLONIZATION IN INDIANA. 



Explorations — Settlements — Trading Stations — Forts 
— Relations With Indians — Post Vincennes— Treat- 
ment OF English Explorers — Pontiac. 



The French, who first settled Canada and founded Que- 
bec in 1608, were a very restless, energetic people. They 
were rovers and soon making friends with the Indians, made 
long journeys with them to the south and west. How far 
they w^nt on these excursions is not known, but they contin- 
ually advanced their settlement in these directions. 

During the fifty years following the founding of Quebec, 
they had settled a large section of the country bordering on 
the Great Lakes. Whether any of these rovers, during their 
many expeditions, up to 1650, paddled their canoes along the 
rivers of Indiana is unknown. Who was the first man to ex- 
plore the wildness of our State or when that date was, are 
unsolved questions that will remain hidden in the archives of 
the Great Builder of Worlds. They are questions of no real 
merit and only interest those who are sticklers for exactness 
in regard to the minute things which happened more than 
two and a half centuries ago in the wilds of North America. 
The data that is known from accepted tradition and written 
history, carries us back far enough into the dark ages of this 
country to enable us to give such credit due to those who did 
explore the rivers, lakes and wooded hills of Indiana as will 
be of interest to those who are searching for the early history 
of our State. 



18 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

The probabilities are that at this early date, all the tef 
ritory of Indiana was owned and controlled by the Miama 
Confederation of Indians, which comprised four tribes: The 
Twightwees, which was the Miami proper, the Weas or 
Oniatenons, the Shockeys and Pinkashaws. These Indians 
were of the Alg^onquin nation. At the junction of the St» 
Mary and St. Joseph rivers, where the Maumee river is 
formed and where the city of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, now 
stands, these Indians had their ancient capital, known in In* 
dian lang^uag^e as Kekiong^a, and as early as 1676, the white 
people (French) had a fort near that place. From that sta* 
tion the French fur hunters passed up and down the Wabash 
river and into the Louisiana possessions of France, securing- 
loads of furs. Returning up the Wabash they carried their 
bundles across the portage, thence down the Maumee to Lake 
Erie and to their trading stations in Canada where they were 
sold for such articles as the Indians and French hunters need- 
ed. In these excursions up and down the Wabash it is reas- 
onable to conclude that there were trading stations at differ- 
ent points along their route where the fur was collected by 
traders. Vincennes, no doubt, was a trading station several 
years before the commencement of the eighteenth century. 

The traders coming on the Wabash connected with those 
coming on what was afterward known as ihe Old Vincennes 
and Clarksville trace. This crossed White river about fifteen 
miles southeast of Vincennes and crossed the Wabash river 
at Vincennes, then to Kaskaskia on the Mississippi river* 
One branch of this old traveled way ran from a point a little 
west of the place where it crossed the Little Wabash river 
south to the saline section of southern Illinois. No doubt 
this old road had been a main traveled way from east to west 
by the Indians for ages before any white man ever saw 
America. Along the route where it passed over Orange and 
Floyd Counties, ledges of rock that it crossed showed evi- 
dence of much wear, when first traveled over by the Whites. 
This could not have been possible without having been long- 
used by the Indians, as they wore skin coverings on their 
feet. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 19 

That Robert De LaSalle went up and down the Wabash 
and other Indiana rivers with a few white companion^ and 
Indian guides several years before the commencement of the 
eighteenth century, is an established fact. He was at 
Kekionga, the capital of the Miamas, about 1680 and no 
doubt was about the same time at the beautiful site where 
Vincennes now stands. That there was a rendezvous where 
these two cities stand for the collecting of furs, as well as at 
Ouitanon during La Salle's explorations, is generally conced- 
ed by all who have searched for this early information. Dur- 
ing the twenty years that La Salle was engaged in his ex- 
plorations, from 1667 to 1687, he was very active in exploring 
all the regions where there were fur bearing animals. 

In 1698 LaMotte Cadillac, of New France, who was a 
far-seeing man and worked for his country's interests, re- 
turned to France. He went to see Count Pontchartrain and 
placed before him a map that he had made from notes and 
drawings made by LaSalle before he was assasinated, ex- 
plaining to the Count the new route that this map described. 
This route connecting New France and Louisiana by a reli- 
able waterway, extended from the Lakes up the Maumee to 
the capital of the Miamis, now Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and 
thence by an easy portage to the headwaters of the Wabash, 
thence down that river, through the heart of a most valuable 
territory. Cadillac recommended to the Count that it was 
best to locate a chain of forts along that route for defense if 
needed against any Indians that were or might become hos- 
liie and against any expedition that the english might send 
out from their North American possessions east of the Alle- 
ghany Mountains. He was so convincing in his presentation 
of the subject, that Count Pontchartrain fell in with his 
views, granted his request and commissioned him to carry 
out the enterprise. The next year Detroit was selected as the 
place most suitable for a depot of military stores and a gen- 
eral trading post between the French and Indians on the 
southern borders of the Great Lakes. The next site selected 
was at the head of the Maumee river, called Fort Miami; 
then came one near the Wabash on the Wea prairie a few 



! 



20 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

miles below where the city of Lafayette now stands, called 
Ouiatenon. The next trading post was at the point where 
the city of Vincennes now stands, afterwards called Post 
Vincennes. These forts were all completed by the year 1705. 

It has always been contended that the French Jesuits had 
mission stations at each of these places years before they be- 
came military posts. The garrisons which were located at 
each of these stations consisted of a few men, only sufficient 
in their strong log forts to insure a safe retreat for the fur 
traders and their families. 

In a few years a number of young French hunters gath- 
ered around these stations and it became common for them to 
marry the 3'oung Indian women, and in a comparatively short 
time there was a large number of half breeds in all the settled 
sections where the French lived. • These hunters adopted the 
Indian customs and this intermarrying of the two races was 
the real reason for the very close alliance that existed be- 
tween the French and the Indians — '*Blood is thicker than 
water." The two races of people became so closelj- akin that 
their interest became the same. The men put in most of 
their time during the hunting season in the forests hunting 
for game, or along the streams trapping for fur. These two 
occupations comprised all there vvc's to be done. Each family 
would work together and have a small field of corn. The 
women would plant and tend it. They cured and dried the 
meat that was killed by the hunters and prepared it for fu- 
ture use. The indolent habits of these Indians and mongrel 
French, around their homes were indulged in by all. When 
they sold their furs they would invest the greater portion of 
it in villainous whiskej', that would make those drinking it 
crazy drunk. During the orgies engaged in by these savage 
woodsmen, there would be man}- maimed and others dead be- 
fore the protracted '*spree" was over. The traders who sold 
this injurious stuff, if they ever were honest, lost all thought 
of such an inconvenience when trading with the Indians and 
cheated them in every way that was possible. 

The Catholic missionaries who helped explore the North- 
west territory and labored to christianize the Indians, were 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 21 

earnest, devoted men who did all they could to better the 
condition of the Indians; but the evil effects of the poisonous 
liquor sold them 6y the unscrupulous traders buying their 
furs, neutralized all the good done by the missionaries and 
kept these poor, unfortunate people in a degraded conditioji- 

The post where Vincennes now is was included in the 
district of Illinois, in the colony of Louisiana. Fort Chartres 
was the seat of government of the district, and New Orleans 
was the seat of government of the province. The post where 
Vincennes is located had different officials at an early date 
who acted as commanders of the garrison. Among that num- 
ber was Francis Morgan De Vincennes, for whom the city of 
Vincennes was named. He remained its commander until 
sometime in 1736, when he was killed in battle with the 
Chickasaw Indians. For a long period before his death he 
was in command of all the French posts located in the part of 
Louisiana province that is now Indiana. 

In 1736, after the death of Vincennes, St. Ange was 
placed in command of the district of Illinois with his head- 
quarters at post Vincennes. This command was held by him 
until two years after the French had ceded their New France 
and a part of their Louisiana possession to England in 1763. 
During the long period that France held control of the Ter- 
ritorj' that is now Indiana, the only improvement made by 
them was the building of a few block-houses and a few crude 
buildings around these stations. They did not attempt to 
clear up the country, open any highways or to make any per- 
manent improvements. Their business was hunting and 
trapping, and so they did not want the country cleared as it 
would injure their occupation. 

During the one hundred and forty-three j^ears between 
the time the English planted their colony at Jamestown, Vir- 
ginia, in 1607 until they attempted a plant a colony on the 
west side of the Alleghany mountains, in 1750, they developed 
into thirteen colonies and more than one million people living 
in the country along the Atlantic from the east side of Flor- 
ida to one hundred miles east of Boston, Massachusetts. 

During that long period of nearly one hundred and fifty 



22 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

years, France and England were busy acquiring territory and 
planting colonies in their locations in North America. They 
each established missionary stations to christianize the Ind- 
ians. There was great rivalry between catholic France and 
protestant England in their home countries. This feeling 
was carried to the new world by the missionaries and used to 
embitter the feelings of the Indians in their respective col- 
onies against the other nations. Rev. Cotton Mather says, 
in one of his works published the last of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, that a noted Indian chief informed a protestant minis- 
ter of Boston, that the French, when instructing the Indians 
of his nation about the christian religion, told them that 
Jesus Christ was a Frenchman and that the English mur- 
dered him and that he arose from the dead, ascending up to 
heaven and all who would come into favor with Christ must 
help them in their war against the English. 

In 1752 M. Duquesne, governor of New France, ordered 
George Washington, who, with others, was attempting to 
survey some lands near where the city of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, now stands to desist and leave the country. Duquesne 
stated that the French government claimed all the territory 
bordering on the Ohio river and its many tributaries; basing 
that claim on the discoveries made by LaSalle, in the latter 
part of the seventeenth centurj% This was a beginning of 
the long and bloody war between England's American col- 
oniies and the French inhabitants of New France. In many 
battles between the French and English people from 1752 to 
1763, for the supremacy in America, the French inhabitants 
ivho occupied the different stations in what is now Indiana, 
Icnew but little about the war and there were many isolated 
stations in that territory whose people did not know until 
several years afterwards that France had ceded her North 
American possessions to England. 

After England came into possession of New France, the 
posts at Quebec, Montreal, Detroil and other stations in that 
territory established strong garrisons and adopted concilia- 
tory measures to win the Indians from their allegiance to 
France. This was hard to do. Pontiac, who would not give 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 23 

up the hope that his great father, the king of France, would 
again come into power, fought many determined battles 
against the English and would not be consoled. Finally he 
went to St. Louis to see his old friend, St. Ange, who coim- 
seled him to submit and give to England the same loyality 
that he had to France, telling him that France had not sold 
his land nor would the English take it away from him. 
This, in a measure, satisfied the great Pontiac and he went 
back home, coming down the Mississippi, up the Ohio and the 
Wabash. Telling his people that there would be no more 
war, he discarded his rank and went into private life as a 
hunter. 

A tradition that has come all the way down from genera- 
tion to generation was often told by the Indians, as follows: 
The great chief, Pontiac, in destroying bands of Indians op- 
posing his confederation, captured mostly women and child- 
ren who were sold by his agents to the resident French at 
the different posts, receiving in exchange guns, powder, lead, 
flints, tomahawks and blankets. He was killed by an assasin 
in the woods where East St. Louis now stands, because sev- 
eral years before, one of his bands of warriors had captured 
the women and children of a hunting party of Illinois Indians 
while they were drying meats and fish on the shores of lake 
Michigan and Pontiac ordered them all sold into slavery ex- 
cept a beautiful woman who was the wife of the chief of the 
hunting party, whom he took for his wife. While making a 
visit to St. Ange, at the village of St. Louis, this injured 
woman hunted up some of her kindred and assisted them in 
murdering Pontiac. The hold this great chief had on the 
people of his confederation was so firm that when they 
learned of his murder they brought on a war of extermina- 
tion and before it was over the Illinois Indians were nearly 
all killed. The beautiful woman who caused his death was 
re-captured and burned at the stake. 



CHAPTER IL 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK AND THE ENGLISH, 



Treatment of Inhabitants of Northwest by English — 
Their Indian Allies — Clark's Resolve to Reduce 
THE FoRTS-^His Alliance with the French Inhab- 
itants — Reduction of Fort Kaskaskia — Reduction 
OF Post Vincennes — Captain Leonard Helm in Charge 
OF Vincennes — Vincennes Recaptured by Lieut. Gov- 
ernor Hamilton — Attempt of Hamilton to Dislodge 
Clark and Drive Him from the Territory — Capture 
OF Francis Vigo — Clark's March from Kaskaskia to 
Vincennes — Capture of Vincennes — Regaining the 
Confidence of the Indians — Later achievements and 
Failures of Clark. 



After reading: Theodore Roosevelt's extensive work on 
^'Winning: the West," William E. Engflish's elaborate history 
of the conquest of the Northwest territor}^ and **The Life of 
Georg:e Rog:ers Clark" and John P. Dunn, Jr.'s ** American 
Commonwealth," in which his Hannibal of the west is one of 
the many subjects treated by him in an entertaining: and in- 
structive manner, it may seem presumptuous to attempt 
to write about that subject, but to attempt to write a 
a pioneer history of Indiana without detailing: the heroic 
work of the hero of the Northwest territory, would be like 
presenting the play of '*Hamlet" with Hamlet left out. 

Greorge Rogers Clark was born in Albermarle county, 
Virginia, November 19, 1752. In early life, he, like Wash- 
ington, was a surveyor, preparing himself for his work as a 
pioneer in a new country. In 1774 he served as an officer in 



PIONEEJ^ HISTORY OF INDIANA. 2S 

Dunmore's war. In this way he first became acquainted with 
the western country. In 1775 he first visited Kentucky. At 
that time he was a Major. That fall he returned to Virg^inia 
and commenced making preparations to move to the west the 
next spring. Having moved and become a fixture there, he 
set about to aid the people and that section of the country to 
which he had attached himself. The advantages were ob- 
vious but its distance from the settled colonies and its ex- 
posure to hostile Indian tribes, rendered his occupation very 
perilous. Clark was not an ordinary man — his mind was very 
comprehensive. He knew no danger and was in full vigor of 
young manhood, with energy and determination that would 
surmount all difficulties. 

As we before noted, during all the time the French had 
control of the territory that is now Indiana they made no per- 
manent improvements, having intermarried and adopted the 
habits of the Indians, living in bark and skin tepees. There 
were fewer than a hundred white families at post Vincennes;. 
at Ouiatenon, Wea prairie, near Lafayette, not more than 
fifteen or twenty families and at the Twightee village, now 
Ft. Wayne, Indiana, about ten families. 

From 1763 ilp to the time that Vincennes was captured 
by George Rogers Clark, the English people established but 
few posts. They only strengthened those that the French 
had at Ft. Miami (Fort Wayne) and the stations on the Wea 
prairies, Ouiatenon and post Vincennes. At these stations, 
after the commencement of the Revolutionarj^ war, there were 
British officers with a small command of British troops that 
gathered around them ^a band of Indians who were placed un- 
der partisan officers. These officers sent them out in detach- 
ments to prey upon the unsuspecting settlers who were then 
upon the borders of the Ohio east of what afterward became 
Louisville, Kentucky, and into Virginia. Those from Vin- 
cennes directed their depredations principally against the 
scattered settlements in northern Kentucky. This condition 
of things continued until George Rogers Clark captured 
Lieutenant Gk)vernor Hamilton and his band of partisans at 
Vincennes in 1779. 



\ 



26 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

After the treaty between France and England, the British 
authorities, on coming into possession of that vast empire, did 
everything in their power to keep improvements from be- 
ing made. There were several propositions made to the 
king by his British subjects of England and by his Amer- 
ican colonies, who had means, for permission to make 
extensive improvements in the rich country bordering on 
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and to plant colonies in 
many places. All of these propositions were rejected. The 
few settlements which were made got along the best they 
could without any protection. This immense territory had 
Indian towns and villages scattered all over it. There were 
many desperadoes who left the colonies and made their homes 
among the Indians. In most these free-booters were fu- 
gitives from justice. 

When the war for independence came these desperate 
characters, through the influence of British agents, declared 
their allegiance to the British crown. They, through their 
intercourse with the Indians, did much to cause them to take 
up the hatchet against the Americans. These Indians and 
their partisan allies were organized into detachments to go 
to the western borders of the American colonies to murder, 
scalp and capture the inhabitants. As an inducement for 
them to do this bloody work, they were offered as a reward, 
one pound for children and women scalps or for them as 
prisoners; three pounds for a man's scalp, no reward for him as 
prisoner, and five pounds or twenty dollars for young and come- 
ly women prisoners. The white villians who were with their 
Indian allies, were, if possible, more Ipst to human sympathy 
than the Indians. They seem to have lost all human feeling 
and would kill and destroy the helpless people whom they 
found on the borders. Ignoring all restraint they deliberate- 
ly went into the settlements where they had formerly lived 
and where their kith and kin resided. The pleading of the 
helpless and aged mother or the wail of the infant, seemed to 
b^ music to the ears of these brutal butchers. After killing 
and capturing all they could, they burned and destroyed the 
homes and such property as they could not carry away. Go- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 27 

ing: back with their fiendish Indian allies to the British posts, 
they were received with great military parade as if they were 
Teturning heroes from a great victory. They received the 
Teward for their scalps and then five pounds for the young 
^women prisoners, who were turned over to the British officers 
and traders to a life of servitude. A thousand deaths would 
have been preferable to the violated and insulted womanhood 
that these poor helpless victims, mothers and fair daughters 
of Virginia and Kentucky had to indure. The continued 
raids made by, the Indians and their more brutal allies, be- 
<:ame so damaging to the exposed settlements that there was 
^reat danger of their being broken up. - 

(ieneral Clark heard the appeal of these abused people 
and determined to avenge the many deaths caused by these 
barbarians. Having explored the rurrounding coimtry of his 
new home and seen much of the Indians, he learned that the 
<:ontinual hostility that they showed toward the white people 
was caused by the British commanders and their emissaries 
at Detroit, Kaskaskia and Vincennes and that these posts 
would retard the settlement of the new country. He was 
<:onvinced that the thing to do was to reduce these forts and 
made a statement of these facts to the Virginia legislature in 
December, 1777, outlining a plan for the successful accom- 
plishment of this purpose. It was approved by Gk)vernor 
Henry and his council, and twelve hundred pounds was ap- 
propriated for the expenses and four companies of men were 
raised for the expedition. In the spring of 1778 they rendez- 
voused at Corn Island in the Ohio river, opposite Louisville, 
Kentucky. The four companies were commanded by Cap- 
tains Joseph Bowman, Leonard Helm, John Montgomery and 
William Harrod. 

The memoirs of Clark say that — **On the 24th of June, 
1778, we left our camp and ran up the river for a mile in 
order to gain the main channel and shoot over the falls. I 
knew that spies were on the river below and that I might 
fool them, I resolved to march a part of the way by land. 
The force, after leaving such as were not able to stand the 
march with their companies, was very much reduced in num- 



28 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

bers and much smaller than I had expected. 

* 'Owing to the many difficulties I had to encounter, I 
found it was best to chang:e my plans. As the post of Vin- 
cennes at that time had a considerable force of British and In- 
dians and an Indian town was adjoining, there were large num- 
bers of Indian warriers there all the time. I regarded Vin- 
cennes of much more importance than any of the others, and 
had intended to attack it first, but finding I could not risk 
such a hazardous undertaking, I resolved to go to Kaskaskia. 
There were several villages along the Mississippi river but 
they were some distance apart. I had acquainted myself 
with the fact that the French inhabitants in these western 
villages had g'reat influence over the Indians and were re- 
garded with much favor by them, as thej^ had been their old 
allies ill former war before the English captured the country 
from them; so I resolved. If possible, to attach the French to 
our interests. I had received a letter from Colonel Campbell, 
from Pittsburg, informing me that France had formed an 
alliance with the Colonies. As I intended to leave the Ohia 
at Ft. Massac, three leagues below the mouth of the Ten- 
nesee river, I landed on a small ivsland in the mouth of that . 
river in order to prepare for the march. A few days after 
starting a man named Duff and a party of hunters coming 
down the river were stopped by oiir boats. They were for- 
merl}" from the States and ' assured of their loyalt)\ They 
had been at Kaskaskia only a short time before and could 
give us all the intelligence we wanted. The)' said that Gov- 
ernor Abbot had left Vincenhes and gone to Detroit; that 
Mr. Rochblave commanded at Kaskaskia; that the militia was 
in good condition and would give us a warm reception if they 
knew of our coming; that spies were constantly kept on the 
Mississippi and all hunters, Indians and others, had orders to 
keep a close lookout for the rebels; that the fort was kept in 
good order and that the soldiers were much on parade. They 
had been taught that we were a lot of desperate men, especi- 
ally the Virginians. The hunters said if the place could be 
surprised, .which they hoped we might do, they thought there 
would be no resistance and they hoped we would take them 



PIQNEEK HISTORY OP INDIANA. 29 

and let them aid in the capture. This I concluded to do and 
they proved true men and valuable to the expedition. No part 
■of the information pleased me more than that the inhabitants 
viewed us as more savage than the Indians and I was deter- 
mined to improve upon this ii I should be so fortunate as to 
^et them into my possession. 

Having everything ready, we moved down to a small 
guUey a short distance above Ft. Massac, in which we con- 
cealed our boats and started to.march. On the fourth of July, 
in the evening, we got within a few miles of the town, where 
ive lay until nearly dark. Keeping spies ahead we started on 
the march and took possession of a house where lived a large 
family, on the banks of the Kaskaskia river, less than a mile 
from the town. These people informed us that a short time 
before the militia had been under arms but had conciuded 
that the cause of the alarm was without foundation; that 
there were a large number of men in town and that the Ind- 
ians had all gone and everything was quiet. Boats were soon 
secured and the command crossed the river. With one of the 
divisions I marched, to the fort and ordered the other two 
divisions into different quarters of the town. If I met with 
no rej^istance, at a certain signal a general shout was to be 
given and certain parts were to be immediately possessed and 
the men of each detachment who could speak the French 
language, were to fun through every street of the town and 
proclaim what had happened and inform ihe inhabitants that 
•ever}' one who should come on the street would be shot down. 
This had the desired effect. In a very short time every ave- 
nue was guarded to prevent anyone from escaping to give the 
alarm to other villages. 

**I don't suppose that greater silence ever reigned among 
the inhabitants of a place than did over those of this post. 
Not a person was to be seen, not a word to be heard from 
them for some time; but the troops, by my order, kept up the 
the greatest noise all over the town during the whole night. 
In two hours time all the inhabitants were disarmed and in- 
formed that if they made an attempt to escape they would 
immediately be put to death. 



30 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

*'The morning: after the capture a few of the principal 
men had been arrested and put in irons. Soon afterward M, 
Gibault, the village priest, accompanied by some aged 
citizens, waited on me and said the inhabitants expected to 
be separated, perhaps never to meet again, and they begged 
the privilege of again assembling in their church, there to 
take leave of each other. I told the priest that we had noth- 
ing against their religion; that that was a matter the Ameri- 
cans left every man to settle with his God and that the peo- 
ple could assemble at their church if they wished to but they 
must not attempt to escape. Nearly all the population as- 
sembled at the church. After the meeting a deputation con- 
sisting of Gibault and several other persons waited on me and 
said that their present situation was the fate of war and that 
they. could submit to the loss of property but they asked that 
they might not be separated from their wives and children 
and that some clothes and provisions might be allowed for 
their support. I feigned supprise at ihis request and abruptly 
exclaimed — 'Do you mistake us for savages? I am almost 
certain you do, from you language. Do 3^ou think that the 
Americans intend to strip women and children; or take the 
bread out of their mouths? My countrymen disdain to make 
war on helpless innocents. It was to prevent the horrors of 
Indian butchery upon our wives and children that we have 
taken arms and penetrated this remote stronghold of British 
and Indian barbarity, and not ihe despicable prospects of 
plunder.' I further told them as the King of France had 
uniied his powerful arms with those of the Americans, the 
war in all probability would not continue long, but that the 
inhabitants of Kaskaskia were at libertj' to take which side 
the pleased without the least clanger either to their families 
or their property, nor would their religion be an}^ source of 
disagreement, as all religions were regarded with equal res- 
pect by the American laws and that any insult offered to it 
would be immediately punished. Then 1 said — 'And now to- 
prove my sincerity, j^ou will inform j^our fellow citizens that 
they are quite at liberty to conduct themselves as usual with- 
out the least apprehension. I am now convinced from what 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 31 

I have leamefl since my arrival among: you that you have 
been misinformed and prejudiced against us by the British 
officers and your friends who are in confinement shall be im- 
mediately released.' In a few minutes after the delivery of 
this speech, the gloom that had rested on the minds of the 
inhabitants of Kaskaskia had passed away. Their arms were 
restored to them and a volunteer company of French Militia 
joined a detachment under Captain Bowman, when that oflBcer 
was despatched to take possession of Cahokia. The inhabit- 
ants of this small village readily took the oath of allegiance 
to the State of Virginia." The news of the treaty of alliance 
between France and America and the influence of the mag- 
nanimous conduct of Clark^ induced the French village to take 
the oath of allegiance to the State of Virginia. 

The memoirs of Clark proceed — "The post of Vincennes 
was never out of my mind and from something that I had 
learned, I had reason to suspect that M. Gibault, the priest, was 
favorable to the American interest, previous to our arrival in 
the country. He had great influence over the people at this 
period and Post Vincennes was xmder his jurisdiction* I had 
no doubt of his loyalty to us and I had a long conference with 
him about Post Vincennes. In answer to my questions he 
said — that he did not think it worth while for any military 
preparations to be made at the falls of Ohio, for the attack 
on Post Vincennes, although the place was strong and there 
was a great number of Indians in its neighborhood, who, to- 
his knowledge, were generally at war; that Grovernor Abbot 
had a few weeks before, left the place for some business at 
Detroit. He expected when the inhabitants were fully ac- 
quainted with what had passed at Illinois and the present 
happiness of their friends and made fully acquainted with 
the nature of the war, that their sentiments would greatly 
change. He told me that his appearance would have great 
weight even among the savage and if it were agreeable to me 
he would take this business on himself, having no doubt of 
his being able to bring the place over to the American inter- 
ests without m)'^ being at the trouble of marching against it. 
As his business was altogether spiritual, he wished that an- 



-32 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

other person might be charged with the temporal part of the 
-embassy, but he said he would privately direct the whole and 
named Dr. Lafont as his associate. This was perfectly 
agreeable to what I had been secretl)^ aiming at for several 
days. The plan was immediately settled and the two doctors 
with their attendant retinue, among whom I had a sp)% set 
about preparing for the journey and on the fourteenth of 
July started with an address for the inhabitants of post Viri- 
cennes, authorizing them to garrison their town themselves, 
which was intended to convince them of the great confidence 
we put in them. All this had the desired effect. M. Gibault 
and his party arrived and after a day or two occupied in ex- 
plaining matters to the people, they all acceded to the pro- 
posal (except a few emissaries left b)^ Governor Abbot, and 
they immediately left the Country) and went in a body to the 
church, where the oath of allegiance was administered to 
them in a most solemn manner. An officer was selected, the 
fort garrisoned and the American flag displayed, to the 
astonishment of the Indians, and everything settled far beyond 
•our most sanguine hopes. The people here began to immed- 
iately put on a new face and talk in a different st)'le and act 
as perfect freemen, with a garrison of their own and the 
United States at their elbow. Their language to the Indians 
was immediatel)^ altered. They began as citizens of the 
United States and informed the Indians that their old father, 
the King of France, was come to life again and was mad at 
them for fighting for the English. They said they would 
advise the Indians to make peace with the Americans as soon 
as they could, otherwise they might expect the land to be 
ver)' bloody, 

'*The Indians began to think, very seriously throughout 
the country. This was now the kind of language they got 
from their ancient friends of the Wabash and Illinois. Through 
the means of their correspondence spreading among the nat- 
ions there was a decided change in all the neighbroring tribes 

of Indians. 

**M. Gibault and party accompanied by several gentlemen 
irom post Vincennes, returned to Kaskaskia about the fourth 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 33 

of Aug"ust with the joyful news. During his absence on this 
business, which caused me great anxiety, (for without that 
post all my work would have been in vain), I was engaged in 
regulating things in the Illinois. TheJ'reduction of these 
posts was the period of the enlistment of our troops. I was 
at a great loss at this time to determine how to act and how 
far I might venture to strain my authority. My instructions 
were silent on many important points as it was impossible to 
foresee the events that would take place. To abandon the 
country and all the prospects that opened to our view in the 
Indian department at this time, for want of instructions in 
certain cases, I thought would amount to a reflection on our 
Government as having no confidence in me and I resolved to 
usurp all the authority necessary to carry my points. [I had 
the greater part of the troops reenlisted on a different estab- 
lishment; commissioned French officers to command a com- 
pai)^ of young Frenchmen; established a garrison at Cahokia 
commanded by Captain Bowman and another at Kaskaskia 
commanded by Captain Williams. Post Vincennes remained 
in the situation as mentioned. I sent Captain John Mont- 
gomery to the Gk)vernment with letters and dispatches and 
again turned my attention to Post Vincennes. I plainly saw 
that it would be highly necessary to have an American officer 
at that post and Captain Leonard Helm appeared to be suited 
in man)' waj^s for the position. He was past the meridian of 
life and well acquainted with . Indian life and their disposi- 
tions. I sent him to command that post, also appointed him 
agent for the Indian affair of the Wabash. 

* 'About the middle of August Captain Helm started out to 
take possession of his new command. An Indian chief called 
**Tobacco's Son," a Piankashaw, at this time, was residing in 
the village adjoining Post Vincennes. He was called by the 
Indians — *'The Grand Door of the Wabash;" and as there was 
nothing to be undertaken by the League on the Wabash with- 
out his consent, I discovered that to win him was of signal 
importance. I sent him a spirited compliment by M. Gibault- 
— he returned it. I now, by Captain Helm, touched him on 
the same spring that I had the inhabitants and sent a speech 



34 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

with a belt of wampum, directing Captain Helm how to man* 
age if the chief was pacifically inclined or otherwise. The 
Captain arrived safely at Post Vincennes and was received 
with acclamation by the people. After the usual ceremony 
was over he sent for Grand Door and delivered my letter to 
him. After having it read he informed the Captain that he was 
happy to see him — one of Big Knife's chiefs — in this town. 
It was here that he had joined the English against him, but 
Grand Door confessed that he always thought they looked 
gloomy. He said that as the letter was of great importance, 
he would not give an answer for some time; that he must 
collect his counsellors on the subject and was in hopes that 
the Captain would be patient. In a short time he put on all 
the courtly dignity that he was master of and Captain Helm 
followed his example. It was several days before the busi* 
ness was finished as the proceedings were very ceremonious. 

"At length the Captain was summoned to the Indian 
Council and informed by Tobacco that he had maturely con- 
sidered the case in hand and had had the nature of the war 
between us and the English explained to their satisfaction. 
As we spoke the same language and appeared to be the same 
people, he always thought that Big Knife was in the dark of 
it, but now that the sky was cleared up he found that Big 
Knife was in the right. Perhaps, he said, if the English 
conquered they would serve them in the same manner that 
they intended to serve us. He told the Captain that his ideas 
were quite changed and that he would tell all the Red people 
on the Wabash to bloody the land no more for the Englihh. 
He jumped up, struck his breast, called himself a man and a 
warrior; said that now he was a Big Knife and took Captain 
Helm by the hand. His example was followed by all present 
and the- e\ening was spent in merriment. Thus ended this 
valuable negotiation and the saving of much blood. In a 
short time almost all of the various tribes of the different 
nations on the Wabash as high up as the Ouiatenon, came to 
Post Vincennes and followed the example of the Grand Door 
chief, and as expresses were continually passing between Cap- 
tain Helm and myself, during the entire time of these treaties^ 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 35 

the business was settled perfectly to my satisfaction and 
greatly to the advantage of the public." 

Grovernor Henry soon received intelligence of the success- 
ful progress of the expedition under the command of Colonel 
Clark. The French inhabitants of the village of Kaskaskia, 
Cahokia and Post Vincennes, having taken the oath of allegi- 
ance to the state of Virginia, the (General Assembly of that 
state in 1778 passed an act which contained the following 
provisions, viz: — *'A11 the citizens of the Commonwealth of 
Virginia who are already settled or shall hereafter settle on 
the western side of the Ohio, shall be included in the district 
county which shall be called Illinois county and the Gk)vernor 
of this Commonwealth, with the advice of the Council, may 
appoint a County Lieutenant or a Commander in Chief in that 
county during pleasure, who shall appoint and commission so 
many Deputy Commandants of military officers and commis- 
sioners as he shall think proper in the different districts dur- 
ing pleasure; all of whom, before they enter into office, shall 
take the oath of fidelity to this Commonwealth and the oath 
of office according to the forms of their religion; and all the 
civil officers which the inhabitants have been accustomed to, 
necessar>" for the preservation of peace and the administration 
of justice, shall be chosen by a majority of the citizens in th"eir 
respective districts to be convened for that purpose by the 
County Lieutenant or Commandant or his deputy and shall be 
commissioned by the said County Lieutenant or Commander in 
Chief.*' 

Before the provisions of this law were carried into effect, 
Henry Hamilton, the British Lieutenant Governor of Detroit, 
collected an army consisting of about thirty regulars, fifty 
French volunteers and four hundred Indians. With this force he 
passed down the Wabash and took possession of Post Vincennes 
on the fifteenth of December, 1778. No attempt was made by 
the population to defend the town. Captain Helm was taken 
and detained as a prisoner and a number of the French inhab- 
itants were disarmed. When Governor Hamilton entered 
Vincennes, there were but two Americans there, Captain 
Helm, the commander, and a soldier by the name of Henry. 



36 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

The latter had a cannon well charged and placed in the open 
fort gate, while Helm stood by with a lighted match in hand. 
When Hamilton and his troops got within hailing distance, 
the Captain in a loud voice called out — *'Halt." This stopped 
the movements of Hamilton who in reply demanded a surren- 
der of the gaYrison. Helm exclaimed, *'No man shall enter here 
until I know the terms." Hamilton answered, *'You shall 
have the honors of war." The fort was surrendered with a 
garrison of one oflScer and one private. 

Lieutenant Grovernor Hamilton, before leaving Detroit, 
made all the arrangements for a grand onward rush against 
the settlements west of the Alleghenj^ Mountains in the early 
spring of 1779. 

Colonel George Rogers Clark in the latter part of 1778 
had marched into the wilderness of the Northwest with less 
than two hundred Virginians, captured Kaskaskia and Caho- 
kia and made a peaceable conquest of Vincenties in the heart 
of the Indian country. He was now in position to check the 
savages if thej^ persisted in their attacks on the j oung settle- 
ments in Kentucky and Virginia and to break up their confed- 
erations with tlje British. Lieutenant Gk)vernor Hamilton de- 
termined, if possible, to recapture the lost forts, and to this 
end, he left Detroit with a company of Regulars and Volun- 
teers and gathered an army of Indians three times as large 
as Clark had. Having recaptured Vincennes without any op- 
position, he went about repairing the fort to make suitable 
quarters for the garrison. Being late in the season and the 
weather very bad, he sent his Indian army awa}- in the com- 
mand of some of his Canadian Indian partisans to the Ohio 
river to watch for and intercept reinforcements to Clark's 
army and to annoy the settlements on the borders of Ken- 
tucky and V^irginia. He sent delegates to the Southern Indians 
to prepare them for the coming raid when spring should open 
and selected points to rendezvous in the s^;)ring, in order to be in 
a position to dislodge Clark and drive him out of the country. 

His intention then was to overrun the country west of the 
Allegheny Mountains with his northern and southern Indian 
confederates and sweep away all opposition to the British in 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 37 

all the vast region between the Mississippi river and the 
Alleghany Mountains. Fortunately for the American cause, 
Hamilton had underrated his rival who was a much better 
soldier and much more resourceful than he was. 

After Post Vincennes had been recaptured by Hamilton 
from Captain Helm, Clark was at Kaskaskia and had no in- 
formation of the situation there until the latter part of Janu- 
uary, 1779. He met with Francis Vigo, who was a trader at 
that time in St. Louis and favorable to the Americans. He 
tendered Clark his services and was requested to go to Post 
Vincennes to report the condition of things at that place. 
Vigo readily accepted the hazardous service and started, but 
before he got to his destination he was captured by hostile 
Indians and carried a' prisoner before Grovernor Hamilton 
who had then been at the Post only a few days. For some 
three weeks Vigo was held a prisoner on parole, requiring 
him to report daily to the fort then called Fort Sackville. 
He refused to be set at liberty which was offered him if he 
would swear that he would not do anything during the war 
that would be inimical to the British interesi:. Father Gi- 
bault, who was a great friend to the Americans, as we have 
shown, interested himself in Vigo's behalf and after services 
one Sunday morning, the latter part of January, went to the 
fort, attended by a large number of parishioners and notified 
Hamilton that they would not sell any more supplies to his 
troops until Vigo was released. Hamilton had no evidence 
against^him so he agreed to release him on condition that he 
would not do anything to injure the British interests on his 
way to St. Louis. Vigo started with two companions down 
the Wabash and Ohio and went up the Mississippi until St. 
Louis was reached. He was only a short time in securing 
some needed clothing and supplies, and was soon in his 
pirogue going down the Mississippi as fast as his boat would 
take him. Arriving in a short time at Kaskaskia, he gave 
Clark a minute account concerning all matters at Vincennes. 

Seven days after receiving Vigo's report, Clark, with a 
force of one hundred and seventy men, started on a dreary 
march from Kaskaskia on the Mississippi to Vincennes 



38 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

on the Wabash river. At the same time he despatched an 
armed galley with forty men under Captain John Rogers to 
go down the Mississippi river, up the Ohio and Wabash to a 
point near the mouth of White river. The route Clark fol- 
lowed was aji old Indian trace through forests and prairies. 
The weather being uncommonl)' rainy, all the large streams 
were out of their banks. These hardy woodsmen, weighed down 
with their arms and provisions, pressed along on foot through 
forest, marshes, ponds, broad rivers and overflowed lowlands, 
until they reached the crossing of the Little Wabash where 
the bottoms were overflowed several miles in width to the 
depth of three to five feet. The troops waded into the water, 
which in some places was up to their arm pits, even to the 
necks of some of the shorter men, and commenced to make 
their way across. Diiring the journey a favorite song would 
be sung, the whole detachment joining in the chorus. When 
they had arrived at the deepest part from whence it was in 
tended to transport the troops in two canoes which they had ob- 
tained, one of the men said that he felt a path quite perceptible 
to his naked fe^t, supposing that it must pass over the highest 
ground. This march was continued to a place called *'The 
Sugar Camp." 

Clark's Memoirs gives the following: — '* Where we found 
about half an acre of dry ground, at least not under water, 
there we went into camp. Most of the weather we had on this 
march was warm for the season. The night we went into 
camp was the coldest we had and the ice in the morning, 
which was the finest we had on the march, was from one- 
half to three-quarters of an inch thick near the shore and 
still water. A little after sunrise I lectured the men. What 
I said to them I have forgotten but I concluded by informing 
them that passing the place that was then in full view and 
reaching the opposite woods, would put an end to their 
fatigue. I told them that in a few minutes they would have 
a sight of their long-looked-for object and immediately 
stepped into the water without waiting for a reply, whereup- 
on there was a great huzza. As we generally marched 
through the water in line, before the third man entered I 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 39 

halted and called to Captain Bowman, ordering him to fall in 
the rear with twenty-five men and put to death any who re^ 
fused to march, as we wished to have no such persons among 
us. All gave a cry of approbation and on we went. This 
was the most trying of all the difficulties we had experienced. 
I generally kept fifteen or twent)- of the strongest men near 
myself, and judged from my own feelings what must have 
been that of others. 

*'When I reached the middle of the plain, the water 
being about mid-deep, I found mjself sensibly failing and as 
there were no trees or bushes for the men to support them- 
selves by, I feared that many of the weak would be drowned. 
I ordered the canoes to make the land, discharge their load- 
ing and play back and forward with all diligence, and to pick 
up the men and encourage the party. I sent some of the 
strongest men forward with orders that, when they got to a 
certain distance to pass the word back that the water was 
getting shallow and when they got near the woods to cry 
out — %and'. This strategem had its desired effect. The men 
encouraged bj^ it exerted themselves almost beyond their abil- 
ities, the weak holding by the stronger, the water nev^er get- 
ting shallower but continuing deeper. Gretting to the woods 
where the men expected land, the water was up to my 
shoulders, but gaining the woods was of great consequence. 
All the short and weakly men hung to the trees and floated 
on the old logs until they were taken off by the canoes. 
Those who were 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 shore was a delightful dry spot of ground of about ten 
acres. We soon found that the fires did not avail to warm 
the men and bring back the circulation, but two strong men 
had to take the weaker ones by the arms and run them up and 
down along the path in order to restore the circulation and, 
it being a delightful day, this had the desired effect. Fortu- 
nately, as if designed by Providence, a canoe of Indian 
squaws and children was coming up to town and took through 
this plain as a near way. It was discovered bj' our canoes as 



40 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

they were out after the men and they gave chase, taking the 
Indian canoe captive. On board there was a half a quarter of 
bUffalo, some com, tallow and kettles. This was a grand 
prize and was invaluable. Broth was immediately made and 
served to the weakest ones with great care. Most all 
men got a little but a great many gave their share to their 
weaker comrades, jocosely saying something cheering to 
them as they did so. By the afternoon this little refresh- 
ment and fine weather gave new life to my men. 

'* After crossing a narrow, deep lake in the canoes and 
marching some distance we came to a copse of timber called 
"Warrior Island." We were now about two miles distant 
from the town and in full view of the fort, with not a shrub 
between us. Every man feasted his eyes and forgot that he 
had suffered anything; saying that all that had passed was 
owing to good policy and nothing but what a man could bear, 
and that a soldier had no right to think; passing from one 
extreme to another, which is common in such cases. It was 
now that we had to display our abilities. The plain between 
us and the town was not a perfect level. The sunken ground 
was covered with water, full of ducks and we observed sev- 
eral men on horseback shooting them, within half a mile of 
us. We sent out a number of our joung Frenchmen to deco)- 
and take one of these men prisoner, in such a manner as not 
to alarm the others, which they did. The information we got 
from this prisoner was that the British had that evening com- 
pleted the walls of the fort and that there were a good many 
Indians in town. Our situation was now truly critical as 
there was no possibility of retreating in case of defeat and in 
full view of the town that had at this time upwards of six 
hundred men in it. The crew of the galley, though not fifty 
men, would now have been a reinforcement of immense mag- 
nitude to our little army. But we would not think of them. 
We were now in the situation that I had labored to get our- 
selves in. The idea of being made prisoner was foreign to al- 
most everj^ man as they expected nothing but torture from the 
savage if they fell into their hands. Our fate was now to be 
determined, probably in a few hours, and we knew that noth- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 41 

ing but the most daring conduct would insure success. I 
knew that a number of the inhabitants wished us well, that 
many were lukewarm to the interests of either and I also 
learned that The Grand Door, Tobacco's Son, had but a few 
days before, openly declared in council with the British that 
he was a brother and friend to the Big Knife. These were 
favorable circumstances and as there was but little probabil- 
ity of our remaining until dark undiscovered, I determined to 
begin the career immediately and wrote the following placard 
to the inhabitants — 

*'To the inhabitants of Post Vincennes, Gentle- 
men: — Being now within two miles of your village 
with m)" army, determined to take )our fort this 
night and not being willing to surprise you, I take 
this method to request those of you who are true 
citizens and willing to enjoy the liberty I, bring to 
you, to remain still in your houses; and those, if any 
there be, who are friends to the King, will instantly 
repair to the fort and join the * 'Hair-buying Gen- 
eral'' and fight like men, and if any such as do not 
go to the fort shall be discovered afterward, they 
may depend on severe punishment. On the contrary, 
those who are true friends of liberty may depend on 
being well treated and I once more request them to 
keep out of the streets for every one I find in arms 
on my arrival I shall treat as an enemy." 

Signed, G. R. Clark. 

**I had various ideas on the supposed results of this let- 
ter. I knew it could do us no damage, but it would cause the 
lukewarm to decide, encourage our friends and astonish our 
enemies. We anxiously viewed this messenger until he en- 
tered the town and in a few moments could discover, by our 
glasses, some stir in every street that we could penetrate, and 
great numbers running or riding out on the commons, we 
supposed to view us, which was the case. The thing that 
surprised us was that nothing as yet had happened that had 
the appearance of the garrison being alarmed — no drum, 
no guns. We began to suppose the information we got 
from our prisoners was false and that the enemy already 
knew of us and were prepared. A little before sunset we 



42 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

moved and displa)'ed ourselves in full view of the town, 
crowds gazing at us. We were plunging^ ourselves into cer- 
tain destruction or success, nothing less than these being 
thought of. We had but little to say to our men except to 
inculcate the idea of the necessit)' of obedience. We knew 
that they did not need encouraging and that anything might be 
attempted with them that was possible for such a number of 
men to perform. They were perfectly cool under subordina- 
tion, pleased with the prospect before them and much at- 
tached to their officers. They all declared that they were 
convinced that implicit obedience to order was the only thing 
that would insure success and hoped that no mercy would be 
shown to persons violating such orders. Language like this 
from soldiers to persons in our situation was exceedingly 
agreeable. 

"We moved on slowly in full view of the town, but as it 
was a point of some consequence to us to make ourselves 
appear as formidable as possible, in leaving the covert which 
we were in we marched and countermarched in such a manner 
that we appeared numerous. In raising volunteers in Illi- 
nois, every person that set about the business had a set of 
colors given him which they brought with them to the amount 
of ten or twelve pair. These were displayed to the best 
advantage and as the low plain we marched through was not 
a perfect level but had frequent raises in it, seven or eight 
feet higher than the common level, which was covered with 
water, and as these raises generally ran in an oblique direc- 
tion to the town, we took advantage of one of them, march- 
ing through the water under it, which completely prevented 
our being numbered. Our colors showed considerably above 
the heights as they were fixed on long poles for the purpose 
and at a distance made no despicable appearance. As our 
)'Oung Frenchmen, while on Warrior Island, decoyed and took 
several fowlers with their horses, officers were now mounted 
on these horses and rode about, more completely to deceive 
the enemy. In this manner we moved and directed our march 
in such a way as to suffer it to be dark before we had advanced 
more than half way to the town. We then suddenly altered 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 43 

our direction, crossed ponds where they could not have ex- 
pected us and about eight o'clock gained the town. As there 
was yet no hostile move we were impatient to have the cause of 
this unriddled, and Lieutenant Bayley, with fourteen men, 
was ordered to march and fire on the fort. The main body 
moved in a different direction and took possession of the 
strongest part of the town. The firing now commenced 
on the fort but they did not believe it was an enemy, as 
drunken Indians often saluted the fort after night, until 
one of their men was shot down through a port hole. The 
drums now sounded and the business fairly commenced on 
both sides. Reinforcements were sent to aid the attack on 
the garrison while other arrangements were making in town. 
We now found that the garrison had known nothing of us. 
Having finished the fort that evening, they had amused 
themselves and had just retired before my letter arrived. As 
it was near roll call, the placard being made public, many of 
the inhabitants were afraid to show themselves out of their 
houses for fear of giving offence and no one dared to give in- 
formation. Our friends flew to the commons and other con- 
venient places to view the pleasing sight. This was observed 
from the garrison and the reason asked, but a satisfactory 
excuse was given, and as a part of the town la)- between our 
lines of march and the garrison, we could not be seen b)- the 
sentinels on the wall. 

**Captain W. Shannon and another, being some time be- 
fore taken prisoners by one of their scouting parties and that 
evening brought in, the party had discovered at the Sugar 
Camp some sign of us. The}- supposed that it was a party 
of observation that intended to land on the height some dis- 
tance below the town and Captain Lamotte was sent to inter- 
cept them. It was at him, the people said, they were looking 
when they were asked the reason of their unusual stir. Sev- 
eral suspected persons had been taken to the garrison, and 
among them was Mr. Moses Henry. Mrs. Henry, under pre- 
tense of conveying him provision, went and whispered to him 
the news and what she had seen. Mr. Henry conveyed it to 
the rest of his fellow prisoners which gave them much pleas- 



44 * PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ure, particularly Captain Helm, who amused himself very 
much durinfif the siege and, I believe, did much damage. 
Ammunition was scarce with us as most of our stores had 
been put on board the galley and though her crew was small, 
such a reinforcement at this time would have been of incalcu- 
lable value in many ways. Fortunately for us, at the time of 
its being reported that all the goods in the town were to be 
taken for the King's use (for which owners were to receive 
bills), Colonel Legras and Major Bosseron and others, had 
buried the greater part of their powder and balls. This was 
immediately produced and we found ourselves well supplied, 
by those gentlemen. The Tobacco's Son (with a number of 
his warriors) immediately mustered his men and let us know 
that he wished to join us, saying that by morning he would 
have a hundred men. We thanked him for his friendly dispo- 
sition, said that we were sufficiently strong ourselves and that 
we would council on the subject in the morning, as we knew 
there were a number of Indians in and near the town that were 
our enemies and some confusion might occur if our men should 
mix in the dark, but hoped we might be favored with his 
council and company during the night, which was agreeable 
to him. 

'*The garrison was soon completely surrounded and the fire 
continued without intermission (excepting about fifteen min- 
utes a little before day) until nine o'clock the following morn- 
ing. It was kept up by all the troop, excepting fifty men 
kept in reserve, joined by a few of the young men of the 
town who got permission. I had made myself fully acquainted 
with the situation at the fort, the town and the parts relative 
to each other. The cannon of the garrison was on the upper 
floor of the strong block houses, at each angle of the fort 
eleven feet above the surface. The ports were so badly cut 
that many of our troops lay under the fire of them within 
twent)'-five yards of the walls. They did no damage except 
to the buildings of the town, some of which were badly 
wrecked. Their musketry in the dark employed against 
woodsmen, covered by houses, palings, ditches and. the banks 
of the river, was of little avail and did no injury to us ex- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 45 

• 

■cept wounding a man or two. As we could not afford to lose 
men great care was taken to preserve them, sufficiently cov- 
ering them and to keep up a. hot fire to intimidate the enemy 
as well as destroy them. The embrasures for their cannon 
were mostly closed, for our riflemen,' finding the true direc- 
tion, would pour in such a volley when the)^ were open that the 
men could not stand to the guns and seven or eight of them 
were killed in a very short time. Our troops would frequently 
abuse the enemy in order to aggravate them to open their 
ports and ih"e their cannon that they might have the pleasure 
of shooting them down with their rifles, fifty of which would 
be leveled at them the minute the port flew open. I believe 
if they had stood at their artillery the greater part of them 
would have been destroyed in the course of the night, as 
most of our men lay within thirty yards of the walls, and in 
a few hours were covered ^qual to those in the fort and much 
more experienced in that mode of fighting. Sometimes an ir- 
regular fire as hot as possible was kept up from different di- 
rections for a few minutes and then would follow only a con- 
tinual scattering fire at the ports as usual. A great noise 
and laughter would immediately commence in different parts 
of the town b)^ the reserve parties as if they had fired on the 
fort a few minutes for amusement and as if those contin- 
uall)^ firing at the fort were only regularl)' relieved. 

**Conduct similar to the above kepi the garrison constantly 
alarmed. They did not know what moment they might be 
stormed or blown up, as they could plainly discover that we had 
flung up some entrenchments across the streets and appeared 
to be frequently very busy under the bank of the river, which 
was within thirty feet of the walls. The situation of the 
magazine we knew well. Captain Bowman began some works 
in order to blow this up in case our artillery would arrive 
but as we knew that we were dailj' liable to be overpowered 
by the numerous bands of Indians on the river, in case they 
had again joined the enemy (the certainty of which we were 
unacquainted with), we resolved to lose no time, but to get 
the fort in our possession as soon as possible. If the vessel 
did not arrive before the ensuing night we resolved to under- 



46 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

mine the fort and fixed on the spot and plan of executing the 
work which we intended to commence the next day. The 
Indians of different tribes that were unfriendly had left the 
town and neighborhood. Captain Lamotte continued to hover 
about in order, if possibje, to make his way into the fort and 
parties attempted in vain to surprise him. A few of his party 
were taken, one of whom was Maisonville, a famous Indian 
partisan. Two lads had captured him, tied him to a post in 
the street and fought from behind him, supposing that the 
enemy would not fire on them for fear of killing him as he 
would alarm them with his voice. The lads were ordered to 
untie their prisoner by an ofl&cer who discovered them at their 
amusements and to take him off to the guard which they did, 
but took a part of his scalp on the way, there happening to 
him no other damage. 

''As most of the persons who were the most active parti- 
sans in the* department of Detroit were either in the fort or 
with Captain Lamott, I got extremely uneasy for fear that he 
would not fall into our power, knowing that he would go 
away if he did not get into the fort in the course of the night. 
We found that without some unforseen accident the fort must 
eventually be ours and that a reinforcement of twenty men, 
although quite a few of ihem would not be of great moment 
to us in the present state of affairs, and knowing that we had 
weakened the enemy's forces by killing arid wounding many 
of iheir gunners, after some deliberation we concluded to risk 
the reinforcement in preference to his (Lamott's) again going 
among the Indians. The garrison had at least a month's 
provisions and if they could hold out, in the course of that 
time, he might do us damage. 

**A little before day the troops were withdrawn from iheir 
positions about the fort, except a few parties of observ^aiion. 
The firing entirely ceased and orders were given that in case 
of Lamott's approach, not to alarm or lire on him, without 
a certainty of killing or taking all. In less than a quarter 
of an hour, he passed within ten feet of an officer and party 
that lay concealed. Ladders were liung over to Lamott and 
the others and, as they mounted, our party shouted. Many 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 47 

• 

of them fell from the top of the walls, some within and others 
back but as they were not fired on they all got over, much to 
the joy of their friends. In considering the matter they must 
have been convinced that it was a scheme of ours to let them 
in and that we were so strong as to care but little about 
them. The firing immediately commenced on both sides with 
double vigor and I believe that more noise could not have 
been made by any equal number of men. Their shouts could 
not be heard for the firearms, but a continual blaze was kept 
up around the garrison without much done until about day- 
break, when our troops were drawn off to posts prepared for 
them about sixty or seventy yards from the fort. A loop- 
hole then could scarcely be darkened without a rifle ball pass- 
ing through it and to have stood by their cannon would have 
destroyed their men without a probability of doing much ser- 
vice. Our situation was nearly similar. It would have been 
imprudent in either party to have wasted their men unless 
some decisive stroke required it. 

**Thus the attack continued until about nine o'clock on the 
morning of the twenty-fourth. Learning that the two priso- 
ners they had brought in the day before had a considerable 
number of letters with them, I supposed it an express that we 
expected about this time, which I knew to be of great mo- 
ment to us, as we had not received one since our arrival in 
the country and not being fully acquainted with the charac- 
ter of our enemy, we thought perhaps these papers might be 
destroyed. To prevent this I sent a flag with a letter de- 
manding the garrison, the letter being as follows: — 

''Lieutenant (jovernor Hamilton: Sir: — In order 
to save yourself from the impending storm that now 
threatens you, I order )'ou immediately to surrender 
yourself with all your garrison and stores, for if I 
am obliged to storm, you may depend on such treat- 
ment as is justly due to a murderer. Beware also of 
destro)nng stores of any kind or any papers or letters 
that are in your possession, or hurting one house in 
town for by heaven, if you do, there shall be no 
mercy shown you." 

Signed, G. R. Clark. 



48 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

■The British Commandant returned the following ans- 



((/ 



wer: 



Lieutenant Grovernor Hamilton begs leave to 
acquaint Colonel Clark that he and his garrison are 
not disposed to be awed into any action unworthy of 
British subjects." 

'*The firing then commenced warmly for a considerable 
time and we were obliged to be careful to prevent our men 
from exposing themselves too much as they were now 
much animated, having been refreshed during the flag. They 
frequentl)^ mentioned their wishes to storm the place and put 
an end to the business at once. The firing was heavy 
through every crack that could be discovered in any part of 
the fort. Several of the garrison were wounded and there 
was no possibility of standing near the embrasures. Toward 
evening a flag appeared with the following proposal: 

"Lieutenant Governor Hamilton proposes to 
Colonel Clark a truce for three days, during which 
time he promises there shall be no defensive work 
carried on in the garrison, on condition that Colonel 
Clark shall observe on his part a like cessation of 
an)' defensive work. That is — he wishes to confer 
with Colonel Clark as soon as can be and promises 
that whatever ma)- pass between them and another 
person mutuall)* agreed upon, to be present, shall re- 
main secret till matters be finished, as he wishes 
that, whatever the result of the conference may be, 
it may tend to the honor of each party. If Colonel 
Clark makes a difficulty of coming into the fort,' 
Lieutenant (jovernor Hamilton will speak to him by 
the gate." 

Signed, Henry Hamilton. 

February 24, 1779. 

*'I was at a great loss to conceive what reason Lieuten- 
ant Governor Hamilton could have for wishing a truce for 
three da)'s on such terms as he proposed. Some said that 
it was a scheme to get me into their possession but I had a 
different opinion and no idea of his possessing such senti- 
ments, as an act of that kind would in all probability, ruin 
him. Although we had the greatest reason to expect rein- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 49 

forcements in less than three days that would at once put an 
end to the siege, I yet did not think it prudent to agree to 
the proposals and sent the following answer: — 

''Colonel Clark's compliments to Lieutenant 
Governor Hamilton and begs to inform him that he 
will not agree to any terms other than Mr. Hamil- 
ton's surrendering himself and garrison prisoners at 
discretion. If Mr. Hamilton is desirous of a confer- 
ence with Colonel Clark, h€ will meet him at the 
church with Captain Helm, Feb. 24, 1779." 

Signed, G. R. Clark. 

"We met at the church about eighty yards from the fort, 
Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, Major Hay, Supt. of Indian 
Affairs, Captain Helm, their prisoner, Major Bowman and 
myself. The conference began. Hamilton produced terms 
of capitulation that contained various articles, one of which 
was that the garrison should be surrendered on their being 
permitted to go to Pensacola on parole. After deliberating 
on every article I rejected the whole. He then wished that I 
would make some propositions. I told him that I had no 
other to make other than I had already made — that of his 
surrendering as prisoners at discretion. I said that his 
troops had behaved with spirit and that they could not sup- 
pose the}' would be worse treated in consequence of it; that 
if he chose to comply with the demand, though hard, perhaps 
the sooner the better. I added that it was useless to make 
any further propositions to me and that by this time he must 
realize that the garrison would fall. We must, I said, view 
all the blood spilled in the future by the garrison as murder 
and that the troops were already impatient and calling aloud 
for permission to tear down and storm the fort. If such a 
step were taken many, of course, would be cut down and the 
result of an enraged bodj' of woodsmen breaking 'in must be 
obvious to him; it would be out of the power of the American 
officers to save a single man. 

''Various altercations took place for a considerable time. 
Captain Helm attempted to moderate our fixed determination 
and I told him he was a British prisoner and it was doubtful 



50 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

whether or not he could speak on the subject. Hamilton then 
said that Captain Helm was free from that moment and might 
use his pleasure. I informed the Captain that I would not 
receive him on such terms but that he must return to the gar- 
rison and await his fate. I then told Lieutenant Governor 
Hamilton that hostilities should not commence until five min- 
utes after the drums gave the alarm. We then took our 
leave and had gone but a few steps when Hamilton stopped 
and politel)' asked, me if I would be so kind as to give him 
my reason for refusing the garrison on an)- other terms than 
those I offered. I told him I had no objection to giving him 
m}' real reasons which were these — I knew the greater part 
of the principal Indian partisans of Detroit were with him 
and I wanted an excuse for putting them to death or other- 
wise treat them as I thought proper; the cries of the widows 
and the fatherless children on the frontiers which the)' had 
occasioned now required their blood from my hands and I did 
not choose to be so timorous as to disobej' the absolute com- 
mand of their authoritj' which I looked upon as almost di- 
vine. I would rather lose fifty men I told him than fail to 
impower mj-self to execute this piece of business with propri- 
ety, and if he wished to r;sk the massacre of his garrison, for 
their sakes, it was his own pleasure; also I might take it in" 
to m}' head to send for some of those widows to see them exe- 
cuted. Major Hay gave great attention. I had observed a 
kind of distrust in his countenance which in a great measure 
influenced mj- conversation during the time and on my con- 
cluding, 'Pray sir,' said he, *who is it that you call Indian 
partisans?' *Sir,' I replied, 'I take Major Hay to be one of ihe 
principal ones.' I never saw a man in a moment of execution 
so struck as he appeared to be — pale, trembling, scarcely able 
to stand. Hamilton blushed and I observed, was much af- 
fecied at his behavior. Major Bowman's countenance suffi- 
cientl}' explained his disdain for one and his sorrow for the 
other. Some moments elapsed without a word passing on 
either side. From that moment my resolution changed res- 
pecting Hamilton's situation. I told him that we would re- 
turn to our respective posts, that I would reconsider the mat- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 51 

ter and would let him know the results and no offensive meas- 
ures should be taken in the meantime. This was agreed to 
and we parted. 

**When all that had passed was made known to our offi- 
ficers, it was agreed that we should moderate our resolutions." 

During the conference at the church, some Indian war- 
riors who had been sent to the Falls of Ohio for scalps and 
prisoners and had just returned, were discovered, as the}' en- 
tered the plains near Post V^incennes and a part)' of American 
troops commanded b}' Captain William.s, went out to meet 
them. The Indians who mistook the detachment for a party 
of their friends, continued to advance with all the parade of 
successful warriors. When our troops had arrived at the 
proper distance from the proud and strutting" warriors, they 
opened fire on them, killing two and wounding three and took 
six prisoners and brought them into town. Two of them 
proved to be white men and related to some of dark's French 
volunteers and were released. They then brought the three 
wotinded and four Indian prisoners to the main street, near 
the gate of the fort, there tomahawked them and threw them 
into the river. 

In the course of the afternoon of the twenty-fourth the 
following articles were signed and the garrison capitulated: 

I. Lieutenant Governor Hamilton engages to 
deliver up to Colonel Clark Fort Sackville as it is at 
present, with all the stores. 

II. The garrison are to deliver themselves as 
prisoners of war and march out with all their arms 
and accoutrements. 

III. The garrison is to be delivered up at ten 
o'clock tomorrow. 

IV. Three days time to be allowed the garrison 
to settle their accounts with the inhabitants and 
traders of this place. 

V. The officers of the garrison to be allowed 
their necessar}- baggage. 

Signed at Post Vincennes, February 24, 1779. 

Agreed for the following reasons — the remoter 
ness from succor, the state and quality of provisions, 



52 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

unanimity of officers and men to its expediency, the 
honorable terms allowed and lastly — the confidence 
in a generous enemy. 

Signed, Henry Hamilton. 
Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent. 

To again quote from the memoirs — *'The business now 
being nearly at an end, troops were posted in several strong 
houses around the garrison and patrolled during the night 
to prevent any deception that might be attempted. Those 
remaining on duty lay on their arms and for the first time in 
many days past got some rest. 

''During the siege I had only one man wounded. Not being 
able to afford to lose man)% I made them secure themselves 
well. Almost every man had conceived a favorable opinion 
of Lieutenant (jovernor Hamilton. I believ^e that whatever 
affected myself made some impression on all of them and I am 
happy to find that he never deviated while he stajed with us 
from the dignity of conduct that became an officer in his situ- 
ation. 

'*The morning of the twenty-fifth approaching, arrange- 
ments were made for receiving the garrison, which consisted 
of seventy-nine men and about ten o'clock it was delivered in 
form and everything was immediately arranged to the best 
advantage. On the twenty-seventh our galley arrived all 
safe. The crew were much mortified that they did not have 
a hand in the fray, although the)^ deserve great credit for 
their diligence. They had on the passage taken up William 
Myres, express from the government. The despatches gave 
us great encouragement. Our battalion was to be completed 
and an additional one to be expected in the spring. On the 
day after the surrender of the British garrison, I sent a de- 
tachment of sixt}' men up the Wabash to intercept some boats 
which were laden with provisions and goods from Detroit. 
The detachment under the command of Captain Helm, Major 
BovSserone and Major Legras, proceeded up the river in three 
armed boats about one hundred and twenty miles, where the 
British boats, seven in number were surprised and captured 
without firing a gun. These boats had on board about ten 



• PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. S3 

thousand pounds worth of goods and provisions and were 
manned by about forty men, among whom was Phillip De- 
jean, a magistrate of Detroit. The provision was taken for 
the public and the goods divided among the soldiers, except 
about eight hundred pounds worth to clothe the troops we 
expected to receive in a short time. This was very agree- 
able to the soldiers as I told them the state should pay them 
in money proportionate to the time of service and they had a 
great plenty of goods. The quantity of public goods added 
to all of those belonging to the traders of Post Vincennes 
that had been taken by the British and surrendered to us, was 
very considerable. The whole was divided among the soldiers, 
except some Indian medals that were kept in order to be al- 
tered for public use. The officers received nothing except a 
few articles of clothing that they stood in need of. 

**We yet found ourselves uneasy. The number of priso- 
ners we had taken added to those of the garrison was so great 
when compared to our own numbers, that we were at a loss 
how to dispose of them so as not to interfere with our future 
operations. On the seventh of March, Captains Williams and 
Rogers, set out by water with a party of twenty-five men to 
conduct the British officers to Kentucky and to further weaken 
the prisoners, eighteen privates were sent with them. After 
their arrival at the Falls of the Ohio, Captain Rogers had 
instructions to superintend their route to Williamsburg, to 
furnish them with all the necessary supplies on the way and 
to wait the orders of the Gk)vernor. A company of volunteers 
from Detroit, composed mostly of young men, was drawn up, 
and while contemplating the trip to a strange coimtry, they 
were told that we were happy to learn that many of them had 
been torn from their fathers and mothers and forced to go on 
this expedition and that others, ignorant of the true cause of 
the contest, had enlisted from a principle that actuated a 
great number of men, namely, that of being fond of enterprise. 
We told them that they now had a good opportunity to make 
themselves fully acquainted with the nature of the war, 
which they might explain to their friends and as we knew 
that by sending them to the states where they would be con- 



54 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. ' 

fined in jails, probably /or the course of the war, would make 
a great number of^-their friends in Detroit unhappy, we had 
thought proper for their sake to suffer them to return home. 
They were discharged on taking an oath not to bear arms 
against the Americans until exchanged. They were furnish- 
ed with arms, boats and provision. Many others that we 
could trust we suffered to enlist in the army, so that our 
charge of prisoners was much reduced." 

The hardships and great exposure endured b}^ Clark and 
his men in the terrible march from Kaskaskia through the 
floods of the Wabash and the suffering for the want of food 
endured by them was almost beyond endurance; but the ex- 
citing times attending the battle and the great victor)^ won by 
them, cured all their ills and they were as happ}^ and cheerful 
as if they had spent their time in comfortable barracks. Of 
that march and victory John Randolph who so aptly called 
Clark **The Hannibal of the West," says — *'The march of the 
great man, Clark, and his brave companions in arms across 
the drowned lands of the Wabash, does not shrink from a 
comparison with the passage of the Thrasymeneus marsh. 
The mere battle of St. Vincent dwindles in the propor- 
tions of a mote compared with that of Thrasymeneus 
but it was the turning point which probably settled the pos- 
session at the peace of Paris of a territory vastly larger than 
that of all Italy, which was the stake between the Carthagin- 
ians and the Romans. The Carthaginians won the battle but 
lost the stake. Clark won both. If Hannibal was four days and 
four nights in the Clusian marsh in summer, the Virginians 
were five days in the winter torrents of the Wabash. Clark 
underwent all the hardships of his men, wading the floods, 
encouraging them to follow — Hannibal waded the marsh on 
the back of his war elephant." 

In speaking of what followed the capture of Post Vin- 
cennes, Clark continues — "I had )et sent no message to the 
Indian tribes, wishing to see what effect all this would have 
on them. The Piankashaws being of the tribe of Tobacco's 
Son were always familiar with us. Part of the behavior of 
this Grandee, as he viewed himself, was diverting enough. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 55 

He had conceived such an inviolable attachment for Captain 
Helm, that on finding the Captain was a prisoner and not 
being as )'et able to release him he declared himself a prisoner 
also. He joined his brother as he called him and kept contin- 
ually condoling their situation as prisoners in great distress, 
at the same time wanting nothing that was in the power 
of the garrison to furnish. Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, 
knowing the influence of Tobacco's Son, was extremely jealous 
of his behavior and took every pains to gain him by presents. 
When anything was presented to him his reply would be that it 
would serve him and his brother to live on. He would not 
enter into council saying that he was a prisoner and had 
nothing to say but was in hopes that when the grass grew 
his brother, the Big Knife, would release him and when he 
was free he could talk. In short, they could do nothing with 
him and the moment he heard of our arrival he paraded all 
the warriors he had in his village joining Post Vincennes and 
was ready to fall in and attack the fort, but for reasons for- 
merly mentioned he was desired to desist. 

*'On the fifteenth of March, 1779, a party of upper Pian- 
kashaws and some Pottawattamie and Miami chiefs made 
their appearance, making great protestations of their attach- 
ment to the Americans, begging that they might be taken in 
under the cover of our wings, that the roads through the land 
might be made straight, all the stumbling blocks might be re- 
moved and that our friends and neighboring nations might also 
be considered in the same point of view. I well knew from what 
principle all this sprang. As I had Detroit now in my eye, 
it was. m)' business to take a straight and clear road for my- 
self to walk in without thinking much of their interest, or 
an)'thing else but that of opening the road in earnest, by flat- 
tery, deception or any other means that occurred. I told them 
that I was glad to see them and was happy to learn that most 
of the nations on the Wabash and Maumee rivers had proved 
themselves to be men by adhering to the treaties they had made 
with the Big Knife last fall, except a few weak minded that had 
been deluded by the English to come to war. I did not Jcnow, I 
said, exactly who these few were nor much cared but under- 



56 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

stood they were a band chiefly composed of almost all the 
tribes. Such people were to be found among all nations but 
as the sort of people who had the meanness to sell their coun- 
try for a shirt, were not worthy of the attention of warriors, 
we would not say more about them and think on subjects 
more becoming to us. I told them that I should let the Great 
Council of America know of their good behavior and that 
they would be counted as friends of the Big Knife and would 
always be under their protection and their country secured to 
them as the Big Knife had land enough and did not want 
any more, but if ever they broke their faith, the Big Knife 
would never again trust them, as they never held friendship 
with people that they found with two hearts. They were wit- 
nesses of the calamities the British had brought on their 
countries by their false assertions and their presents which 
was proof of their weakness. They could see, we told them, 
that their boasted valor was like to fall to the ground and 
they would not come out of the fort the other day to try to 
save the Indians that they flattered to war and suffered them 
to be killed in their sight. As the nature of the war had 
been fully explained them last fall, they might clearly see 
that the Great Spirit would not suffer it to be otherwise and 
that it was not only the case on the Wabash but everywhere 
else. We assured them that the nations who would continue 
obstinately to believe the English would be driven out of the 
land and their countries given to those who were more steady 
friends to the Americans. We further told them that we ex- 
pected for the future that if any of our people should be going 
to war through their country they would be protected which 
should always be the case of their people when among us and 
that mutual confidence should continue to exist. 

**They replied that from what they had seen and heard, 
they were convinced that the Master of Life had a hand in 
all things, that their people would rejoice on their return and 
that they would take pains to diffuse what they had heard 
through all the nations and made no doubt of the good effect 
of it. After a long speech in the Indian style calling all the 
spirits to witness, they concluded by renewing the chain of 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 5T 

friendship, smoking the sacred pipe and exchanging belts 
and, I believe, went off really well pleased but not able to^ 
fathom the bottom of all they had heard. The greatest part 
of it was mere political lies. Captain Shelby, afterward, with 
his own copipany only, lay for a considerable time in a Wea 
town in the heart of their country and was treated in the 
most friendly manner by * all the nations that he saw. He 
was frequently invited by them to join and plunder what was 
called the King's pasture at Detroit, meaning to steal horses 
from that settlement. Things now being pretty well ar- 
ranged. Lieutenant Richard Brashear was appointed to the 
command of the garrison which consisted of Lieutenants 
Baley and Chaplain, with forty picked men; Captain Leonard 
Helm, commandant of the town, superintendent of the Indian 
affairs; Moses Henry, Indian agent, and Patrick Kennedy, 
quartermaster. 

**Givingnecessary instructions to all persons that I left in 
oflSce, I set sail, on the twentieth of March, on board our 
galley which was now made perfectly complete, attended by 
five armed boats and seventy men. The water being very 
high we soon reached the Mississippi, the winds favoring us. 
In a few days we arrived at Kaskaskia to the great joy of 
our new friends. Captain Greorge and company waiting to re- 
ceive us. On our journey up the Mississippi we had observed 
several Indian camps which appeard to be fresh but had been 
left in great confusion. This we could not account for but 
were soon informed that a few days past a party of Delaware 
warriors came to town and appeared to be very impudent. In 
the evening, having been drinking they said they had come 
there for scalps and would have them and flashed a gun at 
the breast of an American woman present. A sergeant and 
party at that moment passing the house saw the confusion 
and rushed in. The Indians immediately fled and the ser- 
geant pursued and killed them. A party was instantly sent 
to rout the camps on the river, this being executed the day 
before we came and being the sign we had seen. 

**Part of the Delaware nation had settled at the fork of 
White river and hunted in the countries on the Ohio and 



58 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Mississippi. The}' had, on our first arrival, hatched up a 
sort of peace with us but I alwa)'s knew the)' were for open 
war but never before could get a proper excuse for extermin- 
ating: them from the countr)- which I knew thej' were loath 
to leave. All the other Indians wished them awa)- as they 
were g:reat hunters and killed their game. A few da3S after 
this Captain Helm informed me bj' express that a part)' of 
traders who were going by land to the falls of the Ohio, were 
killed and plundered by the Delaware Indians on White river. 
It appeared that their designs were altogether hostile as they 
had received a belt from the Great Council of their nation. 
I was sorry for the loss of our men but otherwise pleased at 
what had happened as it gave me an opportunity of showing 
the other Indians the horrid fate of those who would dare to 
make war on the Big Knife and to excel them in barbarity I 
knew was the only way to make war and gain a name among 
the Indians. I immediately sent orders to Post Vincennes to 
make war on the Delawares, to use every means in their 
power to destroy them, to show no kind of mercy to the men 
but to spare the women and children. This order was ex- 
ecuted without delay. Their camps were attacked in every 
quarter where they could be found. Many fell and others 
were brought to Post V'incennes and put to death. The wo- 
men and children were secured. They immediately applied 
for a reconciliation but were informed that I had ordered the 
war and my people dare not lay down their tomahawks with- 
out permission from me, but if the Indians were agreed, no 
more blood should be spilled until an express should go to 
^Kaskaskia, which was immediately sent. I refused to make 
peace with the Delawares and let them know we never trust- 
ed those who had once violated their faith, but if they had a 
mind to be quiet they might, if they could get any of their 
neighboring Indians to be security for their good behavior. 
I informed them I would let them alone but that I cared very 
little about it. 

* 'Privately directing Captain Helm how to manage, a 
council was called of all the Indians of the neighborhood and 
my answer was made public. The Piankashaws took it on 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 59 

themselves to answer for the future good conduct of the 
Delawares and the Tobacco's Son in a length)' speech in- 
formed them of the baseness of their conduct and how richly 
they had deserved the blow they had met with. He had 
given them permission to settle that country but not to kill 
his friends. They now knew, he said, that the Big Knife 
had refused to make peace with them but that he (Tobacco's 
Son) had become security for their good conduct and they 
might go and mind their hunting but if they ever did any 
more mischief — he did not finish but pointed to the sacred 
bow that he held in his hand as much as to say that he him- 
self would in the future, chastise them. Thus ended the war 
between us and the Delawares in this quarter, much to our 
advantage, as the nations present said we were as brave as 
Indians and not afraid to put an enemy to death." 

After the great achievments accomplished by Clark in 
reducing the forts on the Mississippi, capturing Vincennes 
and permanently establishing the Americans in control of all 
tha^t portion of the Northwest territory from whence the 
raids were made up and started that were so disastrous to 
the scattered settlements on the borders of Kentucky south 
of the Ohio river; and after making treaties with the Indians 
at which he had no equal, the culminating feat that this hero 
wished to accomplish was to capture Detroit. That would 
have put a finishing stroke to the intrigues of the British 
agents around the great lakes, with the Indians. The ac- 
complishing of this would not hav^e been attended with half 
the hardships that he and his army had undergone. The 
French and half-breeds would all have been his allies and he 
would have had the influence of the lower Wabash Indians 
whom he had won over and who could have been controlled 
to aid him in pacifying the other Indians farther up the 
Wabash. Considering the favorable situation he was in, it 
is reasonable to suppose that he ivould have captured Detroit 
and brought all that section under the control of the Ameri- 
cans. The accomplishment of this great achievement, how- 
ever, was not to be. Virginia, at that time, was having 
many hurried calls for troops to aid the army in other quart- 



60 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ers and the continental money had become so depreciated that 
it was worth next to nothing. Probably other military as- 
pirants were jealous of the great renown that Clark had won 
and were lukewarm in their support of any measure that 
would give the needed help to carry forward the enterprise 
that would still further have added to his heroic record. 
Clark returned to the Falls of the Ohio in the last of the sum- 
mer of 1779. As he had ordered, the garrison that he had 
left on Corn Island had already moved to Louisville and had 
built a stockade. He busied himself with the affairs for the 
defense of the country, having a general supervision over the 
country around the Falls and the territory he had captured^ 
Clark had the honor of being the founder of the city of Louis- 
ville. A well informed historian of that city says — **To 
Clark belongs the honor of founding that city as clearly as- 
does the glory of capturing Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vin- 
cennes." 

Soon after his return from his great victory he drew a 
plan of the proposed town of Louisville and made a map of 
the public and private divisions of the land as he thought 
they ought to be established. This map is still preserved 
and shows the wonderful sagacity of General Clark. During 
the time from 1779 to 1781 he was busy with various military 
operations. One of these was building Fort Jefferson on the 
Mississippi river, four miles below the mouth of the Ohio. 
This probabl}'^ (though sanctioned by Jefferson and the Vir- 
ginia legislature) was a mistake as it brought on a war with 
the southern Indians. A Scotchman named Colbert organ- 
ized the Choctaw and Cherokee Indians and with one thous- 
and warriors attacked the fort. They lay for several days 
beseiging it but in a night attack were repulsed with consid- 
erable loss. General Clark, coming to its relief, the siege 
was raised and the Indians went back to their towns. There 
were a great many raids by the Indians, some of them com- 
manded by British ofl&cers on our frontier. Many small bat- 
tles were fought between the marauders and the Americans, 
with about equal damage to the two parties. 

There was a loud call for volunteers to fight the invaders* 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 61 

and carry the war into their own country. Clark was put at 
the head of this expedition against Detroit. He was at the 
Falls of the Ohio, repaired to Fort Pitt and made every ef- 
fort to secure volunteers but met with many disappoint- 
ments. Finally he started down the river with four hundred 
men and in a few days was followed by Colonel Archibald 
Lochry with something over one hundred men. One place of 
general rendezvous was at Wheeling, Virginia. Clark waited 
five days and as he had met with so many disappointments, 
concluded this was another and that Colonel Lochry had de- 
cided not to go on the expedition. In this he was unfortu- 
nately mistaken. Colonel Lochry coming to Wheeling found 
that Clark was gone and decided to follow on. On the 24th 
of August, 1781, Colonel Lochry ordered the boats to land on 
the Indiana shore about ten miles below the Miami river and 
at the mouth of Lochry creek, the line between Dearborn- 
and Ohio counties, to cook provisions and cut grass for their 
horses. 

Tradition has it that a hunting party which had been 
sent out to secure meat had killed a buffalo a little distance 
in the woods and the troops had landed to cook and prepare 
the meat and graze their horses, when they were fired on 
by a party of Indians that were in ambush not far from the 
bank. They took to their boats expecting to cross the river 
and were fired on by another party of Indians from the other 
shore. The Indians in large numbers swarmed on both banks 
of the river, waded into the shallow water and attacked the 
boats, killing forty of the men and capturing the rest. The 
Colonel and a number of his men were murdered after they 
had surrendered' This was a severe blow to all who were on 
that ill-fated expedition and all hope of a successful campaign 
againstDetroit was lost. 

Clark marched from Louisville overland, along the old 
Indian trace to Vincennes. On arriving there he found every- 
thing in a bad way. The greatest cause of all the trouble 
was the depreciation of the Colonial currency. Clark is ac- 
cused of drinking very hard at this time and many of his men 
deserted. 



62 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

During: the winter of 1782 Great Brittain and the United 
Stales made their provincial treaty of peace and ag*reed to a 
cessation of hostilities. In consequence of this there was a 
period of rest along our frontiers during the years 1783, *84 
and -85. During this period there was a determined effort 
made to secure treaties with the tribes of Indians north and 
northwest of the Ohio. Some of them accepted the offers of 
peace proffered by the treaties. The majority of the Indians 
were determined not to give up their lands north of the Ohio 
river. The Americans >vere as determined to settle that sec- 
tion. The Indians formed themselves into a great Northern 
confederacy; nearly all the Indians joining in this movement 
and being led by many of their greatest chiefs. There was 
a continual warfare and there was but liiile emigration of 
Americans into ihat section for a dozen years. In 1783 Gen- 
•eral Clark was dismissed from the service, or more properly 
speaking, he was let out of the service of Virfj^inia. There 
was no mone}' to pay for anything and the authorities of that 
state in a spasm of retrenchment did this ungrateful act 
without considering the great service this fearless hero had 
done for them. On that occasion Benjamin Harrison, the 
Governor of V'irginia. wrote lo General ^lark a letter which 
contained the following passage:— "The conclusion of the 
war and the distressed situation of our stale with respect lo 
its finances calls on us to adopt the most prudent economy. 
It is for this reason alone that I have come to the determina- 
tion to give over all thought for the present of carr.ving on 
an offensive war against the I.idiatis. which you will easily 
perceive will render the service of ger eral ofiicers in that 
quarter unnecessary. You will, therefore, consider yourself 
out of command, but before I take leave of you. I feel called 
upon, in the most forcible manner to return 3'ou my thanks 
and the thanks of the Jouncil for the v^ery great and singular 
service you have rendered your country in wresting so great 
and valuable a territory out of the hands of the British enemy, 
repelling the attacks of their savage allies and carrying on a 
successful war in the heart of their country-. This tribute of 
praise and thanks so justly due I am happy to commu- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 63 

nicate to you as the united Voice of the Executive — '* 
General Clark was out of the service but when trouble 
came with the Indians in 1786 there was no one to lake his 
place. In this 3^ear they were upon the war-path and mur- 
dered a good many white persons, some of these taking place 
around Vincennes and others in the new settlement being- 
made near Clarksville. A strong military force was raised in 
Kentucky for the purpose of attacking the Indians on the 
Wabash. About one thousand men under the command of 
General George Rogers Clark marched from the Falls of the 
Ohio for Post Vincennes and arrived in the neighborhood of 
that place early in the month of October where the)^ la)^ in 
camp for several days wailing ihe arrival of some militarj^ 
stores and provisions which had been shipped on keel boats 
from Louisville and ClarkvSville. When ihe boats arrived at 
Post Vincennes, it was found that most of the provision was 
spoiled and that part which had been brought with the com- 
mand overland was almost exhausted. These misfortunes 
soon made a spirit of discontent which daily increased. The 
Kentuck}' troops having been reinforced by a number at Post 
Vincennes, were ordered to move up the Wabash river toward 
the Indian towns which lay in the vicinity of the ancient post 
of Ouiatenon. The people of these towns had learned of the 
approach of the Kentuckians and had selected the place 
among the defiles of Pine creek for an ambuscade. On reach- 
ing the neighborhood of the Vermillion riv^er it was found 
that the Indians had deserted their village on that stream 
near its junction with the Wabash. At this crisis, when the 
spirits of the officers and men were depressed by disappoint- 
ment, hunger and fatigue, some person circulated through 
the camp a rumor that General Clark had sent a flag of truce 
to the Indians with the offer of peace or war. This rumor 
combined with the lamentable change which had taken place 
in the once temperate, energetic and commanding character 
of Clark, excited among the troopers a spirit of insubordina- 
tion which neither the command nor entreaties, nor the tears 
of the General, could subdue. At that encampment, about 
three hundred men in a body, left the army and proceeded on 



i64 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

their way homeward. The remainder of the troops under the 
command of (Jeneral Clark, then abandoned the expedition 
and returned to Post Vincennes. 

In this same month of October a board composed of field 
officers in the Wabash expedition, met in council at Post 
Vincennes and unanimousl)' agreed that a garrison at that 
place would be of essential service to tlie district of Kentucky 
and that supplies might be had in the district more than sui^ 
ficient for. their support, b)^ impressment or otherwise, under 
the direction of a commissary to be appointed for that pur- 
pose, pursuant to the authority invested in the field officers 
•of the district by the executive of Virginia. The same board 
appointed John Craig, Jr., a commissary of purchase and re- 
solved that one field officer and two hundred and fifty men, 
-exclusive of a company of artillery, commanded by Captain 
Dalton, be recruited to garrison the Post and that Colonel 
John Holder be appointed to command the troops in this ser- 
vice in order to carry these resolutions into effect. General 
Clark, who as8umed the supreme direction of the corps, be- 
gan to levy recruits, appoint officers and impress provision 
for the support of a garrison at Post Vincennes. He sent 
messengers to the Indian tribes that lived on the borders of 
the Wabash and invited these tribes to meet him in Council 
at Clarksville on the 20Lh of November, 1786, and make a 
treaty of peace and friendship. The chiefs of the different 
bands sent word to General Clark that they were willing to 
meet him in council, not at Clarksville but at Pjst Vincennes. 
The following is an extract from their answer — 



4.' 



My elder Brother: — Thou ought to know the 
place we have been accustomed to speak at. It is at 
Post Vincennes. There our chiefs are laid; there 
our ancestors bed is and that of our father, the 
French and not at Clarksville where 3'ou require us 
to meet you. We don't know such a place, but at 
Post Vincennes where we always went when necess- 
ary to hold council. My elder Brother, thou inform- 
est me I must meet you at the place I have mentioned 
yet thou seest, my Brother, that the season is far ad- 
vanced and that I would not have time to invite my 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 65 

■A 

allies to come to your council, which we pray you to 
hold at Post Vincennes." 

In replying to this message and to other communications 
of similar nature Greneral Clark said — 

'*I propose the last of April, 1787, for the grand 
council to be held at this place, Post Vincennes, 
where I expect all those who are inclined to open 
the road will appear and we can soon discover what 
the Deity means." 

For a long period after Greneral Clark was let out of the 
service of Virginia, he was called upon by the United States 
to act as a Commissioner in almost all the treaties made be- 
tween the United States and the Indians. 

There is an amusing story related about the treaty of 
Fort Mackintosh on the Ohio river in 1785. The great Chief 
of the Delawares, Buckongehelas, was present and took part 
ia the treaty. After the other chiefs had addressed the 
United States Commisssioners who were Grenerals Greorge 
Rogers Clark, Arthur Lee and Richard Butler, Buckongehelas 
arose and not noticing Lee or Butler, went to Greneral Clark 
and took him by the hand saying — ''I thank the Great Spirit 
for having this day brought together two such great warriors 
as Buckongehelas and General Clark." This may have shown 
too much self-appreciation on the part of this great Indian, 
but it was recorded that he possessed all the qualities of a 
great man and never violated a treaty nor an engagement. 

On the last day of January, 1785, General Clark, Richard 
Butler and Samuel Parsons were appointed United States 
Commissioners to negotiate a treaty with the Shawnees and 
other Indians. At this treaty an incident occurred that 
showed Clark's fearless character and was a striking instance 
of his ascendancy over the minds oi the Indians and also 
showed the characteristics which gave him that ascendancy. 
The Indians came to the treaty at Fort Washington in a 
most friendly manner, except the Shawnees, the most con- 
ceited and warlike of the aborigines — '*the first at the battle 
and the last at the treaty." Three hundred of their finest 
warriors set off in all their paint and feathers filed into the 



66 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

council house. Their number and demeanor so unusual at 
an occasion of this sort was altogether unexpected and sus- 
picious. The United States stockade mustered seventy men. 
In the center of the hall at a little table, sat the Com- 
missioners, one of them General Clark, the indefatigable 
scourge of these very marauders, also General Butler, Mr. 
Parsons and a Captain Denny being present. On the part of 
the Indians an old councilsachem and a war chief took the 
lead. The latter, a tall, raw-boned fellow with an impudent 
and a villainous look, made a boisterous and threatening 
speech which operated effectively on the passions of the 
Indians who set up a prodigious whoop at every pause. He 
concluded by presenting a black and white wampum to sig- 
nify that they were prepared for either event, peace or war. 
Clark exhibited the same unaliering and careless countenance 
he had shown during the whole scene, his head leaning on 
his left hand, his elbow resting on the table. He raised his 
little cane and pushed the sacred wampum off the table witli 
very little ceremony. Every Indian at the same time started 
from his seat with one of those sudden simultaneous and pe- 
culiarly savage sounds which startles and disconcerts the 
stoutest hearts and can neither be described nor forgotten. At 
this juncture Clark arose, the scrutinizing eye cowered at his 
glance. He stamped his foot on the prostrating and insult- 
ing symbol and ordered the Shawnees to leave the hall. 
They did so apparently involuntaril)' and were heard all 
night debating in the bushes near the fort. The raw-boned 
Chief was for war and the old Sachem for peace. The laiier 
prevailed and the next morning ihe}' came back and ^ued for 
peace. 

General Clark no doubt had faults — all men do but his 
heart was in his work and everything he accomplished was 
for the adv^ancemeni of the interest of the Country he loved 
so well. He was ever ready to risk his life for it and its peo- 
ple. No man who was acquainted with the facts of General 
Clark's business affairs with the United States ever offered a 
doubt as to his integrity. His only fault was intemperance 
which ruined him. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 67 

In the earl)" nineties when the Indians had become very 
troublesome throughout the Northwest, there was great need 
of a competent commander who understood the Indians and 
Indian warfare. Many turned to Clark's record and longed 
for such another man. Thomas Jefferson wrote Mr. Innis, 
of Kentucky — "Will it not be possible for you to bring General 
Clark forward? I know the greatness of his mind and am the 
more mortified at the cause that obscures it. Had not this 
unhappily taken place there was nothing he might not have 
hoped. Could it be surmounted his lost ground might yet be 
recovered. No man alive rated him higher than I did and 
would again were he to become once more what I knew him." 

It is not too much to say that, had it not been for Gen- 
eral Clark, all the Northwest Territory, at least would have 
been in the hands of the British at the close of the Revolu- 
tionary war and would have become British property. At 
the treaty of Paris it was hard work to hold it. P^rance and 
Spain were opposed to the boundary of the United Slj tes 
coming west of the Alleghanj" mountains or at most they be- 
lieved that the land between the Ohio and the Cumberland 
rivers should be all the possession they should hold west of the 
mountains. Congress, in a spirit of submission, adv'ised our 
three commissioners, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and 
John Jay, to take no step without the knowledge and consent of 
France. Franklin was inclined to obey these instructions but 
Adams and Jay boldly insisted in disregarding them; conse- 
quently the treaty was made with England without the dic- 
tates of France. 

A few years ago in the State House at Indianapolis, a 
body of men were assembled who have the great blessings 
of a free government with the rich boon of American laws 
and American independence and the liberty of being gov- 
erned by the votes of the people, guaranteed to them by the 
blood of heroism and generalship of the leaders and soldiers 
of the Revolution; and to none, so far as Indiana is concerned, 
do they owe as much as to General George Rogers Clark. 
The question this assembly was considering was — should 
George Rogers Clark have a five thousand dollar monument. 



68 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

The motion was acted upon adversely. This, considering* the 
events that secured the great states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota to the United States by 
the heroism and unparalelled bravery of the same General 
George Rogers Clark, places these law-makers in an unenvia- 
ble light. 

Clark continued to live at his little home in Clarksville 
until 1814 when he moved to his sister's, Mrs. William Crog- 
han, at Locust Grove near Louisville, Kentucky and lived 
there until the day of his death which occurred on the twen- 
ty-third day of February, 1818. His achievements were those 
of a hero and will have but few paralells in our country's 
history. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE TERRITORY CAPTURED BY GENERAL CLARK 

FROM 1779 TO THE ORGANIZATION OF 

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



General Todd's Proclamation — The Court of Vincennes 
— ^Virginia Cedes Northwest Possessions to the 
United States — Town of Clarksville Laid off — 
Deed of Cession — Ordinance of 1787, 



In the year 1779 General John Todd, who had a commis- 
sion as County Lieutenant from the colony of Virginia, came 
to the settlements captured by Clark and, in accordance with 
an act of the Virginia legislature, issued a proclamation con- 
cerning the settlements and titles of the land in the southern 
and western part of what afterward became the Northwest 
Territory. The proclamatio;i read as follows: 

'^ILLINOIS county} To Wit: 

* 'Whereas, From the fertility and beautiful situation of 
the lands bordering on the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois and 
Wabash rivers, the taking up of the usual quantity of land 
heretofore allowed for a settlement by the government of 
Virginia would both injure both the strength and commerce 
of the country — 

*'I Do Therefore issue this proclamation, strictly en- 
joining all persons whatsoever from making any new settle- 
ments upon the flat lands of the said rivers or within one 
league of said lands unless in manner and form of settlements. 



70 r lONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

as heretofore made b}' the French inhabitant, until further 
orders herein given. 

'*And in order that all claims to lands in said county may 
be full}' known and some method provided for perpetuating 
b}' record, the just claims, ever}- inhabitant is required, as 
soon as convenientl}' may be to lay before the person, in each 
district, appointed for ihe purpose, a memorandum of his or 
her land with copies of all their vouchers and where vouch- 
ers have never been given or are Ipst, such depositions or cer- 
tificates as will tend to support their claims; the memorandum 
to mention the quantity of land, to whom originally granted 
and when; deducing the title through the various occupants, 
to the present possessor. The number of adventurers who 
will shortly over-run this country renders the above method 
necessar}', as well to ascertain the vacant lands as to guard 
against trespasses which will probably be committed on 
lands not on record. 

"Given under m}- hand and seal at Kaskaskia, the 15th 
of June in the third year of the Commonwealth. 1779. 

(Signed; John Todd, Jr." 

For the preservation of peace and the administration of 
of justice, a court of civil and criminal jurisdiction was or- 
ganized at Vincennes in June, 1779. The court was com- 
posed of several magistrates. Colonel J. M. P. Legrass, who 
had received the appointment of Commander of the Post Vin- 
cennes, acted as the president of , this new court and exercised 
a controlling influence over the proceedings. Following after 
the usages of the earl}- commanders of the French posts in 
the west, the magistrates of the court at Vincennes com- 
menced to grant tracts of land to the French and American 
inhabitants of the town and to the officers, both civil and mil- 
itary, of the county. The court assumed the power of grant- 
ing lands to all applicants and at the end of the year 1783 
there had been twenty-six thousand acres granted. From 
1783 to '87, when General J^armor stopped the granting of 
land by the Vincennes court, there had been twenty-two 
thousand acres more granted b}^ that court to individual ap- 
plicants. The commander of the post and the magistrates 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 71 

over whom he presided, formed the opinion that they were 
invested with the authority of all the land in that region 
which had in 1742 been granted by the Piankashaw Indians 
to the inhabitants of Post Vincennes for their use. Accord- 
ingly, an arrangement was made by this greed)' court where- 
by the whole country in which the Indian title was supposed 
to be extinguished was divided between the members of the 
court and orders to that effect were put on record. In order 
to have the appearance of modesty each member of the court 
absented himself on the day the order was to be made in his 
favor. 

At the close of the Revolutionarv War the United States 
was deeply in debt and without any resources to pay with 
except what could be derived from the sale of lands west of 
the Alleghany Mountains. The title of this domain was 
claimed by a number of the colonies and states as their char- 
ters extended their limits to any land acquired on their west. 
Virginia set up a special claim on account of her conquest 
and the retaining of posessions through Greneral George 
Rogers Clark to all the land of the Northwest Territory. To 
this the other states demurred and said that as they all joined 
together for a common defense, that whatever was gained by 
conquest should be shared equally by all. There was so much 
justice in this that Virginia deeded her northwest possessions 
to the United States. 

By an act of the seventh of January, 1781,"the General As-' 
sembly of Virginia resolved that on certain conditions they 
would cede to Congress, for the benefit of the United States, 
all the right, title and claim which Virginia had to the terri- 
tory northwest of the River Ohio. Congress, by an act of the 
13th of September, 1783, agreed to accept the cession of the ter- 
ritory and the General Assembly of Virginia on the 20th of 
December, the same year, passed an act authorizing their del- 
egates in Congress to convey to the United States, the right, 
title and claim of Virginia to the lands northwest of the 
River Ohio. 

In October, 1783, the General Assembly of Virginia 
passed an act laying off the town of Clarksville at the Falls 



72 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

of the Ohio in the county of Illinois. The act provided that 
the lots of half an acre each should be sold at public auction 
for the best price that could be obtained. The purchasers 
were to hold their lots subject to the condition of building on 
them within three years of. the date of sale, a dwelling* 
house, twenty feet by eighteen with a brick or stone chimney. 
William Fleming, John Edwards, John Campbell, Walker 
Daniel, George R. Clark, Abraham Chaplin, John Mont- 
gomery, John Bailey, Robert Todd and William Clark were, 
by the act of the assembly, constituted trustees for the town 
of Clarksville. 

On the first day of March, 1784, Thomas Jefferson, Sam- 
uel Hardy, Arthur Lee and James Monroe, delegates in con- 
gress on the part of Virginia, executed a deed of cession by 
which they deeded to the United States, on certain conditions, 
all the right, title and claim of Virginia to the country north- 
west the River Ohio. The deed contained the following con- 
ditions — '*The territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed 
into states containing a suitable amount of territory, not less 
than one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty miles 
square or as near that amount as circumstances will admit 
and the states so formed shall be distinct Republican states 
and admitted members of the Federal Union having the same 
rights of sovereignty, freedom and independence as the other 
states. The necessary and reasonable expenses incurred by 
Virginia in subduing any British post or in maintaining forts 
and garrisons for the defense or in acquiring any part of the 
territory that is here ceded and relinquished, shall be fully 
reimbursed by the United States. The French and Canadian 
inhabitants and other settlers of Kaskaskia, Post Vincennes 
and the neighboring villages who have professed themselves 
citizens of Virginia shall have their possessions and titles 
confirmed to them and be protected in the enjoyment of their 
rights and liberties. A quantity not exceeding one hundred 
and fifty thousand acres of land, promised by Virginia, shall 
be allowed and granted to the then Colonel and now General, 
George Rogers Clark and to the officers and soldiers of his 
regiment who marched with him when the posts of Kaskas- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 7^ 

kia and Vincennes were reduced and to the oflScers and soK 
diers who have since been incorporated into the said regi-^ 
ment; to be laid ofiF in one tract the length of which shall 
not exceed double the breadth, in such a place on the north- 
west side of the Ohio as a majority of the officers shall choose 
and to be afterward divided among the officers and soldiers, 
in due proportion according to the laws of Virginia. In case 
the quantity of good lands on the southeast side of the Ohio on 
the waters of the Cumberland river, between Green river and 
Tennessee river which have been reserved by law for the Vir- 
ginia troops upon continental establishment, should, from the 
North Carolina line, bearing in farther on the Cumberland, 
lands than was expected, prove insufficient for their legal 
bounties, the deficiency shall be made up to the said troops in 
good lands to be laid off between the River Scioto and Little 
Miami river on the northwest side of the River Ohio in such 
proportions as has been engaged to them by the laws of Vir- 
ginia. 

'*A11 the lands within the territory so ceded to the 
United States and not reserved for or appropriated to any of 
the before mentioned purposes or disposed of in bounties to 
the officers and soldiers of the American army, shall be con- 
sidered as common funds for the use and benefits of such of 
the United States as have become or shall become, members 
of the confederation of Federal alliances of the said state of 
Virginia inclusive, according to their usual respective propor- 
tions in the general charge and expenditure; and shall be 
faithfully and bonafide disposed of for that purpose and for 
no other use or purpose whatsoever." 

In the spring of 1784, after the deed of cession had been 
accepted by Congress, the subject of future government of the. 
territory was referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. 
Jefferson, of Virginia, Chase, of Maryland and Howie, of 
Rhode Island. The committee reported an ordinance for the 
government for the territory northwest of the River Ohio.. 
The ordinance declared that after the year 1800 there should 
be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude otherwise than 
in the punishment of crimes in any of the states to be formed. 



74 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

out of said territor3\ This provision of the ordinance was 
rejected but on the 23rd of April, 1784, Congress, by a series 
of resolutions provided for the maintenance of temporary 
government in the country which the United States had 
acquired northwest of the Ohio. 

Soon after Virginia had deeded her lands northwest of 
the River Ohio to the United States, General Rufus Putnam 
and others organized a Massachusetts Company which had 
for its purpose the purchase of a large bod}' of land in what 
is now the state of Ohio. Continental monej' had become 
very cheap, worth from fifteen to seventeen cents on the dol- 
lar. The Company had secured enough of it to pay for one 
and one-half million acres of land. Reverend Manassa Cut- 
ler, their agent had also intrusted' to his care for other par- 
ties a large amount of this money, in all, enough to purchase 
five and one-half million acres of land. As this would ma- 
terially reduce the national debt, the administration of the 
United States was in favor of it. At that time Massachusetts 
owned the Territor}' of Maine which she was trying to sell 
and was opposed to the opening of the Northwest Territory. 
This put Virginia on her mettle and the South all sided with 
her. Dr. Cutler had come on to New York to lobby for the 
Northwest Territory. The South caught the inspiration and 
rallied around him. Massachusetts was in a peculiar situa- 
tion: she was opposed to the proposition but could not vote 
against it as many of her citizens were largely interested in 
the western purchase. Thus Dr. Cutler was able to command 
the situation. True to the convictions of his heart he dic- 
tated one of the most complete documents of good statesman- 
ship that has ever adorned our law-book. The important sec- 
tion were as follows — 

**1. The exclusion of slavery forever from the Northwest 
Territory. 

**2. Provision for Public Schools. Section No. 16 in 
each township of thirty-six square miles will be retained and 
sold for the benefit of the Public Schools. 

'*3. A provision prohibiting the adoption of any consti- 
tution or the enactment of any law that shall nullify pre-ex- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 75 

isting contracts. Be it forever remembered that this compact 
declares religion, morality and knowledge are necessa^)^ to 
good government and the happiness of mankind and there- 
fore schools and the means of education shall alwaj's be en- 
couraged." 

Dr. Cutler planted himself squarely upon this platform 
and would not )4eld, giving his unquallified declaration that 
it was that or nothing. That unless the holders of the terri- 
tory could make the land desirable they — the purchasers — 
did not want it. 

On the 13th day of July, 1787, the bill was put on its 
passage and was unanimouslj" adopted. Thus the great 
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and 
Minnesota, a might)' empire, were dedicated to freedom, in- 
telligence and moralit)'. 



CHAPTER IV 



The Northwest Territory Organized — Laws Govern- 
ing IT. — Governor St. Clair and the Indians — Mil- 
itia Established and Civil and Military Officers 
Appointed — Laws Adopted at Vincennes — Defeat of 
St. Clair's Army by Indians — General Wayne's Vic- 
tory Near the Maumee — First Territorial Legis- 
lature. 



On the fifth of October, 1787, Major General Arthur St. 
Clair was elected by Cong^ress governor of the territory of the 
United States northwest of the River Ohio. By the first in- 
structions which Governor St. Clair received from Congress 
in 1788 he was authorized and directed — first, to examine 
carefully into the real temper of the Indians. Second — To re- 
move, if possible, all cause of controversy so that peace and 
harmony might be established between the United States and 
the Indian tribes. Third — To regulate trade among the In- 
dians. Fourth — To neglect no opportunity that might oflfer 
of extinguishing the Indian right to land westward as far as 
the River Mississippi and northward as far as the completion 
of the forty-first degree of north latitude. Fifth — To use 
every possible endeavor to ascertain the names of the real 
head men and warriors of the several tribes and to attach 
these men to the United States by every possible means. 
Sixth — To make every exertion to defeat all confederations 
and combinations among the tribes and to conciliate the 
white people inhabitating the frontiers toward the Indians. 

In the month of July, 1788 Governor St. Clair arrived at 
the new town of Marietta at the mouth of the Muskingum 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 77 

river, where he began to organize the government of the 
Northwest Territory in accordance with the provisions of the 
ordinance of 1787. At Marietta, in the county of Washing- 
ton before the close of {be year 1788, the Governor and 
judges of the (Jeneral Court of the Territory — Samuel Hoi* 
■den Parsons, James Mitchel Varnum and John Cleave Simms, 
adopted and published various laws under the following 
titles: 

1. A law for regulating and establishing the militia in 
the territory of the United States northwest of the River 
Ohio. 

2. A law for establishing general courts of the peace of 
•quarter sessions (and therein the powers of single justices); 
and for establishing county courts of common pleas (and 
therein of the power of single judges to hear and determine 
upon small debts and contracts); and also a law for estab- 
lishing the oflSce of sheriff and for the appointment of sher- 
iffs — Published on the 23d of August. 

3. A law establishing a court of probate — Published on 
the 30th of August. 

4. A law for fixing the terms of the general court of 
the territory of the United States, northwest of the River 
Ohio — Published on the 30th of August. This law was made 
in the following words — 

'*The general court for the territory of the 
United States northwest of the River Ohio, shall 
hold pleas civil and criminal at four certain periods 
or terms in each and every year in such counties as 
the judges shall from time to time deem most con- 
ducive to the general good, they giving timely 
notice of the place of their sitting on the first Mon- 
days of February, May, October and December, pro- 
vided, however that but one term be held in any one 
county in a year, and all processes, civil and crim- 
inal, shall be returnable to said court wherever they 
may be in said territorj\ And as circumstances may 
so intervene as to prevent the session of the Court at 
the time and place fixed upon, it shall and may be 
lawful for the Court to adjourn from time to time by 
writ directed to the sheriff of the county and to con- 



7« PIONEEIfc HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

tinue all processes accordinglj'; and in case neither of 
the judges shall aiiend at the time and place afore- 
said and no writ be received by the sheriff, it shall 
be his duly to adjourn the coijrt from day to day dur- 
ing the first six days of the term and then to the 
next term to which all processes shall be continued 
as aforesaid; provided, however, that all issues in 
fact shall be tried in the county where the case of 
action shall have risen." 

5. A law respecting oath of office. Published on the 
2d of September. 

6. A law respecting crimes and punishments. Pub- 
lished on the 6ih of September. By this statute the crimes 
of treason, murder and houseburning in case where death en- 
sues from such burning, were respectively punished by death. 
The crimes of burgalry and robber}' were punishable by 
whipping, not exceeding thirty-nine stripes; fine and im- 
prisonment for any term not exceeding fort}- years. For ihe 
crime of perjury the offender was punishable b}' a fine not ex- 
ceeding sixty dollars or whipping not exceeding thirty-nine 
lashes, disfranchisement and standing in- the pillory for a 
space of time not exceeding two hours. Larceny was pun- 
ished by fine or whipping at the discretion of the court. If 
the convict could not pa}- ihe fine of the court it was lawful 
for the sheriff, b}' the direction of the court to bind such con- 
victs to labor for a term not exceeding seven years to any 
suitable person who could pay such fines. Fo gery was pun- 
ishable by fine and disfranchisement and standing in the pil- 
lory for a space of lime not exceeding three hours. For 
drunkenne s ihe law was as follows: 

"11 arty person shall be convicted of drunken- 
ness befo;e one or more jusiices of ihe peace, the per- 
son so convicted shall be fined for the first offense 
the sum of five dimes and for ever}- succeeding olfense 
upon Conviction the sum of one dollar. In either case 
if the o.fender neglects or refuses to pa}' the fine, he 
shall be set in the stocks for the space of one hour, 
provided, however, ihat complaints .be made to the 
justice or justices within two days after the offense 
shall have been committed. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 79 

''Whereas, idle, vain and and obscene conversa- 
tion; profane cursing: and swearing and more especi- 
all}' the irreverently mentioning, calling upon, or in- 
voking the sacred and Supreme Being b}' an}' of the 
divine characters in which He has graciousl}' conda- 
scended to reveal His infinitely beneficent purpose to 
mankind, are repugnant to every moral sentiment, 
subversive to every civil obligation, inconsistent with 
the ornaments of polished life and abhorrent to the 
principles of the most benevolent religion; 

''It is Expected, Therefore, If crime of this 
kind should exist it will not find encouragement, 
countenance or approbation in this territory. It is 
strictly enjoined on all officers and ministers of jus- 
tice, upon parents and other heads of families and 
upon others of every description, that they abstain 
from practices so vile and irrational and that' by ex- 
ample and precept, to the utmost of their power, 
they prevent the necessity of adopting and publish- 
ing laws with penalties upon this head. 

**And it is Hereby Declared that the govern- 
ment will consider as unworthy its confidence all 
those who may obstinately violate these injunctions. 

"Whereas, mankind in every stage of informed 
society has consecrated certain portions of time to 
the particular cultivation of social vinues and the 
public adoration and worship of the Common Parent - 
of the Universe, and whereas a practice so rational 
in itself and conformable to the divine precepts is 
greatly conducive to civilization as well as lo moral- 
ity and piety; and whereas for the advancement of 
such important and interesting purpose, most of the 
Christian world has set apart the first day of the 
week as a day of rest from conimon labor a id pursuits; 

'*It is Hekeby Therefore Enjoined that all 
servile labor, works of necessity and charit}' only ex- 
cepted, be wholly abstained from on said day." 

7. A law regulating ma rlages. The third e:iion of 
this law was as follows: 

'^Previously to persons being joined in marriage 
as aforesaid, the intention of the parties shall be 
made known by the publishing of the same for the 
space of fifteen days at the leasi, e'ther by the same 
being publiclv and openly declared three several Sun- 



m PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

days, holy day days or other days of public worship 
in the meeting in the towns where the parties res- 
pectively belong" or by publication in writing* under 
the hands and seal of one of the judges before men- 
tioned or of a justice of the peace within the county, 
to be afiSxed in some public place in the town where- 
in the parties respectively dwell or a license shall be 
obtained of the Governor under his hand and seal, 
authorizing the marriage of the parties without pub- 
lication as is in this law before required." 

8. A law in addition to a law entitled — *'A law for 
regulating and establishing the militia in the territory of the 
River Ohio." Published on the 23rd of November. 

9. A law appointing coroners. Published on the 21st 
of December. 

10. A law limiting the time of commencing civil action 
and instituting criminal prosecutions. 

After the session of the court of Marietta was concluded 
and the laws for the government of the Territory passed. 
Governor St. Clair, accompanied -by the judges, made a visit 
to the western part of his Territory for the purpose of organ- 
izing a civil government. Before this he had sent instruc- 
tions to Major Hamtramck, the Commander at Vincennes, 
directing him, through the agency of friendly Indians that 
were well known among the Piankashaws, to find out all he 
could about the Indian tribes along the Wabash. He accom- 
panied this instruction with a speech for each of the tribes 
which the Major sent to them by Antoine Gamelin, a French- 
man, as a special envoy who understood the language of 
nearly all the tribes of Indians on the Wabash. Gamelin's 
wife was the daughter of the head chief of the Ouiatenons 
and through that influence it was hoped that his mission 
would be successful. 

Gamelin visited many tribes of Indians and after friendly 
council with them, delivered the speeches. In his route he 
went as far eastward as the Miami village of Kekionga which 
stood where Ft. Wayne now stands. Gamelin's report will 
best show the disposition of the Indians toward the Ameri- 
cans. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 81 

*'The first village I arrived at," says Gamelin, **is called 
Kikapouguoi. The name of the chief of this village is 
called Les Jambes Croches. He and his tribe have a good 
heart and accepted the speech. The second village is at the 
River Vermillion, called Piankashaw. The first chief and all 
the warriors were well pleased with the speech concerning 
peace but they said they could not give presently a proper 
answer, before they consulted the Miami nation, their eldest 
brethren. They desired me to proceed to the Miami town, 
Kekionga,"and when coming back let them know what recep- 
tion I got from them. The said head chief told me that he 
thought the nations of the lake had a bad heart and were ill- 
disposed for the Americans and that the speeches would not be 
received particularly by the Shawnees at Miamitown. On the 
■eleventh of April I reached a tribe of the Kickapoos. The 
head chief and all the warriors being assembled, I gave them 
two branches of white wampum, with the speeches of His 
Excellency, Arthur St. Clair, and those of Major Hamtramck. 
It must be observed that the speeches had been in another hand 
before mine. The messengers could not proceed further than 
the Vermillion on account of some private wrangle between 
the interpreter and some chief men of the tribes. Moreover 
something in the speech displeased them very much; it was 
that portion included in the third article which says— *I do 
now make you the offer of peace — accept it or reject it as you 
please.' These words seemed to displease all tribes to whom 
the first messenger was sent. The}' told me that the}' were 
menacing and finding that it might have a bad effect, I took 
it upon myself to exclude them and after making some apol- 
ogy tlffe}' answered that they and their tribe were pleased 
with my speech and that I could go on without danger but 
they could not presently give me an answer, having some 
warriors absent and without consulting the Ouiatenons, they 
being the owners of the land. They desired me to stop at 
Quiiepiconnae (Tippecanoe) saying that they would have the 
chief and warriors of the Ouiatenons and those of their na- 
tion assembled there and I would receive a proper answer. 
They said that they expected bj' me a draught of milk from 



S2 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

the Great Chief and the commanding oflScer of the Post, to 
put the old people in a good humor; also some powder and 
balls for the young men for hunting and to get some good 
broth for their women and children — that I should know a 
bearer of speeches should never be with empty hands. They 
promised to keep their young men from stealing and to send 
speeches to their nations in the prairies to do the same. 

**The 14th of April, the Ouiatenons and the Kickapoos 
were assembled. After my speech one of the head chiefs got 
up and told me — *Oh Gamelin, my friend and son-in-law, we 
are pleased to see you in our village and to hear by your 
mouth the good words of the Great Chief. We thought to 
receive a few words from the French people but I see the con- 
trary. None but the Big Knife is sending speeches to us. 
You know that we can terminate nothing without the consent 
of our brethren, the Miamis. I invite you to proceed to their 
village and speak to them. There is one thing in your speech 
I do not like. I will, not tell of it; even were I drunk I would 
perceive it but our elder brothers will certainly take notice of 
it in )'our speech. You invite us to stop our young men. It 
is impossible to do it, they being constantly encouraged by 
the British.' Another chief arose and said — *The Americans 
are very flattering in their speeches. Many times our nation 
went to their rendezvous. I was once myself. Some of our 
chiefs died on the route and we always came back all naked 
and 30U, Gamelin, you come wi^h speeches wiih empty 
hands.' Another one said lo his young men — *If we are poor 
and dressed in deer skins, ii is our own fault. Our -^ le.ich 
traders are leaving our villages because you plunder them 
every day, and it is lime for us 10 have another conduct.^ 
Still another one expressed himself as follows — 'Know ye 
thai the village of Ouiatenon is ihe sepulcher tf our ances* 
tors? The chief of the Americans inviies us to go to him if 
we are for peace. He has not his leg broken, having been able 
to go as far as the Illinois. He might come here himself and 
we should be glad to see him at our villa^^e. We confess that 
we accepted the ax but it is by the reproach we continually 
receive from the English and other nations, which receive the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 83 

ax first, calling^ us women. At the present time they invite 
our young men to war. As to our old people, they are wishing: 
for peace.' They could not give me an answer before they 
received advice from the Miamis, their elder brothers. 

*'On the 18th of April I arrived at the River L'Anguille 
(Eel river), at a point five or six miles above the place where 
it flows into the Wabash. The Indian village located there 
was near or where Logansport, Indiana, now is. The chief 
of the village and those of war were not present. I explained 
the speech to some of the tribes. The}' said they were well 
pleased, but could not give me an answer, their chief men be- 
ing absent. They desired me to stop at their village coming 
back. The)^ sent with me one of their young men to hear 
the ans-wer of their eldest brethren. On the 23d of April I 
arrived at the Miami town. The next day I got the Miamis, 
the Shawnees and the Delawares all assembled. I gave 
to eaqh naiion two branches of wampum and began the 
speeches, before the r rench and English traders who were 
invited by the chiefs to be present, I having told them m}^- 
self that I should be glad to have them present since I 
had nothing to say against anybody. After the speeches I 
showed them the treaty concluded at Muskingum (Ft. Har- 
mor) between his Excellency, Governor St. Clair, and sundry 
natibns. This displeased them. I told them that the pur- 
pose at this present time was not to submit them to any con- 
ditions but to offer them the peace, which made their dis- 
pleasure disappear. The great chief told me that he was 
pleased with the speech and that he soon would give me an 
answer. In a private discourse with him he told me not to 
mind what the Shawnees would tell me, they having a bad 
heart and being the pertubators of all the^ nations. He said 
the Miamis had a bad name on account of mischief done on 
the- River Ohio but he told me it was not occasioned by his 
young men, but by the Shawnees, his young men having 
onl)^ gone for a hunt. 

**On the 25th of April, Blue Jacket, chief warrior of the 
Shawnees, invited me to go to his house and there said to me 
— 'My friend, by the name and consent of the Shawnees and 



84 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

and Delawares, I will speak to you. We are all sensible of 
your speech and pleased with it but, after consultation, we 
cannot give you an answer without hearing from our Father at 
Detroit and we are determined to give you back the two 
branches of wampum and to send you to Detroit to see and 
hear the chief or to stay here twenty nights to receive his 
answer. From all quarters we receive speeches from the 
Americans and no two are alike. We suppose that they in- 
tend to deceive us. Then take back your branches of wampum.' 

"The 26th of April five Pottawattomies arrived here with 
two negro men whom they sold to Engliah traders. The 
next day I went to the great chief of the Miamis, called Le- 
Gris, his chief warriers also being present with him. I told 
him how I had been served by the Shawnees. He answered 
me that he had heard of it and said that nation behaved 
contrary to his intention. He desired me not to mind those 
strangers and that he would soon give me a positive answer. 

''The 28th of April the great chief desired me to call at 
the French traders and receive his answer. 'Don't take bad,' 
said he, 'of what I am to tell you. You ma}' go back when 
)'ou please. We cannot give 3'ou a positive answer. We 
must send your speech to all our neighbors and to the lake 
nations. We cannot give a definite answer without consult- 
ing the commandant at Detroit.' He desired me to render 
him the two branches of wampum refused b}' the Shawnees; 
also a copy of speeches in writing. He promised me that in 
thirt}' nights he would send an answer to Post Vincennes by 
a young man of each nation. He was well pleased with the 
speeches and said they were worthy of attention and should 
be communicated to all their confederates, being resolved 
among them not to do anything without an unanimous con- 
sent. I agreed to his request and rendered him the two 
brancihes of wampum and a cop}' of the speech. Afterward 
he told me that the five nations so called or the Iroquois were 
training for something; that five of them and three Wyan- 
dottes were in this village with branches of wampum. He 
could not tell me presently their purpose but he said I would 
know of it verv soon. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 85 

'*The same day Blue Jacket invited me to his house for 
supper and before the other chiefs told me that, after another 
•deliberation, they thought necessary that I should go my- 
self to Detroit to see the commandant who would get all 
his children assembled to hear my speech. I told them I 
would not answer them in the night — that I was not ashajned 
to speak to them before the sun. 

"On the 29th of April I got them all assembled. I told 
them I was not to go to Detroit; that the speeches were di- 
rected to the nations of the River Wabash and the Miami and 
to prove the sincerity of the speeches and the heart of Gover- 
nor St. Clair I had willingly given a copy of the speeches to 
be shown to the commandant of Detroit and according to a 
letter written by the commandant of Detroit to the Miamis, 
Shawnees and Delawares mentioning tO them to be peaceable 
with the Americans. I would go to the commandant very 
willingly if it were in my direction being: sensible of his sen- 
timents. I told them I had nothing to say to the command- 
ant, neither he to me, and that they miist immediately resolve 
if they intended to take me to Detroit or else I would go back as 
soon as possible. Blue Jacket got up and told me, *My friend, 
we are well pleased with what you say. Our intention is not 
to force 3'ou to go to Detroit; it was onlj^ a proposal, think- 
ing it for the best. Our answer is the same as the Miamis. 
We will send in thirty nights a full and positive answer b}^ a 
young man of each nation by writing, to Post Vincennes.' 

**In the evening Blue Jacket, having taken me to supper 
with him, told me in a private manner that the Shawnee na- 
tion was in doubt of the sincerity of the Big Knives, having 
been already deceived by them. That they had first des- 
troyed their lands, put out their fires and sent away their 
young men, being a-hunting, without a mouthful of meat; 
also had taken away their women, wherefore man}' of them 
would, with a great deal of pain, forget these affronts. More- 
over that some other nations were apprehending that offers of 
peace would ma} be tend to take away, by degrees, their lands 
and would serve them as they did before. A certain proof 
that they intended to encroach on their lands was their new 



8h PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

settlement on the Ohio. If ihey didn't keep this side of the 
Ohio clear, it would never be proper reconcilement with the 
nations, Shawnees, Iroquois, Wyandottes and perhaps many 
others. Legris, chief of thie Miamis, asked me in private dis- 
course what chief had made treaty with the Americans at 
Muskinfifum (Ft. Harmon). I answered him that iheir names 
were mentioned in the treaty. He told me he had heard of it 
some time ago but that they were not chiefs nor delegates 
who made that treaty; the}' were only young men who, with- 
out authority and instructions from their chiefs, had con- 
cluded that treaty which would not be approved. They had 
gone to the treat}' clandestinely and they intended to make 
mention of it in the next council to be held. 

"The 2nd of May, I came back to the L'Anguille. One 
of the chief men of the tribe being witness of the council at 
Miamitown, repeated the whole to them and whereas the first 
chief was absent, they said ihej' could not for the present 
time, give answer but that they were willing to join their 
speech to those of their eldest brethren. 'To give you proof 
of an open heart,' they said, *we let you know that one of our 
chiefs has gone to war on the Americans but it was before we 
heard of 3'ou for certain they would not have gone hiiher.' 
They also told me that a few daj^s after I passed their village, 
seventy warriors, Chippewas and Ottawas from Michilimaci- 
nac arrived there. Some of them were Pottawatiomies who, 
meeting on their route the Chippewas and Ottawas, joined 
them. *We told them,' they said, Ve heard by you — that your 
speech is fair and true. We could not stop them from going to 
war. The Pottawattomies told us that as the Chippewas and 
Ottawas were more numerous than the}" the}' were forced to 
follow them.' 

'*0n the 3d of May I got to the Weas. They told me 
that they were waiting for an answer from iheir eldest 
brethren. 'We approve very much our brethren for not to 
give a definite answer without informing of it all the 
lake nations. Detroit was the place where the fire was 
lighted, then ii ought first to be put out there. The English 
commandant is our father since he threw down our French 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 87 

father. We could do nothing without his approbation.' 

*'The 4th of May I arrived ot the villag'e of the Kicka- 
poos. The chief presenting me two branches of wampum, 
black and white said — 'My son, we cannot stop our young 
men from going to war. Everyday some set off clandestinely 
for that purpose. After such behavior from our young men 
we are ashamed to say to the great chief of the Illinois and 
of the Post Vincennes that we are busy about some good af- 
fairs for the reconcilement, but be persuaded that we will 
speak to them continuall}^ concerning the peace and when our 
eldest brethren will have sent their answer, we will join ours 
to it. 

"The 5th of May I arrived at Vermillion. I found no- 
body but two chiefs. All the rest were gone a-hunting. They 
told me they had nothing else to say." In a despatch from 
Post Vincennes May 22d, 1790, Major Hamtramck says — ''I 
enclose the proceedings of Mr. Gamelin by which Your Ex- 
cellency can have no great hopes of bringing the Indians to 
peace with the United States. Gamelin arrived on the 8th of 
May and on the 11th some merchants arrived and informed 
me that as soon as Gamelin had passed their village on his 
return, all the Indians had gone to war; that a large party of 
Indians from Michilimacinac and some Pottawattomies had 
gone to Kentucky and that three days after Gamelin had left 
the Miami village, Kekionga, an American was brought 
there, scalped and burned at the stake." 

The great reason that the French and afterwards the 
English, were so successful in dealing with the Indians and 
attaching them so firmly as their allies, was that the}' dealt 
with them as a parent would with a child, giving them many 
presents and humoring their whims. This was pleasing to 
the Indians but after a time it became very expensive. As a 
French writer puts it — "These importunities of gifts for 
everything that they saw or could think of, grew on the Ind- 
ians and it became so expensive that it was a question whether 
their friendship was worth the great trouble and expense." 

The free sons of fair America, who were the best blood 
of many foreign nations, knew no way to transact business 



88 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

with the aborigines but by the rules of business that would 
govern the transaction of one people with another, con- 
sequently they were not successful in their attempts to treat 
with the Indians who had been pampered and spoiled by the 
French and English nations to hold their friendship. In 
every attempt that the American made to treat with the In- 
dians for friendship or concessions of territory they were met 
with the taunt that they were not like the French and Eng- 
lish, who always commenced such proceedings with a large 
gift of many articles useful to the Indians; that this made 
their hearts glad and that the American always came with 
empty hands. 

Major Gladwin, the British commandant at Detroit, had 
an experience with Pontiac and his confederated bands which 
is described by him in a private letter to a friend — 

'*The Indians under Pontiac have been so domi- 
jieering over the French and have become so exacting 
that when my commissioner made overtures for an 
alliance of peace and friendship, he was rejected. 
They gave as a reason for not making the treaty 
that when their great Father, the French King, 
wanted any special favor he gave his red brethren a 
ship load of goods of all kinds for the Indians' com- 
fort; that the tnglish now wanted them to forsake 
their allegiance to their great Father, the King of 
France, and give it to them; for this they should at , 
least offer them three ship-loads of guns, powder, 
lead, blankets, clothing of all kinds and many ar- 
ticles for decorating their body to expect them to 
grant such a great favor." 

Governor St. Clair was at Kaskaskia when he received 
Gamelin's report which satisfied him that there was no prospect 
of peace with the Wabash Indians. He sent the secretary 
of the Northwest Territory, Winthrop Sargent, to Vincennes 
and directed him to lay out Knox county and establish the mil- 
itia and appoint necessary civil and military officers. Mr. 
Sargent proceeded to Vincennes where he organized the camp 
of Knox, appointed the necessary civil and military officers 
and gave notice to the inhabitants to present their claims to 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 89 

titles of land which was found to be a very difficult proposi- 
tion. In his report to the president he said — 

'*The lands and lots which were awarded appear 
from the evidence, to belong to those persons to 
whom they were awarded, either by grants, purchase 
or inheritance, but there are very few titles which 
are complete owing to the very loose way that pub- 
lic business has been carried on. The concessions 
by the French and British commandants ate made 
on small scraps of paper which are loosely kept in 
the Notary's office; but the fewest number of these 
concessions are in a book of record." 

The most important land transactions were often found 
scrawled down on a loose sheet of paper in very bad French 
and worse English. Three-fourths of the names were made 
with marks without being attested by a notary or any one 
else. Many of these claimants at the post of Vincennes had 
been occupying the land on which their houses were built for 
generations and the only evidence of their having any claim 
to it would all be recorded on a piece of paper not an^^ too 
large for a target in a shooting match. Mr. Sargent said 
that there were about one hundred and fifty families in Vin- 
cennes in 1790. The heads of these families bad at some 
time had a title to a portion of the soil which title he had 
spent weeks in trying to straighten out. While he was busy 
with these claims he received a petiiion signed by eighty 
Americans asking for confirmation of the grants of land ceded 
by the court which had been organized by Col. John Todd 
under the authority of Virginia. 

Congress of the 3rd of March, 1791, authorized the gov- 
ernor of the territory in all cases where the improvements 
had been made, under a supposed title for the same, to confirm 
the persons who made such improvements on the land sup- 
posed to have been granted, not to exceed in quantity four 
hundred acres to one person. In 1790 a session of court was 
held in Vincennes at which Wihthrop Sargent, Acting Gov- 
ernor, presided and the following laws were adopted. 

1. An act prohibiting the giving or selling of intoxicat- 
ihg liquors to Indians residing in or coming into the territory 



90 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

of the United States northwest of the River Ohio and for pre- 
venting foreigners from trading with the Indians. 

2. An act prohibiting the sale of spirituous or other in- 
toxicating liquors to soldiers in the service of the United 
States, being within ten miles of an}' military post within 
the territory of the United States northwest of the River 
Ohio and to prevent the selling or pawning of arms, ammuni- 
tion, clothing and accoutrements. 

3. An act for suppressing and prohibiting every species 
of gaming for money or other property and for making void 
contracts and paj^ments made in consequence thereof; and for 
restraining the disorderly practice of discharging arms at 
certain hours and places. 






Post Vincennes, July 3, 1790. 

To the Honorable Winthrop Sargent, Esq., Secre- 
tary in and for the territory of the United States 
northwest the River Ohio and vested with all the 
powers of governor and commander-in-chief: 
"Sin- 
As you have given verbal orders to the magis- 
trates who formerl}^ composed the court of the dis- 
trict of Post Vincennes under the jurisdiction of the 
state of Virginia, to give 3'ou their reasons for hav- 
ing taken upon them to grant concessions for the 
lands within the district, in obedience thereto, we 
beg leave to inform 3'ou that their principal reason is 
that, since the establishment of this country, the 
commandants have always appeared to be vested with 
the power to give lands. Their founder, Mr. Vin- 
cennes, began to give concessions and all his succes- 
sors have given lands and lots. Mr. Legras was ap- 
pointed commandant of Post Vincennes by the lieu- 
tenant of the connty — ^John Todd who was, in the 
year 1779, sent by the state of Virginia to regulate 
the government of the country and who substituted 
Mr. Legras with his power. In his absence Mr. 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 com- 
mandants; and he verbally informed the court of Post 
Vincennes that when they would judge it proper to 
give lands or lots to those who should come into the 
Territory to settle, or otherwise, they might do it; 
and that he gave them permission to do so. 



^ PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 91 

''These are the reasons that we acted upon and if 
we have done more than we ou^ht, it was on account 
of the little knowledge we had of public aflfairs." 

F. BossBRON Pierre Gamelin 

his 
L. Edeline Pierre (X) Querez 

mark 

While in Vincennes in 1790 Mr. Sargent received an ad- 
dress from the leading citizens as follows: 

"The citizens of the town of Vincennes approach 
you, Sir, to express as well their personal respects 
for your honor as a full approbation of the measures 
you have been pleased to pursue in regard to their 
government and the adjustment of their claims as in- 
habitants of the territory over which you at present 
preside. While we deem it a singular l>lessing to 
behold the principles of free government unfolding 
before us, we cherish the pleasing reflection that our 
posterity will also have cause to rejoice at the polit- 
ical change now originating. A free and efficient 
government wisely administered and fostered under 
the protecting wings of an august union of states, 
cannot fail to render the citizens of this wide, ex- 
tended territory securely happy in the possession of 
every public blessing. 

"We cannot 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 
commanded at this post. The unsettled situation of 
things for a series of 3'ears previous to this gentle- 
man's arrival tended in many instances to derange 
and in others to suspend, the operations of these mu- 
nicipal 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 regu- 
lations 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 mas- 
ters, they labored under heavy and various griev- 
ances but the judicious and humane attention paid by 
Major Hamtramck during his whole command, to the 
rights and feelings of every individual, craving his 



92 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

interpositions, demands and will always receive our 
warmest acknowledgment. 

'*We beg you, Sir, to assure the supreme authority 
of the United States of our fidelitj' and attachment 
and 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 Vin- 
cennes. 

Antoine Gamelin, Magistrate. 
Pierre Cjamelin. 
Paul Gamelin. 
James Johnson, 
Louis Adeline, 
Luke Decker, 
Francis Bosseron, 
Francis Vigo, 

Major Commandant Militia. 
Henry Vanderburgh, 

Major of Militia." 

To this complimentary testimonial, Winthrop Sargent 
made a brief but appropriate reply as follows: 

**ViNCENNES, July 25, 1790. 
Gentlemen: — 

Next to that happiness which I derive from a 
consciousness of endeavoring to merit the approba- 
tion of the sovereign authority 6f the United States 
by the faithful discharge of the important trust com- 
mitted to me, is the grateful plaudits of the respec- 
able citizens of this lerriiory and be assured, gentle- 
men, that I receive ii from the town of Vincennes 
upon this occasion with singular satisfaction. 

**In an event so interesting and important to every 
individual as the organization of civil government, I 
regret exceedingly that you have been deprived of 
the wisdom of our worth}' governor. His extensive 
abilities and long experience in the honorable 
walks of public life might have more perfectly 
established that S3^stem which promises to 3^ou and 
posterity such political blessings. It is certain, gen- 
tlemen, that the government 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. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 93 

while in command here, have been highly meritor- 
ious and it is with g^reat pleasure that I have offici- 
cially expressed to him my full approbation thereof. 
'Your dutiful sentiments of fidelit}^ and attach- 
ment to the general government of the United States, 
shall be faithfully transmitted to their august pres- 
ident. 

"With the warmest wishes for the prosperity and 
welfare of Vincennes^ I have the honor to be, gen- 
tlemen, Your obedient, humble servant, 

WiNTHROP Sargent." 

During most of the years 1790 and 1791, Groverner St. 
Clair was very busy with the military affairs of the territory. 
The civil affairs were turned over to Winthrop Sargent and 
he was given authority of acting governor. St. Clair then 
deterniined to return to Ft. Washington where General Har- 
mor was stationed and consult with him as to the expediency 
of sending expeditions against the hostile Indians. When he 
arrived at Ft. Washington from Kaskaskia, after a consul ta- 
tian with his military leaders, they determined to send a 
strong detachment against the Indians located on the head 
waters of the Wabash. At that time the United States 
troops in the northwest were but little over four hundred ef- 
fective men. A part of the milita designed to act with the 
troops on these expeditions there was about three hundred 
from Virginia, that rendezvoused at Fort Steuben and with 
the garrison of that station marched to Vircennes and were 
joined to the forces of Major Hamtramck who was authorized 
to enlist what milita he could at Post Vincennes. With this 
force he marched up the Wabash river, having: orders to at- 
tack any Indians that he might find with which his force was 
strong enough to engage. The governor had the authorit}^ 
of the president to call on the state of Virginia for one thous- 
and troops and Pennsylvania for five hundred. These troops, 
less the three hundred Virginians that went with Hamtramck, 
assembled at Ft. Washington add were joined to the regular 
troops at that station. 

On the last of September Governor Si. Clair, in obedi- 
ence to instructions from the president of the United States, 



94 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDL\NA. 

sent the following letter to the British* Commandant at 
Detroit: 

''Marietta, September 19, 1790. 

Sir:— 

As it is not improbable on account of the military 
preparations going forward in this quarter of the 
country maj^ reach you and give you some uneasiness, 
while the object to which they are directed in not 
perfectly known, I am commanded by the president 
of the United States to give you the full assurance 
thai pacific dispositions are entertained toward Great 
Britain and all her possessions; and lo inform you 
explicitly that the expedition about to be undertaken 
is not intended against the Post you have the honor 
to command nor any other place at present in ihe 
possession of the British troops of his Majesty; but 
is on foot with the sole design of humbling and 
chastising some of the savage tribes whose depreda- 
tions are becoming intolerable and whose cruelties 
have, of late, become an outrage, not on the people 
of America onl}', but on humanity; which I now do 
in the most unequivocal manner. 

** After this candid explanation. Sir, there is every 
reason to expect both from your own personal char- 
acter and from the regard you have for that of your 
nation that those tribes will meet with neither count- 
enance nor assistance from any under your command; 
and that you will do what in your power lies to res- 
train the trading people from those instigations, 
from which there is good reason to believe much of 
the injuries committed by the savage has proceeded. 

'*I have forwarded this letter by a private gentle- 
man in preference to an officer by whom you might 
have expected a communication of this kind, that 
every suspicion of the purity of the views of the 
United States, might be obv'iated." 

General Harmer left Ft. Washington on September 30th, 
with an army of fourteen hundred men arrived at Maumee 
Octobor 17th then commenced the work of chastising the 
Indians but met with misfortunes that were more injurious 
to the American than were harmful to the Indians. The 
savasres received a severe chastisement but the militia be- 



^ 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 95 

haved so badly that it was of but little service. The detach- 
ment of three hundred and forty militia and sixty regulars, 
under the command of Colonel Hardin, were badly defeated 
on the Maumee October 22d. On the next day the army took 
up its line of march for Ft. Woshington which place they 
reached November 4th, having lost in the expedition one 
hundred and eighty-three killed and thirty-one wounded. 
During the progress of this expedition, Major Hamtramck 
marched up the Wabash as far as the Vermilion river, des- 
troying several deserted villages without finding any enemy 
to oppose him. He then returned to Vincennes. 

The savages were badly punished by these expeditions 
yet they refused to sue for peace and continued hostile. 

On March 9th, 1791, General Henry Knox, Secretary of 
War, sent a letter of instructions to General Scott in Ken- 
tucky, recommending an expedition of mounted men, not to 
exceed seven hundred and fifty against the Wea towns along 
the Wabash. With this force. General Scott crossed the 
Ohio river May 23d, 1791, reached the Wabash in about ten 
days. Many of the Indians, having discovered his approach 
deserted their villages but he succeeded in destroying all the 
villages around Ouiatenon together with several Kickapoo 
towns, killed thirty-five warriors and took sixt3'-one prisoners. 
Releasing a few of his aged prisoners, he iJfave them a talk 
and asked them to carry it to the towns farther up ihe Wabash 
and to the country of the Maumee. ^ Owing to the disabled 
condition of his horses he was unable to go farther. 

In March, 1791, Congress provided for raising and equip- 
ping a regiment for the proieciion of the froniieis and gov- 
ernor St. Clair was placed in command of something more 
than three thousand troops, some of ihem yet to be raised and 
all of them to be employed in quelling the Indians in the 
Northwest Territory. He was instructed by the Secretar}- of 
War to march to the Miami village, Kekionga and to estab- 
lish a permanent military post there and such posts elsewhere 
throughout his territory as would be in communication with 
Ft. Washington. The post at the Miami village was to be 
of such strength as to hold the savage in that neighborhood 



^6 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

in check; also to afford shelter for five or six hundred men in 
case of an emergency. The Secretary of War urged St. Clair 
to establish that post as the most important part of his cam- 
paign. As in previous treaties, the Indians were to be con- 
ciliated, every inducement being offered to them to cease 
their hostilities. Said the Secretary of War — "Having com- 
menced your march upon the expedition, and the Indians 
continuing hostile,' you will use every possible exertion to 
make them feel the effects of your superiority and after hav- 
ing arrived at the Miami village and put your works in a de- 
fensible state, you will seek the enemj'. with your remaining 
force and endeavor to strike them with great severit3% In 
order to avoid future wars, it might be proper to make the 
Wabash and thence over the Maumee and down the same to 
its mouth on Lake Erie, the boundary between the people of 
the United States and the Indians (except so far as the same 
would relate to the Wyandotts and the Delawares) on suppo- 
sition that they will remain faithful to their treaties, but if 
they should join in war against the United States and your 
arm}' should be victorious, the said tribes should be removed 
without the boundary mentioned." 

Before starting on the march with the main force to the 
Miami town. Governor St. Clair, June 25th, 1791, authorized 
General Wilkinson to conduct an expedition with not more 
than five hundred mounted men, to the Indian' villages on the 
Wabash. Accordingly, General Wilkinson, on July 20th, 
wiih his mounted men well armed and with provision for 
thirty days, marched and reached the Kenapacomaqua village 
on the north bank of Kel ri/er, (now Cass county, Indiana,) 
six miles above its mouih where, on August 7ih, he killed 
six warriors and took ihirt3'-four prisoners. This town, 
which was scattered along the river for three miles, was to- 
tally destroyed and Wilkinson and his command encamped on 
its ruins. The next day he commenced his march upon the 
Kickapoo town on the prairie which he was unable to reach, 
owing to the impossible condition of the route he had taken 
and the condition his horses were in. 

In making his report he estimated the results of the ex- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 97 

pedition as follows: He had destroyed the chief town of the 
Ouiatenon nation and made prisoners of the son and sisters 
of the King. He had burned a respectable Kickapoo village 
and cut down four hundred acres of com, mostly in the milk. 

There is no doubt that these expeditions of Hamtramck, 
Harmor, Scott and Wilkinson seriously damaged the Indians 
but they were not subdued. Thej' regarded the policy of the 
United States as calculated to exterminate them and the Eng- 
lish at Detroit urged thenr on. They were excited by the loss 
in former expedition and the tales of woe told them by the 
British traders, to such a degree that they were desperate. 
As has been before stated at that time the British govern- 
ment still had garrisons at Niagara, Detroit and Michilimack- 
inac, although it was declared in the second article of the def- 
inite treaty of peace in 1783 that the king of Great Britain 
would, with all convenient speed and without causing any 
destruction or carrying away any negroes or property of the 
American inhabitants, withdraw all his forces from the gar- 
risons and his fleet from the United States and from every 
post, place and harbor within the same. That treaty also 
provided that the creditors on either side should meet with 
no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in 
sterling money of all bonafide debts previously contracted. 
The British government contended that the United States 
had broken faith in this particular understanding of the 
treaty and in consequence refused to withdraw its forces from 
the territory'. The British garrison in the lake region was a 
source of much annoyance as the}^ offered succor to the hos- 
tile Indians and encouraged them in making raids among the 
Americans. This state of affairs in the territory northwest 
of the Ohio continued from the commencement of the Revo- 
lutionary War to 1796 when, under a second treaty, all British 
soldiers were withdrawn from the countr3\ 

In September, 1791, St. Clair moved from Ft. Washing- 
ton with about two thousand men. On the 3rd of November 
the main army consisting of about fourteen hundred effective 
troops moved forward to the head waters of the Wabash 
where Fort Recovery was afterward erected. Here the army 



\ 



98 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

encamped. At this time the Little Turtle, Blue Jacket and 
Buckongehelas and other' Indian chiefs were secreted a few 
miles distant with a large force of Indians waiting for a fav- 
orable opportunity to bring on an attack. This they com- 
menced on the morning of the 4th of November a little while 
before sunrise. The attack was first made upon the militia 
which gave way. St. Clair was defeated and returned to Ft. 
Washington with a broken and dispirited army, having lost 
thirty-nine officers and five hundred and forty men, killed and 
missing and having twenty-two officers and two hundred and 
thirty-five men wounded. St. Clair lost several pieces of artil- 
lery and all his ammunition, provision and baggage were 
left on the ground. One of the sad features of this terrible 
disaster was the loss of more than two hundred women who 
had followed their husbands, brothers and fathers on this 
campaign, expecting to settle with them in some of the fine 
country that would be reclaimed from the Indians. Over the 
most terrible fate that awaited and was meted out to these 
unfortunate women it is best to draw the veil. The Indians,, 
in this battle, manifested the most fiendish and cruel brutal- 
ity to the dead and dying Americans. Believing that the 
whites had made war for many years for the sole purpose of 
acquiring land, they thrust great chunks of dirt into the 
mouths and the great gashes cut in the cheeks of the dying 
and dead soldiers. 

The defeat of St. Clair's army was a severe blow to the 
Northwest Territory and retarded the settlement of the mid- 
dle and western part of that territory for many years. The 
Indians, owing to the very easy victory which they had gained 
over the Americans, whose army was almost twice as large 
as theirs, determinedly organized many raids which they sent 
into the thinly settled region of the Northwest Territory, 
Kentucky and on the borders of Virginia. There was so 
much destruction wrought by the Indians that many families 
who had come to the settled stations around the Ohio Falls 
and at Ft. Washington, moved farther back to Kentucky and 
Virginia. Some military critics were very severe and out- 
spoken in censuring General St. Clair, though this was prob- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 99 

ably very unjust. The main reason of his defeat was that a 
large portion of his army had been hastily gathered together 
and many of them were from the thickly settled sections of 
Virginia and Pennsylvania where they had had no experi- 
ence in Indian warfare and owing to the hurried disposition 
of the troops before the commencement of the main eampaign, 
they had had but little opportunity to receive military train- 
ing or discipline; also a portion of the new levies were com- 
manded by officers who had no military experience. Greneral 
St. Clair was an old man and had been very successful and 
efficient during the seven long years of the Revolution. When 
he was chosen to the important position of Grovernor of the 
Northwest Territory, he was a member of Congress and was 
president of that body. 

After the return of the defeated army to Ft. Washington, 
St. Clair resigned his position of Major General in the United 
States army but retained the governorship of the Northwest 
Territory to which he gave all of his time. To the vacancy 
made in the army roll by the resignation of St. Clair, General 
Anthony Wayne (more familiarly known as ''Mad Anthony") 
was promoted. Greneral Wayne was an old officer and had won 
a very enviable reputation during the long struggle for lib- 
erty. On taking command he at once moved to Ft. Pitt 
(Pittsburg, Penn.) 

In 1792 the government of United States determined to 
reorganize and place a large army in the field for the purpose 
of subduing the hostile Indians in the Northwest Territory 
and General Wayne set about preparing, drilling and equipp- 
ing the army that he had gathered about him for the purpose 
of thoroughly chastising, defeating and destroying the In- 
dians who had defeated St. Clair's army and destroyed so 
many American soldiers and American women. 

During the rest of 1792 and up to October, 1793, Wayne 
remained at Ft. Pitt but on the latter date moved with his army 
to Ft. Washington where he remained the rest of that year 
and until July, 1794, preparing his army to be in the best con- 
dition for effective service, drilling them in a manner that 
they would be able to resist any of the known modes of In- 



100 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

dian warfare. On July 26th Major Greneral Scott with sixteen 
hundred mounted riflemen from Kentucky, joined the reg-ular 
troops under Wayne at Ft. Washington and on the 28th of 
July the) combined army began its march for the Indian 
towns on the Maumee. 

Arriving- at the mouth of the Auglaize, they erected Ft. 
Defiance and on August 15th they advanced toward the Brit- 
ish fort at the rapids near the Maumee. On the 20th, al- 
most within reach of the British guns the Americans gained 
a complete victory over the combined forces of the hostile 
Indians and a compan}^ of Detroit militia, amounting to sev- 
enty-eight men. The number of the enemy was estimated at 
two thousand against about nine hundred American troops ac- 
tuallyengaged. As soon as the action co nmenced, the Ameri- 
cans charged the Indians who abandoned themselves to flight 
and dispersed with terror and dismay. The Americans lost on 
this occasion thirty-three killed and one hundred wounded. 
The loss of the enemy was probably three times as great. 
Wa3'ne remained on the field and in the vicinity for several 
days after the battle, burninjg the Indian towns and destro)'- 
ing their corn-field for many miles on both sides of the Mau- 
mee. The Indians retired from that section disheartened to 
the country far to the north. Wayne continued sending mes- 
sages to the Indians trying to persuade them to meet him 
and form a treat)\ 

After this, for a time, there was a suspension of hos- 
tilities and raids by the Indians, for from nearly every town 
in the Northwest Territory numbers of young hunters were 
engaged in that battle. Probably the Indians never on the 
American continent had gathered together a more efficient 
army of two thousand men, commanded by some of their 
greatest leaders. Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, Buckongehelas 
and many other distinguished chiefs. Tecumseh, then in 
the first flush of his greatness commanded a troop of one 
hundred Indians on that field. They had chosen their battle 
field in a large territory of fallen timbers with an advance 
line of what we would now call skirmishers under two of 
their most successful war chiefs. The Indians were so well 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 101 

located that they had no doubt that they would gain a com* 
plete victory over Wayne's force. They had invited a num- 
ber of British officers and soldiers to occupy positions in 
sight of the field to see them annhilate the American army, 
but they had reckoned without their host. Greneral Wayne 
had an army of four thousand men equipped and drilled that 
for efficiency and moral in that mode of warfare perhaps was 
never excelled on the American continent. It was com- 
manded by some of the most resolute and efficient officers 
who have honored the roll of fame among American heroes. 

As soon as the battle commenced a detachment was or- 
dered to charge both flanks of the Indian army and the centre 
and in a very short time it put them to precipitate flight. 
Not more than nine hundred of Wayne's men had an oppor- 
tunity to distinguish themselves in that battle. After the 
battle during the time that Wayne was in camp near the 
Maumee he and his staff with a large escort of cavalry, made 
several trips of observation over the battle-field. During 
some of these trips the cavalcade was halted in front of the 
fort. This brought on such a spirited controversy between 
the commander of the British fort — Wm. Campbell — and Gen- 
eral Waj'ne that it seemed, at one time, as if a collision 
would be brought on between the British and American 
armies. 

About the middle of September, 1794, Wayne's army 
commenced its march toward the deserted Miami village and 
on the following day arrived there and selected a site for a 
new fort named Ft. Wayne. The fort was completed near 
the last of November and garrisoned l)y. five hundred and 
fifty-eight men and officers, infantry and artillery, under the 
command of Colonel John F. Hamtramck. After this Wayne 
resumed his march. Arriving at Greenville he took up his 
headquarters there for the winter and remained there most of 
the summer of 1795. During all the time between the battle 
ane up to August of the next year Wayne had Ms scouts in- 
terpreters and trusted men among the Indians, trying to get 
them to meet him at Greenville for the purpose of making a 
general treaty of peace with all the hostile Indians of the 



102 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Northwest Territory and about the middle of Angfitst he suc- 
ceeded in the attempt. 

At that treaty a concession of a large amount of land on 
the Ohio, Sioto and Miami rivers was made the United States 
by the Indians. By this concession, commencing at a point 
on the eastern Ohio line near where Ft. Recovery was erect- 
ed, a line was run to the south coming to the Ohio river at a 
point opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river. This small 
strip of land was the first real concession made b)^ general 
treaty with the Indiansjthat is locate^ in the state of Indiana. 

After the conclusion of these treaties there was a period 
of rest for the pioneers as the Indians, for some years after- 
ward, were a little shy of making war on the frontiers. Dur- 
ing that period there was a great influx of settlers into Onio 
around Marietta, Ft. Washington and at points in the terri- 
tory of the Ohio Land Company; also there was a great im- 
petus given to emigration into the state of Ketucky, around 
the Ohio Falls, Louisville on the north side of the river at 
Clarksville and in the territory set oflf for the ofl&cers and 
soldiers of General Clark's army. Outside of these settle- 
ments in Indiana Territory, there was no emigration to any 
part of it except an occasional fool-hardy, restless pioneer 
who would locate at some point in the wilderness. 

The territory that is now Indiana, for some time after 
1800 all belonged to the Indians, except the small strip 
granted by the Greenville treaty, the territory of Clark's 
grant and a section of land around Vincennes granted by the 
Piankashaw Indians. The government of the United States 
had repeatedly warned its officers at the different stations in 
the territory not to permitt any settlements to be made until 
the land was acquired from the Indians. 

In 1795 a treaty with Spain was made by the United 
States which secured the free navigatin of the Mississippi 
river. After the treaty was signed and the people on the 
borders of the Alleghany mountains knew of it, a large num- 
ber of emigrants came to the Northwest Territory. Most of 
them Settled at various points in what soon afterward became 
the state of Ohio. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 103 

In 1796 the British evacuated Detroit and the United 
States forces occupied the territory. The post at Detrott 
was g^arrisoned by troops commanded by Captain Potter, sec- 
retary of the Northwest Territory. Winthrop Sargent went 
to Detroit and organized the county of Wayne, which in- 
cluded all that is now the state of Michigan, northeast 
Indiana and northwest Ohio. During that year settlements 
were made in many parts of Ohio. 

In the year 1798 nominations for representatives for the 
Territory took place and on the 4th of February, 1799, they 
convened at Losantville, now Cincinnati, which was then the 
capital of the territory, for the purpose of nominating per- 
sons from whom the members of the legislature were to be 
chosen, in accordance with a previous ordinance. This nom- 
ination being made the assembly adjourned until the 16th of 
September, 1799. From those names the President selected 
as members of the council Henry Vanderburg of Vincennes, 
Robert Oliver of Marietta, James Finley and Jacob Burnett 
of Cincinnati and Davi^ Vance of Vanceville. 

On the 16th of September the Territorial Legislature 
met and on the 24th the two houses were duly organized, 
Henry Vanderburg being elected president of the Council. 
The message of (Joveruor St. Clair was addressjed to the as- 
sembly and on the 13th of October that body elected William 
Henry Harrison as delegate to Congress. He received eleven 
votes whieh was a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur 
St. Clair, Jr. The number of acts passed at this this session 
and approved by the Governor was thirty-seven. The most 
important of those passed related to the militia and to taxa- 
tion. On the 19th of December the session of the first legis- 
lature in the west was closed and on the 30th of December 
the President nominated Captain William Byrd to the office 
of Secretary of the Territory, Vice William Henry Harrison^ 
elected to Congress. 

In 1800 the Northwest Territory was divided. Ohio at 
that time was preparing to form a state constitution. The 
division was made by commencing at the mouth of the Great 
Miami river, running thence north until that line intersects 



104 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

the boundary line between the United States and Canada. 
The report of the committee for the division of the Terri- 
tory was accepted by Congress and in accordance with its 
suggestion was approved May 7th. Among its provisions 
were these — 

**From and after July the 4th, 1800, all that part of the 
Northwest Territory which lies • westward of the line from 
the mouth of the Miami river to the north, before mentioned, 
shall for the purpose of temporary government be known as 
Indiana Territory with headquartors of the same at Post 
Vincennes on the Wabash river." 



\ 



CHAPTER V. 



Prisoners Recaptured from the Indians — Terrible; 
FIGHTING Around the Place Where Owensville, 
Indiana, now Stands. 



In 1792 James Greenway, Thomas Doyle and Stephen 
Murtree were soldiers in the United States service and were 
on duty at Vincennes under command of Major Hamtramck. 
During the summer of that year their term of enlistment was 
out and they were given their discharges. They did not in- 
tend to go back into the service for a while so they determined 
to fit out a hunting and trapping outfit as in that early day " 
there were but two kinds of employment in the Northwest 
Territory: one was soldiering and hunting Indians and the 
other was hunting game and trapping for furs. 

Securing two large Indian canoes with such things as. 
were necessary for their use, they started down the Wabash 
intending to hunt and trap on that river and its tributaries. 
In the fall, as they were floating down the Wabash ihey came 
to a small island seven or eight miles south of the mouth of 
White river. Examining the island they found that it would 
be a good place to make a camp, so selecting a site giving 
them a good view up and down the river and both banks, they 
built a barracade suitable for defense and inside of that built 
a small cabin. There was a Frenchman with the party by 
the name of Pierre DeVan who looked after the camp and 
hunted in the neighborhood. , He was a character in many 
ways and proved to be a hero of the first water. He had 
been much with the Indians and understood the language of 
several tribes. He had a great hatred for all Indians as they 



106 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

had murdered his uncle who was the only relative he had in 
this country. 

The fall was spent in hunting: bear and deer for theif 



skins, the winter in trapping. During the early winter the 
hunters had gone down the river and while the Frenchman 
was roaming over the little island he saw an Indian canoe tied 
to the shore opposite the mouth of a creek on the west bank 
of the river. He slipped back and hid himself in a convenient 
place to see what went on. He didn't have long to wait for 
an Indian was seen to rise up from back of a log looking in 
every direction for some time. Having concluded that no one 
was there, the red man went into the camp and . commenced 
loading himself with the camping outfit to take to his canoe 
and while in the midst of his act the Frenchmaft shot him. 

When the hunters returned and found the dead Indian 
they asked DeVau what made him kill the Indian and he 
answered: "Piankeshaw Indian a great liar and if I no kill 
him he maybe kill me. If I let him go two months we all be 
killed." They very materially strengthened their fortifica- 
tions and told the Frenchman to stay inside when the}' were 
gone and to keep a good look-out. They intended to stay on 
the island as long as the water would let them as fur was 
much better late in the winter than in the early part. They 
caught man)' beaver and it was the last of February before 
the water commenced to rise so as to causfe them any alarm 
about their camp. 

They got everything in shape and loaded all their things 
into their canoes and started for Vincennes where they sold 
their skins and purchased a good supply of ammunition, salt 
and corn meal to take back with them when the water went 
down which was about the middle of April. When they 
reached the island again they found that the high water had 
wrecked their fortifications and little cabin and they had to 
do their work all over again. After this was. completed they 
found that all the game had been driven out of the bottoms 
by the high waters and they resolved to go to the hills on the 
east side of the river for a hunt. 

There was j'et water in the little creek for their canoes 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 107 

and they followed it upstream for several miles when it 
seemed to become a brushy pond. They left their canoes 
here and went in a southeasterly direction. They had to 
wade through shallow water for a long distance before they 
got to higher land. Here they made a fire, dried their cloth- 
ing and prepared a temporary camp, aiming to stay until thej 
had all the meat they wanted and had acquainted themselves 
with the surrounding country, and it turned out they had no 
trouble in killing all the deer they could take care of. 

The next morning they all went to a place seen by one 
of them the day before, which he felt sure it was a regular 
bear den in a cave or hole in a bluflf. While they were hunt- 
ing for the place they heard a loud, piercing scream not far 
away, coming, apparently, from a child. It was very loud at 
first but gradually grew weaker until it ceased. The hunt- 
ers were greatly startled and could not account for such a 
noise in this great wilderness. They hid in the bushes for a 
while waiting for further developments but did not see or 
hear anything more. 

They resolved to find out the cause of the screaming and 
it was determined that Doyle should go first, the other two 
to keep him in sight and be governed by his motions. He 
crawled through the thick brush and when they were near a 
high bluff he signalled to the others to come to him. He had 
seen smoke and heard voices that he believed to be those of 
Indians. The smoke seemed to come from the eastern side 
of the bluffs and they determined to go farther around. Ad- 
vancing very carefully for two or three hundred feet they 
could see the fire and going still farther could see that there 
were several Indians around it and a little to one side a white 
man and woman were sitting on a log with their hands tied 
behind them. There were four Indians in view and the 
hunters each selected one to shoot at. After firing they de- 
termined they would reload their guns where they were and 
trust to luck for the outcome. They all fired at once, killing 
two and fatally wounding another one that fell in the fire; 
the fourth one ran around the side of the bluff. 

After waiting awhile the hunters slipped to where the 



108 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

prisoners were, cut the leather thongs they were bound with 
and finished the Indian who was kicking and squirming in 
the fire. Doyle determined to follow the other Indian and in 
a short time a shot was heard in the direction he had gone. 
Soon an Indian was seen running eighty or ninety yards 
away. The two hunters fired at him and he dropped his gun 
but kept on running. On going around the bluflf in the di* 
rection Doyle had gone, they came upon his lifeless body, 
killed no doubt by the Indian at whom they had just been 
shooting. 

The prisoners released were James Griscom and his wife, 
Rachel. The screaming heard by the hunters was little 
Mary Griscom, who the day before had a fall that had hurt 
her ankle so that she could not walk and had to be carried 
for several miles to where the camp was made. She was no 
better the morning the hunters found them and would hinder 
their time in marching, so the Indians resolved to kill her. 
One of them gathered her up and going to the top of the 
bluflf threw her over to the bottom, many feet below, killing 
her. 

Griscom informed the hunters that there were three 
more Indians that had gone away with their gtutis, he sup- 
posed to hunt and that they might return at any time. They 
took the Indians' guns and hid them in the brush; then took 
Doyle's body around to the end of the bluflf where the body 
of the little girl was and hastily put them in a crevice or 
shelf in the rock made by the action of running water and 
covered and wedged them in so that they would be safe from 
animals. 

After consulting together they resolved to avenge the 
death of the brave Doyle and little Mary by killing th'e other 
Indians if they should return. Murtree went back up the 
slope of the bluflf to a point where he could see for some dis« 
tance around and also s^e where the fire was. The others 
dragged the dead Indians into the brush, then made up the 
fire and hid behind a screen of brush so they could have a 
view of the fire and of Murtree who was to signal to them 
when he saw anything of the Indians. They were in that 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 109 

position about one hour when Murtree signalled them to be 
on the look out, pointing to a position beyond the fire. In a 
short time two Indians came into a view with a deer on a 
pole with them. As they came near the fire they stopped 
and looked around for their comrades. At that moment 
Greenway and Griscom fired, killing- one and breaking the 
thigh of the other, who fell but tried to drag himself, gun in 
hand to a log and was killed by Murtree. The hunters re- 
mained in their position for some time but the other Indian 
did not return. Fearing that the Indian wounded in the first 
battle would be able to find some other band of warriors and 
come back to his camp, and being told b)^ Griscom that an 
Indian town they had come near the day before was not more 
than six miles south of them, they concluded to get away as 
soon as they could. 

Griscom also told them that another band of Indians 
with four prisoners had been with their party and had gone 
to the town. The band he was with would not go to the vil- 
lage but went around it. 

Gathering up such of the plunder stolen by the Indians 
as would be of use to them, and taking all the Indian guns, 
they went to their camp where they had eight deer killed the 
day before. It took a long time to load thf ir canoes as the)' 
had to wade through -the slush and water a long distance to 
get to them. It was late in the afternoon when they started 
for their island camp and after night when they arrived 
there. The next day they fixed up quarters for their new 
comers who were very grateful for being released from 
captivity but were very sad over the loss of their little 
Mary. 

Griscom gave this account of their capture: He. with 
his wife and little daughter seven years old; George Talbert 
and wife, a sister of Mrs. Griscom's and little boy five years 
old; Thomas West and wife; Davtd Hope and wife; a brother 
James, 15 years old and a sister, Jane, 11 years old, had em- 
barked on a boat, which they fitted out near Wheeling, Va., for 
the mouth of the Ohio river. Mr. Hope had been there when a 
soldier. The river was in a good stage of water and the run most 



110 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

of the way had been very pleasant, not requiring: much use of 
the oars. They saw nothing of Indians until a day after 
passing the mouth of Green river. Late in the evening, 
three days before they were liberated by the hunters, they 
came to the head of a large island and the current drew the 
boat into the channel on the north side. As soon as they 
were well into the schute they were fired on by a concealed 
foe on the north bank, killing Talbert and Mrs. West, se- 
verely injuring Hope and breaking Mrs. Hope's arm. They 
lay down in the bottom of the boat hoping that the current 
would carry them beyond the reach of ihe Indians' guns, but 
soon they were seen coming after them in two canoes. The 
boatmen fired at them, killing two and wounding another one. 
West was shot and fell overboard. Griscom, in his hurry, 
broke the lock of his gun and before he could get anoiher 
one the Indians were in the boat. They finished killing 
Hope and his wife and Mrs. West, as ihey were badly 
wounded and captured and lied the oiher seven. The boac 
was soon landed and unloaded and the stores divided among 
the twenty Indians capturing them. The prisoners were 
huddled together and lay on the bank until the next morning 
when they started on the trip northward. On the second 
evening, coming to the edge of the Indian town before men- 
tioned, Mrs. Talbert, her little boy and the two Hope child- 
ren were taken by the Indians that stopped there. The 
Griscom family was taken around the town to the poii.t 
where they were liberated. The two hunters and Griscom 
had many consultations trying to form some plan to recap- 
ture Mrs. Talbert and the three children taken to the Indian 
town if they were still there. They finally took Pierre 
DeVan, the Frenchman, into the council and talked over 
many ways to best accomplish the dangerous undertaking 
and, as the}- were brave men, decided that, come what would, 
they would make the attempt. 

The water had gone down until it was nearly all out of 
the bottoms and the hunters made arrangements to go to the 
Indian town which, as they understood from Griscom, was 
twelve or fifteen miles away, at the same time intending to go 






PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. Ill 

by the bluff and bury Doyle and the little girl. They were in a 
quandary what to do with Mrs. Griscom, it being dangerous to 
leave her at the camp as at any time Indians from their town 
on the Patoka or White river not f af to the northeast, might 
came to the Island. She decided the question by informing 
them that she intended to go as she had been raised on the 
frontier of Virginia where Indian raids and counter raids by 
whites were of frequent occurence and that she would not in 
any way be a hindrance to them — if need be using a rifle as 
well as the best. This being settled they decided to start 
early the next morning. 

They marched along the bayou to the place where they 
had left their canoes on the other trip and thence to their 
camp of two weeks before. It was agreed that Murtree should 
make a reconnoissance of the surrounding neighborhood, going 
as far as the bluff. He i«ras gone about an hour and reported 
everything as they had left it except that he didn't see the 
least trace of the five Indians they had killed and left there. 
He supposed their bodies had been carried away and eaten by 
bears, wolves or panthers as the conntry was full of them. 
The shelf where the two white people were placed was just 
as they had left it. They all went to that point, taking an 
axe and a wooden shovel that they had made for the occasion. 
After selecting a place for the grave and digging it, they un- 
covered the bodies, carried them to it and buried them side 
by side. Though the mother of little Mary was a brave 
woman, it was very trying to her to thus give up her only 
child. It was necessary, however, not to waste time and so 
they were soon on the march again, Griscom leading the way. 

He intended to go within about a mile of the town and 
then let Pierre DeVan, the Frenchman, go to the village in 
his full Indian dress, representing that he had been with four 
Indian hunters going to the Ohio river; that he had shot a 
deer and while following its trail had gotten lost from the 
party and failed to find them, his purpose being to find the 
number of men in the village and if he could, to see Mrs. 
Talbert and give her a word of their plan. 

Griscom, after finding a good hiding place for the party^ 



112 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

went with him near to the town. As they went he found a 
good place for defense, not more than half a mile away to 
which he could bring the rest of the party. He told DeVan 
that when he had accomplished his' mission to come to this 
place. 

The party was moved up to the new position Griscom 
had found. It was after dark when DeVan came slipping into 
<amp and reported that there were eight or nine warriors and an 
old man who seemed to be the head and that he had seen the 
white woman and the boy but not the other children. The 
Indians seemed to want him to go away as they told him his 
friends were to the east. As there was a big creek he could not 
•cross to the south but would have to go to the east quite a dis- 
tance, then south. While the old man and the warriors were 
in consultation he had a chance to say only two words in Eng- 
lish to Mrs. Talbert — '*Friends near." She said nothing but 
looked at him as if she understood. The old man sent a 
young Indian with him for about two miles east and put him 
in a trace that would take him to the creek where he could 
cross it. He went south far enough to feel sure that he was 
not watched, then turned into a thicket, waited for dark and 
came into camp. 

They all held a consultation and it was decided best not 
to attack the Indians as there were too many warriors, but to 
try and get Mrs. Talbert by stealth, if possible and not to at- 
tempt that until late in the night. 

Waiting until after eleven o'clock, DeVan, Murtree and 
Greenway started, the hunters intending to go near the edge 
of the town so that DeVan could have a point to come to if 
attacked. Then DeVan was to do his part in his own way. 
Everything was very quiet for nearly an hour after they had 
taken their station. At that time three Indians came to the 
town and they must have been bearers of bad nei^s for soon 
there was great excitement among them. Two women were 
screaming and tearing their hair. 

It was fully two o'clock when everything was quiet 
again Soon the stillness was broken and a terrible noise 
raised by the snapping and snarling and howling of many 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 113 

dog's and the screaming of a child, which raised a great com- 
motion among the Indians. Soon the Frenchmen with the 
little* boy in his arms and Mrs. Talbert after him came run- 
ning to where the two hunters were. The child was still moan- 
ing so loud that the Indians could tell thre direction in which 
the}' had gone. It was placed in its mother's arms and she did 
all she could to make it keep still. DeVan told the hunters 
it was best for them to take the woman and child back to the 
others and for all of them to start north b}- the north star and 
leave him to check the Indians. The}' did this and it was 
l)ut a little while until the crack of a rifle was heard, 
then everything became still. The party had been slipping 
away for some time when another rifle was heard but a little 
way to the rear. In a few moments De Van came up with them 
and told them to go as they were until just before day and to 
find a good place for defense, then stop at that place; that 
there were several Indians following them but he would keep 
them in check until daylight. 

Just at the break of day they came to a small creek where 
there was some large fallen timber that would make a good 
place for defense. Hurriedly piling logs between two large fall- 
en trees they made two end walls which provided a fort that 
could not be successfully attacked unless the enemy had such 
numbers that they could carry it by storm. Soon another 
rifle shot was heard and this time a shot was fired at the 
blaze or flash of De Van's rifle. In a few minutes DeVan was 
seen and would have passed had not Murtree ran to him 
and brought him into the improvised fort. They kept 
a careful watch for the Indians and in a little while two were 
seen, half bent one behind the other, following the trail made 
by DeVan. Greenway and Murtree instantly fired on them. 
One fell and the other showed that he was hit but managed to 
g^et behind an obstruction. Another Indian rushed to the one 
shot down and dragged him out of sight, DeVan shooting at 
him but missing him. After this, during all the day a sharp 
look-out was kept but no more Indians made their appear- 
ance. 

The little boy who was hurt in the morning was suffering 



114 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

very much. DeVan said that when he ran out of the Indian 
tepee with the child in his arms, on running: around it he ran 
into a dog kennel where an old bitch had a litter of good- 
sized pups and such another fuss as they made he had never 
heard before and the old dog: bit the child through the calf 
of the leg. 

In the evening not long before sundown there was heard 
in the woods to the west of them the chattering of many 
squirrels, which was thought very probably to be caused by 
slipping Indians, and a very sharp look-out was kept in that 
direction. Just as the grey dusk of evening came on Mr. 
Griscom had his arm broken by a shot that came from a tree 
not more than sixty yards away. The Indian had climbed up 
•a little tree behind a larger one so that he could see over the 
log pile. When he^hot he tried to get back of the large tree 
but in his hurry the small tree swayed so much with him that 
his body came into view from back of the large tree and 
DeVan shot him, his body falling to the ground. 

After this everything became still and the hunters held a 
consultation to agree on a plan to pursue. They could not 
form a correct idea of the number of Indians beseiging them 
nor were they certain that there were any, but they thought, 
as they were encumbered with two women, the child and the 
wounded man, that they had better not run any more risk 
than was necessary. They agreed that they would remain 
where ihey were until the middle of the night and then at-^ 
tempt to go to the bluff. In the meaniime DeVan would be 
making a reconnoissance around the camp and along the 
route they were to go. After he had been gone a while the 
hooting of an owl was heard in the direction they had come 
that morning. After a little while it was repeated and soon 
it was answered not more than a hundred yards from where 
they were. DeVan returned and said that he was certain 
that the answer to his owl call was made by Indians and that 
they were but a little way off — that he had gone to the north, 
the way the little party would have to go, for about three 
hundred 3'ards and had not seen or heard anything, so they de- 
cided to get away. 




PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 115 

Greenway, Murtree and Griscom and the women started 
,to the north, DeVan asking^ the privilege of sta)4ng: in the 
rear. They had to travel very slowly owing: to the brush and 
fallen timber and had gone but a little way when a shot was 
heard and in a little time another, then two more in quick 
succession not more than two hundred yards behind them. 
They came to a large fallen tree and determined to stop and 
fight it out, but had just gotten into position when DeVan 
came up with them. He told them he thought it best for 
them to continue their march as he had fired at an Indian the 
first time not more than fifteen feet away. The last shot he 
had fired was at an object about eighty yards away and that 
two shots were fired it the blaze of his gun, one of them 
splintering his gun stock. He could not tell how many In- 
dians there were but there were too many for them with their 
small party. He said he thought he could keep them back 
but if he found ihat he could not he would come to them 
and they would find a place for defense. 

The women and hunters started again and had gone 
about half a mile when DeVan hurried up to them and told 
Griscom and the women to go as fast as they could for as 
much as a hundred yards and then to halloo and scream loudly 
for a little while and he and the other two men would get in- 
to a good position and wait for the Indians. 

They came to the forks of a good sized creek and soon 
had a good position. The hallooing and screaming were 
heard and as ihey expected, in ihree or four minuies six or 
seven Indians came came into view hurrying on lo where the 
noise was made. All three of the men fired and killed ;\vo 
Indians, while the rest were heard running away. One of 
the hunters brought the rest of ihe parvy back to their posi- 
tion and they all remained there until after daylight but saw 
no more Indians. 

At daylight the}^ started again, this time leaving Green- 
way and Murtree lo sta}' a; ihe creek for a while to see if 
any Indians would follow, and having DeVan pilot the party. 
They had gone but a little way when they came to objects 
familiar to Mr. Griscom and were soon at the south end of 



116 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

the bluff. In a short time the two hunters came up with 
them and they went into their temporar}- camp. Fortunatel)' 
one of the party had killed a deer and some of it was soon 
prepared and ready to cook. After thus refreshin<^ them- 
selves, they went to their island home, from which they had 
been gone only three da)'s and two nights but during- that 
time they had underdone enough exciting eqperiences to last 
a lifetime. 

After the very exciting experiences that the three hunt- 
ers had gone through to liberate Mrs. Talbert and her child 
from the Indians the)' rested for seveial days in their com- 
fortable quarters at the island. Mrs. Talbert's little boy was 
ver}' ill for some time from the dog biie. Mr. Griscom*s arm 
was ver)' sore, the ball having fraciufed his arm and it was 
several weeks healing. Mrs. Talbert said ihat the Indians 
who captured the boat at **Diamond Island*' belonged to two 
bands, One of liieni lo ihe town sne w^as taken to "six miles 
south of Owensville," the other belonged to a much larger 
town farther north; and the reason the Indians who had Mrs. 
Griscom and family would not go into the town she was taken 
to was, that the two factions had a disagreement about the di- 
vision of prisoners and spoils taken at the boat and the}' ^ere 
afraid the other Indians would take their prisoners away from 
them. She said that if the Indians chat had her and her 
child had any knowledge of the Indians that were killed at 
the bluff, they never made it known to her. The Indians 
that came into the camp the night DeVan came after her 
were all that were left of ten from the town who at- 
tempted to capture another boat on the Ohio river and the 
women who were crying and tearing their hair were the wives 
of two of the Indians killed. She said that these two women 
would have killed her and her child that night if the old chief 
and two other men had not ptotected her. She also said that 
the two Hope children were given to three Indians of one 
family who had helped capture the boat and were adopted b}' 
the mother to take the place of a boy and girl of hers who 
had died. 

A few days after Mrs. Talbert and her child had arrived 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 117 

at the Indian town, the three Indian hunters, the two white 
children and their Indian mother went away in canoes down 
the small river and were gone for five days. When they re- 
turned they had a large iron kettle with them. James Hope 
told Mrs. Talbert that they went down the small river until 
it went into a much larj^^er river about onie-third as large as 
the Ohio (meaning- the Wabash j and finally they had gone 
into a creek on the west side and left their canoes and then 
they went into a beautiful grove where the Indian mother 
and the two children put up a brush and bark house large 
enough for them to siay in. The three hunters went away 
and did not come back until in the evening of the second day 
and the}^ then had an iron kettle with some salt in it. They 
did not say how they got it but said the\' '*make salt down in 
the woods some way otf." The next morning the}- took sev- 
eral deer they had killed and staried home. As they were on 
their way the)^ stopped at a place not far above the mouth of 
the small river and went into camp, **a very pretty place," 
James said. The Indian mother asked the two children how 
they would like to live in that place and told them — * 'Maybe 
in one moon we live here." 

The next day they came back to the town. Mrs. Talbert 
learned from an Indian woman that they lived at a much 
larger town north but they had had some trouble and about 
sixty Indians had left and come to that place. She also said 
that there was some trouble even then and it was likely that 
several families would move away in a short time and that 

• 

the Indians with the white children were then on a lookout 
for a new home. Mrs. Talbert said that the same Indians 
and the white children and three other families had gone 
away in canoes the morning before DeVan rescued her and 
she did not know when they intended to return; Jlmes Hope 
told her that they said they were going on a hunting trip. 

From their recent experience the hunters felt that it was 
best for them to be well prepared. They built a strong cabin 
for the new addition to their camp and put a heavy stockade 
around their cabins with port holes to shoot from on all sides. 
The guns captured from the Indians were inspected and three 



118 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

of them put in serviceable condition and their stock of ammu- 
nition was ample for any probable need. Mr. Griscom's arm 
was yet very sore but with the aid of his wife and Mrs. 
Talbert who were both experts with rifles, he felt sure that 
he could defend fhe camp agfainst any probable attack while 
the hunters were absent. 

De Van's heroic action during: the perilous retreat when 
Mrs. Talbert was recaptured had raised him high in the 
esteem of his comrads and they had invited him to take the 
place of Doyle and hunt and trap with them and share their 
profits while the camp would be left to the care of Griscom. 
The three hunters intended beings on the chase all the time 
and when near enough would return to camp at night. Their 
aim was to hunt for large game during the summer and early 
fall and at the same time explore the surrounding country. 
Greenway and Murtree had land warrants for two enlistments 
and they wanted to find a suitable place and when the land 
was surveyed lay their claims. They knew that the east side 
of the river was infested with Indians and concluded to do 
their hunting for a time on the west side and inspect the dif- 
ferent creeks and inlets for beaver in order to trap when the 
fur season came. 

They had been hunting and prospecting for several weeks 
and had seen no Indians, so they concluded to go up a good 
sized stream that empties int;p the Wabash river on the east 
side several miles south of their island camp, on an inspec- 
tion for Beaver signs; (this small river now known as Black 
river drains with its many tributaries a large section of fine 
country and at that time was one of the best beaver trapping 
territories in southern Indiana.) They ran up the river for 
several hours coming to a good sized creek that empties into 
the river on the northwest side. They followed this for 
some distance until they came to point where they could con- 
ceal their conoes and then went on a hunt, agreeing to be 
back to that place at night. 

It was late when DeVan returned; the other two were 
there before him and had prepared a temporary camp. DeVan 
said that when he was about two miles up the river and one 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 119 

mile south of it he heard voices and listeuing^ found that they 
were coming: nearer. Secreting^ himself in a thick cluster of 
vines, in a short time he saw six persons passing^ within about 
^ixty yards of where he was hidden. These persons consist- 
ed of three Indian men, one Indian woman and two white 
children, the girl being small and the boy a good-sized lad 
and both dressed in buckskin the same as the Indians. AH 
were carrying vessels of different kinds that he thought were 
filled with honey. 

De Van's report made it certain that the two white child- 
ren were near them and in the hands of the Indians and from 
Mrs. Talbert's statement it was almost certain that they were 
the Hope children. It was decided to make reconnoisance 
that night in the neigborhood where DeVan saw the Indians 
and see if they could locate their camp. They went to the 
place where DeVan thought he was hidden when the Indians 
and white children went near him. On going in this direc- 
tion for as much as a mile, a dog commenced to bark at them 
not far away. The hunters remained quiet for some time and 
then DeVan proposed that he should go near and find out 
why the dog was there. He had been gone but a short time 
when two or three dogs commenced barking. Talking in the 
Indian tongue was heard but neither Murtree nor Greenway 
understood what the)' were saying. 

Finally a light was made by pushing the chunks of wood 
up together and several persons were seen moving around. 
DeVan slipped back to the place where the rest of the party 
were and said that he had gotten within one hundred and 
fifty feet of the camp where the fire was and that there were 
three or four wigwams. The Indians thought that it was 
wolves prowling around that caused the dogs to bark so and 
the fire was made up to scare th^m away. After talking over 
the situation they determined to slip around the camp at a 
safe distance and see what they could find out. 

On going around they found a spring four or five hun- 
dred feet from the fire that evidently was used, as it was 
covered over with fresh brush to keep the sun out; the dogs 
all the time they were walking around keeping up a continual 



120 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

barking: following: the direction the hunters were gfoing. 
Several Indians were seen moving: around the fire; finally one 
of them gfot some splinters and made a torch in order to 
shine the e3'es of whatever animal it was and with their g-uns 
started in the direction the dog:s indicated, encouragfing them 
to attack. The hunters saw that they would have to kill the 
Indians or get away and they thougfht it would lessen their 
chance to recapture the children if they were to shoot the 
Indians so they quietly slipped away in the direction of the 
river. 

The dogfs followed them a little wa}' and then went back. 
The Indians were seen throwing: their torches awa3\ The 
hunters went back to their camp satisfied with their nigfht's 
work in locating- the Indians' ceimp where they believed the 
children were, the question uppermost in their minds being- 
how they could recapture them. They felt it was their duty 
to release them if it could be done but they did not want to 
run unnecessary risk in doing it. 

They were some little time in forming a plan of action. 
Greenway proposed that they start back to the Indian camp 
about two hours before day and hide themselves where they 
could see what was going on and where they would have a 
good view of the spring. At an early hour they started for 
the Indian camp without any settled plan of what they would 
do more than to keep a look-out for the white children, think- 
ing they might go to the spring for water for themselves. It 
was still dark when they found a suitable place for conceal- 
ment and in a little while smoke was seen coming out of the 
tops of several wigwams. 

Just at daylight three Indian women went to the spring 
for water and soon after four Indians with their guns started 
on a hunt followed by three dogs. After this there was still- 
ness for some time, then a shot was heard in the direction 
that the Indians had gone and in quick succession two or 
three more shots. The dogs were making a terrible noise as, 
if furiousl}' barking at some animal at bay. The Indian camp 
was soon in a stir and two other Indians with guns started to. 
the sound of the combat. After going a short distance they 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 121 

stopped and wer^ seen to examine something* on the ground 
and started to follow the trail made the night before by the 
white hunters while going around the Indian camp. 

These last two Indians went for some distance, finalh' hal- 
looed to some one in camp and were soon joined b}- two other 
Indians. They all followed the trail until it came to where 
the hunters started to their camp when the two Indians 
came out with the torch. They seemed to be holding a con- 
sultation and then the last two Indians that had come out 
hurried to the camp and got their guns, all four starling on 
the trail. Soon after the Indians had left. 

A white bo}- and an Indian woman were seen coming to 
the spring with an iron kettle carried between them on a pole, 
followed by a little white girl. When at the spring the Indian 
woman commenced to till the kettle. The burners slipped up 
behind them; DeVan caught the woman and tied a thick 
piece of rawhide in her mouth so thai she could not make a 
noise and tied her hands behind her. Greenway spoke to 
James Hope, the boy, and told him that Mr. Griscom had 
sent for them. The little girl was badly frightened but 
James (luieted her. Hiding the kettle in a thickt^t ihey started, 
taking a direction that would bring them to the river several 
miles east of that place. 

As the Indian hunters w^ere all gone the captors felt as- 
sured that the Indian woman w^ould not be missed for some 
time. They traveled very fast and before noon they w^ere 
over the river and marching rapidly to the north. DeVan 
told the Indian woman that they belonged to a large band of 
white people who were hunting for the two children and that 
they would get to their camp the next morning. lie told her 
that she would not be hurt as she had been good to the chil- 
dren and that she might go and live with them all the time 
or when they got to camp she might go back — she could do 
as she pleased as they did not intend to keep her a prisoner. 

The Indian woman said that she had three sons that she 
did not want to leave and she would go back if they would 
let her. They had made a long march when they finally 
came to a nice camping place. After eating^ their supper 



122 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

> 

they gfathered brush and leaves for beds. Thej' told the In- 
dian woman that she had better go on with them but she 
said she would go back. After taking: her leave of the child- 
ren she started on their back track verj' slowly at first but 
was soon seen running like the winds. 

In a little while the rescuing: party was rapidly march- 
ing: away, shaping: their course so they would strike the, Wa- 
bash river near their island camp. They marched for several 
miles after the Indian woman left them and on coming: to a 
suitable place, rested until two o'clock in the morning: when 
they ag:ain started and a little before day found that they 
were in the neig:hborhood of the river but could not decide 
how far south of their camp as it was yet quite dark. Con- 
tinuing: up the river fully two miles they came to familiar ob- 
jects that they knew were about two miles south of the island. 
They had g:one one mile further when they heard the sound 
of g:uns firing: up the river. They could not account for this, 
as there was too much of it for any hunting: party, unless it 
was an attack on their fort. 

Hurrying: on until within about one-half mile of the fort, 
Murtree went forward to find out what it meant. He was 
g:one but a little time and when he g:ot back said that he could 
not see anything: of the people at the fort or anyone else and 
that the firing: was from the fort and the west side of the is- 
land. Murtree said he thoug:ht they could g:et to the fort by 
keeping: themselves well screened by the brush. 

They hurried on until opposite the stockade. They could 
not see anything: of the white people but every little while a 
rifle would crack; sometimes two or three of them. The fir- 
ing: of those outside the stockade was very rapid at times. 
Leaving: the two children in hiding:, the three hunters waded 
in as far as they could and swam to the island. Green way 
and Murtree went to the g:ate, made themselves known and 
were admitted. DeVan took a canoe back and broug:ht the 
children. The Indians were behind larg:e log:s at the water's 
edg:e firing: at the stockade but were doing: no damag:e to those 
inside the worts. 

DeVan was near the southwest ang:le of the stockade 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 123 

when he heard a sound as if some one was strug-gling or 
strangling on the outside near the wall. He got an augur 
and bored a hole near the ground so he could see what it was 
that caused the noise and found that an Indian was lying 
there in the last agonies of death. He could see another In- 
dian not more than ten feet away who was being dragged, 
feet formost, with a strap held by some other Indian behind 
a log and soon the dead Indian was out of sight. In a few 
moments he saw an Indian crawl from back of the same log 
and tie a cord to the wounded Indian and drag him away. 
The opening was so small he could not bring his gtm to bear 
on the Indian. 

The Indians during all this time kept up constant firing. 
Soon they ceased firing and Murtree and DeVan went out on 
the east side and crawled around the fort. The Indians were 
in their canoes, some of them having crossed the river, were 
carrying some of their dead and wounded companions up the 
bank. The two hunters got in a good position and fired upon 
them. Those in the fort were firing from the port holes and 
the Indians in two of the canoes that were in the stream were 
returning the fire. The canoes drifted with the current 
down the river beyond gunshot. Thie occupants rowed them 
to the shore and climbed up the bank, carrying their bark 
canoes with them. 

After the battle was over and the Indians had gone, the 
hunters made an examination of the island but did not find 
any dead Indians, but pools of blood in many places made it 
evident that many of them had been hit. 

Mr. Griscom said that two days before two canoes with 
four Indians were seen coming down the river. One of them 
put to shore and two Indians landed and after looking aroimd 
for about a half an hour went back to their canoe. They 
then went down the river and were gone for two or three hours 
and then they were seen coming back, passing on the west 
side of the river apparently paying no attention to the fort It 
was thought they had gone for good but the next day several 
canoes were seen up the river. They landed on the west side 
and went into camp having large fires. "This," said Griscom, 



124 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

* 'caused us to keep a careful lookout. There were 3'et four 
g-uns that had been capiured in the former battles with the 
Indians that had not been put in serviceable shape. These 
were cleaned up, new flints put in the locks and loaded. This* 
g^ave us seven guns for defense and every precaution was 
taken to have everj'thing in readiness, all of us determining" 
to remain up all night. It was near the middle of the night 
when some objects were seen moving between the fort and 
the west side of the island. We called to them thinking it 
might be you hunters returning but there was no response 
and nothing was seen until jusi at daylight. At that time I 
was irying to see over the top of the stockade by leaning a 
piece of board out against the timbers and tiptoeing so that 
I could raise my eyes above the lup of the wall, when a shot 
was lired at me that cut the side of my cap. At once a rush 
was made by a number of Indians to scale the walls and get 
into the fort. Kortunaiely the women were ai their posts 
and shot several times at the Indians not more than forty feet 
aw^ay and before they ceased iheir attempt to take the fort 
there must have been eight or ten of them killed or 
wounded." 

The Indians fell back to the west side of the island and 
had been shooting at the stockade until after the hunters had 
gotten into the fort. None of the white people had been 
seriously hurt in the battle. Mrs. Talbert had her cheek 
burned by a ball that grazed her face. The Indians in at- 
tempting to storm the fort made a fatal mistake. The white 
people went into a strong log cabin built in the center of the 
stockade wuth port holes on every side, which was made on 
purpose to repel such an attack. There was but one Indian 
who got over the walls and Mrs. Griscom shot him through 
the head. Another one got on top of the wall and was shot, 
falling inside the fort; several others were shot as they at- 
tempted to get over the wall. Griscom said he was certain 
that as many as six Indians had been killed and as many 
more wounded. From what they could see and hear when 
the Indians undertook to storm the fort there were as many 
as twenty-five of them. The heroic action of the two women 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 125 

saved the lives of those in the fort at the time of the attack 
b)' being: in the inner fort with two loaded guns apiece. 

After the battle a close watch was kept all day and night 
but no Indians were seen. The hunters built two more strong: 
cabins and prepared them far defense as well as for comfort. 
By this time it was ver)' hot weather and they decided to 
stay close around their camp until the weather became cooler. 

The Hope children gave a very interesting" history of 
their experience while they were prisoner/. The three young 
hunters who had theiri for their part of the boat-fight spoils 
were looked up to by the other Indians as their ver)' best 
warriors. Their mother, to whom they gave the Hppe child- 
ren, wa<^ the widow of a prominent chief who was killed in 
Kentucky some years before. In adopting the children in 
place of two of hers who had died she first gave them articles 
that had belonged to the dead children and then had them 
take off their clothing and put on a buckskin suit. She next 
brought some tea in a bowl, sprinkling some of it over them, 
then giving them a small portion to drink after which she 
drank a small portion herself. After this ceremon}^ she took 
them into her wigwam and gave each of them a number of 
skins for their beds. James Hope said that no one could have 
been kinder to them than was this Indian mother. She would 
have them sit down by her and would pat and caress them 
calling them by their Indian names. At other times she 
would look at them and cry most piteously and then caress 
them with all the affection of a fond mother. 

James said that the morning he told Mrs. Talbert that 
they were going on a hunting excursion was the last time he 
had heard of the town where she was prisoner. .Eight men 
and four women besides their Indian mother came to the place 
where he was recaptured with all their effects and none of 
them had heard of their former home since. 

The Griscoms, Mrs. Talbert and the hunters held many 

consultations about what was best for them to do. They had 

lost what little they owned when the boat was captured and 

.Mrs. Talbert had lost her husband. If they wanted to do so, 

they could not go back to Virginia and they did not have 



12h PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

friends Or relatives at any other place. The country on every 
side was a wilderness roamed over by ^hostile Indians. At 
Vincennes and Kaskaskia there were small settlements of 
white people and a few American soldiers were in forts at 
these places but there was nothing: they could do if they went 
there. The people there, outside the soldiers, were of an- 
other nation and were only friendly to the Americans because 
they hated the Eng^lish more. 

These unfortunate people were high minded and did not 
want to be a burden to the hunters who were there for the 
profit of hunting: and trapping: for fur. The hunters pro- 
posed to Mr. Griscom that he, his wife, Mrs. Talbert and the 
two Hope children, should remain on the island until they 
could do better or the hig:h, water forced ihem to g:o away and 
Griscom should assist them in hunting: and trapping: and 
share in the profits; the two women, with the help of the 
children, taking: care of the camp. This was ag:reed lo and 
everything: was put in readiness for the fall and winter'^* hunt, 
all the time being: very careful to keep waich for the Indians. 
Greenway made a trip lo Vincennes during: the warm 
weather and learned that there was g:reai activity among ihe 
Indians; that ihey were continually on ihe war path and that 
there had been many skirmishes between them and the Ken- 
tuckians who were always as read)' to fig:ht as the Indians 
were. 

The warm weather had finally g:one and the fall had 
come. The hunters were on the chase killing: bear and deer. 
Buffalo were plenty in small herds and many of them were 
killed. Thg meat was cured by drying: it and the hides pre- 
pared for market. There were no incidents other than come 
to hunters during: the fall and winter. They secured the 
hide of many beaver and other fur bearing: animals. Near 
the last of February the hig:h water came and they had to 
abandon their comfortable quarters, all g:oing: to Vincennes 
to sell their peltry and live until the waier went down. 

Griscom and his wife remained for several years in the 
neig:hberhood of Vincennes, hunting: and trapping: but finally 
moved to the Illinois country. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 127 

Mrs. Talbert married a discharg^ed soldier at Vincennes 
and later moved to the neighborhood of the Yellow Banks 
now Rockport. 

The two Hope children, James and Jane, found a soldier 
in the fort at Vincennes who was a cousin of their mother's. 
He took them in charge until his enlistment was out and then 
went with them to the country north of the Cumberland river 
not far south of where Bowling Green, Kentucky, is now 
located. 

Greenway, Murtree and DeVan enlisted in the army and 
were with Wayne at the battle of Maumee. After the war 
was over DeVan came back to his old hunting* grounds and 
was on the chase until just before the battle of Tippecanoe 
when General Harrison engaged him as scout to do some work 
in finding out what the Indians west of the Wabash were 
doing and if it were likely the Prophet could control them. 
His report was so satisfactory to Greneral Harrison that he 
enlisted him in the army and gave him an easy position in the 
quartermaster's department. 

Murtree after the war of 1812 was over was mustered out 
at Niagara Falls, finaltyeame west^and- laid warrants on land 
in Posey county. 

James Greenway was promoted to a Quartermaster's Ser- 
geant and was in the regular army for many years. After 
the last war with England was over General John I. Neely» 
who was an aide-de-camp and Adjutant Greneral to General 
Wm. H. Harrison, was detailed by the government to settle 
up the quartermaster and commissary business at several 
military stations in the northwest. James Greenway, a quar- 
termaster-sergeant was detailed and ordered to report to Gen- 
eral Neeiy for duty in closing out the surplus quartermaster 
supplies and he proved to be a very competent man in his 
line of business. They were at this work more than a year 
and in this way became very well acquainted. During that 
time Greenway showed General Neely the notes of the prin- 
cipal events of his life for many years before the date they 
were working together. The locality mentioned in the notes 
was familiar to the General and he secured a copy of them; 



128 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

in this wa)' the data for this chapter was secured. General 
Neely was very much interested in the stirring events that 
took place twenty-five years before that time in the neig'h- 
borhood of his home, as they were narated to him by Green- 
way. 

When they had finished the work the General invited him 
to v4sit him and they would then go over the places men- 
tioned in the notes. This invitation was accepted and in the 
fall of 1818 Greenway secured a furlough and visited him at 
his Gibson county home. 

They were hunting several weeks together and during 
that time they went to Coffee Island and up CofFee bayou to 
what is known as Brushy pond, thence over the old trace to 
the bluff. The located the grave where Thomas Doyle and 
Mary Gr;scom were buried in 1793. They at that time had 
filled the last two feet of the grave with various sized rocks 
to keep the animals from digging the bodies out and it was 
b)' these rocks that the General and Greenwa}" now identified 
the graves. By the invitation of General Neely, Major David 
Robb, who was an old Tippecanoe comrade, was with the 
party the day the gravies were located and he, being a sur- 
ve3'or, took the following notes: 

**On the level land at the base of a high bluff, Thomas 
Doyle and Mary Griscom are buried in the same grave, 23 
feet northwest of the northwest point of the bluff, located in 
the southwest quarter of section thirty-three, township two, 
south, range 12, west, the survey of 1804." 

In 1867, Captain David F. Embree, a grandson of David 
Robb, showed the author the notes that had been made in 
his grand-father's field note book of that early da}', also on 
the same leaf the notes of 3'oung Ziba Foote* who was 
drowned in Foot's pond in 1804 was recorded as being located 



Author's Note — Young Foot referred to was an enjjineer from the 
east and was with one of the surveying corps in southwestern Indiana late 
in the fall of 1804, surveying the land that was ceded, by the Indians to the 
United States in August of the same year. He attempted to cross Foot's 
pond (named for him) on a frail raft) that came apart and let him into deep 
water and he was drowned. Years afterward his brother, Dr. Foot, pur- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 129 

in section 21, township 3, south, rang^e 13, west. 

After the visit was over Greenway returned to his post 
and nothing: more was heard of him until 1827 he wrote Gen- 
eral Neeley this letter: 

'*St. Louis, Mo., June 14, 1827. 

General John I. Neely, 

Princeton, Indiana. 
Dear Sir: — 

I will have finished my seventh enlist- 
ment in the army on the 24th day of Augfust, this 
year. I intend to come to Indiana and will call on 
you. I want to gfo to the bluff and have a largfe stone 
cut out of it, if it is sound rock and place it over my 
cousin, Thomas Doyle's, gfrave. I hope, sir, that 
ever>'thing^ has been favorable to you. I am your 
obedient 

James Greenway." 

He never came and this is the last General Neely ever 

heard of him. 



chased a stone quarry at Bedford, Indiana, had the bones of his brother 
taken np from where they had been buried on the banks of Foot*s pond and 
carried to Bedford where he had a grave cut out of a solid limestone rock, 
put the bones in it and sealed them up. 



CHAPTER VI. 



Organization of Indiana Territory — William Henry 
Harrison — General Gibson, Secretary — Territorial 
Judges Appointed — Slavery Question — Laws of In- 
denture — Specimens of Indenture Papers. 



On the division of the territory of the United States 
northwest of the River Ohio, by an act of Cong^ress, May the 
7th, 1800, Indiana Territory comprised all of the northwest 
territory except that which soon became the state of Ohio. 
The people retained all the laws and rig^hts that were gfiven 
to them by the Ordinance of 1787, that had been in force in 
the Northwest Territory. On the 13th of May, 1800, Wil- 
liam Henry Harrison (who was a native of Virgfinia and at 
that time a member of Cong^ress from the Northwest Terri- 
tory) was appointed gfovernor of Indiana Territory. General 
John Gibson, who had fougfht througfh the Revolution from 
the commencement to the close and had come out of the war 
with the rank of a General, was appointed secretary. The 
secretary arrived at Vincennes, which had been selected for 
the seat of gfovernment for the Indiana Territory, in July and 
in the absence of the Governor he appointed military and civil 
officers. It was not until Januar3% 1801, that Harrison came 
to Vincennes where, by proclamation he called the Judges 
William Clark, Henrj^ Vanderburg: and John Griffith, who 
had been appointed Territorial Judges, to meet at the new 
territorial capital, Vincennes, for the purpose of adopting 
such laws as were required for the government of the terri- 
tory and and for the performance of other acts conformable 
to the laws and ordinance of Congress. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 131 

The g^ovemor and the judg^es, accordingly, met at Vin- 
cennes on the 12th of January, 1801, and continued to hold 
session from day to day until the 26th of the same month, 
when they adjourned after having: adopted and published 
seven laws and three resolutions as follows: 

1. A law supplemental to a law to reg^ulate 
county levies. 

2. A resolution concerning: attorneys and coun- 
selors-at-law. 

3. A law to reg^ulate practice of the gfeneral 
court upon appeals and writs of errors. 

4. A law respecting: amendments and jeofail. 

5. A law establishing: courts of g^eneral quarter 
session of the peace in the counties of Knox, Ran- 
dolph and St. Clair. 

6. An act repealing certain acts. 

7. A law appointing: a territorial treasurer. 

8. A resolution for the establishment of ferries. 

9. A law concerning: the fees of officers. 

10. A resolution concerning: the compensation 
of the clerk of the legislature. '^ 

The territorial judges held their first session of court of 
the Indiana Territory at Vincennes, the 3d day of March, 
1801. The first grand jury impanelled in the Indiana Terri- 
tory was composed of nineteen person: Luke Decker, Antoine 
Marshal, Joseph Baird, Patrick Simpson, Antoine Petit, 
Andre Montplaisure, John Ockilpree, Johnathan Marney, 
Jacon Trevebaug, Alexander Valley, Francis Turpin, Fr. 
Compagnoitte, Charles Languedoc, Louis Severe, Fr. Langue- 
doc, George Catt, John B. T. Barois, Abraham Decker and 
Phillip Catt, 

The law machinery of the territory being constructed, 
the questions that came principally before the courts and 
which attracted more attention than any other subject during 
the first years of the Indiana Territory, were land specula- 
tion, the adjustment and settling of land titles and the per- 
plexing question of slavery that had been in existence in the 
Territory for sixty-five years before the ordinance of 1787 



I 



132 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

was adopted and was one of the most stubbornly contested 
questions before the courts. The courts, unfortunately for 
those interested in having the wise provisions of the ordinance 
of 1787 carried out, were in sympathy with the slave-holding 
element. Governor Harrison, after assuming control of the 
affairs of the territory, exerted his energies in trying to ac- 
quire lands from the Indians by treaty. (A historj^ of these 
treaties is found in the chapter on '^Harrison in the Tippe- 
canoe Campaign.") 

When the Indiana Territory was formed, Vincennes was 
the town of the most importance. At that time there was a 
small settlement whiere the town of Lawrenceburgc, Dear- 
born count)', now stands. At Armstrong station on the Ohio 
there was a small settlement and at Clarksville, opposite the 
Falls of the Ohio, there was another small one. Outside of this, 
in what is now the state of Indiana, there were no other set- 
tlements by the white people except an occasional adventurer 
who had been a prisoner or raised among the Indians, settling 
in some section near an Indian town. The only mode of com- 
munication between the stations of Indiana Territory was by 
the Ohio, Mississippi or Wabash rivers. Detroit was a town 
of considerable importance but had been destroyed b}' fire in 
1798. It was so remote from the vSections bordering on the 
Ohio river that intelligence from that section was oul}- ob- 
tained probably, once a year. The mode of communi- 
cation between the Ohio Falls, Vincennes and the farther 
western stations was along the old Indian trace connecting 
these places, which had been there from time immemorial. 

For many years before the capture of the Northwest Ter- 
ritory from the British by Czeneral Clark, the French inhabi- 
tantsof the settled stations Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Detroit and, 
other places, held slaves and dealt in them as they became 
wealthy in the fur trade. Some of these traders made annual 
trips down the Mississippi to New Orleans and brought back 
slaves, men and women. It is safe to say that at thetime Vin- 
cennes was captured in 1779, the different posts in the North- 
west Territory- had more than 200 negro slaves. Adding to 
this the increase from natural cause and from those brought 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 133 

in from Virg^inia, Kentucky and the Carolinas, up to the time 
that Indiana Territory was formed and William Henry Harri- 
son was made its governor, there were more than three hundred 
slaves in the Northwest Territory, leaving^ out what soon be- 
came the state of Ohio. There was little notice taken of 
slavery. Harrison was from Virginia and favored slavery yet 
he issued a proclamation prohibiting the removal of inden- 
tured negroes from the Territory. 

The United States judges appointed were owners of 
slaves. In the summer of 1794 Judge Turner, under Gover- 
nor St. Clair's administration of the Northwest Territory Was 
at Vincennes holding court. During that term he had a ser- 
ious misunderstanding with Judge Vandaburgh who was the 
Probate Judge of Knox county, Northwest Territory. In the 
midst of the controversy a negro and his wife held as slaves 
by Vandaburgh applied to Judge Turner's court for emanci- 
pation by writ of habeas corpus. The evidence was all in and 
Judge Turner would have given them their freedom but the 
night before the decision was to be given the negroes were 
kidnapped, carried south and sold. 

The author here gives a specimen of a decision by the 
three federal judges, Vandaburgh, Clark and Griffin, during 
Harrison's administration. There were proceedings brought 
for the emancipation of a negro and negress that had been 
brought into Indiana Territory from Kentucky and held with- 
out compliance with the formalities of the indenture laws. 
Influential people aided these negroes in making a habeas 
corpus proceedings by which they were released, on a techni- 
cal insufficiency of evidence for the claimant. The full court 
made a ruling that the negros were not fugitive from slav- 
ery. 

After this decision the party claiming the negroes at- 
tempted to carry them out of the Territory and back to Ken- 
tucky. When new proceedings were instituted, which was 
tried in 1806, the judges heard the case and decided that the 
negroes were neither fugitives from justice nor slavery and re- 
leased them. They further said, in giving their opinion, that 
this order was not to impair the rights of the defendants or 



134 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. . 

any other person who should have them for slaves provided 
the defendant or any other person could prove them to be 
slaves. 

After this the two neg^roes built a cabin on the banks of 
the Wabash river near Vincennes from which place they were 
kidnapped by a Frenchman hired for that purpose, carried to 
New Orleans and sold into slavery. With such a trio of 
judg^es as those making: this decision was there any wonder 
that slavery was in full force in many places in Indiana Ter- 
ritor)' at the time the state was admitted to the union? 

In 1803 the United States purchased from France for the 
sum of fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) the territory that 
has since been divided into the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, 
Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dako- 
ta, Montana, Wyoming^ Indian Territory, Colorado, and that 
part of Minnesota west of the Mississippi river. During: the 
year of 1804 all that country north of the thirty-third degfree 
was attached to Indiana Territory by Cong^ress and was under 
the control of Governor Harrison. The next year this Loui- 
siana Territory was detached and orgfanized into a separate 
territory. 

On the 22d of November, 1802, Governor Harrison, in com- 
pliance with the wishes of many citizens of the territory, is- 
sued a proclamation notifying^ them* that there would be an 
election held in the several counties of the territory' on the 
11th day of December, 1802, for the purpose of choosing: del- 
eg^ates to meet in convention at Vincennes on the 20th of De- 
cember, 1802. The number of delegfates from Knox county 
was four; from Randolph county, three; from St. Clair coun- 
ty, three; Clark county, two. The main object of those who 
favored the callings of the convention was to take into consid- 
eration the expediency of repealing^ or suspending: article 
sixth of the ordinance of 1787 which prohibited the holding: 
of slaves in all the territory that at that time was in the 
Northwest Territory. 

The convention assembled. Governor Harrison presiding:. 
There was a document prepared in which the deleg:ates in be- 
half of the people of the Indiana Territory g:ave their consent 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 135 

that the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787 mig^ht be sus- 
pended. This document tog^ether with the memorial from 
the deleg^ates and a number of slave-holding* inhabitants of 
the territory was laid before Congress and in the House of 
Representatives on the 2d of March, 1803. Mr. Randolph, of 
Virginia, chairman of the committee that this resolution and 
report were referred to, makes this report — '*The rapidly in- 
creasing population of the state of Ohio is sufficient evidence 
to your committee that the labor of slaves is not necessary to 
prompt the growth of settlements of the colonies in that sec- 
tion. That slave labor, the dearest that can be employed, is 
only advantageous in the cultivation of products more valua- 
ble than any known in that quarter of the United States. 
The committee deems it highly dang-erous and inexpedient to 
impair provisions wisely calculated to promote the happiness 
and prosperity of the northwest-country and to give strength 
and security to their extensive frontiers. In the salutary op- 
eration of this sagacious and benevolent restraint, it is be- 
lieved that the inhabitants of Indiana will at no distant day 
find ample remuneration for a temporary privation of labor 
and of immigration." 

Congress refused to suspend the sixth article of the ordi- 
nance of 1787 in opposition to the views and wishes which 
were afterward expressed in several petitions, resolutions and 
memorial, by the legislative authority and many people of 
Indiana territory, the decision of Congress remained un- 
changed. 

The principal reasons which were assigned by the memo- 
rials in favor of the suspension of the sixth article of the or- 
dinance of 1787, were that such a suspension would be highly 
advantageous to the territory, that it would meet the appro- 
bation of nine-tenths of the citizens of the territory; that the 
abstract question of liberty and slavery was not considered as 
involved in the suspension of the article as the number of 
slaves in the United States would not be increased by the 
measure and the suspension of the article would be equally 
advantageous to the territory, to the slave-holding states and 
to the slaves themselves; that at the time of the.adoption of the 



136 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ordinance slavery had existed in the territory; that it was 
made to apply to for a g^reat many years before and that the 
ordinance was passed by Congfress without consulting: the inter- 
ests of the citizens of the territory, who were in no wise repre- 
sented in that body and the number of slaves would never bear 
such a proportion to the white population as would endang^er 
the peace and prosperity of the country. The views of those 
citizens of Indiana Territory who were not in favor of the 
proposed suspension of the sixth article of the ordinance of 
1787, were at different times sent to the committees at Con- 
gfress having that matter in chargfe, in the shape of memo- 
rials and remonstrances. A larg^ely attended meetings of the 
citizens of Clark county was held at Spring^ville; John Beg^g^s 
being: elected president and David Floyd secretary. A com- 
mittee was raised consisting^ of Charles Beggs, Abraham Lit- 
tle, Robert Robertson, John Owens and James Beggfs. They 
prepared a memorial which was adopted by the meetings and 
laid before Congfress on the 7th of November, 1807. The 
memorial of the citizens of Clark county show that great 
anxiety has been and still is evinced by some of th^ citizens 
of this territory on the subject of the introduction of slavery 
into it. In no case has the voice of the citizens been unani- 
mous. In 1802 at a special convention of delegates from the 
several counties a petition was forwarded to Congress to re- 
peal the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787. 

At that convention the representatives in the eastern 
part of the territory who were at Vincennes were decidedly 
opposed to the petition. Again in the year 1805 the subject 
was taken up and discussed in the general assembly, a ma- 
jority of the members of the House of Representatives voted 
against the memorial and it was rejected as is shown by the 
journal of that house, but a number of the citizens thought 
it proper to sign the same. Among those who fraudulently 
attempted to force this memorial on Congress as the declared 
expression of the majority of the representatives of that as 
sembly were the speaker of the House of Representatives and 
the president of the council. 

Afterward the president of the council was charged with 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 13T 

this duplicity when he denied having: ever sig^ned the same. 
History gfives the folio wing: account of this paper: 

'*This fraudulent paper was forwarded to the Congfress 
of the United States as the expressed wish of the legislators 
of this territory. In the present year of 1807 this subject was 
taken up bj" the legislature of this territory again and a ma- 
jority of both houses passed the resolution to suspend the 
sixth article in a proportion of two to one and it is presumed^ 
this action is before you. Let it be understood that when 
this action was taken, that there were but .three members of 
the assembly present, beside the speaker, who, for certain 
reasons, positively refused to sign the resolution. As a 
last substitute after the bill was passed, they prevailed on 
the president to vacate his seat and appoint one of the other 
-members speaker pro tem. for the purpose of signing the res- 
olution. This doubtful conduct of a small minority of the 
representatives of this territory will be convincing to your 
honorable committee in Congress that those in this territory 
are driven to a desperate strait in order to unlawfully hold 
their slaves. 

'*It is contended by the pro-slavery element that a major- 
ity of the voters of this territory are in favor of annulling 
the sixth article in the ordinance of 1787, while those opposed 
to slavery being in the territory feel sure that a majority of 
all the voters are opposed in any way, disapproving an}' of 
the provision in the ordinance of 1787, believing that such an 
action would be an insult offered to the Congress of the 
United States. 

"There is a large emigration coming into the section of 
the country around the Falls of the Ohio and your committee 
thinks it best for all concerned to allow the present condition 
of things to remain undisturbed until there is sufficient num- 
ber in different sections of the said territory to form into 
states and to adopt state constitutions. Then all questions 
for the well being and happiness of the people to be governed 
by the constitutions can be adjusted in accordance with the 
wishes of the majority." 

When it became evident to the slave holders of the terri- 



138 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

tory that Congress would not make any provision for nullify- 
ing the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, in order that 
they might hold the slaves that were then in the territory, 
the obnoxious indenture laws were passed by the legislature 
in 1807. The provisions of that act are herein given. 

"The laws of the Indiana Territory concerning 
slaves and negro or mulatto servants. An act con- 
cerning the introduction of negroes and mulattoes 
into this Territory. 

**Sec. 1.. It shall and may be lawful for any 
person being the owner or possessor of any negroes 
or mulattoes of any age above the age of fifteen 
years and owing service or labor as slaves, in any 
of the states or territories of the United States, or 
for any citizen of the said states or territories of the 
United States purchasing the same; to bring the 
said negroes or mulattoes into this Territory. 

*'Sec. 2. The owner or possessor of any negroes 
or mulattoes, as aforesaid, and bringing the same in- 
to this territory, shall within thirty days after such 
removal go with the same before the clerk of the 
court of common pleas of the proper county; and, in 
the presence of said clerk, the said owner or posses- 
sor shall determine and agree to whith his or her 
negro or mulatto, upon the terms of years which the 
said negro or mulatto will and shall serve his or her 
owner or possessor and the said clerk is hereby 
authorized and required to make a record thereof in 
a book which he shall keep for that purpose. 

**Sec. 3. If any negro or mulatto removed into 
this territory as aforesaid shall refuse to serve his or 
her owner as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful 
for such persons, within sixty days thereafter to re- 
move the said negro or mulatto to any place by the 
laws of the United States or territory from whence 
such owner or possessor may or shall be authorized 
to remove the same. 

'*Sec. 4. If any person or persons shall neglect 
or refuse to perform the duty required in the second 
or to take advantage of the benefit of the preceding 
sectipn, hereof, within the time there respectively 
prescribed, such person or persons shall forfeit all 
claims and rights whatever to the service and labor 
of such negroes or mulattoes. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 139 

"Sec. 5. Any person removing: into this terri- 
tory and being: the owner or possessor of any neg:ro 
or mulatto as aforesaid, under the ag:e of fifteen 
years; or if anj' person shall hereafter acquire a pro- 
perty in any neg:ro or mulatto under the age afore- 
said, and shall bring: them into this territory, it 
shall and may be lawful for such person or persons, 
owners or possessors, to hold the said neg:ro or mulatto 
to service or labor, the male until they arrive at the 
age of thirty-five years, the female until they arrive 
at the ag:e of thirty-two 5'ears. 

**Sec. 6. Any person removing: any neg:ro or 
mulatto into this territory under the authority of the 
preceding: section, it shall be incumbent upon such 
persons within thirty days thereafter to reg:ister the 
name and ag:e of such negro or mulatto with the 
clerk of the court of common pleas for the proper 
county. 

*'Sec. 7. If any person shall remove any negro 
or mulatto from one county to another county, with- 
in this territory who may or shall be brought into 
the same under the authority of either the first or 
fifth section hereof, it shall be incumbent upon such 
person to register the name and also the age of said 
negro or mulatto which the said clerk of the county 
from whence and to which said negro or mulatto 
may be removed, within thirty days after such re- 
moval. 

'*Sec. 8. If any person shall neglect or refuse to 
perform the duty required by the two preceding sec- 
tions hereof, such persons, for such offense shall be 
fined in the sum of fifty dollars to be recovered by 
indictment or information and for the use of the 
proper county. 

"Sec. 9. If any person shall neglect or refuse to 
perform the duty and service herein required, he shall, 
for every such neglect or refusal, be fined in the sum 
of fifty dollars to be recovered by information or in- 
dictment and for use of the county. 

"Sec. 10. It shull be the duty of the clerk of the 
court of common pleas, aforesaid, when any person 
shall apply to him to register any negro or mulatto, 
agreeable to the preceding section, to demand and 
receive the said applicant's bond with sufficient se- 
curity in the penalty of five hundred dollars, payable 



J 



140 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

to the governor or his successors in office, conditioned! 
that the neg^ro or mulatto, negroes or mulattoes, as 
the case may be, shall not, after the expiration of 
his or her service, become a county charge which 
bond shall be lodged with the county treasurers, res- 
pectively, for the use of the said counties, provided 
always that no such bond shall be required orrequira- 
ble in case of time of service of such negro or mulatto, 
shall expire before he or she arrives at the age of 
forty years, if such negro or mulatto be at that time 
capable to support him or herself by his or her own 
labor. 

**Sec. 11. Any person who shall take or forcibly 
carry out of this territory or who shall be aiding or 
assisting therein an}^ person or persons owing or hav- 
ing owed service for labor, without the consent of 
such person or persons, previously obtained before any 
judge of the court of common pleas of the county 
• where such persons owing or having owed such service 
or labor resides, which consent shall be certified by 
said judge of the common pleas to the clerk of the 
court of common pleas where he resides at or before 
the next court. Any person so offending, upon con- 
viction thereof, shall forfeit and pay one thousand 
dollars, one-third to be used by the county, two-thirds 
to be used b)^ the person taken or carried away. To 
be recovered by action of debt, provided there shall 
be nothing in the section so construed as to prevent 
any master or mistress from removing any person 
owing service or labor from this territory as described 
in the third section of this act. 

**Sec. 12. The said clerk for every register made 
in the manner aforesaid shall receive seventy-five 
cents from the applicant therefor. 

**Sec. 13. The children born in this territory of a 
parent of color owing service or labor by indenture, 
according to the law, shall serve the master or mis- 
tress of such parent, the male until the age of thirty 
and the female until the age of twenty-eight years. 

*'Sec. 14. The provisions contained in a law of 
this territory respecting apprentices, entitled, '*an 
act respecting apprentices'' shall be enforced as to 
such children in case of misbehavior of the master or 
mistress or for cruelty or ill-usage. Approved Sep- 
tember 17, 1807. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 141 

The first laws for the indenture of slaves were made by 
the board of control in Indiana Territory — the governor and 
the three federal judgfes in 1803. They provided that '*per- 
sons coming: into the territory under a contract to serve a 
stated period at an}' kind of labor shall serve that term/' 

This contract was assig^nable to any person in the terri- 
tory if the slaves consented. This law was made so that per- 
sons coming: to the territory from slave states before starting: 
could indenture their slaves for as long: a period as they would 
be of service to them; in most cases for thirty years. 

The next attempt to clinch slaver)^ in the territory was 
by an act of ihe Territorial Leg:islature in 1805. An act for 
the introduction of neg:roes and mulattoes into the territory 
was passed. It provided that any slave holder in the United 
States could bring: any slave over fifteen years old into the 
territor)^ and within thirty days after coming:, mig:ht enter in- 
to an ag:reement with such slaves before the clerk of a court 
of common pleas as to the number of years such slaves would 
serve their masters. If the slaves should refuse to ag:ree, the 
master had sixt}' days in which to send him to a slave state. 

The laws of the Indiana Territory concerning: slaves and 
neg:ro or mulatto servants passed in 180T were the same as 
those in 1805. Neither of these laws had any validity as they 
were in direct opposition to laws passed by the Cong:ress of 
the United States for the g:overnment of their Northwest Ter- 
ritory. But notwithstanding: all that the indented neg:roes 
were compelled to serve their masters for the time specified in 
the indentures and in man)- cases those so indentured were by 
one means and another taken into slave states where they 
are sold into slavery for life. Unfortunately the clear cut laws 
prohibiting: slavery in the territory did not have much force 
with those intrusted with the administration of the laws. 
There was no secret about holding: slaves in all the counties 
of the territory. 

In 1820, four years after the state was admitted into the 
Union, there were one hundred and ninety slaves in servitude 
in Indiana as shown by census report. Knox county had one 
hundred and eig:hteen; Gibson county, thirty-one; Posey 



142 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

county, eleven; Vanderburgh, ten; the other twenty-one were 
held in Spencer, Warrick. Owen, Sullivan, Scott and Pike 
counties. The other twenty-four counties that were in the 
state at that time had no slaves. Slavery in Indiana did not 
disappear from the census report until 1850. Most of the ne- 
gfroes who were emancipated by their owners or by leg^al pro- 
cess were afterwards kidnapped and sold into slavery in the 
south. 

Below is given a few specimens of the way the poor, un- 
suspecting: neg^roes were fooled, being: made to believe they 
were sig:ning their emancipation papers, when in fact, they 
were sig:ning: an indenture that g:ave the control of their labor 
for a long period of years to their so-called masters who, in 
many cases, pretended to be liberating: them. Since writing: 
this article it has been thoug:ht best to withhold the names 
of those making: these pretended emancipation papers and use 
fictitious ones for the reason that many of the descendants are 
still living: and are among the best people of the state and 
who would scorn any such dishonest action. 

'*On the 27th day of July, 1813, I, Joseph Bar- 
ton, have this day set free my slave, Thomas Tur- 
ner, and I hereby make and acknowledge the eman- 
cipation paper for his complete freedom. The said 
Thomas Turner for the privilege of being known as 
a free man, has agreed to indenture his services to 
me for a period of thirty years from date. 

(SEAL.) Joseph Barton. 

'1, Thomas Turner, do hereby accept the eman- 
cipation papers for which I sincerely thank my for- 
mer master and do cheerfully agree to indenture my- 
self to the said Joseph Barton as per the above agree- 
ment. Thomas Turner. 

July 27, 1813. X My own mark. 

On the 30th day of August this generous hearted Joseph 
Barton sold this negro to a person for five hundred and thir- 
ty-five dollars who smuggled him across the Ohio river where 
he was sold into slavery in the south. 

*1. George Endicutt, have decided to emancipate 
my slave. Job Boyce, and I hereby certify that I this 
day give him his freedom and it affords me the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 143 

g^reatest pleasure to bear witness that he has always 
been an obedient, faithful and honest servant. By 
an ag^reement of the said Job Boyce he agrees to in- 
denture himself to me for twenty-three years, or 
until he is sixty years old. George Endicutt. 
(SEAL) August 30th, 1813. 

**I, Job Boyce, of my own free will do hereby ac- 
cept my freedom papers from rfiy former master, 
George Endicutt, and have agreed to indenture my- 
self to him for the time specified in the agreement, 
August 20, 1813. Job Boyce, 

X My own mark. 

(SEAL) Witness, James Boswell." 

''September 26th, 1813. I, Noah Freeman, of 
Indiana Territory, on this date, do hereby emanci- 
pate my slave, Mary Ann, to enjoy all ihe rights of 
freedom that a negro and an uneducated woman can. 
It affords me great satisfaction to testify that she 
has been a most faithful and obedient servant. This 
paper and her freedom to be in force and effect after 
the 26th day of September, 1833. Until that time 
she has indentured her service to me and my familv. 

Noah Freeman. 

'*I, Mary Ann, the former slave of my master, 
Noah Freeman, accept my emancipation papers and 
do agree to faithfully work for my former master 
and mistress until the 20th day of September, one 
thousand, eight hundred and thirty-three. 

Mary Ann. 
X My mark. 
(SEAL) Witness, Jason Brown.'* 

'*This is to certify that I, James Hartwell, of 
my own free will and accord, do this day emancipate 
and give freedom to a negro slave, named Charles 
Hope, brought by me from North Carolina. In mak- 
ing these papers I want to bear testimony to the 
painstaking and careful way he has done his work, 
and that he is a quiet and most obedient servant and 
has always been very easily managed. For these 
good qualities it affords me great pleasure to be able 
to give him his rightly earned freedom. For some 
necessary expenses that has to be incurred before he 



144 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

can leave the home he has so long lived at and for 
the love he has for me and my family, he hereby 
agrees to indenture his services to me for twenty- 
nine years from the 18th of October, 1809, which is 
the date of this agreement. James Hartwell. 
(SEAL) 

''I, Charles Hope, do hereby acknowledge my 
thankfulness to my master for the kindness he has 
shown in setting me free and I cheerfully accept the 
conditions in my freedom papers and agree to serve 
the time specified, or until death. 

Charles Hope. 
X His mark." 

Note the meanness of this hyprocrite who made the great 
show of giving this negro pretended freedom with such a good 
certificate of character, which would make the negro more 
saleable when he' had an opportunity to sell him; and on the 
fifteenth day of the next November he ^//^/sell him to a neigh- 
bor for four head of horses, ten head of cattle and one hund- 
red acres of military donation land and a promissory note for 
three hundred dollars. The next j-ear this negro went with 
his master down the Wabash river on a pretended trip to the 
valine country of Illinois, but was carried farther south and 
was sold into slavery for life. 

In 1805 the Kukendal family, by their agent, Samuel 
Vannorsdell, had two negroes arrested and were attempting 
to carr}' them out of the territory when Governor Harrison 
issued a proclamation forbidding their removal, as Vannors- 
dell did not have the consent of the negroes to remove th^pi. 
This brought on a spirited law-suit, Governor Harrison and 
others becoming bondsmen for the negroes. The case went 
over to the next term of court. At that term the two negroes 
^were produced in court but in the meantime Governor Harri- 
son had indentured one of them for a period of eleven years. 

In 1854 the author was visiting a family in an old set- 
tled portion of southern Indiana. During that visit it be- 
<:ame known to a joung lady of that fanily that he was 
gathering data of incidents concerning the early settlers and 
of anything that would be of interest about **Ye Olden 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 145 

Tymes." This young lady informed him that they had the 
emancipation and indenture papers of "Old Tome," who was 
their slave and friend, which papers she thought would be of 
real worth to one gathering such data. She said she would 
show the papers and he might copy them provided he would 
not use their names. This was readily agreed to. 






May 26, 1815. 
To All Whom it May Concern: 

This is to certify that this day I have set free 
and by these presents do give emancipation papers 
to my faithful servant Thomas Agnew, and from 
this date he shall be known as a free man. Given 
under my hand and seal. Thomas Truman. 

(SEAL) Witness, Joseph Forth. 



ii/ 



This is to certify that I have this day received 
my emancipation papers from my former master. As 
I don't know any other home but the one I have al- 
ways lived at, I do hereby indenture myself to my mas- 
ter, John Trueman, for thirty 3^ears from this date, 
he agreeing to feed and clothe me during that time. 

Thomas Agnew. 
May 26th, 1815. X His mark. 

After the papers were copied this intelligent young lady 
related this interesting story of Tom's life: 

**Just before the state of Indiana was admitted into the 
Union m}' father moved here from a slave state and brought 
with him, Tom. whom he had owned from his infancy. He 
had no thought that there would be any trouble about it as 
Tom was a fixture in the family. A friend one day told my 
father that parties were preparing to .bring habeas corpus 
proceedings and emancipate Tom. The only thing my father 
could do was to emancipate him and have him indenture his 
time after he was a freeman. This was done as shown above 
and Tom went on faithfully with his work as before. This 
was neariy twenty years before I was born. 

**The good old faithful slave worked on the farm with 
my father for nearly twenty-seven years after the indenture was 
made, when my father sickened and died. Tom then kept on 
working with my brother the same as before. 



( 



146 PIONEER HISTORY OF DCDIAXA, 



«*i 



On settling^ np the estate, it was found that mj father 
was more in debt than had been supposed and there would be 
but little left. 

**A cousin of mj father who lived in a slave state where 
he had moved from, held a mort^r^^ on our farm. This 
cousin was. a ^Shylock^ and demanded the last cent which 
would take everything^, farm and all at a forced sale. He« 
however, made this proposition to my mother: that if Tom 
would go home with him and work for him as long as he 
lived, he would release the mortgage. This, my mother 
would not consent to as Tom had less than two years of his 
indenture term to put in and he was so faithful to the family 
that she would not listen to such a transaction. 

^^Tom had learned the condition of things as nothing- 
was kept from him and he had planned with this cousin to 
give his life service for the family's comfort. He would not 
consent to anything but that he must go to save the farm 
and the family from want. The agreement was made, the 
mortgage was cancelled and Tom went to the home of his 
new master, now a slave in fact. 

^'Some time after this an uncle of my mother died and 
left her several thousand dollars. This made us independent 
and my mother's first thoughts were of Tom. She went to 
hunt for him and found him faithfully working away. She 
went to his master, told him that she wanted to take Tom 
back with her and that she was prepared to pay him in full 
for his mortgage, interest and trouble. This he refused, say* 
ing that Tom was priceless and that no money could buy 
him. She tried in every way to have him agree to let Tom 
go with her but he was obdurate. Tom told her not to mind 
him, that there would be but a few more years for him to 
serve as age was creeping on and he would soon be in another 
country where no trouble could come. 

**My mother was a nervy woman and she determined to 
liberate Tom if it could be done. She was advised to go to 
Evansville and see a lawyer by the name of Conrad Baker* 
My mother explained to Mr. Baker Tom's situation and gave 
him a statement of the Evidence that could be obtained. She 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 147 

also gRve him the emancipation and indenture papers. Mr. 
Baker told her there was no doubt about Tom bein^: legally 
free and if he could be gotten into a free state there would be 
no further need of legal proceedings. It was found that this 
could not be done so proceedings were brought in the county 
where Tom was held in slavery, to liberate him. The facts 
with affidavits to back them up were filed with the case. The 
court, after hearing all the evidence, decided that since 
Tom had been given emancipation papers which made him 
free and since he had indentured himself for thirty years and 
had put in over time on that agreement, he was now free. 

**Tom came back to Indiana with my mother and lived 
with our family during the rest of his life and when he died 
we gave him a royal funeral, feeling that we had lost our best 
friend and one of nature's noblemen." 

After Colonel Baker was elected governor of Indiana, the 
author wrote him about this case and sent him a copy of the 
emancipation and indenture papers with a pretty full history 
of the case. His reply is here given in full: 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE. 

Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. 20, 1870. 
Colonel W. M. Cockrum, 
Oakland City, Indiana. 

I am in receipt of your letter together with the 
enclosure of the 15th inst. It affords me great pleas- 
ure to say that no case in my whole practice as a 
lawyer was so gratifying to me as the liberation from 
bondage of that true-hearted old Nubian, Tom Ag- 
new. 

I well recollect the lady, Mrs. Trueman, who 
was my client in the case. She was so well pleased 
with the good deed she had been instrumental in 
bringing about that she wanted to pay me three or 
four times my rightful fee. 

Allow me, my dear Colonel, to congratulate you 
on the loving task that you have assigned yourself of 
perpetuating the history of the Pioneer and the thrill- 
ing events that occurred during that early period. 
There will never be another time in this country's 
history when such noble, self-sacrificing men and 



148 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

women will live as those who cleared the way for the 
g^reat civilization that will come to our state. 

Very Truly, 

Conrad Baker." 

The author has access to much more data of indentures 
made by those having negroes in control at an early day in 
Indiana. That which has already been given is evidence to 
the readers of the way the pro-slavery people of Indiana in- 
tended to perpetuate slavery and that the head of the terri- 
torial government was in sympathy with the slavery parti- 
sans. When the constitution for our state was being framed 
in 1816 the slavery clause was defeated by only two votes. 



CHAPTER VII. 



Settlement of Southern Indiana — The Cruelty of the 
French. 



During- all the time from 1790 except the last part of the 
year 1794 and 1795 up to several years after the formation of 
Indiana Territory in 1800, the country now known as south- 
ern Indiana was completely at the mercy of the Indians, ex- 
cept a mile or so outside the fort of Vincennes, not much be- 
yond the range of the guns of the few regulars stationed at 
that post. The great victory won by General Wayne over 
the Indians in 1794 on the waters of the Maumee had a very 
pacific effect on all the Indians of the Northwest Territory 
for a year or so, as nearly every section of that vast country 
had bands of young hunters in that battle; but there were 
bands of roving Indians who were always watching for the 
white people coming to settle in this part of the country. 
The Indians were on or near the lines leading from their 
towns on White river to the Ohio river most of the time in 
spring, summer and fall months. 

It is frequently asked why all southern Indiana was so 
completely under the control of the savage bands of Indians 
at the close of the eighteenth century when there had been a 
post at Vincennes for sixty-five years and a fort with French 
regulars was there as early as 1702. It seems that the French 
people at that time who were as jealous of the settlement of 
the country by other people than their own, as were the In- 
dians and that they were either trappers or buyers of furs 
and did not want this country settled as it would do away 
with their vocation. 



150 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

There was no part of Indiana that was not owned by the 
Indians until 1803 except the strip ceded at Greenville in 
1795 when General Wayne held a treaty with many tribes of 
Indians. The land ceded by that treaty commenced at Ft. 
Recovery on the west line of what afterward became the state 
of Ohio running thence in a southerly direction to the Ohio 
river opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river. This line 
was made thinking that the Ohio state line would come to 
that point instead of the mouth of the Miami river. The 
treaty made in 1803 was a part of the Vincennes tract includ- 
ing quite a section of territory in the Illinois country, west 
of the Wabash river. 

The territory obtained by the treaty of 1804 commenced 
on the Wabash river at the south line of the Vincennes tract, 
running thence down that river to its mouth, thence up the 
Ohio river to Louisville; west from that point until that' line 
intersected the line of the Vincennes tract, thence around that 
line on the south side to the place of starting. This last 
treatv gave to the United States all of southwestern Indiana 
and at once settlers commenced to come into that territory. 
Before that period they had been warned to keep off the In- 
dians' land both by the Indians and the commanders govern- 
ing the Northwest and Indiana Territories. Many persons 
who had started from Virginia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, 
intending to settle in the Northwest Territory, had stopped 
in Kentucky all along the southern bank of the Ohio near the 
river and were only wating for an opportunity, when the 
United States had possession of the property to emigrate into 
that country. During the years 1805 and 1806 there was a 
large emigration settled in many parts of southern Indiana. 

The French were as relentless in their cruelty to the peo- 
ple of the colonies before they were defeated by the colonial 
and British troops as were the Indians. It is true that when 
General Greorge Rogers Clark captured Kaska&kia, Cahokia 
and Vincennes in 1779 the French in these places were 
the Americans' friends but the reason for this was that the 
French had been badly beaten .by the colonial and English 
troops while the colonies were controlled by the English, los- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 151 

ing their princely possession, Canada, and the Northwest 
T^erritory and they were ready to befriend and help anyone 
who was against the British. 

The former history of the French when they were the rul- 
ing power ifi all the cbuntry west of the Allegheny mountains 
and north of the Ohio river was full of bloody massacres in 
•connection with their Indian allies, in some cases the French 
being more brutal and cruel in their treatment of the helpless 
people on the border settlements who fell into their hands 
than the Indians. 

In the massacre at Fort William Henry in 1757 by the 
French and their Indian allies, under Montcalm, the French 
outnumbered the Indians five to one. The Indians indiscrim- 
inately murdered the men and carried the women and children 
into captivity, not one of them ever returning to their homes. 
. When Captain Beaujeau at Fort Duquesne with four hun- 
dred Indians and thirty Canadians won a complete victory 
over Braddock,' these savages with their tomahawks killed 
the wounded and scalped them without protest. When they 
returned to the fort at night they were all loaded down with 
plunder and scalps and had fifteen prisoners with them who 
they stripped of their clothing and burned to death on the 
parade ground of the fort where their brutality was wit- 
nessed by one thousand regular Frencn soldiers without a 
protest by any Frenchman. (Narrated by Colonel John Smith 
who was a prisoner at the fort at that time.) 

Again the French and Indians went from Montreal, Can- 
ada, in the depths of winter to Schenectady, New York, cap- 
tured the town, killing all the men and carrying the women 
into captivity to a fate worse than death. This was very 
early in our country's history and is reproduced here to show 
that the savage acts of the French were not confined to a 
later period when the English had given them provocation, 

Lafayette was a brave, generous Frenchman who, of his 
own volition, espoused the cause of the United States against 
Great Britain. He was actuated by no hope of reward except 
the glory that would accrue to him if successful and though 
a very young man he had foreknowledge that was valuable 



\ 



152 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

to him. This country gave him princely presents and loaded 
him with all the honors due to his heroic actions. 

The alliance with France during: our war for independ- 
ence was brought about by our commissioners, mostly through 
the influence that Dr. Franklin had with the men of letters 
in France and through his great influence with the good- 
natured king, Louis XVI. To the United States it was a great 
blessing in time of need and to France it was a great blessing 
to transfer her maritime war with England into the waters 
of her ally. The loans negotiated by Colonel John Laurans 
and others were all paid with a good premium and no doubt 
the French people expected that the United States would 
stand by her in any quarrel she might have with other na- 
tions. In 1793 when she was at war with Spain, M. Grenet, 
the French minister to this country, tried to enlist men in 
Kentucky and elsewhere to capture Louisiana and after he 
had been recalled and Mr. Fauchit was sent as minister the 
French tried to involve us in her many wars with European 
nations and when she found that she could not do that, cap- 
tured and confiscated some of our best merchant vessels. 
When our commissioners attempted to adjust the matter, 
France demanded tribute money for some trumped up claim 
and only released our ships when Commodore Truxton had 
captured two of her best war vessels. 

The United States owes nothing to England or France 
for when either of them had a chance with their Indian 
allies in front, they committed deeds of cruelty that will ever 
blacken the pages of history. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



The Pioneer — Character — Hardships — Routes Follow- 
ed — Settlements — Food — Education — Customs — 
Thrilling and Amusing Incidents — Weddings — Work 
— Dress — Crude Manufactures. 



The close of the Revolutionary War in 1783 was an epoch 
in this country's onward march to the great destiny laid out 
for it by the Maker and Ruler of the Universe. The old he- 
roic soldiers came out of that protracted strufi:g:le, buoyant 
and hopeful, exulting^ly proud of the achievements that they 
had been instrumental in bringing: about. They were rich in 
deeds of valor and patriotism but very poor in stores of wealth. 
The country for seven long years had been over-run by con- 
tending armies almost from end to end and had been devas- 
tated by fire and sword of a ruthless and cruel enemy. 
T^either age nor sect was exempt from their merciless brutal- 
ity. The gloating and boasting English were cruel and their 
two allies, the detested Tories and the barbarous, savage In- 
dians, committed every atrocious act of cruelty that a brutal 
foe could invent. In many cases the families, homes, towns 
and neighborhoods were broken up, the property destroyed 
and the people murdered or scattered to the four winds. 

When the excitement attending the momentous events 
had, in a measure, subsided, there were hundreds of the old 
heroes who had fought with Washington, Lafayette, Putnam, 
Green, Sumpter, Servier and Marion who found themselves 
without any property or occupation and no prospect of better- 
ing their conditions. There was no money but the worthless. 



154 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

continental script. The gold and silver had all been sent to 
France and Spain for arms and munitions of war. Many of 
these old heroes were maimed by wounds, still more of them 
broken down by diseases that came to them by the severe 
trials and privations of the long struggle for liberty. 

Most of the above two classes were unable to do anything 
and could but remain in the section of their former homes; 
but the strong and hardy veterans, by hundreds determined 
to better their condition if possible. The fame of Daniel 
Boone was known to them and glowing descriptions of the 
rich country west of the mountains on both sides of the Ohio 
river were told them by hunters and trappers and by the re- 
turning soldiers who had been in the campaign of Greneral 
Gteorge Rogers Clark when he saved, to the then enfeebled 
American republic, the princely heritage of the Northwest 
Territory. 

There was a great uprising of the people on the borders 
of the colonies nearest the much-talked-of country west of the 
mountains, preparing to emigrate to new homes. They 
started in every conceivable manner; some on horseback; 
others in two-wheeled carts and still others in wooden-wheeled 
wagons drawn by oxen, probably one-half of them with their 
rifles and axes, a small bundle of clothing and with their 
young wives, on foot. These emigrants settled and made 
their homes in Tennessee and Kentucky, many of them around 
the Ohio Falls and up the Ohio from there. 

The Indians were at war with any who attempted to in- 
vade what they termed their country which meant all the 
region west of the Alleghany Mountains. From the time of 
Daniel Boone's first advent into the wilds of Kentucky in 1769 
the Indians waged a relentless war to drive him and his fol- 
lowers back from their favorite hunting grounds. During the 
next fifteen years many of these adventurers were killed but 
the Indians suffered as well. 

About 1785 the old heroes of the Revolution commenced 
to arrive in large numbers and made extensive settlements in 
many sections of the country south of the Ohio and north of 
the Tennessee rivers. The Indians became still more deter- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. ISS 

mined to stop this advance and during the next twenty years 
many of the old pioneers were killed, but the Indians suffered 
more and finally were driven north of the Ohio river. After 
that raiding bands of Indians occasionally crossed the Ohio 
and murdered people in the outlying settlements of Kentucky. 
The whites would organize counter raids and invade the wil- 
derness of the Northwest Territory and punish the Indians, 
at times killing large numbers of them and destroying their 
towns and cornfields. 

As the Kentuckians settled up near the south bank of the 
Ohio river, the Indians moved back farther north, the White 
river becoming the southern line of their principal settle- 
ments, leaving a territory from thirty to forty miles between 
the Indians and the whites from the Wabash on the west to 
the Miami on the east. There were a few small scattering 
Indian towns in the wilderness between the two main lines. 
The men who had fought at King's Mountain and all over the 
thirteen colonies to wrest this country from the tyrannical 
yoke of England were not made out of the sort of material 
that would tamely sit down and let a race of half-naked In- 
dians say that they might come thus far and no farther. 
Boldly they crossed the Ohio or floated down its waters in 
boats to locate in the fertile wilderness of Indiana. 

The pioneers met with a determined opposition from the 
dusky denizens of the forest in their attempts to locate in 
new homes; This was about one or two years before Harri- 
son had succeeded in making treaties with the Indians where- 
by he secured all southern Indiana as far as Louisville and 
many of these emigrants were killed and others had to re- 
cross the river. Those that remained were besieged almost 
every day by the Indians that were lying in ambush, watch- 
ing for an opportunity to shoot the trespassers as they con- 
sidered the emigrants. They, had to build strong forts in 
every section where they attempted to form settlements and 
were compelled most of the time to remain within the walls 
of these stockades that surrounded the blockhouses, all the 
time keeping a lookout for their sly enemy. In many cases 
they suffered for the want of food, not daring to go into the 



156 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

forest for g-ame when there was such an abundance on every 
hand. In some sections the only respite the people had from 
their forced imprisonment was when cold weather came in 
early winter. The Indians dreaded the cold and the snow 
and during such seasons they were mostly in their towns and 
in their wigwams. 

When the pioneers found that the Indians were gone 
they would kill buffalo, bear, deer and turkeys, curing the 
buffalo and venizen meat by drying it and making bacon out 
of the bear meat, storing away large quantities of it in the 
blockhouses to have when the weather became warm and the 
Indians were again on the watch for an opportunity to des* 
troy them. These men had come with a determination to 
stay and make a home for themselves and families. They 
took every precaution for protection against the Indians and 
they endured the most trying privations to succeed. More 
people came, thus making the settlement stronger and soon 
small patches were cleared. Ofien one man was concealed 
and on the watch with his rifle while another cleared a small 
field that was put in corn and vegetables and this was culii- 
vated in the best way they could. There was great privation 
endured by these brave people who for weeks at a time had 
nothing to eat but lean, jerked meat of the deer and buffalo 
and a, few kernels of nuts and acorns. When the corn was 
ripe enough to be used for food there was great comfort in 
store for those who had become surfeited by eating nothing 
but meat. 

The emigrants who settled in Indiana at an early date 
came over the traces made by the Indians. One of these 
routes was by the way of Red Banks, where Henderson, Ken* 
tucky, now is; thence to the north through Vanderburg 
county, on through Gibson county to Vincennes. Most of 
these emigrants who made their homes in northern Vander-- 
burg county and western Gibson county, came over that route- 
There was another crossing of the Ohio at the Yellow Banks, 
where Rockport, in Spencer county, stands. This route ran 
to the north through Spencer, Warrick and Pike counties to 
the old Delaware town at the forks of the White river and 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 157 

there was another crossing* at the mouth of Blue river. The 
-emigrants who came over this route settled mostly in Harri- 
:son and Washington counties. 

The old trace that crossed the Ohio river at Louisville, 
Ky., known to the white people as the Clarksville and Vin- 
•cennes trace, that had been a main traveled way from time 
immemorial, was the most favored route and two-thirds of all 
the early settlers who came to southern Indiana, west of 
XK)uisville, came over that route. The settlers east of Louis- 
ville on the Ohio river or in the country adjacent to it, came 
■down the Ohio in boats from Pennsylvania and Virginia. At 
the treaty of Greenville made with the Indians in 1795 by 
General Wayne a small strip was ceded in which parts of sev- 
eral of the eastern counties of Indiana were situated. Many 
of the soldiers who were stationed at Ft. Washington (Cin- 
cinnati) as their terms of enlistment expired settled aroCind 
that fort, out lo the Miami river and up that river on both 
sides. 

There was a settlement made in 1805 near the spot where 
the cit)" of Richmond now stands. Richard Rue and George 
Holeman were captured south of Louisville, Kentucky, by the 
infamous Simon Girt3% who was in command of a small band 
of Indians. During a time of their imprisonment they had 
seen the rich, fertile regions oi the Whiie Water country and 
as soon as they were released they went home and in a 
short time, with some of their neighbors, made the first set- 
tlement in that section of the state. At an early date there 
was a settlement at Armstrong Station on the Ohio river in 
Clark county. 

The pioneers who first came to Indiana could not have 
remained for any length of time had it not been for the game 
which was so abundant on every hand. They often, for weeks 
at a time, had no other food than the bear, deer and turkey 
meat. They used every sort of substitute for bread, often 
roasting the white-oak acorns and eating them in the place 
of bread with their meat. They would gather the seeds of 
the wild rice and wild barley and mix it with the roasted 
acorn, pounding it all up together, making ash cakes of the 



L^ 



158 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

meal thus obtained. On such food as this with a bountiful 
supply of. meat, the old pioneers and their families subsisted, 
but as soon as they could raise a patch of corn all this was 
done away with and the meal made from the com with 
beetles, seasoned with the rich bear grease and made into 
bread was used, and these hardy people prospered and grew 
fat on it. They were perfectly healthy and the children 
raised in this way made the strongest men and women. Dys- 
pepsia and kindred stomach troubles were not known. There 
was but little opportunity of obtaining an education yet they 
were students of nature and every day learned useful lessons 
that stood them in need for self-protection and the protection 
of their families. 

In a few years after the first settlers came there were, in 
most cases^ those about the forts or blockhouses who could 
teach the young people the first principles of education and 
in after years these people improved the information thus 
gained by reading the few books that were in the country and 
many of them became learned in all things needed at that 
time. The young people were married at a much earlier 
X period in life than the young people of this day. A boy at 

that time, sixteen or seventeen years old was counted on to do 
a man's work and to do his part in hunting or in scouting for 
Indians. The six or eight years now taken to secure an 
education b)^ our young people to prepare them to be co npeient 
to do their part in ihe great battle of life was spent by lH i* 
grand and great-grand-fathers and mothers preparin^^ il i> 
country so that such great aitainmenis could be s«. cured by the 
present generation. The difficulties in commencing housekeep- 
ing then were not so great as now. They did not have to wait 
until they had saved raone)' enough to build a fine house and 
furnish it with the luxuries of life before they 4;ot mar- 
ried, thus spending eight or ten years of the best poruo i of 
their lives and often failing in their expectations. They 
were contented to commence life as their mothers and fathers 
had before them with nothing but what they could manufac- 
ture and devise from the cabin down to all their furniture 
and dress. Instead of spending their time lamenting their 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 159 

sad fortune, they were happy in their love for each other and 
for the great blessing^ of perfect health which they enjoyed. 

The possessions of these people worried them not at all 
for neither of them had anything^ but a ^mall wardrobe of 
common, warm clothes. They had the great book of nature 
before them and were happy studying its changing scenes. 
Neither did they worry about dressmakers* for they all make 
their own clothing from shoe pacs and moccasins to the hats 
or bonnets which they wore. There was no change of fash- 
ion to keep up with and they did not worry about what this or 
that one had for they all dressed alik« and employed their 
time about more useful things than learning the different 
styles of making dresses and clothing. They enjoyed life as 
they found it and loved the simple amusements that all en- 
gaged in at that date. Many could go on the puncheon floor 
and dance for hours without fatigue. They -had free use of 
their bodies, not being encumbered with tighi belts that hin- 
dered them from breathing and did not know what a corset 
was, that garment which at this date holds the body of its 
victims as if in the grip of a vise. Thus they could use every 
part of their body an freely as nature intended it t^ be used. 
In raising their children these hardy women furnished all 
the food they needed in infancy from iheir own breasts, thus 
laying the foundations for strong men and women to take 
their places. 

The clothing of the men and boys was in keeping with 
their daily life and made for the most part of deer skins. 
When this was well dressed it made comfortable and service- 
able shins, leggings and coats. Sometimes the women made 
their .petticoats of this very useful and serviceable material. 
The deer, elk and buffalo skins furnished the material from 
which all footwear was made. 

In an early daj' there were many scattered herds of buf- 
falo in all sections of Indiana but no such innumerable droves 
as the later hunters were used to see on the great western 
prairies. The buffalo skin was covered with a shaggy coat 
of kinky wool. Sometimes this was sheared and when mixed 
with a small portion of the wild nettle fibre, to give it 



160 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

strenth, it was carded and spun the same as sheep's wool was. 
Later on, from this coarse thread they wove a cloth using the 
nettle thread for chain that made strong and comfortable 
clothing. The buffalo hair was mixed with the fur and hair 
of other animals, usually the long hair of the bear, then was 
•carded and spun. They knit this into warm, serviceable stock- 
ings but without the fiber of the nettle as it was too short to 
have the needed strength to hold together. 

In most cases the first settlers were young men just mar- 
V ried, who, with their young wives, their axes and their rifles 
and such other property as they possessed, came boldly into 
this then dense wilderness. If they were so fortunate as to find 
any before them, they would stop a few days and select a 
place to make their home. They then cut the logs for their 
cabin and with the help of their new found friends would car- 
ry the logs and put them up, covering the cabin with boards 
made with their axes for frows and putting weight poles on 
to hold the boards in place. Cracks between the logs were 
stopped by wedging in pieces of timber and then filling it all 
full of mud. A hole of the proper size was cut in the side 
for a door and often the only door shutter was a bear skin. 
For a fire place and chimney they cut out three or four logs 
the width wanted, at the end of the cabin and built a three- 
sided crib on the outside, joining it to the building. Layer 
upon layer of mud were then put on the inside of the crib 
making the jambs and backwall as high as needed to be out 
of danger of the fire, letting the smoke take care of itself. 

The floor and carpet were of mother earth. For a bed- 
stead the)' would drive a fork into the ground far enough 
from the side and end of the cabin, then put a pole in the 
fork and into a crack between the logs and another pole the 
other way from the fork and to a crack in the logs, thus 
making the end and side rails of the bedstead. After this they 
put other poles lengthwa)'s as close as they wanted and piled 
fine brush over this, covering the brush with skins of ani- 
mals. At this time the proverbial blue figured coverlid made 
by their good mothers in their old North or South Carolina, 
Tennessee or Kentucky homes would come into use with such 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 161 

other bed clothing as they were fortunate enough to have 
brought with them. The deficiency, if any, was supplied by 
bear and deer skins. 

They made a table in the corner in the same way as the 
bed was made only it had for a top thick boards made level 
with an axe. For seats the back log was used until it was 
wanted for its place to form the back of the fire, when its 
mate was put in and used for a seat until it was wanted. If 
they were fortunate enough to own an auger, three-legged 
stools were made. 

Many of the. first settlers for a few years lived in what was 
called in that day, a half-faced camp, made by putting two 
large forks in the ground the proper distance from a large 
fallen tree to make a twelve or fourteen foot pen then putting 
a pole from fork to fork and other poles from that one to the 
log as closely as they were wanted and then piling brush on 
this. They then rolled logs up to the two sides as high as 
they wanted them leaving the outer end open usually facing 
the south. Large fires were made at this open end during 
cold weather, the occupants lying with their feet to it and 
their heads toward the large log. Usually these camps were 
made in the dry season and by the time the rainy season came 
on they would have plenty of skins to cover them and line 
the sides, thus keeping the rain and cold out and drying the 
skins at the same time. 

These brave people did the best they could to have the 
comforts of life but they had very little to do with. There 
was not a nail in a hundred miles of them. The settler's 
young wife, his cabin, rifle, axe and possibly a horse were all 
his earthly possessions, but he was rich in good health, de- 
termination and pluck. With his axe he cleared a few acres 
for corn and vegetables, with his rifle he could have plenty 
of the choicest meats and skins of bear, deer, beaver, otter 
and raccoon to exchange for salt, ammunition and a few 
necessities of life, when he could get his furs to market prob- 
ably seventy-five miles away. 

About what was going on in the outside world he knew 
nothing and cared less for he had a world of his own around 



162 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

him, fresh and crude as nature could make it. Probably he 
had not more than two neigfhbors and they three to five 
miles away, the only means of communication between them 
being: made on foot over a path running: around fallen tree 
tops and over log^s, a blaze made on a tree or sapling: now and 
then keeping: them in the rig:ht direction. He had severed j 

all connection with his old home and the outside world bid- 
ding: adieu to mother and friends and to the early associa- 
tions that are so dear to all. With all this sacrifice he was 
happy and contented and determined to face the g:reat 
battle of life and to win. Nature's volumes were ever open 
before him and he studied well, learning: the thing:s need- 
ful for his protection. He was threatened with dang:er from 
the lurking: savag:es who ever watched for an opportunity to 
destroy him and his home and in many cases did kill and 
capture the whole family, but still others came to fill their 
places. 

When two or three had settled in the same place .they 
built forts and in dang:erous times moved iheir families into 
them remaining: there much of the time during: the summer 
and fall months. While the women were ihere their hus- 
bands and fathers were in the wilderness watching: the slip- 
ping: enemy, sometimes killing: one and ag:ain several of them. 
It g:ot so that the Indians dreaded them and came less fre- 
quently. The pioneers determined to drive them away so 
that the dang:er to their families would ce.ise. Finally they 
hunted the Indians in bands and in many battles defeated 
them. They met them on their own g:rounds, defeating: and 
driving: them out of this reg:ioii and on the rains of their sav- 
ag:e wig:wams this beautiful country has been made. 

Sebastian Fredrick Mjrdered B/ Indians Near Vin- 

CENNES. 

Some years ag:o Hon. Jasper N. Davidson related to the 
author the following: interesting: story. I asked him to write 
it for this work which he has kindly done. 

**There are many thing:s in connection with the early his- 
tory of Indiana that doubtless never will be written. The 



\ 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 163 

early settlers were surrounded by such thrilling occurrences, 
attacks by prowling bands of Indians and savage wild beasts, 
lacking the necessities of life and wanting the neighboring 
enjoyments and communications, that much suffering as well 
as inconveniences resulted from these things. The innate 
desire to possess a home of their own, coupled with the love 
of freedom and religious liberty, led them to plunge into the 
almost impenetrable wilderness, surmounting all obstacles, en- 
during privation hunger and want in a way and to an extent 
that no other people have ever done. 

'*No history, either sacred or profane, contains accounts of 
a people who endured more or underwent greater hardships 
or overcame such opposition with greater deeds of daring 
than the early settlers. Knowing ihese things and with a 
fixed and steadfast belief in the Guiding Hand of the Great 
Dispenser or all things, we have a right to believe that the 
discovery and peopling of this God-favored land was provi- 
dentially delayed until such time as a people should rise up 
who could be trusted with the marvelous duties of occupying, 
peopling, redeeming and governing the fairest and best 
country on the globe. 

**None were more fitted for this task than those who set- 
tied Indiana Territory. Just before the close of the eight- 
eenth century the few American settlers who were located 
near Vincennes were driven to the forts in and around the Old 
Post as Vincennes was then called. The writer has with great 
interest listened many times to the accounts of those times 
given by my grandmother. Her father, who was named 
Sebastian Fredrick had come down from Pennsylvania with 
the very earliest immigrants. The family consisted of sev- 
eral sons and one daughter, grandmother. She told of the 
efforts of the heads of the families in their endeavors to pro- 
vide for their own; of how her father with his sons and an- 
other man went about six miles southeast into the sugar 
woods and prepared to make sugar. After everything was 
in readiness the season came on, sap flowed in abundance and 
success seemed to reward their efforts. When the prowling 
bands of Indians learned of the location of the camp their 



164 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

visits were of dailj^ occurence and each of the bucks, after 
eating all they could of the warm sug^ar, must have a gener- 
ous cake or two to carry awa}' with them. This became so 
common and proved so heav}^ a tax on the supply that the 
men objected to the amount carried off and they went away 
muttering in their own tongue. 

"In a few days these men were sent to the fort for pro- 
visions and to carry in the sugar already made. They left 
greai-grandfather Fredrick in charge of the camp and to 
keep the kettles going. Early in the night the savages who 
had become offended by reason of not getting all the sugar 
they wanted, finding grandfather there alone, attacked him. 
Evidences next morning when the sons returned from the 
fort, showed that a desperate encounter had taken place, as 
the bodies of two dead Indians and the body of my grand- 
father with a tomahawk sunken in his skull, were found. 
The tapping gouge had been driven repeatedly into his body 
around his neck and left sticking in the gash as driven in by 
the murderous wretches. There was every evidence of a des- 
perate fight and horrible as the results were there had been 
enough of them left to sugar off all the syrup on hand and 
carry away all they had made, together with grandfather's 
scalp, gun and all tools. 

'*The faithful dog, a large mastiff, lying dead near the 
body of his master had been a valiant helper in the fray as 
long as life lasted. A large piece of a buckskin garment 
still between his teeth showed by the blood stains on it that 
his work had not been without results. The savages who 
could travel made their escape and were not again seen in 
those parts as anyone knew of. 

*'My grandmother in a year or two after this had a very 
narrow escape and delivery from one of these savages in the 
following manner: 

"It was the custom at the fort for each family or some 
member of it to bear a reasonable part of the burdens of pro- 
viding wood and other necessary supplies for the general 
want. Grandraothdf, at that time, being a young widow 
(named Glass) with two small boys too young to be of any 



I 



I 

\ 



PIONEER HISTORY' OF INDIANA. 165 

service, was in need of wood. There being: none nearer than 
two or three miles (as Vincennes is located in a large prairie) 
she had secured the use of a horse and small one-horse cart 
or wagon and as women in those days, and for many years 
after this, were accustomed to the use of the axe, she repair- 
ed to the woods alone for the purpose of gathering- and bring- 
ing in a load of wood. While at work she heard a "click- 
click" as if some one were trying to fire a piece of **punk'* 
with a pocket-knife or a piece of steel and a flint which was 
then and until much later, the only mode of making a fire^ 
Now and then the same sound would greet her ears but being 
very busy and intent upon getting her load of wood, to re- 
turn to the fort, paying but little attention to the noise* 
Presently a gun fired some distance from her and soon one of 
her acquaintances from the fort came to her and threw a 
fresh Indian scalp at her feet with the remark 'See Mrs* 
Glass how near you came to losing your life.' She accom- 
panied him some distance in the thick woods to a large 
sassafras stump around which sprouts had grown up thickly 
enough to completely hide a man. Here the Indian had hid- 
den and tried to shoot grandmother but the flint lock gun 
would not go off thus giving the white man an opportunity 
to spy him out and with a well-directed shot bring him down. 
The **click-click" she had heard and which led .the white 
man to the spot in time to save grandmother's life was the 
failure of the flint on the Indian's gun to strike fire." 

These reminiscences of the daily lives of our ancestors 
make us realize clearly how they were constantly exposed to 
the attacks of the stealthy, prowUng Indian. 

God never gave life to a truer and nobler set of men and 
women than those who drove out the Indians, subdued the 
wild animals, cleared away the forests and transmitted life to 
the strong hardy race that now occupies this glorious country. 

JOHN SEVERNS. 

The first man to make a permanent settlement in what is 
now Gibson county was John Severns, a Welshman who 
emigrated to Virginia with his parents. At the beginning 



I 



166 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

of the Revolutionary war he enlisted as a soldier and was in 
the army for a while. Before his time was out he secured a 
furloug^h and visited his parents in the wilds of West Virginia 
and tog^ether with all the family was captured by the Ind- 
ians. His father, mother, a younger brother and sister were 
murdered by them while he and his older brother were held 
as prisoners and taken back to the Indian town somewhere 
on the headwaters of the White River. Mr. Severns claimed 
that during the years that he was a prisoner, many times on 
a hunting excursion with the Indians with whom he lived, 
he had hunted over all the land tributarj' to the White and 
Wabash Rivers and over the same land on which he after- 
ward settled. 

After being a prisoner for seven years he made his escape 
and soon afterward married and settled in Kentucky where 
he lived for three years. In 1790 he came to this dense wild- 
erness and settled on the south bank of the Patoka river, two 
and one-half miles north of Princeton at a point now known as 
Severns' Bridge. By his knowledge of the Indian dialect, 
their manners and customs, he was enabled to make friends 
with them and they permitted him to settle among them. At 
that time there was a large Indian town on the north bank 
of the Patoka river, nearly opposite his home. Mr. Severns 
was a very useful man to the other settlers who came some 
years after. The Indians had the utmost confidence in him 
and on this account he rendered very helpful aid to his white 
neighbors. His older brother, who was captured with him, 
was given to another family of Indians and taken away and 
he never saw him again. This brother was adopted by a 
prominent chief and later married an Indian woman. Many 
years after Mr. Severns had settled in this country, two of 
his brother's sons visited him. They were half breeds and 
were dressed in the Indian costume. He tried to prevail on 
them to leave off their Indian costume ^nd adopt that of the 
white man but they refused, saying that their father was dead 
and they only knew how to live as their tribesmen did and 
they would not leave their friends. 

Mr. Severns lived to a good old age and left several 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 167 

children. One of his daughters married Robert Falls and 
from that union there has been a large family of that name 
in this part of the state ever since, some of them becoming 
very prominent. William Leathers married one of the 
■daughters and many of their descendants are in this section 

yet. . 

David Johnson who came to Gibson county in an early 
•date, first settled in the southern part of the county but in 
1817 located the farm where he spent his life, two miles north 
of Francisco. He was a noted hunter and was at one time 
with a hunting party of which John Severns was one. On 
that occasion the early settlement of that section was dis- 
cussed. Mr. Severns having been here so many years before 
any other white man was accepted as authority on all such 
subjects. He told the party that in the fall of the year 1793 
he was with a half dozen of his Indian neighbors hunting 
and that he stayed all night at an Indian town near the 
forks of White river. During the night two white prisoners 
were brought in, having been captured on the Ohio river. 
Early next morning everything was great excitement; every- 
one was in great glee over the capture and preparations were 
made for the trial and killing of the two white men. First 
two lines were formed facing each other and the two men 
were compelled to run the gauntlet betweens the lines. A 
point some hundred yards beyond the lines of the gauntlet 
was designated as the place that was to be reached to save 
their lives. One of the men was of middle age but frail and 
the other was a strong athletic young fellow. The lines 
were made up of more than one hundred Indians, mostly 
squaws and boys, with enough active men to keep the prison- 
ers from getting away. The young man was the first to 
make the race and he got through the line and to the life 
station without being much hurt — only a few scratches from 
sharp sticks. The older man before he started, held up his 
hands and oflfered a prayer to Gk>d for aid, then commenced 
the race which was not more than half completed before he 
was knocked down by a heavy club in the hands of a squaw 
and was set upon by the horde of squaws and boys and beaten 



168 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

to deathi As soon as he was knocked down the young: man 
who was several hundred feet away ran like a deer and jump- 
ed into the throng of red devils and tried to save his friend's 
life but was soon overpowered and dragged away. For this 
brave act the chief of the village adopted the young man to 
take the place of a son that he had lost. Mr. Severns on be- 
ing asked why he did not intercede for the prisoners said that 
if he had attempted to interfere it would have cost him his 
life. 

If it were possible to draw the veil and disclose a view 
of the now misty past, many thrilling incidents would be 
seen that would melt the heart of the stoic and the wail of 
despair would be heard from those being tortured for no 
other reason than to gratify the hellish desire of the Indians 
to destroy. These things took place in this grand country 
of ours now inhabited by happy, prosperous people but once 
covered with Indians and Indian towns. 

From 1785 to 1812 more than two thousand men, women 
and children were carried into captivity from Kentucky, and 
the Northwest Territory and not one in ten of them was 
ever heard of afterward. No doubt two-thirds of these help- 
less victims were burned at the stake by the Indians, they 
having no regard for age or sex, but as joyfully gloated over 
the death of the. helpless infant or its mother as they did over 
the strong warrior whom they had captured. 

The Indian women would employ all manner of cruel 
torture to make their helpless victims more miserable. 
When burning at the stake they would keep the fire so low 
as to burn them only by slow degreefe causing them to sufiFer 
for many hours before death would come to their relief. 

No doubt exists now that the Indians were incited to do 
many murders that they would not have done, by the British 
at Detroit and Vincennes. The blood-thirsty Colonel Hamil- 
ton, the British Commander at Vincennes when the post was 
captured by General Clark in 1779 had a standing reward for 
scalps but no reward for prisoners so the Indians killed their 
prisoners and took their scalps in. Also the same demon 
while in command at Detroit ordered the white British sub- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 169^ 

jects and the Indians to spare neither men, women or child- 
ren but to kill all and bring their scalps to his post trader 
and they would be paid for at a price agreed upon, depend- 
ing on the age and sex. 

There have been a few instances where individual Ind- 
ians have shown that the milk of human kindness was in 
them but as a rule General Sheridan was ringh when he said 
that — ''The only good Indian are dead Indians." 

• WOOLSEY PRIDE. 

Tradition has it that the first white settler in what is 
now Pike county was Woolsey Pride. In 1800 he built a 
cabin near what was known as White Oak Springs. During 
the next two or three years the Tislow, Miley, and Conrad 
families arrived and settled in the same section, making quite 
a settlement. Game of all sorts was in abundance and Ind- 
ians, were plenty but friendly. The great victory of General 
Wayne over them in 1794 had made a great change iu their 
actions toward the few white people who lived in the differ- 
ent sections of the Northwest Territory at that time. There 
were not many outbreaks until about 1804 when all the tribes 
in this section came under the influence of the celebrated 
Shawnee Chief, Tecmseh, and his brother, the one-eyed pro- 
phet who was a crafty, smart rascal but a great fraud. 

In 1806 or 1807 Pride built a fort of heavy logs, large 
enough to hold his family and all his neighbors and built a 
heavy stockade around it by splitting large logs in the mid- 
dle and hewing the edges until they were thick enough to 
stop a rifle ball, then setting them in a trench three feet 
deep, leaving eight feet above the ground. The gates were 
made in the most substantial manner, the intention being to 
keep them closed at night and all the time when there was 
threatened danger. One night the gate had been left un- 
fastened by some late arrival and during the night a very 
fine horse belonging to Mr. Pride got out and the next morn- 
ing could not be found. He determined to make an effort to 
find it, although he did not know whether it had been stolen 
bp some prowling Indian or had gone away of its own accord. 



J 



170 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

He equipped himself with his halter and trusty rifle and 
started to hunt the horse but found it hard to get any trace 
of him. Late in the afternoon he heard a g^un fire a long: 
ivay off and determined to find who the hunter was. He 
-went in the direction the sound came from and after a long 
ii^ralk he saw his horse standing: in the edg^e of a glade. 
When he got near the horse he discovered that an Indian was 
standing by it doing something with a strap around the 
horse's neck. Getting his gun in readiness he slipped up on 
tne Indian whose gun he saw lying by the carcass of a deer 
some yards away. He called the horse by name. This 
frightened the Indian and by his frantic gestures to show 
Pride he was friendly the horse became frightened and ran 
away, taking the Indian with him. 

It turned out that the Indian had shot a deer and while 
trailing it by the blood, found the horse grazing, made 
friends with him and caught him and putting a leather strap 
around his neck, led him along until he found the dead deer; 
he soon dressed the deer and had it ready for loading on the 
horse but the small string around the horse's neck was not 
strong enough so the Indian had cut strips of the deer's hide 
and fastened them together tying one end around the horse's 
neck and the other around his arm to make sure that he did 
not get away so when the horse became frightened and ran 
away he took Mr. Indian with him. Pride followed the trail 
' they made and soon found them. The Indian had lodged in 
a thick bunch of saplings and vines and the horse was mak- 
ing frantic efforts to pull him through, and had broken his 
arm, nearly pulling it out of its socket. Mr. Pride quieted 
the frightened animal, freed the Indian and did all that he 

> 

could for him, offering to take him to his home but as he 
ivould not go he left him and never knew what became of 
him. The large family ot Prides in Daviess, Pike and Gibson 
counties are relatives and most of them descendants of this 
man. 

Jean LaTure. 
In the fall of 1851 or 1852, I went with my father, in a 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 171 

ivagon to Evansville on the Evansville and Petersburg road. 
When we reached a point near where the road g^oes into the 
bottoms of Smith's fork of Pig^eon Creek, something- went 
wrong with the running gears of our wagon and we could 
not go much farther without having it repaired. We turned 
south on the road that used to g^o to the McDaniel mill on 
Smith's fork and kept on until we came to the place where 
the road left the bottom and up a little hill to a house. Here 
i«re found a man who could repair the wagon, but it would 
require three or four hours to do it. While waiting father 
made some inquiries about a point not far from where we 
were and I went with him to it, taking our dinners with us. 
We were, as I now remember, about one hundred yards from 
Smith's fork. While we ate our dinner father related to me 
this strange and pathetic story. In the winter of 1833-4 he 
loaded a flat boat with pork, venison, hams and poultry at 
Winslow and ran it out of Patoka river en route to New Or- 
leans. Soon after he got into the Ohio river, one of his 
principal darsmen became very ill so much so that he had to 
leave him at Paducah, Kentucky in charge of a physician and 
hire another man. This one was an intelligent, middle-aged 
man, dressed in a full suit of buckskin with all the adorn- 
ments ths^t the Indians wore and carrying the most finely 
finished rifle father had ever seen. The new man went to 
work and proved to be a good hand and was better acquainted 
with the river than any of the crew. Arriving id the neigh- 
borhood of Memphis it was learned from returning boatmen 
that there wrs a better chance to sell the load by coasting^ 
along: the lower Mississippi than by going to New Orleans. 
At Vicksburg, Miss., the crew were paid off, except two who 
were retained. One of these was the man hired at Paducah, 
^whose name was Jean LaTure. They landed at different 
points on the river and it took about one month to sell out the 
produce on the boat. During the time they were leisurely 
coasting down the river LaTure found out that father was 
from this section of Indiana and related to him this story. 

He said that his father was with Lafayette for a while 
during the Revolutionary War and afterward settled in Vir- 



172 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

ginia where he married a beautiful French woman. He him- 
self was born in Virg^inia and was about ten years old when 
his father resolved to move to Kentucky. After staying- 
there about three years he decided to come to Indiana Ter- 
ritory and to Vincennes where he learned he had relatives. 
''We had two horses," said La Ture '*and loaded one with our 
plunder, the other was for my mother and eight-year-old 
sister to ride. We started and traveled for several days, 
coming to green river. We followed it to the point where it 
runs into the Ohio and then could find no way to cross either 
river so went up the Ohio for seven or eight miles and found 
a family of friendly Indians who carried us over in a canoe, 
the horses swimming. This was in the fall of 1803. We 
then traveled in a northerly direction for more than a day 
when we came to a large creek (Big Pigeon). Following 
along this creek we crossed one of its forks (no doubt Big 
creek in Greer township, Warrick county) and continued for 
several miles farther and came to another fork (Smith's 
Fork). We did not cross this but went up the south bank 
until we found some high land and selected a place for a 
camp, intending to stay a few days and rest. After being in 
camp about two days, nine or ten Indian hunters cai^ie in pre- 
tending to be very friendly. We gave them food which they 
ate but after finishing their meal they jumped up so suddenly 
that we had not time to think; giving a loud yell one caught 
me, another my little sister and a third attempted to hold my 
mother but she got hold of an ax and in the scufHe struck the 
blade into the Indian's thigh, severing the main artery from 
which he bled to death. Another Indian ran up back of my 
mother and killed her with a club. My father was killed at 
the first by two Indians with clubs. About half of them took 
the dead Indians away and were gone for some time. The 
rest loaded our plunder on the horses and we went away to 
the north, leaving my father and mother where they fell, 
after taking their scalps. After wandering that day and a 
part of the next we came to a big Indian town near a river 
which I think now is White river. Mv little sister was left 
there and I never saw her afterward. I was taken to an In- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 173 

dian town near Lake Michigan and lived with the Indians 
for several ) ears. I went with a party on a hunting expedi- 
tion and was gone several da3's, during which trip I made my 
escape and met a party of General Harrison's soldiers after 
the battle of Tippecanoe and went with them to Vincennes. 
I went through the war of 1812 and since then I have hunted 
Indians and killed every one that I could." 

He asked my father if he thought he could go with him 
to the place and was told that there was no doubt of it as he 
had hunted all over that section. So LaTure came home 
with my father, who sent word to Jonas Mayhall who had 
also hunted all over that country with him, asking him to 
meet him on a certain day at an agreed place and go with 
him and LaTure, which Mr. Mayhall did. When they got 
near to the point that was thought to be the place LaTure 
jumped from his horse and ran to the point and cried out — 
**Oh! my beautiful mother, how I wish I could have died with 
you!" He lay down on the ground and cried as nis heart 
would break. The scene was too much for the two men and 
they rode away and were gone for some time. Finally my 
father went to LaTure and asked him to get his horse and 
go home. He asked my father to lead the horse home, fell- 
ing him how much he thanked him for his kindness and said 
that he wanted to stay with his father and mother until sun- 
rise next morning. '*Then I shall go" he said ''and to the 
last day that I live I will kill every Indian that it is in my 
power to do, to avenge the lives of my dear parents." 

During the summer of 1834, father went south and with 
his brother, William R. Cockrum, bought the steamboat 
Otsego and ran her for some time in the lower Mississippi 
trade. They secured a contract from the Government to car- 
ry a large quantity of military stores from New Orleans up 
the Arkansas river to the distributing points for the several 
outposts and forts in that, section. During one the trips up 
the river Jean LaTure came to the boat and was gladly wel- 
comed by my father who had him stay on the boat as his 
guest until it had to return. In bidding good bye he said 



174 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

that he was successfully hunting Inians and intended to da 
so as long as life lasted. 

Jonas Maj^hall, mentioned above, was the father of the 
late (Jeorge C. Mayhall and the grandfather of the Mayhall 
children who now reside in Oakland City. 

JOEL HARDEN. 

David Johnson was at Vincennes in the summer of 1824 
for the purpose of entering land. While there he met Joel 
Harden and as they roomed together at the hotel, they soon 
got acquainted and being fond of the chase as most all men 
were at that early period, they told each other their many 
adventures. The following was told by Harden, which the 
author believes will prove interesting to his readers. 

Late in the summer of 1792 a large band of Indians went 
into Kentucky from north of the Ohio river. When across 
the river they broke up into small bands so as to over-run a 
large territory in a short time. They were of the Kickapoo 
and Delaware nations. **My father, with my brother and 
myself (my mother was dead) had made a temporary camp 
not far, I think, from where Bowling Green, Kentucky is,'^ 
said 'Harden. "We had commenced to build a cabin but on 
the night of the third day we had been there Indians rushed 
into our camp. My father attempted to kill one and was 
killed and my brother and I were captured. He was 19 and I 
16 years of age. They scalped my father and took our rifles 
and what little plunder we had and started north. It was 
about three days before we goi lo the Ohio river which we 
crossed at a point I afterward learned was Yellow Bank — in 
the Kickapoo's language Weesoe Wusapinuk — where Rock- 
port now stands. There was an old Indian trace to the north 
that we traveled a part of two days and came to a large 
spring where the Indians were to meet. Already a number 
were there and in a day or so all of them had arrived. I 
think there were sixty-five or seventy warriors and they had 
captured a number ot women and children besides myself and 
brother and a negro slave. There was a disagreement be- 
tween the two tribes of Indians about the division of plunder 



PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 175 

One of Delawares was determined to have the neg^ro as he 
could sell him to the English officers in Canada at a g^ood 
price. As the negro was being led away one of the Kickapoos. 
shot him dead. The Delaware shot my brother in retalia- 
tion. This brought on a battle between these two bands of 
Indians that was terrible for a short time. The Kickapoos 
had the advantage from the start, rushing the Delawares. 
and capturing all their prisoners — I now think seven or eight 
women arid children — and all their plunder, but before it was 
over and the Delawares gone, there were six Kickapoo war- 
riors dead and as many wounded. The Delawares carried 
their dead and wounded away with them but they lost a num- 
ber. The Indians remained at the springs for several days 
taking care of their wounded, then they 'started along the 
little trace, traveling northward and crossed two good sized 
rivers and on to the Indian town at ihe forks of White river. 
In a short time we continued to the north until we got to a 
British Fort in Canada in the neighborhood, of Detroit where 
I was sold to an officer for a servant and was held for several 
years. I made my escape by the aid of a Frenchman who 
had taken a fancy to me and hated the British officer for 
some ill treatment. This Frenchman secured a canoe and we 
ran out of an inlet to Lake Erie and paddled along the coast 
until we got to the Maumee river, thence up that river to a 
fort established by General Wayne several years before, and I 
remained in this section for some time. While General Har- 
rison was at Ft. Meigs I went there and was at the battle of 
the Thames where Tecumseh was killed. After the close of 
the war of 1812, I enlisted for five years in the regular service. 
For the last five years I have been hunting and trapping 
along the Wabash and its tributaries and have no relatives 
in the world that I know of." 

The next morning Mr. Johnson invited this lonely, 
weather-beaten soldier to go home with him, which invita- 
tion he accepted and remained with him for more than two 
years. In the fall of that same year Mr. Johnson made ar- 
rangements for his annual hunt. Together with Jessie 
Houchin, who lived at that time on the Hargrove farm east 



176 PIONEER HISORY OP INDIANA. 

-of what is now Oakland City and his guest, Mr. Harden, he 
•started for the old polk patch now Selvin, Warrick county, 
where they intended to make their camp and hunt, at the 
same time helping Harden to locate the place where the In- 
dian battle was fought. They stopped on the way for Con- 
rad LeMasters who lived about two miles east of Pleasant- 
ville. Pike county. Mr. LeMasters was ready as he had no- 
tice of their coming. The first day they killed several deer 
and a bear and it was after night when they got to their des- 
tination. They had, good success in their hunting and had 
more game than they knew what to do with. Of the deer 
only the hind quarters and the hides were taken, the rest be- 
ing left where it was killed. The second day Mr. LeMasters 
was seriously hurt fn a fight with a bear and had to go home* 
The hunting party, the after hearing Harden's story was sat- 
isfied that it was at Honey Springs that the Indian battle had 
taken place so the two of the party who were left, resolved 
as they went home to go into the neighborhood and let Har- 
riett find the springs, which they did. While they were 
searching they asked Harden to take a pail and see if he 
could find some water and they would try and find a bee tree. 
After being gone for a short time they saw him coming back 
as fast as his horse would carry him. He was all excitement, 
telling them that he was sure he had found the place they 
were hunting. They went back with him and notwithstand- 
ing there had been some improvements made at and near the 
springs, Harden was very positive that it was the one, show- 
ing the hunters the place where his brother was killed, which 
was about 200 feet southeast of the spring. The Kickapoo 
Indians were killed about 300 feet south of the springs. The 
Delawares retreated to the southwest and their men were 
killed in that direction. 

Staying all night at the springs, the hunters returned 
home the next morning. The two falls following the same 
hunting party was formed and they either went or returned 
by the springs where Harden would wander over the land 
near them for hours at a time. 

In a statement made by John Fuquay, who was scout to 



PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 177 

General Gibson, Secretary of State for Indiana Territory, in 
1802, as to whether it would, be safe to survey the land be- 
tween the Ohio and White rivers he said — * 'There is an old 
Indian trace running from the yellow banks to the headwa- 
ters of the Little Pigeon, where there has been a large Indian 
town, then in a northwesterly direction to a large spring, 
then along the spring branch to little Patoka and it crosses 
the large Patoka at a good ford and continues to the forks of 
White river. 



Data of the recapture of three Kentucky women from the 
Indians in what is now Pike county, Indiana, was furnished 
the author in 1855 by William Leathers, son-in-law of John 
Severns. The story is as follows: 

In 1795 John Severns was on White river hunting, when 
he met two Indian trappers one of whom he had known in- 
timately during his captivity among the Indians. They had 
been in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company, of Canada, 
for several years but had come south to do a little trapping 



on their own account and had a large number of traps with 
them, mostly for beaver. Severns told them of the many 
beaver and beaver dams along the Patoka river and its tri- 
butaries.* 

After talking tlie matter over the Indians agreed that 
they would hunt bear for awhile and put in the late fall and 
winter trapping for beaver, all of which was carried out. 
From the start the three men had all they could do to keep 
their traps set and care for their peltry. The intention of 
the trappers was to stay a few days in the neighborhood, 
<:atch all they could and then go on farther. In this way 
they thought the)- could go over the best trapping territory 
during the winter. The weather had become pretty cool'and 
the trappers had made their camp against a bluff bank of the 
river where a thick vein of coal was cropping out. They 



•author's Note. I have heard hunters say that there was no place in 
the western country where there had been more beaver than on the Patoka 
river and that many had been caught as late as 1835. To this day the signs 
of their industr>* are to be seen in many places. 



178 PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 

built their fires against the coal and had a good one. This, 
camp as the river runs was from 35 to 40 miles from Mr. 
Severns' home. The}" had been there several da3S and had 
become pretty well acquainted with the surrounding country 
when one morning as they lay in their comfortable quarters 
a little before day they were startled by the firing of several 
guns not far away. The}" would have thought it was In- 
dians shooting at a bear or a gang of wolves prowling around 
their camp had it not been for the loud hallooing and the 
screaming of a child or a woman, that continued for some 
time. The trappers hastily put out the fire and got into a 
position to defend themselves. In a short time daylight came 
arid Severns and one of the Indians determined to reconnoitre 
near their camp. On going up thir river some distance ihey 
heard talking and were satisfied that it was while people. 
The Indians slipped away and went back to camp while 
Severns went in the direction of the talking and soon saw 
several men and women sitting around a fire. One man, who 
was on the lookout, saw Severns and seeing that he was a 
white man, called to him and when he got to the party he 
saw seven of the hardiest type of Keniucky backwoodsmen 
and three women. One of the men was wounded by a ball 
through the top of the shoulder. The women's clothing was 
badly torn and their feet almost bare! The}' looked weary 
and careworn and the stop had been made to make some cov- 
ering for their feet so they could travel, but they were very 
short of suitable material. Severns told them that if they 
would wait until he could go to his camp, less than a mile 
away, he would provide them with all the material they 
needed. The proposition was gladly accepted and he soon 
returned with the saddle of a deer and a dressed buck skin. 
While he was at camp he advised the Indians to keep close as 
he did not know much about the people, only that they had 
recaptured three white women from the Indians and had kill- 
ed several of the latter and that he might go a little way 
with them to find out what he could. The moccasins were 
soon mended and the party started on the long return trip. 
Severns went with them for a few miles and learned that 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 179 

they lived in central Kentucky and that nearl}^ all of the men 
of their settlement had gfone to a salt spring to make salt. 
While the}- were absent six Indians attacked two houses and 
captured the three women. A boy not far from one of the 
houses saw the Indians and ran to two men building a cabin 
and gave the alarm and then all the other families ran to the 
fort not far away. A runner was sent after the men at the 
salt spring bui it was nearly two days before they could get 
bacK aiid Start afier the Indians. After ihac they followed 
them on the run as they knew the Indians would make haste 
to get back over the Ohio river. When the Kentuckians had 
crossed the river they had no trouble in following the trail 
because most of the way they were on a trace that crossed at 
the ford where Severns found them. *Xast night about eleven 
o'clock," one of the men told Severns **our out runner came 
back to the party just after we had retired for the night and 
told us that he had seen a little glimmer of fire about a half 
mile ahead. Two of our men went back with him and in 
about an hour one of them came back and said they had 
located the Indians and that the}' were all asleep except one 
who was guarding the prisoners and that as well as they could 
count them as they lay, there were six Indians and the three 
women, and that their camp was at the foot of a bluff. He 
left the other two on a hill about a hundred yards from the 
Indians. There was a small valley between them and they 
had a clear view of the camp. The rest of us went to the 
hill and after a Whispered council decided to deploy out so as 
to reach the camp from the south and east sides and as soon 
as we could get near enough, to charge the Indians and kill 
them before they could defend themselves. The men who are 
husbands of two of the women were to look after them. In 
creeping up we found the little valley covered an inch or two 
deep with water from a gushing spring near the Indians' 
camp which greatly delayed our attack and it was nearly five 
o'clock when we rtished on them, killing four before they 
could use their guns. The one left on guard shot one of our 
men in the shoulder and he and another one got away, the 
guard with a broken arm." 



180 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA, 

After hearing: his story, Mr. Severns wished them a safe 
journey and returned to camp. That afternoon the three trap- 
pers went to the battle ground and found four dead Indians 
which they placed in a larg-e hole made by the uprooting of a 
tree that had blown down, piling brush, dirt and rocks on 
them. The Indians were greatly alarmed and Mr. Severns 
could not induce them to stay longer, so they went down the 
river to Severns' home and then took -their traps and went 
north. 

The only certain location of this battle ground is the 
Patoka river and Severns' home but the distance and out crop- 
ping of the coal makes it certain to my mind that it was Mas- 
sey's Bridge where the trappers' camp was and that the Ken- 
tuckians crossed at Martin's Ford about a mile up the river 
from the bridge and the place where the battle was fought 
and. the women rescued was at Martin Springs. The hill the 
men laid on when planning to charge on the Indians, was I 
believe, where the Martin cemetery i now located. 

The data for the bear fight which follows was given me by 
Mr. Otho Harrison in 1854. 

During the summer and fall of 1807 there had been great 
excitement in all the settlements so recently made in this 
part of the Indiana Territory. The people had to leave their 
homes several times and were huddled together in forts. 
There were man)" roving bands of Indians prowling around. 
A family by the name of Larkins had been captured and Mr. 
Larkins was killed near what is now the east line of Pike 
county, as they were camped for the night near the old Indian 
trace. Several emigrants had been stopped and turned back 
by our rangers until a sufficient escort could be sent with 
them to their destination 

B^nds of young Indians would start on a hunting expedi- 
tion but as soon as the}' were away from the influence of the 
older ones, would shape their course so as to be on the usual 
lines followed b}' the earl}' settlers coming to this section and 
at night, while they were in camp, would fall on these help- 
less people, generally killing the men and taking the women 
and children prisoners. They would then gather up what 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 181 

articles of value the settlers might have had and go to the 
northern Indians near the g:reat lakes who were under the in- 
fluence of the British commander of that section. Here they 
sold their prisoners for servants and received a reward for 
their scalps. 

There is no doubt but that all the older Indians as well 
as Tecumseh, looked with apprehension on all these maraud- 
ing: campaigns of their young men. Tecumseh, his brother 
and a small band of Shawnee Indians lived for several years 
before 1806 in a Delaware town on White river. In the sum- 
mer of that year they moved to Greenville, in the state of 
Ohio. Interpreter La Verne met Tecumseh one day after he 
left that section and asked him why he didn't remain near the 
Wabash as most of his people were in that section. He told 
La Verne that the White river Indians were very hot-headed, 
that they wanted to kill and murder and that they were great 
thieves and that some time soon they would bring great trou- 
ble on all the Indian race. He also said that Indians who 
hunt for scalps would not make good fighters, that they would 
shoot a little and run away. 

Woolsey Pride's fort near Petersburg had been the home 
of many of the new comers to that section for some time and 
the provision had run low. There were vast numbers of bear, 
deer and turkeys in the woods and if it were safe to hunt 
them, a day or so would have replenished their larders, so it 
was decided that three men would go out and kill some game. 
Paul Tislow, Henry Miley and Woolsey Pride got everything 
in readiness and early the next morning started, Tislow and 
Miley taking a bear trap with them as they knew of a place 
on Pride's creek where there ^as always plenty of bear signs. 
They intended to set the trap and go back the next morning. 
They were fairly successful, having killed three deer and a 
half dozen turkeys. Hanging up two deer in the woods, they 
took one deer and the turkeys home with them, after having 
set their bear trap and baited it. 

Early the next morning the three men went out again. 
Pride took his horse to bring the deer back on, while Tislow 
and Miley went to the bear trap. W^hen near it they saw a 



I 



182 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

large bear run away and a small one was in the trap fast by 
its hind foot. They concluded, as it was only a cub weighing* 
not more than one hundred pounds, they would take it with 
them to the fort alive to show to the women and children. 
They were making preparations to tie it when it made a great 
out-cry and the old mother bear came rushing out after their 
dog and at them full drive. They had no time to get their 
guns or in any way defend themselves before she was on 
them, knocking Tislow down and attempting to tear him to 
pieces. Miley struck at the bear's head with his tomahawk, 
but hit a glancing blow, not severely disabling it but some- 
what addling it so that it turned partly around and off of 
Tislow, who did not need any invitation but in a momeut was 
up, and running to a tree, climbed it to a safe distance. This 
left Miley and the dog with the infuriated bear that kept 
turning around to get hold of him. He followed its motions 
by holding to its shaggy coat. He made several passes at it 
with his hatchet but hadn't hurt the animal much. The dog 
was doing all that it could to help him but if it hadn't been 
for the hold he had on the long hair on the hind quarters of 
the bear it would have torn him to pieces, but having hold of 
it he could govern himself by the bear's motions. When he 
had time to do anything he would halloo to Tislow to come 
down and help him but Tislow had been there before and was 
badly bitten, his clothing torn into shreds and he didn't want 
any more of it. When Miley was almost worn out two large 
dogs that had followed Pride came rushing into the conflict, 
thus releasing him from his perilous position. As soon as 
Miley loosed his hold he ran to a tree and climbed it, leaving 
the dogs and bear to fight it oul. The great noise made by 
the men and dogs was heard by Pride and he was seen com- 
ing at full speed on his horse, but when he got near the bat- 
tle there was such a mix-up of dogs and bear that he could 
not shoot without danger of killing a dog. Finally he got a 
chance and shot the bear through the middle of the shoulder, 
disabling both its fore legs, then jumping from his horse he 
finished it with his tomahawk. 

Settling a new country, remote from settled neighbor- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 18S 

hoods, as southern Indiana was, is always attended with great 
liardships and privations which none but the brave will en- 
dure. The main object in coming: to this wild region was to 
•secure free land for homes. A large majority of the pioneers 
settled on land bought with land warrants for military ser- 
vice in the Revolutionary or Indian wars. The spirit of ad- 
venture which is so fascinating caused a few to come but as a 
whole the people who were the pioneers of this state were 
from the best families of the countries from which they 
moved; intelligent, brave, hearty, and honest, willing to en- 
dure the many trials and privations they were compelled to, to 
sustain themselves, and to face the great dangers, incident to 
driving out the red barbarian from this favored land, where 
they had cast their lots and intended to make their homes. 
The)*^ went to work to improve their surroundings, always on 
the look-out for dangers and the everlasting calm only broken 
by the croaking of the crows by day and the lonesome hoot of 
the owl by night. 

The venturesome hunter sought for signs that he could 
read to determine his chances for a successful hunt and for 
his own safety. He could read the sky, morning and evening 
ivhich gave him the information of what the weather would 
be for twenty-four hours. Nearly all men who exposed them- 
-selves, then as now, had some kind of a pain or ache that told 
them of damp weather. They were ever on the lookout for 
signs and listening for sounds that told them whether they 
were to have good or bad luck in their undertaking. The 
lonesome howling of a dog was a sure sign that trouble would 
would come to a family and a dog that was given to such 
howling did not live very long. These old hunters were 
learned in wood lore; if they were lost they had only to find 
the moss which was always thickest on the north side of the 
tree to tell them the way out and if they were uncertain as to 
the direction the wind came from, they stuck a finger into 
th6 mouth until it was warm, then held it up and the 
iRrind was blowing from would feel cool. The wood craft 
•education was necessary for these pioneers. Their business 
i^as to hunt game to feed themselves and families: all kind of 



184 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

animals were in abundance and it was not hard to kill the 
deer and turkey, the principal game that they used for food. 
For seasoning: Johnny cake or ash cakes and other food the 
fat of the bear was the best and was almost indispensable. It 
was often attended with g^reat danger to kill them. The 
bear was always ready for a fair fight, rearing up on his hind 
feet ready either to box his antagonist to a finish or to hug 
the life out of him; and it is yet to be recorded where any 
man went into battle with a bear without the use of a gun 
and came out without being severely hurt. 

Wolves were plentiful but they were never regarded as 
dangerous to man. They were the slyest, most sneaking an- 
imal of all and did make havoc among the young hogs and 
sheep when they could get a chance. People who raised 
sheep had to put them every night into secure pens. 

The early settlers, as a rule married when they were 
young; there was no inequality in the way for all were on the 
same level. If the young man was a good hunter and a good 
soldier if need be, that was all the requirements needed. The 
young girl had no bad habits and was industrious and healthy. 
She had learned from her mother the simple forms of 
housekeeping. Probably they did not have a cent of money 
between them. In many cases it was hard for the father of 
the sons, who were first married in the wilds of this country 
to get the needed means for the legal part of the ceremony. 

When it first became known that there was to be a wed- 
ding, everybody old and young, were in great glee in antici- 
pation of the coming feast and the continued frolic which 
would follow and which generally lasted until two days after 
the infare, the wedding reception at the groom's father, and 
until their house was built and properly warmed by an all 
night's dancing. Then it was turned over to the young peo- 
ple wdo assumed their position in society as one more family 
added to the sparsely settled region. Everybody in the whole * 
neighborhood knew that he would be invited in fact the cus- 
tom on such an occasion was that no invitation was needed 
and the latch string was out to all comers and especially to 
the neighbors. The custom of the celebration at the home 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 185. 

of the bride has been in vogfue as long as the United States 
has been settled by the white people. 

It is not to be wondered at that ever3'body was on the 
qui vive when a wedding was on hand, for there was no other 
gathering where all could go. On the day of the wedding 
the candidate and his best fellows, probably as many as ten, 
who had been his friends in the chase and on the scout, 
gathered at his father's home. The first thing to do was to 
select two of the best mounted who were to run for the bottle 
which took place when they arrived within one-half mile of 
the bride-elect. They timed their march so as to arrive about 
noon, the wedding usually taking place just before the noon 
meal. When they got to the point near the home, the word 
was given and the two young men started at bread-neck speed 
trying their best to win. A bottle of corn whiskey was given 
to the young man who first passed a given point. He then 
turned his horse and, riding at the top of his speed, carried the 
bottle to the approaching p^rty and treated them all to its con- 
tents. I well rdmember a tree shown to me some years ago 
on the Jackson Martin farm near Littles in Pike county, 
where a Mr. Martin was killed while running for the hot lie: 
the horse became scared at something and ran against the 
tree fracturing the young man's skull. 

After the return of the racing party the company con- 
tinued to the house where they found all the people of the 
neighborhood assembled. Nearly every section had some one 
with ministerial license who would solemnize the wedding; 
there was no legal light nearer than the county seat, which 
was often fifty miles away. 

After the ceremony was over the feast began, which was 
a feast indeed of the best things lo be obtained in ihe country; 
all sorts of meats and bread made from meal, pounded in a 
mortar and baked on a hoe or Johnny-cake board. Wild 
honey was there in abundance as a bee tree could be found 
on any forty acres, often as many as a dozen of them. Pos- 
sibly the dinner was served on a table or platform, covered 
with three foot boards seventy-five or one hundred feet long, 
and over this was laid a piece of linen cloth that had been 



186 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

lying: in the gfarden for weeks to bleach. This cloth was 
made entirel)' by the bride. All the dishes in the neighborhood 
liad been borrowed as the supply was very scant, only a few 
pewter plates, a few pewter spoons, but horn and wooden ones 
filled the need and the party were jovial and happy; everyone 
enjoying themselves. 

After the dinner was over the old folks started for their 
homes, the younger people making preparations for a dance 
that was to last until broad daylight. They did not under- 
stand the fancy dancing of this day but the figures were four 
lianded reels and what they called square sets. Some of the 
people from Virginia understood dancing a reel that was cal- 
led in old Virginia — **hoedown." The musician was usually 
a middle aged man who was an expert with the violin before 
leaving the older settled sections. 

The infare was the same as the wedding; two young men 
raced for the bottle and the gathering was the same people as 
on the day before. The feast of good things was enjoyed by all. 
After the dinner was over and the old folks had gone to their 
homes the young folks started the dance in which everyone 
took part. Their dress was all of home manufacture, bride's 
and all, they were of the most comfortable sort. 

The honeymoon of the young people was not extensive 
in travel. They did not have the worry of packing large 
traveling trunks nor were there any old shoes thrown after 
them for their were none to throw. 

The first thing to do after the infare was to build a house 
to live in, but before they could have charge of their new 
home there must be the regulation house warming. In a for- 
mer chapter the author has described a cabin built by the 
first pioneers and following is given a description of.one of a 
li ttle lat er day. 

After a favorable site had been selected all the neighbors 
helped in cutting and hauling the logs. The first thing to 
do was to cut three large logs the length the building was 
wanted and scutch one side and lay them so they were level, 
on a range with each other. On this the first two end logs 
were placed, then the puncheons laid, meeting on the middle 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 187 

log for the foundation. The puncheons were first faced with 
an ax to cause them to lie level. Then the foot adz came in- 
to play, making: the floor level and smooth. The side and 
end logs were laid on and notched down so as to make the 
■cracks as small as they could and the walls strong. Usually 
the comer men scored the logs, each way half the length, un- 
til they met the other corner men. The scores were scutched 
•off, making the walls look much better than round logs with 
bark on. At the square of the house usually about eight feet 
above the floor, two end logs projected about fifteen inches 
beyond the wall and usually other logs were laid across the 
building projecting the same as the end log and the proper 
■distance apart to receive four foot boards for the loft. The 
butting logs, as they were called, were laid up notched to fit 
and pinned to the cross logs. Against the butting logs the 
first course of boards for the roof rested. The slope for the 
roof was made by cutting the end logs above the square two 
and one-half feet shorter. The next side log was laid some 
two feet from the wall, projecting over at each end two feet. 
This was called a ridge pole or log for the boards to lie on. 
The same was continued until the top log was in place where 
the boards of both sides of the roof met, forming the comb. 
Small logs were split open the length of the ridge pole for 
the purpose of weighting the roof so the boards would be 
level and stay in place. The weight poles were tied at each 
end with hickory withs to the end of the ridge poles. The 
door was made by cutting out the logs on one side the width 
wanted and pinning heavy pieces of upright timbers lo the 
end of the logs by boring a hole through the timber and into 
the end of the logs, which made it very solid. A similar 
opening was made at the end, only wider, for a chimney. A 
three sided crib of logs joined to the end logs of the house 
was made high enough above where the back wall came to 
form the foundation for the chimney. Timber was driven 
down to form a place so that clay could be pounded in to make 
the hearth and raise the fire place even with the floor. After 
this mud mixed with grass was made and large cats or lumps 
were pounded in between the boards placed to shape the fire 



188 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

place and the logs, until it was as high as needed and then^ 
the chimney was started b)' drawing it in like a partridge 
trap until it was of ihe proper size to draw welU then built 
with siticks and clay until above the roof. /The cracks be- 
tween the logs of the house were filled with chinking of lim- 
ber and plastered with mud. The door shutter was made by 
riving thick boards the length wanted, then putting heavy 
pieces across called battens then pinning them fast. Heavy 
wooden hinges were put on by pinning two pieces across the 
door and auger holes bored through them where they extend- 
ed over the door's edge, then two butts for the hinges were 
pinned on the logs inside to a piece called facing with round 
tenon made on them. The door was then hung by fitting the 
auger holes over the round tenons. A heav/ latch was made 
that when fastened on the inside could not be opened, with- 
out the proverbial latch string of buck skin through a hole 
in the door and hanging on the outside was used in lifting 
the latch. When completed the door could not be opened 
without great power being used. On each side and on the 
ends of the room a peep hole was left so that what went on 
on the outside could be seen and if need be could be used for a 
port hole to shoot from. A heavy piece of timber fitted into* 
these peep holes, windows they could not have as long as 
there was any danger from India ns. 

The gun rack over the door was usually made by fasten^ 
ing the prongs of deer horns in an auger hole. A good lamp 
was made by forming a cup out of clay and burning it hard* 
When this was filled with bear's oil, and fitted with a cotton 
wick, it made a very good light. 

Hunting for game through the long days was the most 
laborious work that could be done. Often when the snow 
was melting and the creeks and branches overflowing, the 
hunter waded through the wet all day, at night returning to 
his humble home all worn out, many times, however, with 
three to six turkeys tied to his back and again witk two to 
four pairs of venison hams and the hides of the deer. While 
all were fond of the chase and of necessity had to follow it. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 189 

yet no labor ever performed by man was more trying on the 
-constitution. 
^ When the spring season came on the deer were poor and 

they were let alone until the crop was put in. Before plant- 
ing the crop more acres of ground had to be cleared and the 
brush and logs burned, the Tails made and the fence put 
around it. This required great labor. Besides his own work 
the farmer had to assist his few neighbors in rolling their 
logs so that they would help him in return. Often new com- 
ers had to have houses raised. With all his labor he put in 
his crop in good season and the virgin soil, with little stir- 
ring, produced bountifully supplies of corn and vegetables 
for his stock and table. If the family had boys they aided 
their father in the crops from the time they were eight years 
•old. If the mother's side of the house had the most help then 
the strong healthy girls helped their father in putting in his 
•corn and in tending it. Industry was a virtue that was al- 
ways in force for there were no idlers. When the older peo- 
ple thought their children were a little slack in their work, 
they would remind them that they were in danger of being 
•caught by the Laurences, meaning the little heat waves caus- 
ed by the heat from the earth on a very hot day. Such days 
would add much to the child's disposition to rest. 

Anyone who'Was given to idelness was called a lazy hound 
and was looked upon with contempt. In fact it was such an 
odium to be called an indolent, laz}^ body that the ones so in- 
clined were soon frozen out or talked out and moved awa)\ 
I well remember an old story that I have heard the old people 
repeat whed I was a small boy. They always told it as hap- 
pening in old North or South Carolina or in Tennessee. In 
the section they would name there lived a strong healthy 
young man who wouldn't work under any circumstances and 
his family was not cared for as it should have been. A neigh- 
bor filed a complaint and the law took charge of him and as 
he was being taken to the county seat to be bound out or his 
labor for a certain period sold to the highest bidder and the 
proceeds to be used to maintain his family, they passed by 
the house of a well-to-do farmer who asked the driver what 



X 



190 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

he was going to do with that man and upon being informed 
said it was a shame for such a big, good-looking fellow like 
that to be sold and asked **What does his family need? I^ 
am willing to help them." The driver said that if they had 
two bushels of corn it would last them until roasting ears 
came and then they could live through the summer. "If that 
i« all that is needed I will give him two bushels of corn. You 
drive down to the corn pen and get it." Whereupon the lazy 
man rolled over in the wagon and asked — "Say Mister, is the 
corn shelled?" **Why no, but 3'ou can shell it," was the 
answer. He rolled back into his easy position and said — 
*'Drive on driver, to the county seat." Then turning to the 
farmer — *'I can't shell corn." 

This stor)' was often told as I now recall the circum- 
stances I remember it was always in the presence of some one 
who was a little slack in the twist about work. Many times 
since I have become older I have wondered if it were not told 
to fix more firmly the habits of industry in my mind as well 
as in others. 

Our mother worked from early morning until late at night 
preparing the needed clothing for the family and doing her 
household work. The daughters stood nobly by their mother, 
helping her in every way they could. As the mother grew 
older they relieved her of the care and weariness of the 
household duties and went forward in all the needed prepara- 
tion for the home. The boy, were ever in the fields with their 
father at work, and when the corn was cribbed they followed 
him in the chase, killing bear, deer and turkeys for the needs 
of the family. When winter had come the}' would go three . 
or four miles away to some neighbor's house where subscrip- 
tion school was being taught for a month or so, thus gather- 
ing the first principles of an education. 

When these healthy boys and girls came home from 
school and the daily duties were gone ihrotigh with, the girls 
preparing the evening meal, milking the cows and caring for 
all the household work, the boys attending to their stock and 
cutting wood for the fire, preparing large back logs to be 
placed against the back wall of the chimney. ^After supper 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 191 

was over and the dishes cleared away one of the girls would 
bring her cards and wool to make the rolls for another who 
had the large spinning- wheel making the rolls into thread. 
The old people and the rest of the family sal around the fire 
talking of the events of the day. They had no books* but the 
bible and possibly an old English reader — newspapers ihey 
had never seen. After awhile one marries and leaver ihe old 
home and then another, until they all have homes of their 
own clustering around the old homestead which usually fell 
to the youngest. 

This is the way this country has been peopled. True, 
many have moved to other parts of the councry, but in every 
part of Indiana, second and third generations fro n the old 
pioneers 3'et occupy and control ihe country outside the 
towns. 

The dress of these people was suitable for the life they 
had to lead. The hunting shirt was worn by all the men and 
was made of various sorts of material. Ii was a loose frock 
coat coming down below the middle of the thighs. The 
sleeves were ver}- large. The froiit part of the garment 
was made ver}' full, so much so thai it would lap over more 
than a foot on each side, when it was beKed. The cape was 
very large and full, much like the comforiable long capes 
worn by our cavalry soldiers during the war of the Rebellion. 
The}' were ornamented with a heavy fringe around the bot- 
tom and down tae shoulder seams and a row on the cape about 
half way from the bottom to the collar. The bosom of these 
hunting shirts when the belt was fastened was always used 
by the hunter to carry the things needed for his convenience 
and comfort. On one side the tomahawk and on the other 
the hunting knife were each fastened to a loop made in the 
belt. These two weapons were indispensable and every hunter 
carried them. The hunting shirt was mostly made out of 
linsey cloth, some were made out of linen, the cloth made 
thick bv filling made from tow which was gathered from the 
last hackling of the flax. There were many made out of 
dressed deer skins for summer and fall wear but thev were 
verv cold in the winter time. The skin coats were fantastic- 



192 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

all)' ornamented in the fashion of the Indians. The hunting: 
shirts was of any color to suit the fancy of the owner. Some 
•of them were very gay but those intended for the chase or 
scout were usually a dull color so as not to be easily distin- 
g^uished. The undershirts, or vests as we now call them, 
were made of any material they could get. The breeches 
were njade close fitting and over them a pair of buckskin leg- 
gins were worn fringed down the outside seams like the In- 
dians. A pair of moccasions for their foot covering and pro- 
tection were much Jbetter for the purpose of hunting and 
scouting than shoes, which they could not get, as no noise 
was made in walking. They were made of buckskin in one 
piece, with a gathered seam along the top of the foot and 
from the bottom of the heel to the ankle joint. Flaps were 
left on each side so as to reach some distance up the leg to 
•be covered over with the lower part of the leggins, and all 
held in place by strong thongs of buckskin tied around 
just above the ankle joint, to keep the snow and dirt out of 
the moccasins. 

It required only a little time to make a pair of moccasins. 
For this purpose and for mending the holes worn in them an 
awl made out of any kind of iron was an indispensable tool, 
and with a ball of thongs or strings cut from a dressed deer 
skin, was in the shot pouch or hunting shirt pocket of ever}" 
hunter. In the winter the moccasins were ver)' cold and dr)' 
deer hair was stuffed into them to keep the feet warm. If 
the wearer owned an)' red pepper pods a liberal supply of it 
was put in with the hair. I have heard my father say that 
in cold wet weather the moccasin was only a little better than 
going barefooted. 

The head dress of the men was as varied as there were 
kinds of animals. Bear, beaver, fox, raccoon and even the 
sullen opposum furnished material for headwear. In the 
summer time they had hats made from the wild oat straw 
and from the flag that grew in ponds. Even the inside bark 
of the mulberry roots was cleaned and worked into very light 
durable hats for summer wear. Gloves were made out of the 
skins of small animals with the fur on the inside. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 193 

The women did not have as elaborate costumes as the 
men, but they dressed at all times to suit their work and the 
weather if they had the material to make their clothing 
from. The linsey skirt or petticoat as it was termed then, 
worn over some sort of dress of linen or cotton, made much 
like ladies wear now for night gowns, was the usual costume. 
If worn in cold weather a waist or jacket was added to the 
skirt. Their clothing was warm and comfortable. In warm 
weather they invariably went barefooted, but during the cold 
weather they had moccasins or shoe pacs, a sort of half moc- 
casin. They made shawls of flannel the same as they made 
blankets of any color that suited their fancy with bright col- 
ored stripes at each end and a heavy fringe sewed on all 
around it. Later when they got to raising cotton in sufficient 
quantities, they made a very pretty and serviceable cotton 
dress with stripes of many colors. For head dress they al- 
ways wore caps night and day with a frill on the front edge 
often out of the same goods, very old ladies often wore dark 
colored caps made of some fine goods brought from their early 
childhood home. They wore the regulation sun bonnet of 
that period which differed but little from that worn by many 
at this time. The heiad piece or crown was made with cas- 
ings for splits of wood to keep it in shape with a gathered 
curtain sewed around the lower edge. These hooded bonnets 
were good shades from the sun and when taken in connection 
with the other dress of that day were very becoming to the 
wearer. For handkerchiefs they had small home-made 
squares of white cotton cloth of their own spinning and weav- 
ing. For gloves leather made out of squirrel hides dressed, 
was used and they were as soft as the best kid and lasted for 
all time. 

Often it was very difficult to secure the raw material to 
make this clothing. The flax crop at times failed as the land 
was too loose for it to do well in. The flax roots are very short 
and the new soil of that date was a very loose loam and in dry 
weather the flax would die out and the crop fail. At such 
time, when the flax failed, some one would go to the rich creek 
bottoms where nettles grew in abundance and secure loads 



194 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

of the stalks. After it was dried and rotted they broke and 
workedfit the same as they did the flax. A strong thread could 
be spun|from the fiber covering the stems and this thread was 
woven into cloth and made into clothing. When they had wool 
and linen thread they wove linsey cloth, the best that could be 
had for [comfort and durability. Every woman was her own 
weaver. The girls who were fourteen years old could spin 
and weave and make their own clothing. Their clothing 
was such as they could make by hand. These early pioneers 
tanned their own leather. A large trough for a tanning vat 
back of the smoke house or in it as was often the case, was 
an indispensable piece of property. The bark of the black 
oak, carefully secured in the spring when the sap was up, 
was dried to be used later for tanning their leather. The 
skins of deer, wolves and later on of bears and cows that had 
died or had been killed by the panthers were saved and dried 
until such times as they were wanted to be put into the vat. 
They were first put in a trough with strong ashes and kept 
there until the hair became loose and could be scraped off. 
Then they were put into the vat and the oak bark was 
pounded up as finely as needed and put in layer after layer as 
the skins were placed in the trough. When the oak liquor 
or ooze had been used until it commenced to lose its strength 
it was drawn off and a new supply of bark put into the vat. 
After being in the vat for several months the hides were 
taken out. A board or slab was driven into the ground and 
the top end was shaved to an edge. Then the hides were 
scraped back and forth over the edge of the slab until they 
became pliable; then bear's oil was put on and worked in 
until every part of the skin was soft. Our people learned 
from the Indians that the brains of the deer was the best of 
all material to make the tanned leather soft and pliable and 
to keep it so. It took nearly three large dressed buckskins 
to make a leather suit, including a hunting shirt, leggings 
and two pairs of moccasins. 

After they had raised the corn the meal made out of it 
for their bread was prepared by pounding the corn in hominy 
blocks and by grinding the corn in hand mills. Hominy 



PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 195 

blocks were made in the end of a largfe log: standing on end 
and about three feet high. The hopper for holding the corn 
was made by burning a hole in the end of the log. Then a 
hickory pestle was used* to pound the corn. This labor was 
often made lighter and more effective by placing a pole on a 
fork driven into the ground the proper distance from the meal 
block. One end of the pole was held down by a heavy log 
and to the other end was attached a heavy pestle by a strong 
leather cord. A hole was bored through the pestle the pro- 
per distance from the lower end and a hickery pin put into it 
extending two feet on each side. Then two people could 
work at the pounding process. The spring of the pole lifted 
the pestle as high as wanted and the stroke was made by 
pulling down on the pin. In this way meal could be made 
much faster than by the single hand process. After beating 
the corn awhile it was put in a skin sieve made by stretching 
a raw deer skin over a hickory hoop and when it had dried, 
burning small holes through it with the tines of an iron fork, 
thus making a very good sieve. The meal was shaken through 
this and the coarse parts put back in the hopper to be pound- 
ed until it was fine enough to go through the sieve. When 
the corn was just beginning to harden in the fall a much 
more simple device was made for making meal, called a 
**grater." A piece of tin or sheet iron with many holes 
punched through it was put on a board and nailed by its 
edges to the board, forming a half circle. The corn was rub- 
bed over the rough side of this grater, the meal going through 
the perforations and falling into a pan. There are many old 
people yet living who have had the backache from bending 
over one of these crude meal-making machines and the writer 
is one of them. A little later a small mill was made, which 
was called a hand mill, that was much superior to the two 
meal-making processes above described. The hand mill was 
ma<:le of two small round stones. The under one was station- 
ary and the upper one was turned around. These stones 
placed in a hoop made for the purpose. At one edge a little 
spout was made for the meal to run out and a hole was made 
in the outside edge of the top stone and a staff fitted into it. 



196 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

The upper end of the staff went into a hole made throug^h a 
board that was fastened to some timbers over head. The 
hoop, the stones were in, was about the size of a dish pan. A 
little hopper was made around the center stafF or post that 
the top stone ran around with holes made in it to let the com 
throug^h as fast as wanted. Two persons could hold the up- 
right staff one on either side of the hoop, and keep the top 
stone turning around at a lively rate. There could be four 
bushels of com ground on this small mill in a day. This was 
considered at that time to be quite an advance in the mill- 
ing industry. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Land Claims and Territorial Affairs — Indian Depreda- 
TioNS— Letters of Instruction and Orders to Gap- 
tain William Hargrove — Burning of an Indian Town 
Near Owensville — Division of Indiana Territory — 
Elections — Land Offices. 



The uncertainty of the title of the lands held by the in- 
habitants of the territory, caused so much trouble that Con- 
gress in 1804 created a board of Commissioners who were 
empowered to inquire into the validity of the titles and decide 
on the title of each claim to which title there was any ques- 
tion. This decision was to be reported to Congress and in 
this way most of the uncertain titles were confirmed. 

Many of the laws that had been adopted for the govern- 
ment of the Northwest Territory by Governor St. Clair and 
the judges, and a part of the statutes adopted and published 
by Governor Harrison were revised and re-enacted by the 
General Assembly of the Territory of Indiana and were pub- 
lished by Stout and Smoot at Vincennes, by authority of the 
Legislature. They were bound in a thin volume that con- 
tained the laws of the Northwest Territory and those of Ind- 
iana Territory which had not been repealed, as they were 
revised by the Honorable John Rice Jones and John Johnson. 
The latter laws passed by the Legislature referred to many 
things among which were the incorporation of the Vincennes 
Univeristy, Vincennes Library, the Borough of Vincennes 
and the town of Jeflfersonville. 

By an act of Congress approved the 11th of January, 1805, 
before the organization of the legislative council, Indiana 



198 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Territor}' was divided and the Territory of Michigan was 
established to take effect the last day of June, 1806. Mich- 
igan Territory was formed of that part of Indiana Territory 
which lies north of a line drawn east from a point on Lake 
Michigan ten miles north of its southern extremity until said 
line intersects Lake Erie, ihence north through Lake Erie to 
the northern boundary of the United States. This division 
included the land office at Letroit. 

The Legislature of 1807 passed some very drastic measures, 
among them being penalties for the crime of treason, murder, 
arson, and horse-stealing. All of them were punishable by 
death. The crime of man-slaughter was not such an import- 
ant affair and was punishable under the code of common laws. 
The crime of burglar)^ and robbery were punishable by whip- 
ping. Rioting was punishable by fine and imprisonment. 
Hog stealing was punishable by whipping. 

After Wayne's victory up to 1802 and 1803 there was 
quiet in all the section of country in Indiana Territory. The 
object lesson the Indians received there was so forcibly im- 
pressed on them that they were glad to be quiet for a while. 
This quiet gave an impetus to emigration to the new country, 
but in a short time the temptation was so great that small 
bands of Indians would roam over the country hunting for a 
chance to retaliate and murder the defenseless people. There 
were a dumber of boat fights on the Ohio and in some of them 
the unfortunate occupants were captured and murdered. 

A family named McClure was floating down the Ohio, 
about ten miles west of the mouth of Lochry Creek in what is 
now Ohio county, Indiana. The}^ were prevailed upon to 
land their boats by the cries and gestures of a white woman 
who besought them to take her on board, saying that she had 
escaped from the Indians. As soon as the boat touched shore 
it was captured by a band of Indians who were in conceal- 
ment in a large crevice in the bank. All of the family except 
one grown daughter were killed. She was carried into cap- 
tivity and sold to the British at Maiden and was recaptured 
at the battle of the Thames. It was never known whether 
the white woman who decoyed the boat was a prisoner or was» 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 199 

like Simon Girt}- , a traitor to the white race, who became 
more fiendish and brutal toward the Americans than the most 
savage Indians. 

At Diamond Island, Posey county, Indiana, in the sum- 
mer of 1803 a boat containing^ six people from Virginia was cap- 
tured, but before, the capture was accomplished three Indians 
were dead and another had one of his ears and more than 
half his nose cut off. The boat had landed to take on a deer 
killed by young James Barnard who was a son of the owner 
of the boat. As the two men, father and son, were carrying 
the deer they saw eight or ten Indians rushing to the boat. 
The mother, with an ax, killed one of the Indians. The 
three small children in the party were unable to make any 
defense. The father had his gun with him but the son had 
only a corn knife, made of a brier-scythe, which he had car- 
ried out to cut a pole on which to hang the deer. The 
father, actuated by the first impulse, rushed to the boat, shot 
two Indians down at one shot and was himself immediately 
killed. The son, having no gun, attempted to get away by 
running. Two Indians followed him and as he dodged from 
tree to tree they both fired, but missed. One of the Indians 
was fleet of foot and followed on after the young man who 
was very fast in a foot race but he soon found that the In- 
dians would overtake him. Coming to a very large tree he 
dodged behind it and as the Indian came up, dealt him such 
a blow with the corn knife that it cut off a large part of his 
nose. At the second blow he cut off his left ear which fell 
at his feet. The Indian uttered a loud yell and ran back the 
way he had come. Young Barnard picked up the ear and 
went into the forest where he hid and waited for night to 
come, when he wandered back to the river, hoping to find 
some trace of the family. He found the dead bodies of his 
mother and father, both scalped, but could see no trace of his 
brother and sisters. The young man, with his corn knife, in 
the stillness of the night, and in the wilderness of Posey 
count)% dug out a shallow grave in which he placed the bodies 
of his parents and then he wandered through the woods. 
Coming to the Wabash, he swam it and found his way to- 



200 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Vincennes where he enlisted in the army. The next year 
after this, an expedition was made by soldiers into the Illi- 
nois country after some horse-thief Indians who had stolen a 
number of horses which were grdizing on the common pasture 
near Post Vincennes, and young: Barnard was one of the com- 
pany. Late in the evening: of the second day out, more than 
thirty miles iq the southwest of Vincennes, they came to a 
lone wigwam near a largfe spring of water. On coming up 
to it they found an Indian who was dressed in skins and had 
covering over his face except places made in the covering 
that he could see out of. This strangely dressed creature 
did not offer any opposition to the soldiers. One of the sol- 
diers understood the Kickapoo language and told the Indian 
that they did not intend to do him any harm but that he must 
take that covering off of his head. At this he became frantic 
and said he would die first. They caught him and held him 
and removed the buckskin from over his head when they be- 
held an awfully mutilated face that looked as though it had 
been in that condition some time. His nose was nearly all 
gone, one of his eyes was out and one ear cut off. Barnard 
looked at the Indian and told the interpretier what he had 
done at Diamond Island and that he had the ear in his tent 
at camp. This was told the Indian, whereupon he became a 
raging fury and tried to break loose to get at Barnard. When 
he found that he could not throw off the two stalwart soldiers 
who held him, he commenced to insult and abuse Barnard by 
saying that he had killed his father and that after he got 
back to the boat he killed his mother. When this was trans- 
lated to him Barnard mashed his head with a club. 

The Indians are very superstitious and when any of them 
is mutilated or disfigured as the one referred to above, he 
goes into seclusion and no one is ever allowed to see his face 
again. 

After the treaties of 1804 were made which ceded all the 
country on the Wabash and Ohio rivers, south of the old 
Vincennes and Clarksville trace up to the Ohio Falls, to the 
United States from the Indians, many emigrants moved into 
that section. Many of them before that had been in Kentucky 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 201 

near the Ohio river, waiting: for the gfovemment to acquite 
that territory. Notwithstanding the number of men who 
came into the territory, there was much trouble with the In- 
dians, growing: out of the influence of the Prophet. Along in 
1805 and up to the last of 1806 the Indians in all their stat- 
ions in Indiana Territory were loud in their declaration that 
the Ohio river should be the boundary line between them and 
the whites. Bands of young hunters were continually roving 
through the country all along the territory between the Ohia 
and White rivers. The only posts the whites had for pro- 
tection at that time were Vincennes, the station at White 
Oak Springs on the old trace and a good fort in Lawrence- 
burg in Dearborn county; also a good fort at Clarksville. 
There is no doubt that many people were captured and des-^ 
troyed while attempting to move into that section whom no 
one ever heard of. 

In the early spring of 1807 a band of Delaware Indians 
on the Vincennes and Clarksville trace, west of the Mudholes^ 
(near where Otwell, Pike county, Indiana, is located) cap- 
tured a family named Larkins who were moving lo a section 
near Vincennes. Night having overtaken them they had 
made a camp a little way from the trace and during the night 
were captured by ten Indians. They killed Larkins and car- 
ried Mrs. Larkins and five children into captivity. A large 
boy who was coming with the family, in the confusion, made 
his escape and the next day met two of General Harrison's 
scouts near White river. He related the terrible occurence to 
them and together they went back to the place where he had 
been encamped the night before and where they foand the 
body of Larkins which they buried the best they could. One 
of the scouts then hurried into Vincennes to notify the 
authorities of the depredation. A troop of cavalry was sent 
to the scene but failed to find any trace of the captured fam- 
ily, but during the time they were scouting they came upon 
a band of Indians who were loaded down with provision and 
ammunition and headed for the south. These Indians no 
doubt were preparing for a raid on some of the outlying set- 
tlements hoping to capture unprotected emigrants. 



1202 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

In the running fight with the cavalry two of the Indians 
were killed and the rest of the band lost their heavy packs 
and some of them their guns in getting back across White 
river. ^ This fortunate meeting of these marauders no doubt 
saved some boat crew or some settlement from being murdered. 

Mrs. Larkins was the daughter of Colonel Greenup, of 
Kentucky; the boy who was with the band, named Joel Davis, 
was a relative of the colonel's and he hurried back to Ken- 
tucky with the sad news of the destruction of the family. 

There was so much trouble in diiferent parts of the ter- 
ritory, especially in the southern part, that Governor Har- 
rison determined to organize several detachments of scouts 
and rangers hoping in that wa}- to check the numerous raids 
of the Indians. There were already fifteen or twenty regular 
scouts constantly on duty, who reported at headquarters at 
Vincennes. There were also a number of friendly Indians 
belonging to the Piankashaws, Weas and Delawares who 
were used as messengers. 

It was decided to organize the rangers of the Territory' of 
Indiana into three divisions. The first division patrolled the 
territory from the Wabash river to some place near the 
French Lick Springs; the second from that point to the Falls 
of the Ohio river, the main camp of these two divisions was 
to be on or near the Clarksville trace. The third division was 
to patrol the section of the country from the Ohio Falls to 
the neighborhood of Lawrenceburg with their main camp 
near Armstrong Station. These three divisions went on 
duly some time in the early spring of 18U7. This information 
was obtained from a small memorandum book kept by Cap- 
tain William Hargrove who was the commander of the first 
division. Who the other commanders were is not known to 
the author. The only reference to their names was on a 
small scrap of paper found in Col. Hargrove's desk on which 
a receipt was written out in these words: — 

"Received from Captain Hargrove, sixteen 
pounds of powder, twenty pounds of lead at stock- 
ade near Blue river, October 16, 1807. 

John Tipton, Com. Sec. div. of Rangers." 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. . 203 

Governor William Henry Harrison's letters of instruction 
and orders by Ihe Secretary of Indiana Territory, General 
John Gibson to Captain William Hargrove commanding a 
detachment of Rangers in 1807. 

Colonel William Hargrove was born in South Carolina in 
1775. When a j^oung man he moved to Kentucky where he 
married and then moved to the neighborhood of Princeton, 
Indiana in 1803. While living in Kentucky he was three 
years in the Indian service and proved to be a brave, skillful 
soldier, making a dangerous foe for the red man. After com- 
ing to Indiana Territory he was twice in the Ranger service, 
first in 1807 and again in 1812. He was promoted through 
all the intermediate grades from captain to the rank of col- 
onel. In 1811 he was the first man in Indiana Territory to 
raise a company for service in the Tippecanoe Campaign. 
Colonel Hargrove and family were so closely identified with 
the settling of the southern part of the state and with its his- 
tory since that in future chapters they may be referred to 
often. In connection with the colonel's service with the 
Rangers in 1807 and 1812 are published here orders and let- 
ters of instruction to him by William Henry Harrison and 
signed by General John Gibson Secretarj' of Indiana Territory. 
These papers have never been in print before as they were in 
the colonel's desk with many other papers all in neat bundles, 
tied with buckskin strings. After the colonel's death in 1843 
they were taken care of by his son, Jacob W. Hargrove, who 
permitted the author to copy them in 1852 when he first de- 
termined to write this Pioneer History. 



it- 



Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

April 16, 1807. 

* 'Captain William Hargrove: 

**This will be handed to you by Ell Ernest, one 
of our scouts. Since you were here on last Friday 
the 10th inst., two of our scouts are in and report 
that last Sunda / night, the 12th inst., a band of 
rovingjndians captured a white family on the old 
Indian road from this place to Clarksville this side 
of the mudhole (near where Otwell, Indiana, now 



204 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

stands) killed the the man and took into captivity 
the woman and her five children. Governor Har-^ 
rison and Adjutant General John Small are both 
away. The Governor before starting instructed 
me to write you that if it was possible without tak- 
ing too many men out of your settlement, that you 
enlist at least twenty men for Rangier service giv- 
ing a preference at all times to men who have been 
on Indian campaigns, but not to leave any family 
without some able-bodied man to protect them, un- 
less they are in block-houses. This should be done 
at once so that the men can be on duty in five days. 
Send in two days from the time you receive this by 
the same hand an answer. I will then send you 
instructions as to your duties. 

By the order of the Governor. . 

John Gibson, 
Sec'y* Indiana Territory." 



**Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

April 20, 1807. 
**Captain William Hargrove: 

"Your report by the hand of scout Ernest has 
been received. The Governor is very much pleased 
at your promptness. The supplies for the families 
of those who will serve as Rangers will be sent as 
often as needed. 

**I have ordered sent you today, one sack of 
salt, ten bags of meal, for you to distribute before 
you leave home. Also twenty-five pounds of pow- 
der, twenty-five pounds of lead, two hundred gun- 
flints, one bundle of tow. You will divide your 
force and form a squad of six men under a reliable 
man who will act as Sergeant to patrol the main 
travelled way from your settlement south to the 
Ohio river, at Red Banks. Instruct the Sergeant 
to make two trips each way every ten days. I will 
send a scout who will come with the men and carts 
that bring the supplies. He will go on duty with 
the squad patrolling to the south. The other thir- 
teen men will be with you; also one scout and two 
friendly Indians. You are to patrol the old Indian 
trace tnat leads from this place to Clarksville on 
the Ohio river, from a point where this old road 
crosses White river and going as far as thirty-five 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 205 

miles east of the mudhole. The two Indians to be 
directly under the orders of the scout who will 
keep you informed of the orders he gives them. 
Once every week send a report of your work to this 
office. It has been ordered that movers coming 
over the old trace shall be held on the other end 
until a number of them are together. Then they 
will travel with the rangers as they are coming 
west on the trace. Any coming into your territory 
will be sent to a point out of danger by you, if 
coming to the older settlements. If they intend to 
form a new settlement, they must build a fort and 
stay in it until the season for raids has past. They 
can prepare houses where they intend to locate but 
they must remain in the blockhouses at night. If 
there should be extra men with the movers who 
have had experience as hunters or in Indian fight- 
ing enlist them if you can. I hope that your ex- 
perience in Indian warfare will help you protect 
your men. The roving bands of Indians prowling 
over this unprotected country in the warm season 
aim to murder helpless people for their scalps and 
the capturing of prisoners for what they can realize 
from the sale of them for servants to the British 
posts on the lakes. They are not hunting for arm- 
ed soldiers. A careful and vigilant scouting ser- 
vice will in a great measure do away with these 
prowling bands of Indians. 

By order of the Governor, 
John Gibson, Sec'y. Indiana Territory." 



Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

April 29, 1807, 
Captain William Hargrove, in the Ranger Ser- 
vice of Indiana Territory: — 

''Your report by the half-breed Twenney came 
to hand this evening. The Governor wi^hes to say 
that he is well pleased with your work and fully 
agrees wiih you that the route from the forks of 
White river, south to the Yellow Banks on the Ohio 
river (now Rockport. Indiana) should be patrolled 
at least once each week. The three men you have 
recruited can take the place of some of your best 
men that you are acquainted with. You will send 
them over the route in company with one of the 



206 PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 

scouts. The Governor suggests that )^ou send scout 
FuQuay with them, as he is familiar with the coun- 
try south of you on the Ohio river. In your next 
report fully describe what was found on the Yellow 
Bank route and if any Indian sign has been seen 
near the Ohio river. 

**It is utterly impossible at this time to furnish 
anything like a company of men to assist the father 
of Mrs. Larkins in releasing her from captivity. 
The Governor directs that you say to Colonel 
.Greenup that if he can bring the aid from Kentucky 
that he thinks he can, that scouts and guides will 
be furnished them from this post and that he is 
truly sorrj" that he has not the men to furnish all 
the help needed. 

John Gibson, Sec'y. of Indiana Territory. 

By order Wm. H. Hakrison, 
Governor, Indiana Territor3\'' 



tt- 



ik' 



'Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

May 10, 1807. 
''Captain Wm. Hargrove, 

In the Indian Ranger Service. 
'Your report with enclosures have been re- 
ceived. The Governor feels very sorry that Colo- 
nel Greenup feels as he expresses himself. He 
ought to know and if reasonable would understand 
that to govern this wild territory and furnish half 
protection to the scattered settlers in this wilder- 
ness, that we have all we can do with the limited 
number of men that is at our command. It wculd 
be a very pleasing thing to aid your old soldier 
mate and recapture Mrs. Larkins and her children. 
It is but '.atural that her father should feel very 
anxious about her release but he could do nothing 
with the few men we could send him on such an ex- 
pedition. After leaving the old Indian road that 
you are on there is no settlement north and it 
would take an army to invade the country north of 
White river. You will please convey to him the 
Governor's compliments and inform him of the con- 
tents of this letter. As soon as it is possible, we 
will give him all the aid we can, but it would do 
him no good to make the attempt with a few men 
as they would all be destroyed. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 207 

'*The report of the three men on the trace 
south to the Yellow Banks is noted. There is 
most likely but little travel on that route. The 
one family which your men escorted to safety is a 
sufficient answer as to the usefulness of the patrol. 
They will be continued at least until the warm 
weather is over. William H. Harrison, 

Governor of Indiana Territory.. 

By John Gibson, 

Secretary of Indiana Territory." 



Vincennes, Indiana Territory. 

May 22, 1807. 

'*Captain William Hargrove, Commanding a 
detachment of Rang^ers: 

'*EU Ernest is in with your report. Will send 
you a Cree Indian for the one you say is too lazy ta 
hunt. This Indian has been here for a long: time 
and has the reputation of being: a g^reat hunter. 
He can keep your Rangers in meat. I have had an 
interview with him and he is delighted with the 
prospect of going as a scout. Ernest is acquainted 
with him and can make him understand what is to 
be done. Ernest said that he saw a number of In- 
dians in bathing on the south bank of the White 
river and a number of them were fishing. They 
did not see him. As they were near here a platoon 
of cavalry has been sent with, several scouts to 
look after them. These troops before they return 
may report to you and will inform you what these 
Indians were up to. There are always some con- 
trary people in all walks of life who are hard to 
manage. The ones you report are not all who 
have been troublesome. There is no deviating 
from the rule. Anyone who refuses to stay in the 
fort when ordered, arrest them and send them to 
this post, under guard. When the Gov^ernment 
does all that it can to protect its people the)' must 
and shall obey the rules. This territory is under 
no law that can force obedience but the Military 
and all of its subjects must obey the governing 
rule or be sent out of it. 

By the order of the Governor. 

By John Gibson, 

Secretary of Indiana Territory. 



208 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



44- 



4 • 



Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

June 7, 1807. 
Captain Wm. Hargrove, In the Ranger Service. 
The requisition for provision has been filled 
and forwarded under escort. One of our scouts re- 
ports that Indians were seen passing^ to the west 
on the south side of White river a little way west 
of the place where the Indian trace to Louisville 
crosses that river. Whether they are a roving^ 
band of friendly Indians or hostile ones has not 
been found out at these headquarters. There was 
a runner sent to David Robb's notifying him about 
the Indians. When you receive this you had better 
return to this end of your route and leave one-half 
of your men under your ranking non commissioned 
officer. With the rest you had better examine the 
country to the west on the south side of the river 
as far as two or three miles west of David* Robb's 
place and see if you can find the cause of these 
Indians prowling over that section. If the fort at 
White Oak Springs is too small to hold the new 
comers, have them build another block house 
near it and have them both enclosed inside the 
same stocksfde with only two gates for the two 
forts. If you can enlist of the new arrivals as 
many as twenty-five men for service at this post, 
your effort will be duly appreciated. The time of 
enlistment of quite a number of our troops expires 
next month and at least twenty-five Kentuckians 
-will not re-enlist. . 

By the Direction of Wm. H. Harrison, 

Governor of Indiana Territory. 
John Gibson, Sec'y of Indiana Territory." 



"Headquarters, Post Vincennes, 
Indiana Territory, June 20, 1807. 

"'Captain William Hargrove, Commanding a De- 
tachment of Rangers, Indiana Territory. 

*'Your report by the hand of Ranger Hogue 
shows that it is best to be determined and firm in 
dealing with our friends as well as foes. You will 
not have to arrest any more for refusing to obey 
th« orders for their own protection. Ernest can re- 
main two months longer. The service that he was 
Tvanted for was in a section where he had done 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 209 

scouting service some years ag^o. Mr. David Robb 
visited the Governor last Saturday the 13th inst. 
and remained over until Sunday. He says that 
everything is quiet in your home neighborhood. If 
you can make the exchange without weakening 
your force it would be well. Men of families are 
more liable to yearn for home than single ones. 
Do not make the exchange until the young men 
are at the post of duty. Under no circumstances 
weaken your force, as you have a ver^^ important 
district to guard. Computation for rations are 
paid for as the regular wages of the soldier, but 
not when they are in active service and living from 
supplies furnished by the hunters or by the comis- 
saries. Computation for rations is intended for 
those Vho are on detached duty and paying for 
their provision. The laws of the United States 
govern land warrants or land script and each man 
who serves the required time is entitled to it and 
can claim any land that is surveyed and not allotted 
on his warrant. You are correct when you say that 
in these troublesome times that soldiers who are 
serving to protect their homes and country are 
much better troops than those who are serving 
with the hope of securing large pay. This country 
must depend on its soldiers and must pay them but 
the loyalty and patriotism of those enlisted should 
be well looked after. In giving these certificates 
whose time of enlistment is up, be sure to note on 
their discharge, the amount they have been paid 
and whether they prefer all in land or part in land 
and part in Treasury notes. 

By order of the Governor. 
John Gibson, Sec'y of Indiana Territory." 



«»^ 



'Headquarters Indiana Territory, 

Vincennes, July 6, 1807. 

* 'Captain William Hargrove, 

Commanding a Detachment of Rangers. 

**Last Saturday, th€ 4th inst. a number of 
friendly Indians were in to see the celebration of 
Independence Day. A half-breed Delaware Indian 
named * 'Swimming Otter" reported that there 
was likely to be a raid made by young Indian hunt- 



o 



210 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ers on boats loaded with people and their plunder 
coming: to this section by the* Wabash or g^oing 
down the Ohio*river. He said that the band would 
be led by an Indian who lost his father in a battle 
with a boat crew near the Red Banks (now Hen- 
derson, Ky.) The scouts thoroughly interrogated 
the Indian and he has promised to let them know 
the time they are to start and the route they will 
follow. The raiders will not get started, so the 
half-breed says, in less than ten days and that he 
will be here two or three days before they go. You 
will then be informed by a runner so that you can 
thwart their designs if they attempt to cross your 
territory. It is reported here by friendly Indians 
that a band of Miami Indians captured a boat on 
the Ohio river some forty miles below Clarksville 
and captured the crew, killing two men and carry- 
ing two women and four children into captivity. 
You can do no better than you have. Thoroughly 
patrol the three traveled ways. You could not do 
any good by roaming over the wilderness unless it 
was to make a short cut to reach a point on one of 
the other routes. The white people coming to this 
section are on the three traces or down the Ohio 
and up the Wabash river. 

For the Governor. 
By John Gibson, 

Secretary of the Indiana Territory." 



'Headquarters Post Vincennes, 
July 12th, Sunday, 1807. 

''Captain Wm. Hargrove, Indian Territory Ran- 
ger Service: 

This will be handed you by a Piankashaw In- 
dian who is thoroughly reliable. He will remain 
with you until you send your next report. The 
half-breed, Swimming Otter, came in this noon and 
reported there were twelve in the band of Indians 
hunters and they will start Tuesday night, aiming 
to cross White river above White Oak Springs 
(now Petersburg, Indiana) and go in a direction 
that will place them on the Ohio at the mouth of 
Green river. It is hard to determine where they 
will cross the old Indian road that you are on, but. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 211 

some place between the mudhole and the White 
Oak Springs fort. The people at that Fort must 
be advised. You have the authority to secure 
as man)^ men for temporary service from the White 
Oak Spring fort as they can spare. You must have 
the section all along for fifteen miles to the east 
thoroi^ghly patrolled. There will be thirty mount- 
ed men from this Post sent to the south of )'ou who 
will patrol along and near to the Patoka river with 
scouts at the different fords on that river. With 
all this vigilance I feel sure that the Indian band 
will be destroyed or turned Back. 

By the direct order of Wm. H. Harrison, 

Governor of Indiana Territory. 
John Gibson, Sec'y- of Indiana Territory. 
'*Post Script: 

**Have the scouts with the Indians on duty 
near White river send the Piankashaw Indian to a 
point near the forks of White river to report to you 
ever}' morning. He is thoroughly acquainted with 
that section. By the Governor." 

* 'Headquarters Post Vincennes, 

July 17, 1807. 
'*Captain Wm. H. Hargrove, Commanding a De- 
tachment of Rangers: 
Your report by the Piankashaw Indian is to 
hand. The service rendered by your scouts is of 
such value to the country that the nation should 
substantially reward you and your commands. The 
Piankashaw Indian is well acquainted with the 
White river for many mi^es ea^t of the fork. The 
chastisement given this band of robbers and cut- 
throats will have a good effect on them and others 
who would have followed ihem if they had been 
successful. The Indian only lea ns as it is shot 
into him. There will be no more raids from that 
direction this season but it is only safe when we 
are prepared to meet them, if they should attempt 
to come again. Say to young Hogue that the 
Governor will write him a pergonal letter compli- 
menting him for the good shot he proved to be. 

By order of Wm. H. Harrison, 
Governor of Indiana Territory. 
John Gibson, Sec'y- of Indiana Territory." 



ii- 



212 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 






Vincennes, Indiana Territory, July 23, 1807. 

Captain Wm. Hargrove, in the Ranger Service: 

Your report is to hand. The salt, meal and 
other supplies were sent by cart two days ago. 
The receipt paper I enclose to you. Also fifty 
pounds of lead, fifty pounds of powder, two hun- 
dred gun-flints, one bail of tow sent to White Oak 
Springs Fort in care of Woolsey Pride. The ten 
men you enlisted for extra service should have a 
certificate something like the following: 

** * James Blank served ten days on extra mili- 
tary duty with the Rangers under Captain William 
Hargrove, commanding, dated and signed.' 

*The rangers on the traveled way to the south 
need not make more than one trip each way every 
ten days. The danger does not exist on that route 
that did some months ago but they will patrol to 
the east, south of the* Patoka river a distance of 
forty miles as the river runs, to a trace that crosses 
that river coming north from the Yellow Banks. 
There is no regular traveled way. John Severn will 
guide them over a blind trace which runs on a line 
on which formerly there was a chain of small Indian 
towns running m^ny miles to the east. They can 
go over this route as often as once each ten days 
until further orders. Mr. Severns has been seen 
and will go as soon as yon can make the necessary 
arrangements. You will want good axemen to 
mark the traces plain by making blazes on the 
sides of the trees near the road so that it can be 
easil}' followed without a guide. 

By order of the Governor. 
John Gibson, Sec'y* of Indiana Territory.'' 



**\^A 



'Headquarters Indiana Territdi'y, 

August 13, 1807. 

Captain Wm. Hargrove, Commanding Rangers: 

Scout FuQuay with your report is here. This 
ofl&ce is well pleased to learn that everything is so 
quiet in your district. It often happens that the 
lull in Indian warfare is only temporary and that 
they are preparing to make a much larger raid at 
a point where you don't expect them. Indian war- 
fare as I have learned, after thirty years of experi- 



\ 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 213 

ence is like no other eampaignins:. Their approach 
is so sly and stealthy that you can never tell where 
or when they will come. They are the slyest and 
most treacherous enemy that any civilized troops 
ever had to contend with and the only security on 
the border is continual vigilance. The camp of 
white people that Scout FuQuay found east of the 
trace to the Yellow Bank are no doubt a part of 
the misguided people who have scattered over the 
country as fugitives. from justice that had assembled 
at an island up the Ohio river as followers of that 
arch traitor and murder, Aaron Burr. The Gov- 
ernor has closely interrogated FuQuay and this is 
his opinion. The people are guilty of no more 
wrong than that of being duped by one of the 
smartest villain in the country. They only acted 
as was dictated to them by those who held and had 
held high positions in the Government. It is 
broadly hinted that a man high in military com- 
mand in the American army was strongly tinctured 
with Burr's chimerical conspiracy that saved him- 
self from disgrace by turning a traitor to Burr. 
The thing to do is for you to have these four mis- 
guided, men with their wives and helpless children, 
prepare a fort some place where you think best in 
your military territory so that you can give them 
your protection. Your good judgment is depended 
upon to keep this matter close and so instruct the 
refugees. FuQuay has been obligated to secrecy. 
These people are no doubt worthy and will grow 
up among the other pioneers and be useful to our 
country. You will find out from them if they know 
of any other bands in hiding. This territory needs 
more people and these misguided, duped men and 
women will make as good citizens as any. Your 
requisition for provision and ammunition has been 
sent to you at White Oak Springs in care of 
Woolsey Pride who was at this Post yesterday. 

By the authority of the Governor. 
John Gibson, Sec'y* of Indiana Territory." 



44 



Vincennes, Indiana Territory, August 20, 1807. 
Captain William Hargrove, Commanding scouts 
and Rangers: 
**Your report by the Crea Indian. He was de» 



214 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

tained here to carry you this letter of instruction. 
The four young men you sent with him have en- 
listed and look like good material to make soldiers. 
The Governor is well pleased with your success in 
having the four families located in your district. 
The young men you sent were interrogated separa- 
tely. They all agree in iheir siaiemenisihal ihere 
are several other bands scattered over the territory 
some distance north of the Ohio river from ten to 
fifteen miles east of the yellow bank trace to some- 
thing like the same distance west of the same 
trace. They claim that there is one band of these 
refugees west of the Yellow Bank trace about ten 
miles. They were camped near a large creek. It 
is thought best for you to send FuQuay with two 
other men to find these people and have them locate 
in a place that they can be given protection and 
that they can aid in giving protection to others. 
Young Bailey, one of the men you sent in some 
time ago has orders to report to you to go with 
FuQua}'. He is acquainted with the people and has 
been at their camp. He says that there are six 
men, three women and five children in the band. 
Instruct FuQuay to inform the refugees that they 
must move near some of the settled sections and 
build ablock house for their protection and there 
will be no questions asked. That as soon as the 
dangerous season for Indian raids has passed, they 
can go to work preparing homes. If you can enlist 
the men without families, do so. If you don't need 
them send them to his Post. If these people should 
refuse to settle as has been suggested, after you 
have plainly informed them it must be done, then 
you send such a number of men as will be required 
to arrest and bring them and their belongings to 
this Post. The wounded old soldier and his wife 
you can put in charge of one of your stockade 
camps. The man to look well for Indians that may 
be prowling around, the woman to oversee the cul- 
inary affairs of the camp. 

*'John Severns was here toda}^ and had an in- 
terview with the Governor about opening a trace 
from the one that runs south from 3 our neighbor- 
hood to the Red Banks, to commence fifteen miles 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 215 

north of the Ohio river on that trace, running 
thence east parallel with the riv^er from forty to 
lift}* miles. If it should become necessar^^ to rein- 
force the Rangers on either of the traces running 
to the south or the main one running to the east, it 
would be almost impossible to do it as the country 
between the traces is one vast unbroken wilderness. 
Severns says that many large creeks will have to be 
crossed that empty their waters into the Ohio. 
The trace just south of the Patoka river opened 
some time ago, will be extended from the Yellow 
Banks trace, thirty or forty miles east. You ha'd 
better have the same men go over this route as 
soon as Severns is through with the new survey 
farther south. Mr. Severns says that in going 
near the Patoka river many abrupt banks and deep 
gorges are met with. Inform him that it is not 
necessary to make a straight line but to so blaze 
and mark it that it can be easily traced. It is not 
intended for wheeled vehicles or sleds to pass over 
but for foot soldiers mostly. The logs need not 
be moved out the brush had better be cut seven or 
eight feet wide. 

By order of the Governor. 
John Gibson, Sec'y- of Indiana Territory." 



' Vincennes, Indiana Territory. 

September 1, 1807. 

"William Hargrove, Commanding first division 
of Rangers, east of the Wabash river: 

"There has been a trace cut from the Clarks- 
vill^ and Vincennes road that leaves that route at 
a point about forty miles east of the Mudhole and 
running to the south, coming to the Ohio river at 
the west end of a large bend at>out three miles 
west of the mouth of Blue river. There is a 
traveled way that comes to the south bank of the 
' Ohio opposite this point that runs to the south and 
far into Kentucky and people coming to this and 
other sections of Indiana Territory are crossing the 
river at that point and following Blue river to the 
old Indian road before mentioned. The two traces 
to the east which are now being opened should go 
into this Blue river trace. You are instructed to 



216 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

have a patrol of three men go over the new route 
nearest the Ohio river to the east as often as once, 
both ways, each week. Also a patrol of two men» 
one scout, to go over the trace to the east just 
south of the Patoka river as often as both ways 
once each week. If you do not have men enough 
and cannot enlist them, they will be furnished from 
this Post. It will be the best to send men who 
have seen service over these new routes and keep 
the newly enlisted men with you. 

By order Wm. H. Harrison, 

Gov. Indiana Territory* 
John Gibson, Sec'y." 



**i 



Headquarters Indiana Territory. 

Vincennes, Sept. 12, 1807^ 

* 'Captain Wm. Hargrove, Commanding Rangers, 
east of the Wabash river: 

**There has long been an old traveled way fro;n 
this Post that crosses the White river near David 
Robb's place and the Patoka river at JohnSevem$', 
thence in a southwest direction to the Wabash river 
neaf the point where the Little Wabash empties 
into the main river, thence across the main Wabash 
at that place which can only be crossed by canoes 
or check boats. This route is known by some as 
the Salt Route. Salt has become so scarce and 
high priced that a number of settlers south of 
White river have petitioned the Governor for aa 
escort of soldiers to protect them whilst on the trail 
and at the salt works west of the Wabash river. 
This petition has been under consideration for sev- 
eral days. The Governor sent for Mr. Robb about 
thid matter and it has been arranged that a meet- 
ing with the petitioners and other citizens would 
be held at Mr. Kimbles who lives on the site of the 
old Delaware Indian town eignteen or twenty miles 
southwest of Mr. Severns', on Thursday the seven- 
teenth day of September, 1807. You will tempor- 
orarily place your command in the hands of your 
Ranking Sergeant and attend that meeting, taking 
two men and one scout with you. After due de- 
liberation and consultation with the people present^ 
if you think it best you can place two men on duty 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 217 

on the trail west of the river but their main camp 
must be on the east side of the Wabash when there 
are no parties to guard at the salt works. The 
scouts will remain with the two soldiers doing reg- 
ular scouting duties. Instruct him to go for miles 
on every side of the salt works and learn the lay of 
the country and at night to be near the works or 
with the soldiers at their camp east of the river. 
The salt makers are to be instructed to have cer- 
tain days to make salt and that they must go to 
the works in a body of not less than fifteen men, 
one-half of that number to be at all time ready for 
military duly, subject to the orders of the Sergeant 
which you place in command, to protect the others^ 
while the work is in progress. That from this re- 
lief the camp guards must be furnished day and 
night. The two soldiers are to remain on duty as 
long as you shall think it will be necessary to have 
a guard. After the first of December there is but 
little danger of Indian raids. This side of the 
Wabash is considered sufficiently safe for so large 
a number of cautious men to travel at any time. 
After the meeting you will send a report of the 
proceeding to this office. 

By directions of the Governor. 
John Gibson, Sec'y* of Indiana Territory." 



Post Vincennes, Sept. 27, 1807. 
''Captain William Hargrove, Ranger Service: 

"Your report of the 19th inst. by your hunter, 
the Cree Indian, came in two days ago. He was 
retained to carry messages to parties on the old 
Salt trace. That information was wanted from us 
before this was sent so you. David Robb, John 
Severns, Sr. and Isaac Montgomery were here last 
night. The matter of a guard at the salt works 
was gone over carefully. They all agree with your 
report that there is no need of guards on the east 
side of the Wabash and if it were not for a lot of 
foolhardy, careless people who would insist on go- 
ing there in small parties, there would be no need 
of guards on the west side of the rivei. The two 
men and the scout which you have there will re- 
main on duty. The most probable trouble, if any 
comes, will be from south of the Ohio river. You 



/ 



218 PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 

can have your scout informed of this and have him 
keep a close lookout in that direction. Youngf 
Bailey returned several days agfo with your report 
about the refugfees. Retain the three youngf men 
which you enlisted if you need them. If the three 
families will come to a point within two miles of 
the Yellow Banks road it will do. If they prefer, 
they can move on to the new road that is being 
located to the east not far from where they are now 
camped. It is thougfht best for you to have Bailey 
look after this matter. These people must be near 
one of these routes and must prepare themselves a 
strong blockhouse with a stockade around it. 

By order W. H. Harrisonn. 
Gov. of Indiana Territory. 
John Gibsox, Secretary." 



**Headquarters, Indiana Territory, 
Vincennes, Sunday, October 4, 1807. 

Captain Wm. Hargrove, in command t)f Rangers: 
The Governor wishes to assure 3'ou of his ap- 
preciation of your successful work in gathering so 
many of the unfortunate refugees at points near 
the Yellow Banks and other traces and the large 
colon}' which you h^ve gathered on the new trace 
crossing the Yellow Banks road. This is a very 
desirable place to have a strong fort. In making 
the building be sure that it is strongly put to- 
gether, made out of large logs and that a stockade 
ten feet high be built that will enclose one acre of 
ground. In this enclosure can be erected a number 
of strong buildings that will safely protect fifty 
people. This will be a rallying point for all who 
may come later to that section. The times are very 
unsettled. The Indians are continually grumbling 
because the white people are in this country and 
threatening that unless their lands are restored they 
will drive them back across the Ohio river. North 
of the White river they could easily concentrate in 
such numbers that should they find our people un- 
prepared could overrun the most of your territory. 
It is hard to tell anything about what an Indian 
will do when he has the advantage. They are the 
most treacherous, cunning rascals on earth and the 



PIONEEk HISORY OF INDIANA. 219 

most brutal as well. The only safe way is to keep 
the advantage on our side and put the Indians on 
the defense. When they know that your position 
makes one white man equal to ten Indians there is 
no danger of an attack. The two men coming into 
your lines east of the Mud-hole have certainly re- 
pented of all the wrong which they have done by 
following after Traitor Burr. It is. best for you to 
see all these people who are connected with that 
unfortunate affair and instruct them under no cir- 
cumstances to let any one know that they were in 
the Burr conspiracy. If they do in after years they 
will be accused of being traitors by people not half 
so worthy as they are. 

By William H. Harrison, 

Governor of Indiana Territory. 

Per John Gibson, Secretary. 



Headquarters, Indiana Territory, 

Vincennes, Oct. 12, 1807. 

William Hargrove, 

Captain Commanding in Ranger Service: 
Your report and the man )^ou-sent in under 
guard, are here. You did the right thing in ar- 
resting this man. All such suspicious cases as 
this should be investigated. What this man is has 
not yet been found out and it is doubtful if it ever 
is. If this country were at war with a white race 
it would evidently be determined that he was a spy 
locating the military strength and positions of our 
army. It may be that he is doing that work for 
the British. He evidently is not what he claims to 
be. A prisoner for two years among the Indians 
would not have such clean underwear beneath his 
buckskin suit. Then his hair has been recently 
<:ut by a barber. He will be retained for the pres- 
ent. This is Sunday and the cart drivers are all 
at a gathering down the river somewa)'. Will for- 
^ward the supplies tomorrow. 

By order of the Governor. 

John Gibson, Sect, of Indiana Territory. 



220 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Headquarters, Indiana Territory, 

Sunday, Oct. 18, 1807.. 

Captain William Hargrove, 

Commanding Rangers: • 

Your report by FuQuay is received. The flints 
were of a new lot. Since your statement has come 
they have been examined and found to be of shelly 
material and are of no value. Others will be sent 
you as soon as possible. Have your men save the 
old ones until the others come. 

The statement of the Delaware Indian that he 
has seen the prisoner whom we are holding as a 
spy at Clarksville, two moons ago, is noted. 

The old trace that runs near the Ohio river 
crossing the Wabash and on the saline regions of 
the Illinois has been a regular pass way for Indians 
from time when none know. The Shawiiees under 
chief Setteedown have, as you know, a straggling 
settlement along this trail and extending to about 
ten miles oflF the Yellow Banks trace that you pa-- 
trolled. Our scouts from this place have often 
been over the route and visited some white people - 
located on the north bank of the Ohio. Major John 
Sprinkles, who lives on the north bank some six miles- 
up the river from the mouth of Green river was to 
see the Governor yesterday and informed him that 
detached bands of Indians had been passing east for 
eight or ten days and appeared to be carrying their* 
luggage with them. Bailey Anderson, who lives, 
in the neighborhood of a few of the Shawnee wig- 
wams, informed Mr. Sprinkles that some of these- 
visiting Indians were preparing a camp not more 
than one mile from his cabin. This may be nothing 
but hunting parties from over the Wabash. Any 
unusual gathering of Indians on the Ohio river at 
this time of the year is looked on with suspicion. 
They may intend to remain during the winter and 
if a chance comes, attempt to capture boats and 
movers descending the river as soon as the water is 
in sufficient stage. You will temporarily leave 
your command in charge of Sergeant Hogue, tak- 
ing two reliable men with you and at your settle- 
ment secure mounts for your parties. Then go- 
south along the Red Banks route and up to Major 
Sprinkles' cabin, who is aware of your coming.. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 221 

Bailey Anderson will fall in with your party as 
you go east from the Major's. You are to make an 
official visit to chief Setteedown. Bailey Anderson 
understands their language and will act as inter- 
preter. Before leaving the old Chief invite him to 
bring, some of his young men and visit Grovernor 
Harrison at this Post. Have him set the day as 
early as he will. You will then proceed east on the 
trace until you come to where it crosses the road 
running to the north that comes to the Ohio river 
just west of the mouth of Blue river. Thoroughly 
familiarize yourself with the route. In returning, 
note well the topography of the country. Return 
the two men to their station and you report in per- 
vson to this post. 

By the direction of Wm. H. Harrison, 

Governor of Indiana Territory. 
John Gibson, Secretary." 



(ii 



i( 



V'incennes, Indiana Territory. 

October 20, 1807. 
Captain William Hargrove, Commanding the 

Western Division of Rangers east of the 

Wabash river: 
**Last Sunday night the 18th inst. two of our 
scouts returning from a long trip found themselves 
at White Oak Spring fort a little after seven o'clock 
in the evening. On going to the gate asked per- 
mission to stay over night in the stockade, which 
was denied them. They were informed that when 
the gates were closed for the night that they would 
not be opened for anyone. The scouts showed 
their passes signed by Governor Harrison, yet thej^ 
were refused admittance saying that Governor Har- 
rison nor any of his men could get in after night. 
The Governor directs that you investigate this 
matter. Scout Ell Ernest, the bearer of this order, 
will be permitted to be present while the investi- 
gation is being made as he was one of the scouts 
who was refused permission to stay in the stockade. 
Go fully into the details. The Military authorities 
are doing everything possible with the few men at 
their command to protect the settlers who are scat- 
tered on the southern borders of this Territory and 
cheerfully do this hard service, imperilling the 



222 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

lives of the best men of the country, trying to give 
protection to those who are exposed to danger; but 
when it comes to such actions as is above related 
of men who were being guarded, insulting and deny- 
ing the common courtesies to those guarding them 
that is so fully extended by all decent pioneer set- 
tlers to all who come to their cabins. Some par- 
ties at that fort are guilty of indignities that will 
not be silently passed over. Find, if you can if the 
owner of that fort was at home that night. Secure 
the names of the men who were there and if pos- 
sible the one who was spokesman. When you have 
made this investigation send the report to this 
office by Ell Ernest. 

Ordered by W. H. Harrison, 
Governor of Indiana Territory. 
By John Gibson, Sec'y. of I. T." 



**Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

Oct. 23, 1807. 
''Captain Wm. Hargrove: 

'*The Governor directs me to send his compli- 
ments and inform you that he appreciates the 
prompt and thorough manner in which you made 
the investigation wanted. Woolsey Pride is here 
and is fully exonerated and commended for so 
summarily punishing the parties who were guilty 
of the petty meanness. 

"Your obedient servant, 

John Gibson, Sec'y of I. T." 



'Headquarters, Indiana Territory, 

October 28, 1807. 
"Wm. Hargrove. Captain Commanding Rangers: 

**Chief Settedown and his young men have re- 
turned to their homes. He assured the Governor 
that the Indians gathering in his neigborhood 
were very peaeably inclined toward the white peo- 
ple and gave as a reason for their being there that 
game was more plentiful than across the Wabash 
and that they intended to stay only a short while. 
In answering the inquiry why he did not want to 
keep all the game for himself and people, said^ 
that there was much more than he wanted. Finally 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 223^ 

said that in less than one moon they would all go 
back over the Wabash. It is hoped that this will 
be true, but the only security with the Indians is 
to be always prepared and watch them. FuQuay 
is better acquainted with that section than any one 
else we have in the service. He and Ben Page 
have orders to report to you at your east stockade 
camp, on the Clarksville trace and will hand you 
this letter. It is thought best for 3^ou to go with 
the two scouts to the Yellow Banks and have them 
make such disposition of their time during the next 
thirty days as will secure the best information of 
the movements of the strange Indians. This sug- 
gestion is made for your consideration in this mat- 
ter. You are on the ground and will understand 
the situation better than can be understood at this 
distance. The two scouts have each a new ax be- 
sides their rifles and ammunition. This is the 
equipment that most of the newcomers biing to the 
Territory. Have them go into the section a few 
miles east of Bailey Anderson's and build a small 
cabin and put in their time hunting and roving 
over as large a territory around their cabin as they 
can. In doing this they will have a pretty good 
idea of what the Indians are doing around them^ 
If there is any design other than friendship by the 
newcomers, the Shawneesknow it. Of all this you 
are in the best position to find out the truth. The 
two scouts will send or bring you a report as often 
as you think best to require it. You are safe in 
giving FuQuay your confidence as he is one of the 
most trusted men that is in the employ of these 
head-quarters. 

By order of the (Governor. 
John Gibson, Secretary of Indiana Territory. '" 



44 



Post Vincennes, November 4, 1807. 
Captain Wm. Hargrove, Commanding a Detach^ 
ment of Rangers: 
"The location for the refugees is^no doubt a 
good one. Plenty of water is very desirable. The 
Governor is favorable to your suggestion. It cer- 
tainly would be to the advantage of the new 
emigrants for them to prepare a little cabin inside 
of the stockades and to remain in it during the 



224 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

winter. If they prefer to go to some other place 
in the spring they can do so. The advantage of 
being with a number of people during the cold 
season in hunting and the social advantages is 
recompense enough for all the trouble tbey would 
be at to erect the little cabin. 

"Your opinion of FuQuay is correct. He has 
been closely indentified with the work in this part 
of the Territory since 1801. The Governor would 
gladly comply with your request but his services as 
scout is of such importance that it is not thought 
best to take him out of that position. Sergeant 
Hogue would fill the place you wanted FuQuay for 
with a little training. 

*'The supposed spy has been sent to Fort Wash- 
ington with a statement of the evidence and the 
affidavit against him. There will be no further 
need of hunting evidence in that case. Without a 
doubt he is a spy for the British and will be held 
as such for an indefinite time unless direct evidence 
of his guilt should be secured. Then he will be 
summarily dealt with. 

'*You now have four roads or traces running to 
the east that can be easily found and traveled over, 
dividing your territory into sections between the 
Ohio and White rivers. Also you hav6 four roads 
or traces running north and south dividing yo\iT 
territory in that direction from near the Wabash on 
the west to Blue river on the east, thus enabling 
you to give much better protection to settlers now 
there and to the emigrants coming into your ter- 
ritory. This condition makes that section of this 
territory very desirable for settlers. The most im- 
portant thing that you can do is to see that the 
blockhouses are so located that they will be acces- 
sible to those in the surrounding country if danger 
should come. There is no certainty that we will 
have a continuation of the quiet that now exists. 
The English on the north are doing all that they 
can to cause trouble between the Indians and the 
pioneers, using the treaties which have been made 
as a pretext, claiming that it was f raudently ob- 
tained. 

'*It is thought best that )^ou make a personal 
inspection of all the blockhouses that are now built 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 225 

an4 the several that are being constructed at the 
different stations in your territory and see that 
the)' are securely built and good, strong, durable 
stockades surrounding them that will have suffi- 
cient room for the construction of from six to ten 
small cabins. Some one who is most competent in 
€ach fort must be-placed in command and it must 
be understood that he is to be obeyed by all of 
those who will use that fort as a place of refuge. 

'*Have them select by lot the man they want, 
but advisfe those interested that the most efficient 
men they have should be chosen. You will make 
a careful inspection of their artns and ammunition 
and should you find them deficient in eiiher you 
can make a requisition on the ordinance office at 
this place through these head-quariers for the 
needed supplies. That needed for ihe eastern forts 
will be forwarded to you ai White Oak Springs 
fort. That for the western division will be sent to 
David Robb's fort. You will have the proper par- 
ties meet you at a stated period at these places and 
give out the guns and ammunition to them taking 
.their receipts for the same. This will simplify the 
work and as soon as you can have a sufficient num- 
ber of forts so that they will be reasonably accessi- 
ble in all the Territory, which you command, the 
need of the Rangers continually marching over the 
traces will be done away with. Carefully read this 
letter of suggestions and when you send in your 
next report any suggestions you may have to make 
will receive careful consideration. 

By direction of W. H. Harrison. 

Gov. of Indiana Territory. 
John Gibson, Secretary." 



*'Vincennes, Indiana Territory. 

November 12,' 1807. 
^'Capt. Wm. Hargrove, Commanding first division 
of Rangers, east of the Wabash river: 

*'Your report enclosing a letter from PuQuay. 
The contents of that letter were fully considered 
by the Governor. That there would be some ex- 
cuse made for the Indians to remain during the 
winter months has been suspect. The fact that 
they are building such secure tepees warrants that 



226 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

suspicion, but their attempt to be adopted into the 
tribe of the Shawnees was unlooked for. The 
Governor directs that you have a vigilant watch 
kept on their actions until about the 26th inst. the 
time Chief Setteedown set for their return will 
then be up. Better have Bailey Anderson inter- 
view the old Chief and in theif talk remind him of 
his promise to the Governor that they would be 
gone in one moon. PuQuay and Anderson it seems 
found out that the Illinois Indians on the visit are 
Kickapoos and that they have one of their sub- 
chiefs in command of them. This looks suspicious. 
You can do nothing as yet, only have FuQuay and 
Ben Page keep a vigilant watch on the Indians 
and instruct them to send one of your runners, who 
you will keep near them, to you with any informa- 
tion that they may secure. If you should learn 
any new dangerous developments, send immediately 
to this head-quarters a report of it. If it should 
become necessary, one hundred men can be sent 
from this Post to any point which you may think 
best to place them. The Governor thinks it best 
to make a camp on the Yellow Banks trace at the 
point where the large fort is located (formerly cal- 
led Taylorsville, nowSelvin, Warrick county, Ind.) 
If the stockade is not as large as is needed, it can 
be enlarged and in a short time the soldiers can put 
up such barracks as will make them comfortable 
for the short time that they will likely stay. 

**The Piankashaw Indian, named Yellow Bird^ 
has just returned from a visit to Indian friends on 
the west fork of White river. He said to one of 
our friendly Indians that the Indians on White 
river were grumbling about the treaties and threat- 
ening to drive the Americans back over the Ohio* 
That there is a great unrest among the Indians is 
not doubted by those whose business it is to know 
what is going on outside of the settlements. What 
it may terminate in is uncertain. It is best for our 
people to be well on their guard and be ready in the 
event war should come. 

By order of the Grovernor. 
John Gibson, Sec'y. of Indiana Territory." 

**Post Script: The Governor directs that you 
ascertain how many able-bodied men you have in 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 227 

your district that would be able to bear arms. 
This duty can be done by some of your active 
young men. 

For the Governor. 

John Gibson, Secretary. 



((' 



Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

November 18, 1807. 

* 'Captain Wm. Hargrove, in the Ranger Service: 

"The men will be sent in two hours from the 
time your runner arrives if they wiTl be needed. If 
you think that fifty men will be sufficient, that 
number will be sent. It is best to have all that 
will be needed. 

*'At a point some miles below the mouth of 
White river, there has been some trouble between 
the settlers and the Indians who had a few wigwams 
some distance to the east of the Wabash river. 
Two Piankashaw Indians are here today. They 
say that their people were driven away across the 
Wabash river and their tepees, skins and plunder 
burned. 

"It is directed that you go and investigate 
this matter and see what can be done about ob- 
taining a satisfactory adjustment with the Indians. 
Everything has been done here to allay the ill feel- 
irgs of ihe two Indians. The Governor ordered 
some tents, blankets and kettles to be sent to those 
who lost their property. If you can find out who 
the whi.e people were you will remi .d them that 
such conduct as this must not occur again. This 
Territoi*y is in i o shape for a race war with the 
Indians, which they would be only too glad for an 
excuse to engage in. It might be best that you 
take David Robb and some other of your best in- 
formed citizens with you when you make the in- 
vesiigation. The Indians who were driven away 
are with another band of Piankashaw Indians. west 
of the Wabash several miles below the mouth of 
the White river. 

By order of Wm. Henry Harrison, 

Governor of Indiana Territory. 
John Gibson, Secretary." 



228 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



(i- 



Headquarters Indiana Territory, 

Vincennes, Nov. 23, 1807. 

Captain Hargrove, Commanding Rangers: 

You will personally invite Bailey Anderson 
to visit these Headquarters. The Governor wishes 
to properly recognize his services in persuading old 
Chief Setteedown to force the Kickapoo Indians 
back to their homes west of the Wabash. There 
will be no further trouble in that direction. Your 
estimate of the number of men in your Territory 
able to bear arms shows a very gratifying condi- 
tion. A little more work in locating forts and 
stockades at two or three exposed places, will place 
you in good condition to repel any attack that may 
be made on the settlements. 

By order of the Governor. 

John Gibson, Secretary." 



i(' 



(( 



Vincennes, Indiana Territory. 

November 27, 1807. 

William Hargrove, Commanding the Western 
Division of Rangers east of the Wabash 
river: 

'*The Governor directs that you discharge the 
men who are on patrol duty except those who are 
on duty on the trace east of While Oak Springs 
Fort. The patrol over that route need not go over 
that trace but once in every eight days. The scout 
and the two friendly Indians will patrol the sec- 
tion of White river from the forks up t^o as far as 
twenty-five miles east of the Mudholes. There is 
more danger arising from stray bands of Indians 
attempting to come into the settlement for "the pur- 
pose of stealing horses than there is of an attack 
on the settlers, 

**In discharging the men, any whom you find 
who wish to remain in the service, you will enlist 
for regular soldiers and order them to report to 
these head-quarters with a copy of their enlistment 
papers. When you have finished this work, hav^e 
scouts, FuQuay and Page remain with you and 
with them visit every portion of your Territory and 
notify the people at the blockhouses and the set" 
tlements that they must keep a vigilant lookout. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 229 

as the Rangfers will be withdrawn. After having: 
visited all the stations, return to White Oak Springs 
and discharge all but two of the men and Sergeant 
Hogue who you will place in command with in- 
structions to carefully watch the section east of the 
Mudholes on his patrol; and for him to report by , 
the hand of one of the friendly Indians to these 
head-quarters once every two weeks. When you 
have finished this work you will report to this Post, 
bringing FuQuay and Ben Page with you. 

By order of the Governor. 
John Gibson, Sec'y. of Indiana Territory." 



The Burning of an Indian Town Near Owensville. 

The last village inhabited by the Indians in the south- 
western part of Gibson county was located in the northeast 
corner of section 9, township 3, range 12 and in section 4, 
•township 3, range 12, two miles west of Owensville. 

It was a straggling village extending westward from the 
northeast corner of section 9, for about a mile, composed of 
wigwams and built along the springs coming out of the foot 
of the sand hills. 

The Indians were driven away late in the summer or 
early in the fall of 1807, and the wigwams burned all except 
a few which were still there in 1809. The village was de- 
stroyed by Captain Jacob Warrick and others. If there was 
any fighting done or Indians killed it was never known except 
by those engaged in it. There were very good reasons for 
their silence as the Government did not allow such acts when 
at peace with the Indians. 

Captain Warrick settled on the northwest quarter of sec- 
tion 11, east of the village. Purty Old Tom Montgomery, 
Capt. Warrick's father-in-law, settled on the southwest quar- 
ter of section 12, Robert Anderson and sons settled northeast 
of Owensville and others living in the vicinity of Owensville 
ten years before the town was laid out. The men who assist- 
ed Captain Warrick in driving the Indians away and destroy- 
ing their town were men who had settled west and southwest 
of Anderson's creek, now Marsh creek, in the neighborhood 



230 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA, 

of Owensville and probabl}* others from the neigfhborhood of 
Princeton, seven years before Princeton was laid oat. The 
village belonged to the Piankashaws, and the Indians who 
got away crossed the Wabash river in to southern Illinois, 
which was flien Indiana Territor}'. 

The destruction of the village made the Indians hostile 
and it came near bringing on war and no doubt would had it 
not been for the second raid across the Wabash river. 

After the destruction of the village, the settlers found 
the Indians were coming back and prowling around in the 
neighborhood of nights. They also found that ihey were go- 
ing back along the old Indian trace from the bluff to the 
island their crossing. 

The settlers becoming very uneasy for fear they would 
be attacked and massacred, hastily organized a company 
about the 1st of October, 1807 all well mounted and armed. 
They took the old Indian trace early one morning for Coffee" 
Island ford on ihe Wabash river. They rode across the ford 
to the west bank of the river and there held a council and laid 
plans for advancing. Captain Warrick was to follow the In- 
dian trace and the others to deploy on each side of him within 
hearing distance. The old Indian fighters were placed on 
the extreme right and left flanks. Robert Anderson and his 
son, Watt, were on the right and Purty Old Tom Mont- 
gomery was on the left of the line and the younger men were 
between Montgomery and Warrick and Anderson and Warrick. 
The orders were for Warrick to ride down the trace slowly 
and cautiously. Young Sam Anderson with Warrick was 
carrying a large cow's horn instead of a bugle. The signal 
to retreat if too man}- Indians were found, was to be two long 
blasts on the horn and a shot from a rifle. The objective 
point was the Piankashaw Indian village located on a small 
stream running in a westerly direction into Bumpas. 

They followed the trace to the east end of a small prairie. 
Captain Warrick and others rode into the edge of the prairie 
and discovered fifty or sixty Indian warriors advancing east 
to meet them but out of reach of their guns. They rode 
back into the timber. Captain Warrick ordered Anderson to 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 231 

^ive the retreat sigfnal on the horn, and thej^ retreated to the 
ford as rapidly as possible, all reaching: there about the same 
time except Purty Old Tom Montg^omery. Captain Warrick 
ordered them to cross the ford in haste but four or five old 
Indian fighters, — Old Bob Anderson, his son. Watt, and a 
few others stayed with Warrick to wait for Montgomery. 
They waited long as they dared and then crossed the river to 
the rest of the company. They hadn't been across long when 
twenty-five or thirty Indians came upon the other side of the 
river, then Bob Anderson said to Captain Warrick— * 'Tom's 
gone this time," but he was wrong; a man who had fought 
Indians over half of old Virgina, all of Kentucky and south- 
ern Indiana could not be captured by Piankashaw Indians. 
In advancing Montgomery had got too far to the left and 
away in advance of the line. When he heard the signal to 
retreat he turned his horse and rode into the south edge of 
the prairie when he saw that the Indians were going into the 
forest from the east end of the prairie and that he was cut off 
from the others. He rode back into the timber and rode for 
the river as fast as his horse would carry him. When he 
reached the river he swam his horse to the Indiana side and 
rode up on the bank where he could see over the brush at the 
point where he crossed the river, knowing the Indians would 
come on the trail of his horse. 

Eight or ten Indians had followed him to the«edge of the 
water, and he shot at them across the river. When the com- 
pany at the Island heard the shot, old Robert Anderson said 
— *'Boys, that's Tom's gun" and they answered him from the 
Island. They did not have to wait long until Purty^Old Tom 
came riding up to the company as unconcernedly as if he had 
been on a deer hunt. 

The little creek that the Piankashaw village was on, 
drained a low, wet prairie, that since that time was named 
Village creek and the prairie named Compton Prairie. 

The Montgomery referred to in this story was the first 
•of the family to locate in southwestern Indiana. From him 
has decended the large influential family of Montgomerys 
.and their descendants in southwestern Indiana and Illinois. 



232 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

DivisoN OF Indiana Territory. 

There was a strong party in the Indiana Territory dur- 
ing: the period from 1806, '07 and '08 that was continually 
petitioning: Cong^ress for a division of the Territory. The 
reason mostly assigned were the vast extent of the Territory 
and the small population that was in any portion of it, except 
that bordering: on the Wabash, Mississippi, and Ohio rivers. 
The Illinois country at that time only had settlements border- 
ing: on the Mississippi river and very distant from the head- 
quarters of the Territory. It was almost impossible at cer- 
tain seasons of the year to reach these remote sections and at 
all times dang:erous from the attacks of the Indians. The 
subject was disposed of by Cong:ress on the 3d of February, 
1809. The said act declared that after the 1st day of March, 
1809, all that part of Indiana Territory lying- west of the Wa- 
bash river in a direct line drawn from the said Wabash river 
and Post Vincennes, due north, to the territorial line between 
the United States and Canada, should constitute a separate 
Territory and be called Illinois. This reduced Indiana to its 
present limits. 

The Territorial Legislature of 1808 elected their Speaker 
of the House of Representatives, Jesse B. Thomas to the 
office of delegate in Congress in place of Benjamin Park, 
who was appointed to the Supreme Bench in the Territorial 
Court. 

There was mucn difficulty about the organization of the 
first legislature after the division of Indiana Territory. In 
1809 a petition for the General Assembly of the Territory was 
laid before Congress. This petition contained the state- 
ment — '*In the year 1805 there was a legislature organized 
under a law dividing the Territory northwest of the River 
Ohio; that on the 26th day of October, 1808, the Governor 
dissolved the said legislature. On the 3d day of February, 
1809, the law of Congress passed dividing the Indiana Ter- 
ritory and on the 4th of April, 1809, the Gk)vernor of this 
Territory issued his proclamation for the election of the ad- 
ditional members of the House of Repiesentatives. Also on 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 233 

the 27th of February, 1809, the law passed extending the 
right of suffrage to the citizens of Indiana, declaring how 
the legislature shall be formed. After the passage of said 
law the General Assembly should apportion the members of 
the House of Representatives to consist of not less than nine 
nor more than twelve. This law was predicated on the prin- 
nciple that there was a legislature at the time of its passage 
or that the legislature might convene by the authority of the 
Governor, but the truth was, the old legislature was dissolved 
by the Governor, as before stated and at the division of the 
Territory lessened the number of members by three in the 
House of Representatives and two in the couucil. The fact 
was, there was no legislature in existence. The principal 
thing that existed in the minds of the petitioners were how 
the old legislature could be brought into life so that it could 
organize a new legislature, in accordance with the acts of 
Congress. On the firs't Monday in April, 1809, the Governor, 
by proclamation, directed that an election be held for mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives. At this election there 
were four members elected; two from Knox county, one from 
Dearborn and one from Clark. Oh the 4th of April, 1809, 
(six days before the above laws of Congress arrived here) 
the Grovernor issued a proclamation for election to be held on 
the 22d of May, for five councilmen and four more represen- 
tatives; one for Knox county, one for Dearbonr, one for Clark 
and one for Harrison. 

"Notwithstanding the uncertainty of the proceedings, the 
governor issued a proclamation convening the Legislative 
Council above elected and the members of the E[ouse of Rep- 
resentatives to meet on the Ihth of June, 1809. The repre- 
sentatives of the Legislative Council convened and the Leg- 
islature, doubting the legality of its actions, agreed to post- 
pone any action of a Legislative capacity, except apportion- 
ing one other member to make up the nine, agreeable to the 
act of Congress, extending the right of suffrage to the cit- 
izens of this Territory." 

On the 21st of October, 1809, at the request of the two 
Houses, the Legislature was dissolved by Governor Harrison. 



234 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

The members of the Legislative Council thus disolved were 
Solomon Man waring:, of Dearborn count}-; Thomas Down, of 
Clark count)'; Harvey Heath, of Harrison county; William 
Prince and Luke Decker, of Knox count)'. The members of 
the House of Representatives were Richard Rue, Ephriam 
Overman, Dearborn county, James Beggs and John Work, 
of Clark county; Moses Hoggit, of Harrison county; General 
W. Johnson, John Johnson and John Hadden, of Knox 
county. 

On the 22d of May, 1809, an election for delegates to Con- 
:gress was held in the Territory of Indiana. At this time the 
only counties were Knox, Dearborn, Clark and Harrison. At 
this election Johnathan Jennings received four hundred and . 
twenty-eigfht votes; Thomas Randolph received four hundred 
and two votes; John Johnson received eig:hty-one votes; Jen- 
nings received a pluraity and was declared elected. 

During the year of 1810 a great many settlers came into 
the Territory. Tne militia throughout the Territory was 
organized, properly officered and thoroughly drilled. On ac- 
count of the conunued disturbance raised by Tecumseh and 
the Prophet and a large band of discontented Indians they 
had gathered about them, it was feared there would be an 
ou I break as it was continually asserted by Indians, who were 
known to be in constant communication with the British, 
that the Americans would be driven south of the Ohio river; 
Wi inamac, a Pottawattamie chief, told two of Harrison's 
friendly Indians, that in less than twenty tnoons there would 
be no Long Knives this side of the great River Ohio and that 
they intended to maintain that line as a division between the 
two races or leave their bodies on the northern shore. 

The land ofi&ces, by an act of Congress in 1804 were 
opened for the sale of lands in Indiana Territory at Detroit, 
Vincennes, Kaskaskia and in 1807 there was a land office 
opened at Jeffersonville. The one at Vincennes did more 
business than the one at Jeffersonville, for several years. 
The land situated in Clark's grant was located and set off by 
a commission appointed for that purpose. In this country 
Ihere was but little money, as most of the emigrants coming 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 235 

here had passed through the scourg^e of the Revolution and 
the only means of g-etting: money at that time was by hunt- 
ing and trapping. Venison hams, and the skins of far bear- 
ing animals were all that the early settlers of this country 
could realize monej" for and those at verj' low prices. It was 
considered a good price if one got twenty-five cents a pair for 
venison hams, and fifteen to twenty cents for large deer skin; 
coon skins fifteen and twenty cents and other skins at about 
the same proportion Notwithstanding the difficulty of secur- 
ing money at these low prices, many thousands of acres of 
the rich lands of Indiana were purchased by the money se- 
cured in this way. 

These early settlers had made but few improvements as 
they had but little time for any work outside of the chase. 
On this, their very existence depended. The small fields 
that were planted in corn were very hard to protect from the 
depredations of the wild animals so numerous in the country 
at that time. When the corn was in the milk, there was 
nothing except honey that the bears so dearly loved, and it 
has been known that ten acres of corn were ruined in a ver}^ 
few nights by a number of bears congregating there and rid- 
ing the corn down to secure the milk from the ears. The coons 
were another great cause of destruction of corn. Squirrels 
were as plentiful then as birds and when the corn was suitable 
for /'roasting ears" the squirrels would destroy acres of it. 
Many kinds of birds in that day were very destructive to 
corn fields and it was impossible to raise hogs as the bears 
and panthers would destroy ihem. 

At the time that Harrison was having so much trouble 
to keep the Indians in subjection and planning for the defense 
of the territory, there were those who were continually find- 
ing fault with his administration, claiming that his persist- 
ency in securing land concessions was the cause of the Ind- 
ians' continual grumbling and threatening to drive the Amer- 
icans away. This was, as it always has been, the outgrowth 
of political venom and envy. No doubt the continued loud 
mouthing of the disgruntled aspirants was understood by the 
Indians who had spies, pretended friendly Indians, all the 



236 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

time at Post Vincennes. A chief, Waytheah or Longr Shark, 
said to Captain Wilson at one time when he was among: the 
Shawnees, that the Indians did not need to fight the Amer- 
icans; if let alone they (the Americans) would fight and de- 
stroy each other; that Governor Harrison was more deter- 
minedly hated by half of his own people than he was by the 
Indians. With this continual opposition from his own peo- 
ple and the threatening attitude of Tecumseh and the Proph- 
et, Harrison was perplexed how best to manage to steer clear 
of the political caldron at home and keep the Indians in sub- 
jection. 

Fortunately the Cmigress of the United States made no- 
mistake when it elected William Henry Harriscm Governor 
and Commander-in-Chief of Indiana Territory, for he was 
wise, patient, and far-seeing and had good grit all the way 
through. When it^ became evident that the Indians on the 
Wabash had to be chastised, he soon put himself in position, 
to be thoroughly prepared for the fray. He selected some of 
the most outspoken of those who so bitterly opposed him as 
members of his staff and gave them important positions re- 
quiring skill and accomplishment; he even surrounded his 
person with two of the most bitter ones as his personal aids 
and in this way stopped their mutterings and made them 
efficient and loyal supporters of the government. One of 
these men was mortally wounded in the battle of Tippecanoe 
and breathed his last in Harrison's arms. 



CHAPTER X, 



'The Battle of Tippecanoe — Importance of the Victory 
Cause of Battle — The Principal Contestants — 
Negotiations For Peace — Collecting Army at Vin- 
CENNES^ Movement OF Army From Vincennes — Fort 
Harrison Established — Advance on Prophet's Town 
— Encampmei^t — The Battle — Governor Harrison's 
Report of the Battle-- Incidents of the Battle — 
Resolutions Adopted by Territorial Legislature — 
Roll of the Army That Fought at Tippecanoe. 



In this chapter commences a history of the trouble be- 
tween Harrison and the two great Indian leaders, Tecumseh 
and the Prophet. 

There has been so much recrimination and controversy 
about the battle of Tippecanoe, the action of General Harri- 
son in that battle and so many statements of political oppon- 
ents that were at variance with the.truth that it is thought 
best as an introduction to this chapter to give a full explana- 
tion of the cause of that battle being fought on the morning 
of the 7th of November, when the evening before the Indian 
Chiefs had so solemnly arranged for a treaty of peace to be 
held on the morning the battle was fought. After this a 
short sketch of the birth and nativity of Harrison and the 
two Indian chiefs will be given. 

The battle of Tippecanoe was the only battle fought on 
Indiana soil in which the militia of Indiana in any great 
number took part and thej^ acquitted themselves so creditably 
in that engagement that it is a great pleasure to note their 
heroism. 



238 PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 

It is not too much to say with only the fringe of settle- 
ments that was on the southern borders of Indiana in 1811, 
that had General Harrison been defeated at that battle, most 
terrible and distressing results would have followed. The 
Indians who had been held in subjection and who were ap- 
parently friendly would nearly all have joined Tecumseh and 
the Prophet's confederation and turned against the defeated 
whites; just as the pretended friendly Indians on the northern 
borders of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio did, when Hull so cow- 
ardly surrendered the army at Detroit in 1812. The perman- 
ent settlement of this country would have been retarded for 
several years and the military career of one of the most use- 
ful men of this nation would have come to an end and in- 
stead of the War of 1812, commencing on the northern bord- 
ers of the Northwest Territory, as it did, it would have com- 
menced on or near the Ohio river, with results that are hard 
to guess at owing to the incompetency that was shown by so 
many of the leaders in that war. 

In the make-up of an army there are some who are al- 
ways ready to run unnecessary risks if they are not held in 
subjection. This was the case at Tippecanoe when the army 
arrived at the Prophet's town in the afternoon of the sixth of 
November, 1811. Some of the subordinate commanders who 
were panting for a chance to distinguish themselves and to 
receive military renown, were very loud in their declaration 
that Governor Harrison should attack the Indians at once. 
Long years after the battle was fought many military critics 
were severe in their denunciation of the want of military tact 
shown by the Governor, but this was all uncalled for and 
came from those who would not have been able to command 
properly a corporal's guard. 

Governor Harrison's orders, from Secretary of War was 
to break up the confederation of Indians and to have those that 
belonged to other tribes, go back to their homes; to have the 
Prophet make proper restitution for the annuity salt that he 
had taken from a boat that was being conveyed to other In- 
dians; to restore a lot of stolen horses and to deliver up a 
number of murderers who were being harbored in his town* 



PIONEER HISORY OP INDIANA. 239 

To accomplish this, he was directed to use peaceful means. 

The Indians met him with overtures of peace and the ar- 
rangements were made to have the meeting the next morn- 
ing. The army went into camp and arranged themselves as 
comfortably as men could who were situated as they were. 
No one in camp expected a battle that night, though every 
precaution was taken to prepare the army for battle if it 
should come. Those who have studied the history of that 
battle nearly all agree that on the evening of the sixth of 
November, when Harrison and the chiefs were making ar- 
rangements for a camp and for the conference to be held the 
next morning, the Indians had no intention of bringing on 
the battle that night. 

Tradition has it that White Loon, one of the three 
chiefs in the immediate command of the Indians in the battle^ 
said to a party of white prisoners who had been in the bat- 
tle of Tippecanoe and were afterward captured at Hull's sur- 
render at Detroit, that the Prophet and the chiefs in town 
had no thought of bringing on the battle, but during the 
first part of the night, Winnamac, a Pottawattamie chiefs 
arrived in town and as soon as he learned the condition of 
things, went to the Prophet and told him that it was now or 
never; that if he would have the forces organized and ready 
for battle by the early hours of the morning, they would slip 
up on the Americans and murder them in their camp. A 
council was convened and afier a long conference at which 
most of the chiefs were assembled, it was found that a large 
majority of them opposed the attack. At this, Winnamac, 
who was a fearless dare-devil, called them cowards and said 
that if they were going to submit like whipped dogs to the 
Americans he would take his people (who formed one-third 
of the town) and go back to his nation. This had the de- 
sired effect and it was agreed that the attack should be made. 
The night was spent in organizing the forces (something 
less. White Loon claimed, than nine hundred and fifty war- 
riors). Several Indians were sent to locate particularly the 
position of the troops. Stone Eater, White Loon and Win- 
namac were put in immediate command of the Indians. 



240 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

The Prophet, after it was agfreed to bring on the fight, made 
a speech that roused the Indians to a high pitch. He made 
them believe that they would have as easy a victory as the 
Indians did over Braddock and St. Clair and that all the 
whites would be driven back across the Ohio river. He as- 
sured them that the bullets of the Americans would not huit 
them. 

Governor Wm. H. Harrison, Tecumseh and the Prophet. 

In the state of Ohio, near where the city of Springfield 
now stands, Tecumseh, his brother, the Prophet, and another 
brother were all born at one birth. If tradition is right this 
was in 1769. Tecumseh, at Taladega, September 1811, in a 
speech before an assembl}' of Creek Indians and their great 
chief Rutherford, in part said — **I have seen twice twenty 
and two springs come and go again, and during all that time, 
the want of confederation has brought disaster and ruin to 
many Indian tribes." Their father was a Shawnee warrior 
of prominence. Their mother was a Creek woman named 
Methataska, who had been captured by the Shawnees. The 
name ''Tecumseh" stood for wild cat springing on its prey; 
the Prophet's name '*Elkswatawa," for ''loud voice." There 
is no historical or traditional record of the third brother ex- 
cept his name which was '^Kamskaka." 

William Henry Harrison was born in Charles county, 
Virginia, February#9, 1773. His father, Benjmian Harrison, 
was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 
Young Harrison, on coming to manhood, joined the regular 
army with the rank of an Ensign, and was soon promoted to 
a Lieutenant. He served with General Anthony Wayne in 
his campaign against the Indians in 1794 and was with him 
in the battle of Maumee. Tradition has it that Tecumseh 
was a very active partisan in the campaign that terminated 
in the defeat of the Confederate bands of Indians at the bat- 
tle of Maumee. William Henry Harrison was in 1797 pro- 
moted to the rank of Captain. Soon thereafter he resigned 
and was appointed Secretary of the North-west Territory. 



PIONEER HI3TORY OF INDIANA. 241 

The two Indians, Tecumseh and the Prophet, were so 
directly linked with the name of William Henry Harrison in 
the history of the Northwest and Indiana Territor}' and its 
records, that in writing of the events that become history 
from 1808 to 1811, they must appear in all the records. 

In 1800 the Indiana Territory was formed, then includ- 
ing the present states of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michi- 
gan, and that part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi river, 
leaving the state of Ohio out as it was then preparing to 
form a state government. That same year William Henry 
Harrison was made Governor and General John Gibson was 
made Secretary of the Territor}', while the seat of govern- 
ment was moved to Vincennes. Governor Harrison was very 
active. Through his influence various treaties were made, 
namely: that of August 18th and 24th, 1804, by which all 
the territory of southern Indiana, south of the old Vincennes 
and Clarksville trace was ceded to the United States; the 
treaty of Grousland, August 21st, 1805; the treaty of Ft. 
Wayne, June 7, 1803, and the treaty of Ft. Wayne, September 
30th, 1809; and the treaty of Vincennes, September 26th, 
1811. These various treaties together with the small strip 
acquired by the treaty at Greenville, August 3rd, 1795, covered 
a little more than one third of the State of Indiana. 

For many centuries before the coming of the white man, 
the great Miami nation of Indians owned and controlled all 
the territory that is now the State of Indiana and a large ter- 
ritory on the east and west of it. In the middle of the eight- 
eenth century, the Miami confederation was composed of 
four tribes — the Twughtwees, who were the Miamis proper, 
the Weas, the Shockeys, and the Piankashaws. These In- 
dians were all of the Algonquin nation. It is claimed that 
at Ft. Wayne, near where the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's 
rivers formed the Mauraee river, these Indians had their nat- 
ional capital. This powerful nation owned the largest and 
best hunting grounds of any Indians who ever inhabited the 
United States. The Piankashaws were located in southern 
Indiana on the Wabash and in southern Illinois. The Weas 
were located in Central Indiana on the Wabash river to the 



242 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



INDIANA IN 1611 




PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 243 

north and on its many tributaries and on the Illinois river. 
The Miamis proper were in the central, northern and north- 
eastern Indiana and on the Scioto river in the state of Ohio. 
The Shockeys were scattered over southeastern Indiana and 
along the Miami river, far into Ohio. Other Indian tribes 
asked the Miamis for permission to settle in this vast ter- 
ritory. This privilege was given to the Pottawattamies, 
Shawnees, Delawares and Kickapoos. These tribes left their 
former homes and made many settlements and towns over the 
territory that is now Indiana. The Delawares made their set- 
tlements on the waters of the White rivers and their tributaries 
and the Pottawattamies in the northern and northwestern 
Indiana. The Shawnees were located in many places in 
southern and western Indiana and near the Ohio river in the 
state of Ohio. The Kickapoos were located at many points 
and were neighbors to all the other tribes who had been 
granted concessions. These Indians were at peace with each 
other for a long period. The tribes that had been permitted 
to have homes in the favored land had prospered and multi- 
plied and after a generation or two had passed, they felt as 
if they were the owners of the land they lived on and were 
ever ready to object to anything the real owners did that 
would in any way affect them. 

In 1804 the Delawares ceded all the territory south of the 
old Vincennes and Clarksville trace on the Ohio river to the 
United States. This immense territory was very desirable 
but Governor Harrison knew that they were not the owners 
so he got the Piankashaw chiefs who were the real owners, 
to ratify that treaty. Tecumseh and his brother, the Pro- 
phet, were not born to an official station but Tecumseh soon 
arose to the most influential position by his great talents. 
These two brothers lived for a time among the Delaware In- 
dians on the waters of the White river in what is now Dela- 
ware county, Indiana. 

Along about 1806 they moved to Greenville, Ohio. There 
Elksawatawa took on the role of Prophet, claiming that a 
gift from the Great Spirit had been bestowed upon him so 
that he could tell things which would come to pass. He was 



i 



244 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

a very smart one-e3'ed rascal. The other e^ve was put out 
while shooting with a bow, the arrow splitting on the bow 
string. The Prophet was not an ordinary medicine man but 
a moral reformer, making prophecies on many subjects, being 
his strongest point. He had man}' disciples who believed in 
him but there were also many *'Doubting Thomases." He 
met with a band of surveyors at Greenville and one of them 
in an argument attempted to belittle his pretensionji by ask- 
ing him if he had any foreknowledge of the great coming 
eclipse which was to take place at a certain time, giving the 
day and hour. The Pxophet told him that of course he did 
but refused to talk further with the surveyor. After the sur- 
veyor 'had gone he sent his messenger to the Indians in all 
the surrounding country and invited them to come and see 
him at the time when the eclipse of the sun was due. When 
the time came there was an immense concourse of Indians to 
hear the wil}' savage tell about the heavenly visions which 
he had seen and the revelation of things which were to be. 
He kept up the harangue until just before the time the eclipse 
was to come when he said there were some who were un- 
believers in his teaching and he had called them together to 
convince them that he had Divine power to reveal things 
that were unknown to them. He said that he intended to 
ast the Great Father to put his hand before the sun and 
make the earth dark. When the eclipse commenced to come 
on the Prophet went into a trance and called on the Great 
Father saying there was those who refused to believe his 
teachings and to convince them that he was not an impostor, 
he asked the Great Father to put his hand over the sun. 
When it began to get dark there was great excitement among 
the Indians and when the eclipse became total they became 
wild and implored the Great Father to lake his hand from 
over the sun and restore them to his favor. The Prophet 
called aloud asking that brightness might be restored. 
Tecumseh and the Prophet made all that was possible out of 
this incident. It was told far and near that the Prophet was 
the greatest of all Medicine men — that he could heal the sick, 
destrov witches and have the Great Father darken the sun. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 245 

Sometime in 1808 the Prophet located a town at the 
junction of the Tippecanoe river with the Wabash, about one 
hundred and fifty miles up stream from Vincennes. This 
town contained several hundred of the Prophet's followers 
who claimed to be tillers of the soil and total abstainers from 
the use of whiskey. 

Tecuraseh in every way was far above his brother. He 
was a brave, far-seeing, eloquent man and rose to a high 
position equal to Pontiac in the northwestern United States. 
The policy of the United States government had for some 
years been to extinguish by treaties the claim the Indians 
had to land lying in Indiana Territory. Those made by the 
long and tedious negoiations brought the Indians a great 
variety of articles that were of great value to them. 

In conformity with instructions of the President, James 
Madison, Governor Harrison at Ft. Wayne, September 30, 
1809, concluded a treaty with the head men and chiefs of the 
Delawares, Pottawattamies, Miamis, Eel River, Kickapoos 
and Wea Indians, by which in consideration of eight thous- 
and and two hundred dollars paid down and annuities amount- 
ing in aggregate to two thousand, three hundred and fifty 
dollars, he obtained the cession of nearly three million acres 
of land extending up the Wabash beyond Terre Haute, below 
the mouth of Raccoon creek, including the middle waters of 
the White rivers. 

Neither Tecumseh, the Prophet nor any of the other In- 
dians who had gathered around their standard, owned or had 
any claim to the land which had been ceded to the United 
States, yet they denounced the Indians, who owned the land, 
for selling it, threatened them with death and did kill several 
of the parties to the treaty, declaring that the treaty was 
void unless all the tribes should agree to it, and that the land 
did not belong to any one tribe but to all of them jointly. 
Tecumseh used this argument in his attempts to form a con- 
federation of all the Indians (which, without doubt was in- 
tended to become a great military organization.) In this he 
was encouraged by the British at Maiden who were then pre- 
paring a way to have all the Indians for allies in the coming^ 



246 PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 

war which was certain to occur between Great Britain and 
the United States. Tecumseh knew that if the land which 
had been ceded was open for settlement, b}^ the whites, the 
gfame would be destroyed and the Indians compelled to move 
to more distant hunting grfounds. Tecumseh's determined 
and threatening opposition to the treaties brought all the 
trouble on between Harrison and the Indians. 

In obedience to the conditions of the Ft. Wayne treaty, 
made September 30, 1809, the annuity was to be paid annu- 
ally. In the spring of 1810, the Indians in the Prophet's 
town refused to receive the annuity salt sent them in com- 
pliance with that treaty, insulting the men who had brought 
the salt, calling them "American dogs." This, with many 
other hostile demonstrations, caused Governor Harrison to 
send several messages to Tecumseh and the Prophet. The 
Governor understood that there was danger of an outbreak 
and made every effort to thwart it. Tecumseh sent word by 
one of the Governor's messengers that he intended to visit 
him and in August arrived in the vicinity of Vincennes with 
four hundred warriors fully armed. They went into camp 
near the town and there was much uneasiness felt at so many 
Indians being in such close proximity. The Governor man- 
age(f the affairs so as to prevent a collision between the two 
races but soon after the close of this conference a small de- 
tachment of United States troops under the command of Cap- 
tain Cross was ordered from Newport, Kentucky, to Vincen- 
nes. These troops, together with three companies of Indiana 
Militia Infantry and a company of Dragoons constituted such 
a force that those living in the neighborhood of Vincennes 
would not be in any danger from an Indian outbreak. The 
Prophet and his adherents were holding secret conferences 
with the British from their stations on Lake Erie and at Mai- 
den. 

During the winter of 1810-11, thefe were no serious out- 
breaks but there were many small raids by the Indians and 
counter-raids by the white settlers. General William Clark, 
writing to the war department from St. Louis, on July 3, 
1811, made the following report — "All information received 



PIONEER HISTORY. OF INDIANA. 247 

from the Indian country confirms the rooted enmity of the 
Prophet to the United States and his determination to com- 
mence hostilities as soon as he thinks himself sufficiently 
-strong. His party is increasing and from the insolence he 
and his party have lately manifested and the violence which 
has lately been committed by his neighbors, the Pottawat- 
tamies on our frontiers, I am inclined to believe that the 
crisis is fast approaching." 

Governor Harrison sent a half-breed Piankashaw Indian, 
whom he regarded as thoroughly reliable to the Prophet's 
town, where he (the Indian) had a brother. On his return 
he reported that the Prophet was very bitter toward the 
Americans and said that they had to abandon the Wabash 
lands ceded by the Ft. Waj^ne treaty or they would kill them 
•or drive them out of the country. This spy reported that 
Winamac, a Pottawattamie Chief, was the right hand man 
of the Prophet and that he was very bitter in his denuncia- 
tions of the white people. From another source the Grover- 
nor learned that all the Wabash Indians were on a visit to 
the Indian agent at Maiden; that this agent had given all the 
Indians presents and that he had never known of one-fourth 
of as many presents being given at any one time before. 
The same informant examined the share of one warrior and 
found that he had a fine rifle, twenty-five pounds of powder, 
fifty pounds of lead, three blankets, three strouds of cloth, 
ten shirts, and many other articles. From another source he 
learned that every Indian had been given a good rifle and an 
:abundance of ammunition. 

In July, 1811, Gk)vernor Harrison wrote the war depart- 
ment that the best means of preventing war would be to 
move a considerable force up the Wabasli and disperse the 
bandits the Prophet had collected around him. During the 
•summer of 1811, the war department received many letters 
from all over the settled portions of the Northwest Territory, 
telling of the operations of the British in urging the Indians 
on to hostilities. In June 1811, Gk)vemor Harrison sent Cap» 
tain Walter Wilson to the Prophet's town with the foUowing^ 
letter, addressed to Tecumseh and the Prophet: — 



248 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

**Brothers, listen to me, I speak to 3'ou about 
matters of importance, both to the white people 
and to yourselves. Open your ears, therefore, and 
attend to what I say. Brothers, this is the third 
year that all the white people in the country have 
been alarmed at j'our proceedings. You threaten us 
with war;3'ou invite all tribes to the north and west 
of 3^ou to join agfainstus. Brothers — j^our warriors 
who have lately been here deny this but I have re- 
ceived information that you intend to murder me 
and then commence a war upon our people. I have 
also received the speech j'ou sent to the Pottawat- 
tamies and others, to join you for that purpose, 
but if I had no other evidence of your hostilit}*^ to 
us your seizing the salt I recentl}' sent up the Wa- 
bash, is sufficient. Brothers — our citizens are al- 
armed and my warriors are preparing themselves, 
not to strike you, but to defend themselves and 
their women and children. You shall not surprise 
us as you expect to do. You are about to under- 
take a* very rash act. As a friend, 1 advise you to 
consider well of it. A little reflection may save a 
great deal of trouble and prevent much mischief. 
It is not yet too late. Brothers — what can be the 
inducement for you to undertake an enterprise when 
there is so little probability of success? Do you 
really think the handful of men you have about 
you are able to contend with the seventeen fires or 
even that (the whole of) all the tribes united could, 
contend against the Kentucky fire alone? Broth- 
ers, 1 am myself of the Long Knife fire. As soon 
as they hear my voice, you will see them pouring 
forth their swarms of hunting shirt men as numer- 
ous as the mosquitoes on the shores of the Wabash.. 
Brothers — take care of their stings. 

Brothers — it is not our wish to hurt you. If 
it were we certainly have the power to do it. Look 
at the number of our warriors- to the east of j^ou, 
above and below the great Miami; to the south, on 
both sides of the Ohio and below you also. You 
are brave men, but what could you do against such 
a multitude? We wish you to live in peace and 
happiness. 

Brothers — the citizens of this country are al- 
armed. They must be satisfied that you have no de- 



PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 249> 

sign to do them mischief or the)' will not lay aside 
their arms. You have also insulted the Govern- 
ment by seizing the salt that was intended for 
other tribes. Satisfaction must be given for this 
also. Brothers — you talk of coming to see me at- 
tended by all your young men. This must not be. 
If your intentions are good you have no need to 
bring more than a few of your young men with 
you. I must be plain with you. 1 will not suffer 
you to come into our settlement with such a force. 

Brothers — if you wish to satisfy us that your in- 
tentions are good, follow the advice I have given 
you before, that is, that one or both of you should 
visit the President of the United States and lay your 
grievance before him. He will treat you well, 
listen to what you say and if you can show him 
that you have been injured you will receive justice. 
If you will follow my advice in this respect it will 
convince the citizens of this country and myself 
that you have no design to attack them. 

Brothers — with respect to the land which was 
purchased last fall, I can enter into no negotiation 
with you on that subject, the affair is in the hands 
of the President. If you wish to go and see him I 
will supply you with the means. Brothers the per- 
son who delivers you this is one of my war officers. 
He is a man in whom I have entire confidence. 
What he says to you, although it may not be con- 
tained in this paper, you may believe comes from 
me. My friend, Tecumseh — the bearer, is a good 
and a brave warrior. I hope you will treat him 
well. You are yourself a warrior and all such 
should have an esteem for each other." 

Captain Wilson, who bore this message to the Prophet's, 
town, was received in a friendly manner at that place and 
was treated with particular friendship by Tecumseh, who* 
sent by him the following reply to the letter by tne Gover- 
nor — "Brother, I give you a few words until I will be with 
you myself, Tecumseh. Brother at Vincennes, I wish you to 
listen to me while I send you a few words and I hope they 
will ease your heart. I know you look on your young men 
and your young women and children with pity to see them so 
much alarmed. Brother, I wish you to examine whart yoit 



250 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

have from me. I hope it will be a satisfaction to you if your 
intentions are like mine, to wash away all these bad stories 
that have been circulated. I will be with you myself in eig^h- 
teen days from this day. Brother, we cannot say what will 
become of us, as the Great Spirit has the management of us 
at his will. I may be there before the time and may not be 
there until the day. I hope that when we come together all 
these bad tales will be settled. By this, I hope your young 
men, women and children will be easy. I wish you. Brother, 
to let them know when I come to Vincennes and see you all 
will be settled in peace and happiness. Brother, these are 
only a few words to let you know that I will be with you my- 
self and when I am with you, I can inform you better. Broth- 
er, if I find I can be with you in less time than eighteen days, 
I will send one of my young men before me to let you know 
what time I will be with you." 

On the twenty-seventh of July, 1811, Tecumseh arrived 
:at Vincennes. The number of his attendants was about three 
hundred, of whom twenty or thirty were women and children. 
When he was met about twentj' miles from Vincennes by Cap- 
tain Wilson, who delivered a message from the Governor, 
expressing disapprobation of the large number of Indians ap- 
proaching the town, Tecumseh, after some hesitation, said 
he had with him but twenty-four men, and the rest had come 
of their own accord; but that everything should be settled 
to the satisfaction of the Governor on his arrival at Vincen- 
nes. The approach of this large force of Indians cieated 
considerable alarm among the inhabitants of Vincennes and 
on the day of the arrival of Tecumseh, Grovernor Harrison, 
in adopting various precautionary measures, reviewed the 
militia of the county, composed of about seven hundred and 
fifty men, who were well armed and he stationed two com- 
panies of militia infantry and a detachment of dragoons on 
the borders of the town. In the course of the interview 
which took place at this time between the Gk)vernor and 
Tecumseh, the latter declared that it was not his intention 
to make war against the United States; that he would send 
messengers among the Indians to prevent murders and depre- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 251 

Nations on the white settlers; that the Indians as well as the 
i^rhites, who had committed murder, ou^ht to be forgiven; 
that he had s^t the whites an example of forgiveness which 
they ought to follow; that it was his wish to establish a anion 
among all the Indian tribes; that the Northern tribes were 
united; that he was going to visit the southern Indians and 
that he would return to the Prophet's town. He said that 
he would on his return from the south, the next spring, visit 
the President of the United States and settle all causes of 
difficulty between the Indians and himself. He said further 
that he hoped that no attempt would be made to make set- 
tlement on the lands which had been sold to the United 
States at the treaty of Ft. Wayne because the Indians wanted 
to keep those lands for hunting grounds. Soon after the 
conference with Governor Harrison had closed, Tecumseh, 
attended by twenty Indians, suddenly took his departure from 
Vincennes, down the Wabash river on his way to the South- 
•ern Indians for the purpose of disseminating his views for a 
great Indian confederation among the Creeks, the Chickasaws, 
and Choctaw Indians. 

After Tecumseh departed, the remainder of his followers 
returned to the Prophets's town deeply impressed with the 
martial display of military^ strength of Harrison's command. 
It cannot be told with a certainty of its correctness, what 
<:ould have induced Tecumseh to go so far from home for so 
long a time. He certainly had more faith in Governor Har- 
rison's pacific intentions than Harrison was warranted in 
having in him or the Prophet or he would not have made 
such a fatal mistake. 

The Prophet kept up his incantations, charms and jug- 
glery, thus increasing his importance and his influence with 
his deluded followers. There was a constant increase in his 
numbers. It was said by spies of friendly Indians, which the 
i^rhites had that by the first of September, 1811, the Prophet's 
toYfn had more than twenty-five hundred Indians in it. 

The restless young men among his bands, bent on plun- 
der, crossed into the white settlement in many places, killing 
the settlers or running off their stock. This became so fre- 



252 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

quent that the whole territory was in a constant state of ex- 
citeraent. 

On the thirt3^-first of July, 1811, a public meeting: of cit- 
izens was held at Vincennes for the purpose of declaring: by 
resolution the dangler to which the white inhabitants of the 
Territory of Indiana were exposed on account of the hostil- 
ities of the Indians at the Prophet's town and for requesting" 
the President of the United States to issue orders for the 
forcible dispersion of the hostile Indians settled at that place^ 
By resolution the following: committee was selected to make 
this request — Samuel T. Scott, Alexander Devin, Luke Deck- 
er, Ephriam Jordon, Daniel McClure, Walter Wilson and 
Francis Vigo. 

In a letter dated August third, 1811, addressed to the 
President of the United States, this committee, after makings 
the request above referred to, said: 

'*In this part of the country, we have not as yet 
lost any of our fellow citizens by the Indians, but 
depredations upon the property of those who live 
upon the frontiers and insults to the families that 
are left unprotected, almost daily occur." 

The President as early as the seventeenth day of July had 
instructed the Secretary of War to authorize Governor Harri- 
son to call out the militia of the Territory and to attack the 
Prophet and his followers in case circumstances should 
occur which might render such a course necessary or expe- 
dient. The Governor was further authorized at his discre- 
tion, to call into his services the Fourth Regiment of United 
States Infantry, under the command of Colonel John P. Boyd. 

The ofl&cial instructions which were sent from the Secre- 
tary of War to Governor Harrison at this period were strong- 
ly in favor of preserving pacific relations with the North- 
western Indian tribes by the use of all means consistent with 
the protection of the citizens of the Territory and the main- 
tenance of the rights of the general government of the United 
States. 

Governor Harrison, having determined to erect a hew fort 
on the Wabash river, and to break up the assemblage of hos- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 253 

tile Indians at the Prophet's town, ordered Colonel Boyd's 
regfiment of infantry to move from the falls of the Ohio to 
Vincennes. at which place the reg^iment of regulars was to 
be re-inforced by the militia of the Territory. 

Upon receiving from the Secretary of War the instruc- 
tions which have been mentioned, the governor sent by 
special messengers, written speeches, addressed to the several 
Indian tribes of the Indiana Territory, requesting these 
tribes to fulfill the conditions of their treaties with the 
United States, to avoid all acts of hostility toward the white 
settlers and to make an absolute disavowal of union or con- 
nection with the Shawnee Prophet. 

About the twenty-fifth of September, 1811, when the mil- 
itary expedition that had been organized by Governor Harri- 
son was nearly ready to move on its way toward the Proph- 
et's town, a deputation of Indians from that town arrived at 
Vincennes. These deputies made strong professions of peace 
and declared that the Indians would comply with the de- 
mands of the Governor. A few days after these messengers 
arrived at Vincennes, six horses were stolen from white peo- 
ple by small bands of Indians. Three men following the 
trail of the horses to an Indian camp reported that after they 
had obtained possession of the horses they were pursued by 
the Indians, fired upon and compelled to abandon their 
horses and run for their lives. 



MILITARY ORDERS. 

'^Headquarters of the Army of 
Indiana Territory, 

Vincennes, Sept. 16, 1811. , 
*'The governor of Indiana Territory and com- 
mander-in chief of the militia, being charged by 
the President of the United States with a military 
expedition, takes command to the troops assigned, 
viz: The detachment of regular troops under the 
command of Col. John P. Boyd, consisting of the 
Fourth U. S. Regiment of Infantry and a company 
of the Rifle Regiment, the present garrison at Ft. 
Knox and the various detachments of Militia, In- 



254 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

fantry and Dragoons which have been ordered for 
the service. As the present garrison of Ft. Knox 
is to form a part of Colonel Boyd's command, the 
officers commanding that post will receive the Col- 
onel's orders. Capt. Piatt of the Second U. S. Reg- 
iment has been appointed Quartermaster for all the 
troops on the expedition and is to be obeyed and 
respected as such. Captain Robert Bun tin has 
been appointed quartermaster for the militia and is 
to be respected and obeyed accordingly. Henry 
Hurst, Esq. and the Honorable Waller Taylor, Esq. 
have been appointed aide-de-camps to the Com- 
mander in Chief, having the rank of Majors and 
are announced as such. All orders' coming from 
them in his name, whether in writing or verbally, 
are to be respected and obeyed as if delivered by 
the Commander in Chief in person. Captain Piatt 
is to have the superin tendency of persons apper- 
taining to the quartermasters or military agents 
department and the direction of all stores for the 
use of the expedition." 



''Headquarters, Vincennes, September 22, 1811. 

'*A11 of the infantry regulars and militia are 
to be considered as one brigade under the command 
of Col. John P. Boyd, acting Brigadier General. 
Lieutenant Colonel Miller will command the first 
line, composed of the regular troops; Lieutenant 
Colonel Barthalemew the second line, composed of 
Militia Infantry. These two officers will report to 
and receive their orders from Acting General John 
P. Boyd. The Cavalry will be under the com- 
mand of Major Joseph H. Davis, who will report 
to and receive orders from the Commander in Chief. 
Captain Spire Spencer s company of mounted vol- 
unteers will act as a detached corps and report to 
and receive orders from the Commander in Chief. 
The whole army will parade tomorrow at one 
o'clock. The troops of infantry in two columns. 
The regular troops will form the leading battalion 
of each column; the militia infantry the rear col- 
umn. Major Davis will place his largest troop of 
dragoons in squadron at open order, one hundred 
and fifty yards in rear of the columns. The third 
troop will be placed in a single line on the right 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 2SS 

flank at one hundred and fifty yards from the In- 
fantry and parallel thereto. Captain Spire Spencer's 
company will be formed on the left flank in single 
rank and in line parallel to the Infantry at a dis- 
tance of one hundred and fifty yards from the col- 
umn. The army thus formed will be in marching- 
order. The columns will take care to keep their 
distances and their head dressed. When in the 
woods the movements will be regulated by signal 
from the drums. When in open they will T>e gov-^ 
erned by sight. This is to be the order in the line 
of march." 

'^Headquarters, Vincennes, 

September 22, 1811. 
'* After Orders: 

*'The army being formed in the order of march 
prescribed by general order of this date, if an at- 
tack should be made on the right flank, the whole 
will face to the right and it will then be in two 
lines parallel to the line of march, the right col* 
umn forming the front line and the left the rear.. 
Should the attack be made on the left flank, the 
reverse to what is here directed will take place; 
the whole army will face to the left, the left column 
acting as a front line, the right column as a rear 
line. If an attack is made on both flanks at the 
same time, both columns will face outward. To 
resist an attack in the rear, the same maneuver 
will be performed as is directed for an attack in 
front with this difference only, that the leading 
grand division of each battalion will form by the 
filing up of each man in succession and the second 
grand division by doubling around its front guide 
and displaying to the left. To resist an attack in 
front and rear, the two leading battalions will per- 
form the maneuvre directed for the front attack 
and the two others that which has been last des- 
cribed. 

'*In all cases where there is an attack, other 
than a front one, the dragoons and riflemen will 
consider themselves as front, rear, or flank guards 
according to the situation they may be placed in 
relative to the rest of the army and will perform 
the duties which those situations* respectively re- 
quire as heretofore directed." 



256 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

* 

The Army Starts for the Prophet's Town. 

The army under the command of Governor Harrison 
moved from Vincennes on the 26th of September, 1811 and 
on the third of October, without having encountered any ma- 
terial difficulties on its march, encamped at a point where 
they erected Ft. Harrison. This place of encampment was on 
the eastern bank of the Wabash river, about two miles above 
an old Wea Indian villag^e which stood about two miles above 
where the city of Terre Haute now stands. According to 
Indian tradition a desperate battle was fought at that place a 
long time ago, between three hundred Illinois warriors and 
an equal number of a tribe belonging to the Iroquois Confed- 
eracy. 

While the army was engage'd in building the fort. Gov- 
ernor Harrison received from friendly Indians of the Dela- 
ware and Miami tribes, several accounts of the increasing 
hostility of the Shawnee Prophet and his confederates. 
Four Delawares attended by Mr. Conner as interpreter, vis- 
ited the Governor and reported that a war speech had been 
sent from the Prophet to some of the Delaware chiefs who 
were on their way to meet Governor Harrison, in compliance 
with a request which they had received from one of his mes- 
sengers. In this speech, according to reports of the Delaware 
chiefs, the Prophet declared that his tomahawk was up 
against the whites and nothing should induce him to take it 
down unless the wrongs of the Indians were redressed — the 
Delawares might do as they pleased. Some of the Delaware 
chiefs visited the Prophet to endeavor to dissuade him from 
adopting such measures of active hostility against the people 
of the United States. 

On the night of October the tenth, a few Indians fired on 
the Sentinels and wounded one. The arni}^ was drawn up 
in line of battle and detachments were sent out in all direc- 
tions but the darkness of the night enabled the Indians to 
to get away. The new fort was finished on the twenty- 
eighth of October and by unanimous petition of the officers it 
was named Ft. Harrison. The fort was garrisoned with a 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 257 

•small number of men under the command of Lieutenant Col- 
onel James Miller, who afterward at the battle of Niagara, 
ivon great renown. (The British artillery had taken a posi- 
tion on a commanding eminence at the head of Lundy's Lane, 
supported by a line of Infantrj' out of reach of the American 
batteries. This was the key to the whole position and thence 
the}" poured a most deadly fire on the American ranks. It 
became necessary either to leave the ground or to carry this 
position and seize the height. The latter desperate task was 
assigned to Colonel Miller. On receiving the order from 
■General Brown he calmly surveyed the position and answered 
— '*I will try, Sir." He did try and captured the battery and 
position and his expression "I will try, Sir'' afterward be- 
came the motto of his Regiment.) 

Everything being in readiness, Gk)vernor Harrison's army 
moved from the new fort on October the twenty-ninth, to- 
ward the Prophet's town. On the thirty-first of October, 
soon after passing Big Raccoon creek, the army crossed the 
Wabash river at a point near the place where the town of 
Montezuma in Park county, now stands. At this time the 
force of the expedition amounted to nine hundred men, com- 
posed of two hundred and fifty regular troops, about one 
hundred volunteers from Kentucky and six hundred citizens 
of the Indiana Territory. The troops on horse back consist- 
ed of light dragoons, amounting to two hundred and seventy- 
five men; but few of the men had ever been in battle. 

On the second of November the army was encamped at a 
point about two miles below the mouth of the Big Vermilion 
river. A block house twenty-five feet square was built on 
the western bank of the Wabash on a small prairie. A Ser- 
geant and eight men were stationed in the block house to 
protect the boats, which up to this point nad been used in the 
transportation of supplies for the expedition. The Delaware 
■chiefs which Harrison had sent to the Prophet's town came 
into this camp and reported that they were badly treated and 
insulted and finally dismissed with the most contemptuous 
remarks upon them and the white people. The party that 
fired on the sentinels arrived at the Prophet's town while the 



258 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 




Map of Viciiuly of Tippecanoe Battle Field Showing Line of March on 

November 6b 1611. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 259 

Delaware chiefs were there — they were Shawnees and the 
Prophet's nearest friends. 

On the third of Nove nber the army resumed its march 
and keeping its course through the prairie at some distance 
from the Wabash river it came in view of the Prophet's town 
on the afternoon of the sixth of November. During the 
march all this day small parties of Indians were seen hover- 
ing about the array and the interpreters made several unsuc- 
cessful attempts to have a conference with them. On reach- 
ing a point about one mile and a half from the town, the 
army halied. Governor Harrison directed Captain Dubois of 
the spies to go forward with an interpreter and request a con- 
ference wiih ihe Prophet. 

As Capiain Dubois proceeded to execute his orders, he 
met several Indians to whom he spoke in a friendly manner* 
They refused to speak lo him but by motion urged him to go 
forward and seemed lo be endeavoring to cut him off from 
the main army. 

On being informed of this apparentl}' hostile manifesta- 
tion on the part of the Indians, Governor Harrison dispatch- 
ed a messenger to recall Captain ijubois. Soon after the re- 
turn of that officer the whole army in order of battle began 
to move toward the town, the interpreters having been placed 
in front with orders to invite a conference with the Indians. 
The following particulars concerning the actions of the In- 
dians as the army was approaching the Prophei's lown are 
taken from a leiter Governor iiai-rison wruie to the Secretary 
of \\ar, November 18, 1811: 



k k ' 



We had not advanced more than four hun- 
dred yards wnen 1 was Mform.^d thai chree i.idians 
had approached tno adv^ance guards and had ex- 
pressed a wish lo speak lo me. 1 found upon their 
arrival that one ol them was a man in great esti- . 
maiion wiih the Prophet. He informed me that 
the chiels were much surprised at my advance upon 
them so rapidly; that they were given to under- 
siand by ihe ueiawares and Miamis, whom 1 had 
sent to ihtrm a te%v days beture ihac 1 would not 
advance to their town until I had received an ans- 



260 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

wer to my demands made through them; that this 
answer had been dispatched by the Pottawattamie 
chief, Winamac, who had accompanied the Miamis 
and Delawares on their return; that they had left 
the Prophet's town two days before with a design 
to meet me but unfortunately they had taken the 
road on the southeastern side of the Wabash. 

"I answered that 1 had no intention of attack- 
ing them until I discovered they would not comply 
with the demands which I had made; that 1 would 
go on and encamp at the Wabash and in the morn- 
ing would have an interview with the Prophet and 
his chiefs and explain to them the determination 
of the President and that in the meantime no hos- 
tilities should be committed. He seemed much 
pleased with this and promised that it should be 
observed on their part. I then resumed my march. 

*'We struck the cultivated grounds about five 
hundred yards above the town but as this extended 
to the bank of the Wabash there was no possibility 
of getting an encampment which was provided 
with both water and wood. My guides and inter- 
preters being still wiih the advance guard and tak- 
ing the directions of the town, the army followed 
and had advanced within about one hundred and 
fifty yards, when fifty or sixiy Indians sallied out 
and with loud exclamations, called to the cavalry 
and to the militia Infantry which were on the right 
flank, to halt. 

**I immediately advanced to the front, caused 
the army to halt and directed an interpreter to re- 
quest some of the chiefs to come to me. In a few 
moments the man who had been with me before 
made his appearance. I informed him that my 
object for the present was to procure a good piece 
of ground to camp on. where we could get wood 
and water. He informed me that there was a 
creek to the northwest which he thought would 
suit our purpose. I immediate!}' dispatched two 
officers, Major Maston G. Glark and Major Waller 
Taylor to examine it. They reported the situation 
as excellent. I then took leave of the chief and 
mutual promises were again made for the suspen- 
sion of hostilities until we could have an interview 
on the following day. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 261 

**I found the gfround destined for the encamp- 
ment not altogfether such as I could wish it. It 
was indeed admirably calculated for the encamp- 
ment of regfular troops that were opposed to regfu-' 
lars but it afforded a gfreat facility to the approach 
of Savages. It was a piece of dry oak land, rising: 
about ten feet above the level of a marshy prairie 
in front toward the Prophet's town and nearly twice 
that high above a similar prairie in the rear, througfh 
which and near to this bank ran a small stream, 
clothed with willows and other brushwood. Toward 
the left flank this bench of land widened consider- 
ably but became g^radually narrower in the opposite 
direction and at a distance of one hundred and fifty 
yards from the rigfht flank terminated in an abrupt 
point. 

* 'Owing: to the conditions surrounding: this en- 
campment it was possibly not as suitable as desired 
but in all the regfions surrounding: it there was no 
other place so gfood. The nigfhts at that season of 
the year were cold and only the Regfulars had tents. 
Largfe fires had to be made to procure any degree of 
comfort. These fires were built in front of the line 
occupied by each portion of the command, as it lay 
in camp. The ligfht of the fires, at the outbreak of 
the battle, caused some loss among the soldiers but 
this risk had to be taken for without the fires there 
would have been much suffering. They were ex- 
tinguished at the first onset." 



Some military writers want to criticize Governor Harri- 
son for not having breast-works. He meets this charge by 
the statement that he had all the axes it was possible to get 
in the Territory, and then had less than enough for the men. 
to prepare wood for the fires that evening. The army en- 
camped in order of battle. The men were instructed to sleep 
with their clothes and accountrements on, with their fire 
arms loaded and bayonets fixed and each company that form- 
ed the interior line of the encampment was ordered, in case 
of an attack, to hold its own ground until relieved. 

Two columns of infantry occupied the front and rear of 
the encampment ground, at the distance of about one hun- 



262 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 




■•V-.--. J- 

' '^liAl III* d-^ 












— -V^^^J's^r^ ~— 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 263 

-dred and fifty yards from each other on the left flank and 
something: more than half that distance on the right flank. 
The left flank was filled up with two companies of mounted 
riflemen amounting: to about one hundred and twenty men 
under the command of Major General Wells of the Kentucky 
Militia. The right flank was filled up by Captain Spire 
Spencer's company of mounted riflemen consisting of about 
eighty men. The front line was composed of one battalion 
of U. S. Infantry under the command of Major Floyd flanked 
on the right by two companies of Militia and on the left by 
one company. The rear line was composed of a battalion of 
United States troops under the command of Captain Bean, 
acting as Major and four companies of Militia Infantry un- 
der the command of Lieutenant Colonel Decker. 

The regular troops on the rear line joined the mounted 
riflemen under General Wells on the left flank and Colonel 
Decker's Battalion formed an angle with Captain Spire 
Spencer's company on the right flank. Two troops of 
dragoons amounting to about sixty men, were encamped in 
the rear of the left flank and Captain Park's troop of dragoons, 
which was larger than the other two, was encamped in rear 
of the front line. The Dragoons were directed, in case of an 
attack, to parade dismounted with their pistols in their belts 
and act as a corps-de-reserve. 

^ THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.. 

Gk)vernor Harrison was perfectly convined of the hostility 
of the Prophet. He believed that the Indians intended to 
.attack him by treachery after first lulling his suspicions by 
a pretended treaty, which had indeed been the original inten- 
tion. No one anticipated an attack that night, yet every 
precaution was taken to resist one if made. All the guards 
that could be used in such a situation and such precautions 
as was used by General Wayne were employed on this occa- 
sion; that is, camp guards furnishing a chain of sentinels 
around the whole camp, were placed at such distances as to 
give notice of the approach of an enemy in time for the troops 
to take their position and yet not far enough away to prevent 



264 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

the sentinels from retreating to the main body if overpower- 
ed. The usual mode of civilized warfare of stationing: picket 
gfuards at a considerable distance in advance of the army^ 
would be useless in Indian warfare as they did not require 
roads to march upon and such gfuards would always have 
been cut off. Orders were given in the event of an attack for 
each corps to maintain its position at all hazards until re- 
Heved or further orders were g^iven to it. The whole army 
was kept during the night **lying on their arms." The re- 
gular troops lay in their tents with their accoutrements and 
their arms by their side. The militia had no tents but slept 
with their clothes and pouches on and their guns under them 
to keep them dry. 

The order of the encampment was the order of battle for 
a night attack and as every man slept opposite his post in 
the line there was nothing for the troops to do in case of an 
assault, but rise and take position a few steps in rear of the 
line of fire, around which they had reposed. The guards of 
the night consisted of two Captain's commands of forty-two 
men and four non-commissioned officers each and two subalt- 
ern guards of twenty men and non-commissioned officers each; 
the whole amounting to about one hundred and thirty men 
under the commaud of a field officer of the day. 

The night was dark and cloudy and after midnight there 
was a drizzling rain. At four o'clock in the morning of the 
seventh, Governor Harrison, according: to practice had risen 
preparatory to the calling up of the troops and was engaged^ 
while drawing on his boots by the fire, in conversation with 
General Wells, Col. Owen and Majors Taylor and Hurst. 
The orderly drummer had been roused for the purpose of 
giving the signal for the troops to turn out, when the attack 
of the Indians suddenly commenced upon the left flank of the 
camp. The whole army was instantly on its feet and the 
camp fires extinguished. The Governor mounted his horse 
and proceeded to the point of attack. Several of the com- 
panies had taken their places in line within forty seconds 
from the report of the first gun and the entire army was pre- 
pared for action in less than two minutes, a fact as creditable 



PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 265 

to their own activity and bravery as to the skill and energy 
of their officers. The battle soon became gfeneral and was 
maintained on both sides with bravery and even desperate 
valor. The Indians advanced and retreated by the aid of a 
rattling: noise made with dried deer hoofs and preserved in 
their treacherous attack an apparent determination to con- 
quer or die upon the spot. The battle ragged with unabat- 
ing: fury and mutual slaughter until daylight when a gallant 
and successful charge of the troops drove the Indians into 
the swamp and put an end to the conflict. 



'*LrO 



Governor Harrison says in his official report — 

In the course of a few minutes after the com- 
mencement of the attack, the fire extended along 
the left flank, the whole of the front, the right 
flank and the rear line. 

Upon Spencer's mounted riflemen and the right 
of Warrick's company which was posted on the 
right of the rear line it was excessively severe, 
jCaptain Spire Spencer and his first and second 
Lieutenants were killed and Captain Warrick mort- 
ally wounded. These companies, however, bravely 
maintained their post, but Spencer having suffered 
so severely and having originally too much ground 
to K)ccupy, I reinforced them with Captain Robb's 
company of riflemen which had been ordered by 
mistake from their position in the left flank and 
filled the vacancy which had been occupied by 
Robb, with Prescott's company of the Fourth U. S. 
Regiment. My great object was to keep the lines 
entire to prevent the enemy from breaking into 
camp until daylight should enable me to make a 
general and effectual charge. With this view I 
had reinforced every part of the line that had suf- 
fered much and as soon as the approach of morn- 
ing discovered itself, I withdrew from the front 
line Snelling's, Posey's (under Lieut. Albright) and 
Scott's companies and from the rear line Wilson's 
companies and drew them up on the left flank. At 
the same time I ordered Cook and Bean's companies, 
the former from the rear line and the latter from 
the front line, to reinforce the right flank, foresee- 



366 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ing: that at this point the enemy would make their 
last stand. 

Major Wells, who commanded on the left flank, 
not knowing: my intentions had taken command of 
these companies and charged the enemy before I 
had formed the body of Dragfoons with which I 
meant to support the Infantry. A small detach- 
ment of these were ready, however, and proved 
amply sufficient for the purpose. The Indians were 
driven by the Infantry at the point of the bayonet 
and the Dragfoons pursued and forced them into a 
marsh where they could not follow. Captain Cook 
and Lieutenant Larrabee had, agfreeable to my 
orders, marched their companies by the rigfht flank 
and formed them under the fire of the enemy and 
being then joined by the riflemen of that flank, had 
charged the Indians, killed a number, and put the 
rest to precipitate flight. 

All of ihe Infantry formed a small brigade un- 
der the immediate orders of Colonel Boyd. The 
Colonel throughout the action, manifested equal 
zeal and bravery in carrying into execution my 
orders; in keeping the men to their post and ex- 
horting them to fight with valor. His Brigade 
Major, Clark and his aide-de-camp George Croghan 
were also very serviceably employed. 

Colonel Joseph Bartholomew a very valuable 
officer, commanded under Colonel Boyd, the Militia 
Infantry. He was wounded early in the action and 
his service was lost to me. Major G. R. C. Floyd 
^he senior officer of the Fourth U. S. Regiment, 
•commanded immediately the batt;ilion of the regi- 
ment which was in the front line. His conduct 
during the action was entirely to my satisfaction. 
Lieutenant Colonel Decker, who commanded the bat- 
talion of Militia on the right of the rear line, pre- 
served his command in good order. I have before 
mentioned to you that Major General Wells of the 
fourth division of Kentucky Militia, acted under 
my command as Major at the head of two com- 
panies of mounted volunteers. The General main- 
tained the fame which he had already acquired in 
almost every campaign and in almost every battle 
which had been fought with the Indians since the 
.settlement of Kentucky. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 267 

Of the several corps, the Fourth U. S. Regi- 
ment and the two small companies attached to it, 
were very conspicuous for undaunted valor. 

The companies commanded by Captains Cook, 
Snelling: and Barton, Lieutenants Larrabee, Peters 
and Hawkins were placed in situations where they 
could render eminent service and encounter great 
danger and these officers greatly distinguished 
themselves. 

Captains Prescott and Brown performed their 
duty entirely to my satisfaction as did Posey's com- 
pany of the Seventh Regiment headed by Lieuten- 
ant Albright. In short, Sir, ihey supported the 
fame of the American soldier and I have never 
found that a single individual was out of the line 
of duty. Several of the Militia companies were in 
no way inferior to the Regulars. Spencer's, 
Guiger's, and Warrick's maintained their post 
amidst a monstrous carnage as also did Robb's 
which was posted on the left flank, and had seven- 
teen men killed and wounded. Wilson's and Scott's 
<:ompanies charged with the regular troops and pro- 
ved themselves worthy of doing so. Norris' com- 
pany also behaved well. Hargrove's and Wilkins' 
companiefs were placed in a situation where they 
had no opportunities of distinguishing themselves 
or I am satisfied they would have done so. This 
was also the case of the squadron of Dragoons. 

After Major J. H. Davis had received his wound, 
knowing it to be fatal, I prortioted to the Majority, 
Captain Park, than whom there is no better officer. 

My aide-de-camps. Majors Hurst and Taylor, 
with Lieutenant Adams of the Fourth Regiment, 
and the Adjutant of the tioops afforded me the 
most essential aid as well in action as throughout 
the campaign. The arrangements of Captain 
Piatt, in the Quartermaster's department were 
highly judicious and his exertions on all occasions, 
particularly in bringing off the wounded, deserves 
my warmest thanks. 

But in giving praise to the living, let me not 
forget the gallant dead. Colonel Abraham Owens 
joined me a few days before the action as a private 
in Captain Guiger's company. He accepted the ap- 
pointment of volunteer aide-de-camp to me. He 



268 PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 

fell early in the action. The representatives of his 
state will inform you that she possessed not a bet- 
ter citizen nor a braver man. 

Major Joseph H. Davis was well known as an 
able lawyer and a gfreat orator. He joined me as a. 
private volunteer, and* on the recommendations of 
the oflBcers of that corps, was appointed to com- 
mand the three troops of Dragoons. His conduct 
in that capacity justified their choice. Never was 
there an officer possessed of more ardor and zeal to 
discharge his duties with propriety and never one 
who would encounter more danger to purchase mil- 
itary fame. 

Captain Bean of the Fourth U. S. Regiment was 
killed early in the action — he was unquestionably 
a good officer and a valiant soldier. 

Captains Spencer and Warrick and Lieutenants 
McMahan and Berry were all my particular friends. 
I have always had the utmost confidence in their 
valor and was not deceived. Captain Spencer was 
wounded in the head. He exhorted his men to 
fight valiantly. He was shot through both thighs 
and fell still continuing to encourage them. He was 
raised up and received a ball through his body 
which put an immediate end to his existence. Cap- 
tain Warrick was shot immediately through the 
body and taken to the surgery to be dressed. As 
soon as it was over, being a man of great bodily 
vigor and able to walk, he insisted on going back 
to the head of his company, although it was evi- 
dent that he had but a few hours to live." 



The loss of the army under Gk)vernor Harrison was 
thirty-seven killed in action and one hundred and fifty-one 
wounded. Twenty-five of this number died afterward of 
their wounds. The loss of the Indians was serious but as 
they carried all their wounded from the field during the bat- 
tle and their women and old men were burying their dead dur- 
ing the battle it was hard to ascertain. According to one re- 
port they left thirty-eight dead on the field and six more dead 
were found when their town was burned the next day. Major 
General Wells of Kentucky who took such a leading part in 
that fight said to a friend that after the battle he counted 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 269 

forty-five new gfraves near the town and that there were fifty- 
four dead Indians left on the g^round. An Indian woman cap- 
tured said that one hundred and ninety-seven Indians were 
missing:. From the reckless exposure of their persons during: 
the battle, they must have met with a heavy loss. 

The Indians were under the immediate command of three 
daring chiefs — White Loon, Stone Eater, and Winamac, a 
Pottawattamie who was killed the next November by Logfan 
the Shawnee scout. 

The Prophet had given assurance to his deluded follow- 
ers that the bullets of the Americans would fall to the 
ground, that their powder would turn to sand. Taking his 
position as Commander in Chief on an eminence, some dis- 
tance away, (perhaps not willing to risk his own person to 
the protection of his prophecies against the real American 
bullets,) he commenced the performance of mystic rites at the 
same time singing in his clear, loud voice a war song. Dur- 
ing the battle the Indians told him their people were being 
killed. He urged them to fight on saying it would soon be 
over and no more would be hurt. 

After the battle, the fleeing Indians upbraided him for 
his duplicity. He, as of old, laid it on the women, saying 
that his wife must have touched his charms. 

It has never been definitely known how many Indians 
there were in the battle but after gathering from all sources 
the best information that could be secured, it was thought 
the two armies had about the same number of men on the 
field. The Prophet's forces were gathered from the Shawnees, 
Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies, Wyandots, Kickapoos, 
Winnebago^s and Sacs. Immediately after their defeat the 
surviving Indians went back to their various tribes, denounc- 
ing the Prophet. His town which, contained a large amount 
of corn, was found and this with other provisions was des- 
troyed. Evidence of the British duplicity was also found. 
Several rifles which had been sent from Maiden were found 
that had not been unwrapped. 

Governor Harrison, on the eighth buried his dead and 
burned log heaps over their graves, but the Indians after- 



270 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ward dug: them up hunting: for trinkets and stripped them of 
their clothing:. 

On the ninth of November the army moved from their 
encampment over the route they had marched to the Prophet's 
town. The wounded were hauled in wag:ons, drawn by oxen. 
The oflBcers' camp chests, tents, and everything: that could be 
spared will burned so that room could be made for them. 
There was much suflFering: until they arrived at the blockhouse 
below the Vermilion river. The wounded were then put on 
boats and conveyed to Vincennes. Leaving: Captain Snelling: 
with his company of reg:ulars at Ft. Harrison, the army con- 
tinued its march toward Vincennes where it arrived on the 
eig:hteenth of November, 1811. The troops from Kentucky 
and those from the south-eastern part of Indiana Territory 
were discharg:ed on the nineteenth of November. 

Governor Harrison was continually exposed during: the 
action but escaped without injury. A bullet passed throug:h 
his stock or cravat and g:razed his neck. The enemies of 
Harrison afterward charg:ed that Colonel Abraham Owens 
was killed throug:h Harrison's fault. They claimed that at the 
beg:innin^ of the action. Owens, on a larg:e white horse, rode 
with Harrison to the point of attack and soon afterward was 
killed and they charg:ed that he changed horses with Owens. 
The fact was the Governor took a dark colored horse, the 
first one he could lay his hands on after his own white horse 
had broken loose and run away and the horse that Colonel 
Owens rode on was broug:ht from Kentucky with him. 

Another charge was that the Governor was responsible 
for the death of Colonel Joseph H. Davis, it being: claimed 
that he had ordered him into the charg:e before his men were 
in shape to make it. This was not true in any sense. Colo- 
nel Davis was a very resolute man and when he obtained per- 
mission he rushed forward leading: his men without having: a 
sufficient force to protect his flanks. The Indians attacked 
him on the flank and Colonel Davis was killed, being: a very 
conspicuous mark as he wore a white wool overcoat. Another 
very foolish charge agfainst the Governor was that the In- 
dians selected his camp for him. The truth was that the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 271 

camp he occupied was the only place suitable for an encamp* ^ 
ment of his forces for several miles around. Fortunately 
these chargfes were only believed by a few. 

The Territorial Leg^islature was in session when the 
army returned to Vincennes. There was gfreat rejoicing: 
among: the citizens that the Indians had been defeated and 
that the Prophet's town and provisions had been burned and 
destroyed. His confederated bands of Indians, having: lost 
faith in the Prophet's fallacies, went back to their different 
tribes. The Prophet, a fugitive, took up his residence among: 
the Hurons. 

The Territorial Leg:islature adopted the following: pre- 
amble and resolutions on the eig:hteenth of November: 

''Whereas, The services of His Excellency, 
Governor Harrison, in conducting: the army, the 
gallant defeniie made by the heroes under his im- 
mediate command and the fortunate result of the 
battle fought with the Confederacy of the Shawnee 
Prophet near Tippecanoe ' on the morning of 
the seventh of November, highly deserves the 
congratulations of every true friend to the interest 
of this Territory and the cause of humanity — 

"Resolved Therefore, that the members of 
Legislative Council and House of Representatives 
will wait upon His Excellency the Governor, as he 
returns to Vincennes, and in their own name and 
of those of their constituents, welcome him home. 

'*And that General W. Johnson be, and is here- 
py appointed a committee to make the same known 
to the Governor, at the head of the army, should 
not unforeseen causes prevent." 



At this period there were a few members of the Ter- 
ritorial Legislature and quite a number of the citizens who- 
were inclined to award Colonel Boyd and his small regiment 
of regular troops the honor of saving the army from defeat 
and destruction at the battle of Tippecanoe. Among this 
class of citizens were some who were known as the avowed 
enemies of Governor Harrison and who steadily opposed his 
administration of Territorial government, especially his pol- 



272 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

icy in making Indian treaties. Colonel Boyd could not help but 
feel indig^nant that malice and envy would lead people to such 
lengths in their opposition to successful rivals. The action of 
these people dwarfed the great achievements that had been 
accomplished by the small heroic army. His regiment did its 
full duty and was ably seconded by three times its number 
of militia of Indiana and Kentucky. He knew that there 
were no shirks — that every man of that army acquitted him- 
self honorably. The Legislature, in its attempt to ignore 
the militia and give the regular troops the praise for the vic- 
tory, belittled themselves and placed a cloud over the regular 
troops by attempting to award them an unmerited compli- 
ment. 

The following joint address of the two Houses of the 
Territorial Legislature was delivered to (Governor Harrison 
on the fifth of December, 1811. This address which was pre- 
pared by the Legislative Council was adopted in the House 
of Representatives by a vote of four to three. 

To His Excellency, William Henry Harrison, 

Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the 

Indiana Territory. 

When in the course of human events, it be- 
comes necessary for a nation to unsheath the sword 
in defense of any portion of its citizen and any in- 
dividual of society becomes intrusted with the im- 
portant charge of leading the army of his country 
into the field, to scourge the assailants of its rights 
and it is proved by the success of their arms that 
the individual possesses superior capacity accom- 
panied by integrity and other qualities of the mind 
ivhich adorn the human character in a superlative 
degree, it has the tendency to draw out the affec- 
tions of the people in a way that must be grateful 
to the soldier and the man. 

Such is the light. Sir, in which you have the 
honor to be viewed by your country and one which 
the Legislative Council and House of Representa- 
tives of this Territory think you are justly entitled 
to. And, Sir, in duly appreciating your service, 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 273 

we are perfectly sensible of the ^reat benefit and 
important service rendered by the officers and sol- 
diers of the United States Infantry under your 
command and it is with pleasure we learn that the 
officers and Militia men of our country acted with 
a heroism more than could be reasonably calculat- 
ed upon from men such as they were, undisciplined 
and unaccustomed to war." 



On the ninth of December, Grovemor Harrison transmit- 
ted the following" reply to the foregoing address: 

TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND THE HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES. 

Fellow Citizens: 

*'The joint address of the two houses which 
was delivered to me on the fifteenth inst. by your 
committee, was received with feelings which are 
more easy for you to conceive than for me to de- 
scribe. Be pleased to accept my sincerest thanks 
for the favorable sentiment you have been pleased 
to express of my conduct as Commander-in-Chief of 
the expedition and be assured that the good opinion 
of the people of Indiana and their representatives 
will ever constitute no small portion of my Happi- 
ness. If anything could add to my gratitude to 
you. Gentlemen, it is the interest you take in the 
welfare of those, brave fellows who fought under 
my command. Your memorial in their favor to the 
Congress of the United States does equal honor to 
the heads and hearts of those in whose name it was 
sent and is worthy of the Legislature of the Ind- 
iana Territory." 



On the twenty-fifth of November the Territorial House 
of Representatives passed some joint resolutions which, on 
account of the strong, special and somewhat exclusive praise, 
which they bestowed on Colonel Boyd and his regiment, were 
disagreed upon in the Legislative Council on the twenty- 



274 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA, 

seventh of the same month. The same resolutions were^ 
however, adopted by the House of Representatives on the 
fourth of December. 

**Rksolved by the House of Representatives of 
the Indiana Territory that the thanks of this house 
be given Colonel John P. Boyd the second in com- 
mand, to the officers, non-commissioned officers, 
and private soldiers, comprising: the Fourth U. 9. 
Regfiment of Infantry together with all the United 
States troops under his command, for the disting- 
uished regularity, discipline, coolness and imdaunt- 
ed valor so eminently displayed by them in the late 
brilliant and glorious battle fought with the Shaw- 
nee Prophet and his confederates on the morning 
of the seventh of November, 1811, by the army un- 
der the command of His Excellency, William 
Henry Harrison. 

"Resolved, that the said Colonel John P. 
Boyd be requested to communicate the foregoing 
to the officers and non-commissioned officers and 
private belonging to the said Fourth Regiment and 
that a copy of these resolutions signed by the 
speaker of this house be presented to the said Col- 
onel Boyd by a committee of this house. 

'^Resolved by the House of Representatives, 
of the Indiana Territory that the thanks of this 
house be presented to Col. Luke Decker and Col- 
onel Joseph Barthelomew, the officers, non-com- 
missioned officers and men composing the militia, 
corps under their command, together with the of- 
ficers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers com- 
posing the volunteer militia corps from the State 
of Kentucky, for the distinguished valor, heroism 
and bravery displayed by them in the brilliant bat- 
tle fought with the Shawnee Prophet and his con- 
federates on the morning of the seventh of Nov- 
ember, 1811, by the army under the command of 
His Excellency, William Henry Harrison." 



The following reply to these resolutions was sent to the 
House of Representatives by Colonel Boyd: 



PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 275 

* 'United States Troops Main Quarters, 

Vincennes, December 4, 1811. 

**To the Honorable House of Representatives, Ind- 
iana Territory. 

Gentlemen: 

**I have the honor for myself, the officers, and 
soldiers comprising: the fourth reg^iment, the rifle 
company attached, and the small detachment of 
Posey's company, to return you thanks for the dis- ^ 
ting^uished notice you have been pleased to take of 
our conduct in the battle with the Shawnee Pro- 
phet and his confederates on the morning: of the 
seventh of November, 1811, by your resolution of 
this day. If our efforts in the discharge of our 
duties shall have resulted in advancing: the public 
g:ood we are g:ratified and to believe that we have 
merited this tribute of applause from the assembl- 
ed representatives of this very respectable portion of 
our country, renders it peculiarly flattering: to our 
honor and our pride." 



Five days after the passag:e of the resolutions to which 
Colonel Boyd made the foregoing: reply, Governor Harrison 
seat the following message to the House of Representatives. 



**ljre 

44 



Gentlemen of the Hous^ of Representatives: 

Your speaker has transmitted to me two re- 
solutions of your house, expressive of your thanks 
to Colonel John P. Loyd and the officers and sol- 
diers of the Founh 13. S. Regiment, to Colonels 
Bartholomew and Decker and the officers and pri- 
vates of the militia under their command; also the 
Kentucky volunteers for their bravery and good 
conduct in the action of the seventh of November 
at the battle of Tippecanoe. 

*'It has excited my astonishment and deep re- 
gret to find that ihe mounted rifleiren of the Ter- 
ritory, who so eminently distinguished themselves 
and the squadron of Dragoons whose conduct 
was also so highly ireriiorious have, on this occa- 
sion, been totally neglected. 



i 



276 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



((' 



I cannot for a moment suppose g-entlemen, 
that 3'ou have any other wish than that of render- 
ing impartial justice to all the corps. I cannot be- 
lieve that you have the smallest tincture of that 
disposition which certainly elsewhere prevails to 
disparag^e the conduct of the militia and to deprive 
them of their share of the laurels which have been 
so dearly purchased by the blood of some of our 
best and bravest citizens. 

*No! I can never suppose that it was your in- 
tention to insult the shades of Spencer, McMahan, 
and Berry by treating: with contempt the corps 
which their deaths have contributed to immortalize, 
nor will I believe that a Davis, a White, a Ran- 
dolph and a McMahan have been so soon forgotten, 
nor that the corps to which they belonged and 
which faithfully performed its duty was deemed 
unworthy of 3'our notice. 

'*The omission was certainly occasioned by a 
mistake but it was a mistake by which, if it is not 
rectified, the feelings of a whole county and part 
of another, now abounding with widows and or- 
phans the uii happy consequece of the late action, 
will be wounded and insulted. 

'*The victory of the seventh of November, 
Gentlemen, was not gained by any one corps but by 
the efforts of all. Some of them indeed, more par- 
ticularl)' distinguished themselves and of this num- 
ber was the U. S. Regiment. In my oflScial report 
to the Secretary of War I -have mentioned them in 
such terms of approbation that if stronger are to 
be found in the English language, I am unacquaint- 
ed with them, but I have not given them all the 
honors of victory. To have done so I should have 
been guilty of a violence of truth, of injustice and 
of a species of treason against our Republic itself 
whose peculiar and appropriate force is its militia. 

**With equal pride and pleasure, then do I pro- 
nounce that, notwithstanding the regular troops 
behaved as well as men ever did, many of the mil- 
itia companies were in no wise inferior to them. 
Of this number were the mounted rillemen, com- 
manded by Captain Spencer. To them was com- 
mitted the charge of defending the right flank of 
the army. That it could not have been committed 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 277 

to better hands, their keeping their grounds, (in- 
deed gaining upon the enemy) for an hour and a 
half with unequalled arms, against superior num- 
bers, and amid a carnage that might have made 
veterans tremble, is sufficient evidence. Nor can I 
say that Captain Robb's company after it was 
placed by the side of Spencer's was at all inferior 
to it. It is certain that they, kept their post and 
their great loss shows that it was a post of danger. 
The dragoons also did everything that could have 
been expected from them in the situation in which 
they were placed. Before they were mounted, they 
certainly kept the enemy for a considerable time 
from penetrating the camp by the left flank and 
when mounted, they remained firm at their post 
although exposed to the tire of the enemy at a time 
when they were necessarily inactive and con- 
sequently placed ia a position most trying to 
troops. 

''The failure of the charge made by Major 
Davis was owing to his having emyloyed too small 
a number, but even with these, it is more than prob- 
able that he would have been successful if he had 
not unfortunately mistaken the direction in which 
the principal part of the enemy lay. A successful 
.charge was made, by a detachment of the dragoons 
at the close of the action and the enemy was driven 
into a swamp into which they could not be fol- 
lowed. 

*'You may perhaps. Gentlemen, suppose that I 
ought to have given you the information necerssary 
to your forming a correct opinion of the merits of 
each corps. Military etiquette however and the 
custom of our country forbade this. It is to the 
Government of the United States alone that a de- 
tailed account of an action is made. In this com- 
munication I have given you such information only 
as was necessary to enable you to correct mistakes 
which, I am sure, were unintentional on your part. 

*'My sense of the merits of the other corps of 
the army will be known when my official account is 
published." 

William Henry Harrison, 
Governor of Indiana Territory. 



278 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

In the Terriorial House of Representatives the commit- 
tee to whom the forg^oing: message was referred reported the 
following answer to the Governor which was adopted by the 
House on the seventeenth day of December, 1811. 

"His Excellency, William Henry Harrison, 

Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Indiana 
Territory. 

Sir: 

'*When this house addressed that portion of 
the troops to whicll you refer in your communica- 
tion of the ninth inst. it was not the intention of 
this body to cast a shade over any portion of the 
troops which were under the command of Your 
Excellency in the late engagement nor to take from 
the Commander-inChief, any of that honor which 
he so nobly acquired in the late victory. 

In the joint addres of both houses to you theit 
notice of the militia in general terms was thought 
suflScient as it was out of their power to notice 
every man who distinguished himself therefore it 
was considered that any evidence of respect paid to 
the Commander-in-Chief was an evidence of appro- 
bation to all. It is not to be supposed that those 
gentlemen to whom particular respect has been 
paid, have done any more than their duty, or that 
they distinguished themselves any more than many 
private soldiers. Those gentlemen who fell, some 
of them did well and some others had not the op- 
portunity, being killed to early in the battle, but 
there is not an individual in this body but acknow- 
ledges that it was a well fought battle and that 
praises are due; but they generally agree that the 
laurels won principally, ought to be the property 
of the Commander-in-Chief. 



ROLL OF THE ARMY THAT FOUGHT THE BATTLE 

OF TIPPECANOE, NOV. 7, 1811. 

♦Governor William Henry Harrison, Commander-in-Chief 

General Staff. 

William McFarland, Lieut. Col. and Adjutand General. 
Abraham Owen, Col. and Aide-de-camp, (killed Nov. 7, 

1811.) 
Henry Hurst, Major and Aide-de-camp. 
Waller Taylor, Major and Aide-de-camp. 
Marston G. Clark, Major and Aide-de-camp. 
Thomas Randolph, Acting: Aide-de-camp- (killed Nov. 7, 

1811.) 
'Captain Piatt, Second U. S. Infantry Chief Quartermaster. 
Captain Robert Buntin, Indiana Militia, Quartermaster of 

the Militia. 
Dr. Josiah D. Foster, Chief Surg^eon. 
Dr. Hosea Blood, Surgeon's Mate. 
Sec. Lieut. Robert Bunting: jr., Indiana Militia Foragfemaster* 

THE TROOPS. 

'Colonel John Park Boyd, Fourth U. S. Infantry, Commander 

of the Brigade with rank of Brigadier General. 
George Croghan, of Kentucky Volunteers, Aide-de-camp. 
Nathan F. Adams, Lieut, and Adjutant. 



A Roll op a Detachment op Field and Stapp op Indiana 

Militia. 

From September 11, to November 24, 1811. 

Joseph Bartholomue, Lieut. Col. (Wounded in action Nov» 
7, 1811.) 



280 . PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Regin Redman, Major and Aide-de-camp. 

Andre^Y P» Ha3'es, Surgeon's Mate. 

Joseph Brown, Adjutant. 

Joseph Clark, Quartermaster, Appointed Surgeon's Mate Oct. 

29, 1811. 
Chapman Dunslow, Sergeant Major. 
James Curry, Quartermaster Sergeant. 



Roi.L OF Field and Staff of Indiana Infantry Militia. 

From September 18, to November 19, 1811. 

Commanded by Lieut. Col. Luke Decker. 
Noah Purcell, Major. 
Daniel Sullivan, Lieut, and Adjutant. 
Benjamin S. V. Becker, Lieut, and Quartermaster. 
Edward Scull, Assistant Quartermaster. 

James Smith, Quartermaster, Appointed Captain of War- 
rick's Company Nov. 9, 1811. 
William Gamble, Quartermaster Sergeant. 
William Ready, Sergeant Major. 



Roll of Field and Staff of Dragoons of Indiana Militia • 

From September 21, to November 19, 1811. 

Major Joseph H. Davis, commanding (killed in action Nov. 
7, 1811.) 

Benjamin Park, Major, promoted Nov. 7, 1811. 
James Flo3'^d, Lieutenant and Adjutant. 
Charles Smith, SieUtenant and Quartermaster. 
General W. Johnson, Lieutenant and Quartermaster (pro- 
moted from ranks.) 
. William Prince, Sergeant Major. 



Roll of Captain Spier Spencer's Company of Mounted 

Riflemen of the Indiana Militia. 

This company was directly under the Commander-in-chief 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 281 

reported to and received orders from his headquarters. 

Spier Spencer, Captain (killed Nov. 7, 1811.) 
Richard McMahan, First Lieut, (killed Nov. 7, 1811.) 
Thomas Berry, Second Lieut., (killed Nov. 7, 1811.) 
Samuel Flanagan, Second Lieut. Promoted from Ensign,. 

Oct. 21, 1811. 
John Tipton, Captain (Promoted from private to Ensign, Oct^ 

21, 1811, to Captain Nov. 7, 1811. 
Jacob Zenor, Second Lieut. Promoted from Private Nov. 7^ 

1811. 
Phillip Bell, Ensign, Promoted from Private Nov. 7, 1811. 
Pearse Chamberlain, Sergeant. 
Henry Bateman, Sergeant. 
Elijah Hurst, Sergeant. 
Benjamin Beard, Sergeant. 

Robert Biggs, Corporal (Severely wounded Nov. 7, 1811.)/ 
John Taylor, Corporal. 
Benjamin Shields, Corporal. 
WiHiam Bennington, Corporal. 
Daniel Cline, Musician. 
Isham Stroud, Musician. 

PRIVATES PRIVATES 

John Arick James Heubbound 

Ignitus Able Robert Jones 

Enos Best James Kelley 

Alpheus Branham Thomas McColley 

Gadow Branham Noah Mathena 

Daniel Bell William Nance 

James Brown Thomas Owen 

Jesse Butler Samuel Pfriner 

Mason Carter Edward Ransdell 

John Cline Sanford Ransdell 
Marshall Duncan (killed Nov. James Spencer 

7, 1811.) 
William Davis (killed Nov. 7, Christover Shucks. 

1811.; 



282 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



Thomas Davidson 

James Dyce 

Henry Enlow 
William Hurst, jr. 
William Hurst, Sr. 
Beverly Hurst 
James Harberson 
James Watts 
Isham Vest 
Georg^e Zenor 



Joshua Shield, severely wound- 
ed 

Samuel Sand, (killed Nov. 7, 
1811.) 

George Spencer 

Jacob Snider 

John Right 

James Wilson 

John Wheeler 

P. McMickle 

Levi Dunn 

William Fowler 



Roll of Spies and Guides of the Indiana Militia. 
From September 18, to November 12. 

This organization reported direct to the Commander-in- 
•chief, Toussant Dubois, Captain Commanding. 



privates 
Silas McCulloch 

G. R. C. Sullivan 
William Polk 
William Bruce 
Piere Andre 
Ephriam Jordan 
William Show 
David Miles 
Booker Childers 



PRIVATES 

William Hogue (disc. Oct. 11, 

1811.) 
David Wilkins 
John Hollingsworth 
Thomas Learneus 
Joseph Arpin 
Abraham Decker 
Samuel James 
Stewart Cunningham 
Thomas Jordon 



Roll of a Company of Infantry of Indiana Militia. 
From September 16, to November 19, 1811. 
•Captain Jacob Warrick, Commanding killed Nov. 7, 1811. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



283 



Captain James Smith, Promoted from Quartermaster Nov. 9, 

1811. 
William Calton, Lieut. Dischargfed September 27, 1811. 
Thomas Montg^omery, jr. Promoted to Lieutenant Sept. 30, 

1811. 
James Duckworth, Ensig^n. 

Robert Montgfomery, Sergeant 

Robert McGarry, Sergeant. 

James Piercall, Sergeant. 

Isaac Woods, Sergeant. 

Benjamin Venables, Corporal 

Thomas Black, Corporal. 

Robert Denney, Corporal. 



PRIVATES 

James Alsop 
James Stewart 
Jesse Key 

Bennet Key 
James Withers 
Jesse Brewer 
Richard Davis 
Asa Music 
Smith Mounts 
James Stapleton 
Lewis Sealy 
James Bohannon 
Daniel Duflf 
William Todd 
John Gwins 
Burton Litton 
Peter Whetstone 
Timothy Dower 
Benjamin Stoker 
Miles Armstrong 
William Young 
Maxwell Jolley 



PKIVATES 

Fielding Lucas , 

John McGarry 
Thomas Montgomery (65 years 

old) 
John Montgomery 
Ephriam Murphy 
Langsdon Drew 
William Gwins 
William Black 
Joshua Capps 
Andrew McFaddon 
Squire McFaddon 
Wilson Jones 
Jeremiah Robinson 
Hugh Todd 
Martin Laughon 
George Lynxwiler 
William Stevens 
John Coyler 
Thomas Almon 
William Almon 
Thomas Duckworth 
John Robb 



i 



/ 



284 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

John Neel Randolph Clark 

William Black 



Roll of Company of Mounted Riflemen of the Indiana 

MlUTIA. 

From October 25, to November 19, 1811. 

David Robb, Captain Commanding^. ^ 

Joseph Montgomery, Lieutenant. 

John Waller, Ensig^n. 

Elsbery Armstrong, Sergeant. 

William Maxidon, Sergeant. 

Ezkial Kite, Corporfl. 

George Anthees, Corporal. 

Bryant Harper, Trumpeter. 

PRIVATES PRIVATES 

Amb. Decker John Za Orton 

James Tweedle Amstead Bennett 

William Peters Stewart Cunningham 

Frances Hall Booker Shields 

William Tweedle John Slaven 

John Severns jr. James Langsdown 

Thomas Sullivan Jesse Music (killed Nov. 7.. 

1811.) 

Daniel Fisher (killed Nov. 7, 

1811.) William Alsop 

Joseph Garress Thomas C. Vines 
Edwark Buttner (killed Nov. 

7, 1811.) Samuel James 

Thomas Shouse Frederick Rell 

William Selby \ John Black 
James Robb, severely wounded Jonah Robinson 

Isaac Rogers John Rogers 

James Bass George Leech jr. 

David Mills Thomas Givins 

John Black William Carson 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



285 



George Litton 
William Downing 

James Blanckes . 
James Minor 
Peter Cartright 
Thomas Garress 

David Tobin 
John Rigrgs 
Thadeus Davis 

Thomas P. Vampit 

John Crawford 

William Askins 

Alex Maken, badly wounded 

Moses Sandridge 

John Dragoo 

Robert Tenneson 

Joseph Right 

Thomas West 



David Knight 

Thomas Jordon, Trans, to Du- 
bois Company. 

William Bass 

Hugh Shaw 

David Lilley 

James Ashbury, killed Nov. 7, 
1811. 

Robert Wilson 

John Christ 

Kader Powell, killed Nov. 7, 
1811.. 

Thomas Dunn 

Jacob Kertner 

Johnathan Humphrey 

William Witherhold 

David Edwards 

Samuel Hamilton 

Richard Potts 

George Robinson, severely 
wounded 



Roll of a Company of the Indiana Militia. 

From September 11, to November 24, 1811. 

Captain John Norris, Commanding, wounded in action Nov. 

7, 1811. 
John Harrod, Lieutenant. • 

Joseph Carr, Ensign. 
John Drummond, Sergeant. 
William Combs, Sergeant. 
Brazil Prather, Sergeant. 
David Smith, Sergeant. 
Henry Ward, Corporal. 
John Harmon, Corporal. 
Joel Combs, Corporal. 



286 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



Robert Combs, Corporal. 

David Kelley, Corporal Sept. 30, 1811. 

Elisha Carr, Drummer. 

Joseph Perry, Fifer. 



PRIVATES 

Robert McNight 
Gasper Lootes 
Edward Norris 
Henry Cussamore 
C. Fipps 
John Gray 
Jacob Daily 



PRIVATES 

William Stacey 
Samuel Duke 
James Chipman 
Peter Sherwood 
George Distler 
John Kelley 
David Cross 



Thomas Clendenen, killed Nov. 

7, 1811. Robert Cunningham 

Abram Kelley, killed Nov. 7, 



1811. 
Henry Jones, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
James Smith 
Jevis Fordvce 
Cornelius Kelley 
E. Wayman 
John Newland 
Micaja Peyton 
Adam Peck 
Benjamin Thompson 
William Eakin 
John D. Jacobs 
Robert Tiffin * 
John McClintick 
William Aston 
Josiah Taylor 
Daniel McCoy 
Thomas Highfill 
Henry Hooke 
James Taylor 
James Duncan 



James Curry 

Samuel McClung, Quartermas- 
ter Sergt. 
John Berry 
Benoni Wood 
Amos Goodwin 
William Harman 
John Tilfero 
Lloyd Prather 
Samuel McClintic 
John Weathers 
Evain Arnold 
Hugh Epsy 
Townly Ruby 
William Ray son 
Ruben Slead 
George Hooke 
Jacob Pearsoll 
Samuel Neal 
Robert McClellen 
Joseph Warnock 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 287 

RoLi, OF A 'Company of Infantry of the Indiana Militia. 
From September 19, to November 19, 1811. 

4 

Captain William Harg^rove, Commanding. 

Isaac Montgomery, Lieutenant. 

Cary Ashley, Ensign, Resigned Oct. 27, 1811. 

Henry Hopkins, Ensign, promoted from Sergeant October 

27, 1811. 
David Brumfield, Lieutenant, promoted from Corporal Oct^ 

1811.' 
Bolden Conner, Sergeant. 
James Evans, Sergeant. 
David Miller, Sergeant, promoted from Corporal October 27,, 

1811. 
William Scales, Sergeant, promoted from private October 27,. 

1811. 
David Johnson, Corporal. 

PRIVATES PRIVATES 

Samuel Anderson John Braselton jr. 

Jer. Harrison John Flener 

Joseph Ladd Pinkney Anderson 

Thomas Archer William Archer 

James Lemm Charles Collins 

Joshua Day Charles Penelton 

William Pierson John Mills 

Robert Milborn John Cockrum 

John Lout Nathan Woodrough 

James Young John Tucker 

Auther Meeks John Conner 
Reuben Fitzgerald, slightly 

wounded Zachary Skelton 

Jacob Skelton Benjamin Scales 

William Gk)rdon Laban Putnam 

Reding Putnam John May 

Johnson Fitsgerald Thomas Arnett 

James Skelton Elias Barker 

Samuel Wheeler Robert Wheeler 



288 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



William Mangrum 
James McClure 
Benjamin Conner 
William Skelton 
Randolph Owen 
James Crow 
George Cunningham 
Joseph Mixon 
Edward Whitacer 
Robert Skelton, severly 

wounded 
Joseph English, Dis. Sept. 19, 

1811. 
Cabreen Merry, Dis. Sept. 19, 

1811. 



Conrod LeMasters 

Haz Putnam 

Joshua Stapleton 

William Harrington 

Isaac Tweedle 

Richard M. Kirk 

James Skidmore 

Samuel Gaston 

Chas. Meeks 

David Larrence, Dis.%Sept. 19, 

1811. 
Robert Montgomery, Dis. Sept. 

19, 1811. 



Roll of a Company of Infantry of the Indiana Militia. 

From September 18, to November 19, 1811. 

Captain Thomas Scott Commanding. 

John Purcell, Lieutenant. 

John Scott, Ensign. 

Joshua Duncan, Ensign. 

John Welton, Ensign. 

Frances Mallet. Ensign. 

Lanta Johnson, Ensign. 

Samuel Roquest, Ensign. 

John Moore Corporal. 

Abraham Westfall, Corporal. 

Elick C. Dushane, Corporal. 

Charles Bono, Corporal. 



privates 
Jesse Willis 
John Hornback 
John McCoy 
Andrew Westfall 
Walter Weil 



PRIVATES 

James McDonald 
Alpheus Pickard 
Zebulan Hogue 
William Watson 
William A. Clark 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 289 

William Welton Henry Lain 
Abram Woods killed Nov. 7, John Collins 

1811 

William Williams Samuel Risley 

William Collins Charles Fisher 

Robert Johnson Absolom Thome 

William Penny William Young 

William Jones John Collin, jr. 

William Bailey Charles Mail 

Richard Westrope Thomas McClain 

Joseph Ridley Henry O'Neil 

Joseph Alton Baptist Topale 

Antonia (rerome Mitchel Rtisherville 

Charles Dud ware John Baptist Bono 

Joseph Bushby Henry Merceam 

Austin Lature Louis A. Bair 

Charles Souderiette Ambrose Dashney 

Frances Berno Frances Bonah killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
^enro Bolonga died of wounds Louis Lovlett 

Nov. 18, 1811. 

Frances Borye'an John Mominny dis. Oct. 1811, 

Pierre Delura, sr. Pierre Delura, jr. 

Joseph. Besam Louts Boyeam 

Dominic Pashy Antonio Cornia 

Antonnie Ravellett John Baptist Cardinal 
Jack Obiah killed Nov. 7, Tossaint Deno 

1811. 

Joseph Reno Ustice Seranne 

Nicholas Valmare Joseph Sansusee 

Francis Arph Antoine Shennett 

Mandin Cardinal Louis Lowya 



Roll of A Company of Indiana Militia 
From September 18 to November 18, 1811. 
Captain Walter Wilson, Commanding. 



i 



290 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



Benjamin Beckes, Lieutenant. 
Joseph Nacomb, Ensig^n. 
Thomas J. Withers, Sergeant. 
John Decker, Sergeant. 
Thomas White, Sergeant. 
Isaac Minor, Sergeant. 
Daniel Risley, Corporal. 
William Shuck, Corporal. 
John Gray, Corporal. 
Peter Brenton, Corporal. 

PRIVATES 

William Gamble 

Batost Chavalar 

Joseph Harbour 

James Jardon 

John Anthis 

Louis Reel died Oct. 13, 1811. 

Richard Greentree 

Jacob Anthis 

Nathan Baker 

Sinelkey Almy 

Moses Decker 

Woolsey Pride 

Abraham Pea 

William Pride 

Jacob Harboson 

Joab Chappell 

John Risley 

Isaac Walker 

James Purcell 



PRIVATES 

William Brenton 
Thomas Chamers 
Adam Harness 
John Chambers 
Louis Frederick 
Asa Thorne 
Samuel Clutter 
James Walker 
John Bargor 
Peter Bargor 
Joseph Woodry 
Robert Brenton 
Thomas Mil bourn 
Benjamin Walker 
Sutten Coleman 
Robert McClure 
John Walker 
David Knight 



Roll of a Company of Infantry of the Indiana Militia. 

From September 18, to November 19, 1811. 

Andrew Wilkins, Captain commanding. 
Adam Lishman, Lieutenant. 
Samuel McClure, Ensign. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



291 



John Hadden, Sergfeant. 
Thomas Black, Sergeant. 
Samuel Leman, Sergeant. 
Charles Booth, Sergeant. 
Daniel Carlin, Corporal. 
John Edwards, Corporal. 
Richard Engle, Corporal. 
Abraham Bogard, Corporal. 

PRIVATES 

John Johnston 
Abraham Johnston 
Robert Murphy 
William Ashby 
Edward Wilkes 
Thomas Anderson 
James Calleway 
Isaac Luzader 
Asa McCord 
Robert Lilley 
William Hollingsworth 
Obadiah F. Patrick 
John Murphy 
James Harrel 
John Davis 
Robert Elsey 
Robert Brit ton 
John Rodarmel 
Joseph Hobbs 
Thomas Harrel 
William Hill 
Henry Collins 
Thomas Johnston 
William Black 
John Hardin 
Robert Polk 
George Gill 
Joseph McRennels 



PRIVATES 

John Mills 
Ames Mitchell 
Jesse Cox 
Londerick Earnest 
Rubin Moore 
Samuel Middleton 
James Tims 
Samuel Carruthers 
Nathan Adams 
John Eliott 
William Francis 
Aaron Quick 
Ebenezer Blackstone 
Samuel Culbertson 
Christopher Coleman 
Henry Matney 
William Filnt 
John Culbertson 
Albert Davis 
Joseph Edwards 
John Engle 
John Meeks 
Madison Collins 
Luke Matson 
Edward Bowls 
Charles Ellison 
James Graham 
John Purcell 



i 



292 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Georgre Bricrht Peter Lishman 

William Arnet Martin Palmore 

Samuel Lec:c:erwood 



Roll of a Company of Riflemen of Indiana Militia. 
Prom September 11, to November 24, 1811. 
John Bic:c:eri Captain commanding:. 
John Chunn, Lieutenant. 
Joseph Stillwell, Ensig^n. 
John Drummons« Sergeant. 
Isaac Mailory, Ser^reant. 
Rice G. McCoy, Serg^eant. 

Thomas Nicholas, Ser^reant, (Dis. Oct. 16, 1811.) 
Josiah Thomas, (Promoted Ser^reant Oct. 16, 1811.) 
James B. McCollou^^h, Corporal. 
Johnathan Hartley, Corporal. 
Thomas Chappell, Corporal. 
David BiggtTy Corporal. 
John Owens, Drummer. 
Jacob L. Stillwell, Fifer. 

PRIVATES privates 

James Robertson Joseph Warrick killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 

John Hutcherson Daniel Peyton 

Daniel Williams James Garner 

Heekiah Robertson Joseph Daniel 

John Denney James King 

John Gibson Amos Little 

John Walker John Pettitt 

John Carr William Nailor 

Vineyard Pond Andrew Holland 

John Heartley Daniel Kimberlain 

Samuel Stockwell David Owens, jr. 

Robert Robertson, jr. Absalom Carr 
Thomas Gibson, wounded Nov. James Robertson, jr. 
7, 1811. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



293 



James Anderson 

William Hutto 

Charles Matthews 

William Wright 

John Martin 

John Kelley 

David Copple 

James Elliot 

Moses Stark 

Georjife Reed 

James McDonald 

Alexander Montg^omery 

Leonard Houston, wounded 

Nov. 7, 1811. 
Tobias Miller 
John Gibson, jr. 



William Tisler, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Thomas Burnett 
John Covert 
John Finley 
Isaac Stark 
Wilson Sergeant 
William G. Guberick 
John Agins 
John Reed 
Benjamin Pool 
Isaac D. Hoffman 
William Hooker 
James Moonej 

Lucius Kibby 



A Roll of a Detachment of Mounted Riflemen of the 

Indiana Militia. 

From September 12, to November 23, 1811. 

Commanded by Thomas Berry, Lieutenant, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Zachariah Linley, Serg^eant, severely wounded November 7, 

1811. 



privates 
John Brier 
Frederick Games 
Thomas Elliot 
Joseph EJdwards 

David Hedrick 

Caleb Harrison 
William Lee 



PRIVATES 

John Beck 

John Doug^herty 

Griffin EMwards 

Peter Hanks, mortally wound* 

Nov. 7, 1811. 
Henry Hickey, killed Nov. 7» 

1811. 
Anthony Taylor 
Jacob Lutes 



294 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Daniel McMickle, killed Nov. Henry Moore 

7. 1811. 
Peter McMickle, severely Georg^e Mahon 

wounded 
Fredrick Wyman Samuel Lockheart 



Roll ok a Company of Light Dragoons of Indiana Militia. 

From September 18, to November 19, 1811. 
Benjamin Park, Captain Commanding-, Promoted to Major. 
Thomas Emmerson, Lieutenant. 
John Bathis, Cornet. 
George Wallace, Junior Lieutenant. 
Chirstian Grater, Sergeant. 
William Harper, Sergeant. 
Henry Rubby, Sergeant. 
John McClure, Sergeant. 
William H. Dunnica, Corporal. 
Levi Elliot, Corporal. 
Charles Allen, Corporal. 
Reubon Sal linger. Corporal. 
John Braden, Saddler. 

PRIVATES PRIVATES 

Charles Smith Peter Jones 

Joshua Bond Permena Beck 

William Prince Jesse Slawson 

Toussant Dubois, jr. Thomas Randolph 

John McDonald Miles Dolahan 

John Elliott Mathias Rose, jr. 

Henry Dubois Jesse Lucas 

William Berry William Purcell 

John Crosby Leonard Crosby 
William Meham killed Nov. 7, Samuel Drake 

1811. 

Samuel Emerson Samuel Alton 

Nathan Harness Daniel Decker 

John Seton Hawson Seton 

John Flint John D. Hay 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



295 



Hiriam Decker 

John I. Neely 

Pierre Laptante 

Andrew Purcell 

Albert Badolett 

Thomas Coulter 

Charles McClure 

Thomas McClure 

Thomas Palmer 

William A. McClure 

James McClure 

James Neal 

Charles Scott 

Isaac White, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Henry I. Mills 
James Mud 
Abner Hynes 
John OTallon 
William Luckett 
Reuben Buntin, jr. 
Robert Sturgen 



Ebenezer Hilton 

John McBain, Trumpeter 

John Pea 

James Steen 

Josiah L, Homes 

William W. Homes 

Jacque Andre 

John Bruce 

G. W. Johnston 

Clanton Steen 

Archibald McClure 

John Wyant 

James S. Petty 

John McClure 

Robert M. Evans 
G^org-e Croghlin 
Benjamin Saunders 
James Nabb 
Landon Carter 
John I. Smith 
James Harper 



Roll of a Company of Light Dragoons of thk Indiana 

Militia. 

From September 11, to November 23, 1811. 

Charles Beggs, Captain Commanding^. 

John Thompson, Lieutenant. 

Henry Bottorf, Lieutenant. 

Mordicia Sweeny, Cornet, Promoted to Lieut., Sept. 18. 

Davis Floyd, Promoted to Adjutant September 1811. 

John Carr, Serg-eant. 

James Sage, Sergeant. 

John Fisler, Sergeant. 

Abraham Miller, Sergeant. 

George Rider, C-orporal. 

Simon Prather, Corporal. 



2% PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



*v 



Hui^h Ross, Corporal. 
Samuel Battorf, Corporal. 
John Deats, Trumpeter. 

PRIVATES I*KIVATES 

Jacob Cresmore William Kelley killed Nov. 7^ 

1811. 

William Lewis Jaipes Ellison 

Timothy R. Rayment John Cowan 

John Gibbons * William Perry 

Edward Perry John (Joodwin 

Jmaes Hay John Newland 

Georg^e Twilley Milo Davis 
Maston G. Clark> Prom. Bri- Samuel Carr 

g^de Major. 

Joseph McCormick Richard Ward 

John Ferris Charles F. Ross 



Roll of Field and Staff of a Battalion of Kentucky 

Light Dragoon. 

Battle of Tippecanoe, October 16 to November 24, 1811. 

Samuel Wells, Major Commanding*. 
James Hunter, Adjutant. 



A Company Commanded by Peter Funk, Captain. 

Lewis Hite, Xrieutenant. 
Samuel Kelley, Cornet. 
James Martin, Ser^^eant. 
Adam Mills, Sergeant. 
Henry Conning:, Sergeant. 
Lee White, Sergeant. 
Elliot Wilson, Corporal. 
William Cooper, Trumpeter. 
Samuel Frederick, Farrier. 

PRIVATES privates 

William Dubberly John Edlin 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA- 



597 



William Ferg^uson 
James Hite 
Joseph Kenison 
John Murphy 
Enos Mackej 
Thomas Stafford 
John Smith 
M. Williamson 



Benjamin W. Gath 
I. Holling^sworth 
William M. Luckett 
James Muckleroy 
Thomas F. Mayors 
William Shaw 
William T. Tulley 
Samuel Willis 



Roll of Company of Kentucky Mounted Riflemen. 

Frederick Geic^er, Captain Commanding:. 

Presley Ross, Lieutenant. 

William EMward, Ensig^n. 

Daniel McClellen, Ser^reant. 

Robert Mclntire, Ser^reant. 

Robert ESdwards, Serjeant. 

John Jackson, Ser^reant. 

Steven Mars, Corporal, (killed Nov. 7, 1811.) 

John Hicks, Corporal. 

John Nash, Corporal. 

Henry Walts, Corporal. 

Joseph Paxton, Trumpeter. 



PRIVATES 

Phillip Allen 

William Brown 

Charles L. Byrne 

Adam Berket 

Charles Barkshire 

Temple C. Byrne 

Thomas Galliway 

John Dunbar 

Richard Finley 

Joseph Funk, wounded Nov. 

7, 1811. 
Isaac Gawthmey 
James Hanks 



PRIVATES 

Thomas Beeler 
James Ballard 
Joseph Barkshire 
John Buskirk, wounded 
Robert Bamaba 
Georg^e Beck 
William Cline 
James M. Edwards 
Nicholas Fleener 
John Grimes 

Henry Hawkins 
Zachariah Incrram 



298 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



Joshua Jest 

John Lock 

John Maicwell, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Daniel Minor 
Michiel Plaster 
Johnathan Pond 
Patrick Shields 
John W. Slaughter 



Elijah Lane 
Hudson Martin 
Josh Maxwell 

John Ousley • 

Samuel Pond 

Peter Priest 

EMmond Shipp 

Joseph Smith, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Thomas Spunks 



Augustus Springer, killed 

Nov. 7, 1811. 
James Somerville, killed Nov. Wilson Taylor 

7, 1811. 
Thomas Trigg: William Trigg 

Abraham Walk George W. Weljs 

Samuel W. White Greensbury Wright 



The Roll of the Field and Staff of the Fourth Reg- 
ular U. S. Infantry For November 1811. 

John P. Boyd, Colonel. 

James Miller, Lieutenant Colonel 

Zebulon M. Pike, Lieutenant Colonel. 

G. R. C. Floyd, Major. 

Josiah D. Foster, Surgeon. 

Hosea Blood, Surgeon*s Mate. 

John L. Eastman, Assistant Adjutant 

Josiah Bacon, Quartermaster. 

Nathan F. Adams, Paymaster. 

Winthrop Ayre, Sergeant Major. 

William Kelley, Quartermaster Sergeant. 



Roll of a Company of Infantry Under the Command of 
Captain Josiah Snelling of the Fourth Infantry. 

September 30, to November 30, 1811. 



PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 



299 



Josiah Snellin^, Captain. > 
Charles Fuller, First Lieutenant. 
John Smith, Second Lieutenant. 
Richard Fillebrown, Serg^eant. 
Jacob B. Rand, Serg^eant. 
Daniel Baldwin, Serg^eant. 
Ephriam Churchill, Serg^eant. 
John Shay, Corporal. 
Timothy Hartt, Corporal. 
Samuel Horden, Corporal. 
Benjamin Moores, Corporal. 
Amos G. Corey, Musician. 



PRIVATES 

John Austin 
James Bryce 
Michael Burns 
John Whitney 
Cephas Chace 
Jacob Collins 
Gills Willcox 
William Dale 

John Davis - 

Daniel Haskell, deserted 

25, 1811. 
Samuel French 
Allanson Hathaway 
Henry Indewine 
Abraham Larabee 
Gideon Lincoln 
Serfino Massi 
Vincent Massi 
Samuel Prichett 
Samuel Porter 
Joseph Petting^all 
Samuel Pixley 



PRIVATES 

Cyrus J. Brown 

Mark Whalin 

John Brewer 

Georg^e Blandin 

John P. Webb 

William Clou^h 

Thomas *Day 

Thomas Black, died October 

11, 1811. 
Abner Dutcher 
Sept. Phillip Eastman 

Rufus Goodenou^h 
William Healey 
William Jackman 
Asa Larabee 
EMward Mag^ary 
Lug^i Massi 
James McDonald 
James Theldon 
Jame« Palmer 
William B. Perkins 
Johnathan Robinson, died Oct. 
6, 1811. 



300 



PIONEER HJSTORY OF INDIANA. 



Greenleaf Sewey Elias Soper 

Wesley Stone Seth Sergreant 

John Trasher Phillip Trasher 

Joseph Tibbets, killed Nov. 7, David Wier 
1811. 



RoLi. OF A Company of Infantry Undbr the Command of 
George W., Prbscott of the Fourth U. S. Regiment. 

From October 3, to December 31, 1811. 

Georg^e W. Prescott, Captain. 
Ebcnezer Way, First Lieutenant. 
Benjamin Hill, First Lieutenant. 
John Miller, Serg^eant. 
William Huc:c:ins, Sergeant. 
Aaron Tucker, Ser^reant. 
Robert Sanborn, Corporal. 
Ephriam Dockham, Corporal. 
John Silver, Corporal. 
Samuel Fowler, Corporal. 
Moses Blanchard, Musician. 
John Ross, Musician. 



PRIVATES 

John Ashton 
George Bailey 
Benjamin Burnham 
Almerine Clark 
Nathan Colbey 
John Corsen 
James Cobby 
John Forriest 
Henry Godfrey 
Levi Griffin 
John Green 
Benjamin Hudson 
Amos Inc:ulls 
William Kelley 



PRIVATES 

Ira Bailey 
Able Brown 
Enoch Carter 
Stephen Clay 
Johnathan Colbey 
William Corsen 
Abraham Falson 
Thomas Glines 
John Gorrell 
Peter Griffin 
EMmund Heard 
Johnathan Herrick 
David Ingulls 
William Knapp 



PrONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 301 

Stephen Knigrht Peter Ladd 

Aaron Ladd Samuel Ladd 

Johnson Levering: Moses Mason 

James Merrill John Norman 

Ezra C. Peterson Lemuel Parker 
John Sanborn, killed Nov. 7, Barnard Shields 

1811. 

Nathan Simpson Luther Stevenson 

William Sharpless Israel Pilton 

John Virg^in Oliver Wakefield 

Silas Wells Isaac Wescott. 

Johnathan Wiley James Williams 



Roll of Captain Bban*s Company in the Fourth U. S. 

Rbgimbnt. 

From October 31, to December 31, 1811. 

William C. Bean, Captain, killed Nov. 7, 1811. 

Charles Larabee, First Lieutenant. 

Louis Beckhan;!, Second Lieutenant. 

James Traccy, First Serg^eant. 

Bernard A. T. Cormons,^ Second, Sergeant. 

William Stony, Third Serg^eant. 

Simon Crum, First Corporal. 

Edward Allen, Second Corporal. 

Amos G. Carey, Musician. 

Zebulon Sanders, Musician. 

PRIVATES PRIVATlfe 

George Bentley, died Dec. 16, Darius Ballow 

1811. 
Jeremiah Boner Ebenezer Collins 

John Dohahue Sylvester Dean 

Daniel Delong: Daniel Doyers 

John Davis Dexter Earll, mortally wound- 

ed Nov. 7, 1811. 
Timothy Foster Bryan Flanac^an 

Russell Freeman Andrew Griffin 



302 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



John Glover 
Samuel Hawkins 
John D. Hall 
Titus Knapp 
John T. Mohonnah 
Nathan Mitchell 
Smith Nanhrup 
James Pinel 
Daniel Rodman 
Nathan Witherall 
William Williams 
August Ballow 



Samuel Gunnison 
Peter Harvey 
John Jones 
Weatherall Leonard 
John Miller 
Francis Nelson 
Benjamin S. Peck 
Isaac Rathbom 
Benjamin Vandeford 
James Whipple 
Job Winslow 
William Button 



RoL,L OF Captain Joex Cook's Company of Infantry in thr 

Fourth U. S. Regiment. 

From October 31, to December 31, 1811. 

Joel Cook, Captain 
Josiah Bacon, Second Lieutenant. 
James A. Bennett, Sergfeant. 
Daniel Skelton, Serg^eant. 
Caleb Betts, Serg^eant. 
Henry Munn, Serg^eant. 
Nathaniel Heaton, Corporal. 
John Anthony, Corporal. 
David B, Kipley, Corporal. 
Abig^ah Bradley, Musician. 
Samuel Thompson, Musician. 

PRIVATES 

William Bird 

Gorden Beckwith 

William Barnett 

Denison Crumby, mortally 

wounded Nov. 7, 1811. 
Robert Coles 



William Foreman 



PRIVATES 

Alexander Brown 
George Brasbridge 
Alfred Cobourne 
Eliakins Culver 

Charles Cog:er, killed Nov. 7,. 

1811. 
Joseph Francis 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 30S 

Ezra Fox Levi Gleason 

Benjamin Holland Roswell Heminway ' 

John Hutchenson Michael Houck 

Abraham Johnson David Kinchbacker 

Georgfe Kilborn Daniel Lee, killed November 

7, 1811. 
William Moore William Nervill 

James Pinkitt Michael Pende^rass 

Ansom Twitchell Elisha Pearson 

John Williams James Parker 

Johnathan Walling^ford Amos Royce, killed November 

7, 1811. 
John Pinckley Jesse Elam 

Nathan Snow, mortally wound- Robert Riley 

ed Nov. 7, 1811. 
Everett Shelton Daniel Spencer 

Samuel Smith William Sanderson 

Robert Thompson John St. Clair 



Roll op Captain Return B. Brown's Company of Infantry 

Fourth U. S. Regiment. 

From October 31, to December 31, 1811. 

Return B. Brown, Captain. 

John Smith, Second Lieutenant. ^ 

Oliver C. Barton, First Lieutenant. 

Ebenezer Moweer, Serg^eant. 

David Robinson, Sergeant. 

Levi Jenison, Serg^eant. 

Daniel Reed, Serg^eant. 

Ephri^m Sillaway, Corporal. 

J^el Kimble, Corporal. 

Samuel S. Bing^ham, Drummer. 

Henry Hayden, Fifer. 

privates privates 

Lewis Bemmis Bazalul Bradford 

Elias Barrett Auston Bradford 



304 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Benjamin Bartlett Eli Boyd 

Henry Beck Zalmon Blood 

Caleb Calton William W. McConnel 

Comadovas D. Cass Rowland Edwards 

Joseph Flood Joseph Follet 

Ebenezer P. Field Harvey Geer 

Peter Greeney Walter T. Hitt 

Samuel Hillyard Mood B. Lovell 

Bliss Lovell William Morfi^eteroid 

John Morfi^an • David H. Miller 

Obediah Morton Moses Pearce 

Jacob Prouty James Roberts 

Mahew Rolling^s Jered Smith 

David Tuthill Peter R. Stites 

David Wells Josiah Willard 
John Yeomans, killed Nov. 7, ^ 
1811. 



Roll of Captain Robert C. Barton's Company op the 

Fourth U. S. Regiment. 

For December and November, 1811. 

Robert C. Barton, Captain. 

Abraham Hawkins, Second Lieutenant. 

Oranfi^e Pooler, Sergeant. 

Marshall S. Durkee, Serfi^eant. 

William Turner, Corporal, wounded Nov. 7, 1811. 

Horace Humphrey, Corporal. 

Daniel Kellofi:, Drummer. 

privates privates 

John Adrickson Jesse C. Clark 

Phillip Coats Robert Doufi^las, wounded Nov. 

7, 1811. 
William Foster, wounded Nov. Ichabald Farmer 

7. 1811. 
John D. Jones David Kervus, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



305 



Isaac Little Timothy McCoon 

John McArthur Joseph Polland 

Silas Perry William Stevenson 
' Samuel Souther, wounded Nov. Rowland Sparrowk 

7, 1811. 

Lewis Taylor, killed Nov. 7, Leman E. Welch, killed Nov. 

1811. 7, 1811. 

George Wilson Henry Bates 
Thomas Clark 



Roll of Company of Infantry of the Fourth U. S. Regi- 
ment. 

October 31, to December 31, 1811. 

Charles Fuller, First Lieutenant, Commanding. 

Nathan F. Adams, First Lieutenant and Paymaster. 

John L. Eastman, First Lieutenant. 

(rcorgre P. Peters, Second Lieutenant. 

Isaac Ricker, Serg^eant. 

David H. Lewis, Serg^eant. 

James Pike, Sergeant. 

Jedediah Wentworth, Corporal. 

Henry Moore, Corporal. ' 

Solomon Johnson, Corporal. 

Henry Tucker, Corporal. 

Nathan Brown, Musician. 

Joel Durell, Musician. 

PRIVATES 

John Adams 
William Brown 
John Burns 



Samuel Cook 
Ivory Courson 
Elisha Dyer 
Johnathan Elkins 
John S. Gordon 



PRIVATES 

William Andrews 

William Bowles 

Joseph Burditt, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Caleb Pritchett 
Samuel Coffin 
Jeremiah Emmerson 
Noah Tumwald 
William Greg^s 



i 



306 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



Joseph Farrow 

Solomon Herthford 

Johnathan W. Ham 

Steven Harris 

Nathan Harris 

James Heath 

Amos Jones 

Willliam King, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Asa Knight 
William Layman 
James McDuffy 
Jerry Malthup 
Henry Nutter 
William Perkins 
Curtis Pipps 
John Rice 
John M. Rowlins 
Isaac Tutle 
Ichabold Wentworth 
Enoch Werthon 
Silas Wood 
Timothy Waldron 
Phillip Allen 



Robert Gordon 
William Ham 
Steven Hawkins 
John Hurd 
Joseph Hunt 
David Heath 
Samuel King 
Jacob Keyser 

Joseph Layman 

Joseph Mears 

Robert Macintosh 

Isaac Nuts, killed Nov. 7, '11 

Richard Perry 

Jacob Pearsey 

John Rowell 

Steven Ricker 

Stanton Smiley 

John S. Watson 

Robert Whitehouse 

John Welch 

Charles Wait 

Zadock Williams 



Roll of a Company of Infantry Under the Command of 
Lieut. O. G. Burton of the Fourth U. S. Regiment. 

From October 31, to December 3, 1811. 

O. G. Burton, First Lieutenant. 

George Gooding, Second Lieutenant. 

Montgomery Orr, Sergeant. 

Knewland Carrier, Sergeant. 

Major Mantor, Sergeant. 

James Mitchell, Corporal, (killed in action Nov. 7, 1811.) 

David L. Thompson, Corporal. 

Lucius Sallis, Corporal. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 



307 



William Durnon, Corporal. 
Ellas Printice, Musician. 

PRIVATES • 

Leonard Arp 

Amost Blanchard 

Levi Carrey, killel Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Zenas Clark 

Issacher Green 
William King 
Joseph Russell 

John Spergen 
Samuel B. Spalding 
Samuel Tibbets 
Alexander Bowen 



PRIVATES 

Noyes Billings 

Caleb Boston 

Johnathan Crewell, killed Nov* 

7, 1811. 
Daniel Oilman, killed Nov. 7, 

1811. 
Thomas Harvey 
William Pomeroy 
James Stevenson, mortally 

wounded Nov. 7, 1811. 
William Sergeant 
Morton Thayer 
John Vickery 



Roll of a Company of Riflemen of the Rifle Regiment 

U. S. Army. 

From October 31, to December 31, 1811. 

A. Hawkins, Lieutenant, Commanding. 

Peter Wrighi, Sergeant. 

Reuben Newton. Sergent 

Aaron W. Fashbush. Sergeant. 

James Phillips. Sergeant. 

Henry Baker, Corporal. 

Aaron Melen. Corporal. 

William Hunter, Corporal. 

Henry Nurchstead, Ensign. 

Adam Walker, Musician. 



privates 
Ebenezer T. Andrews 
John Everin 

Steven Brown 



PRIVATES 

Otis Andrews 

William Brigham, died from 

wounds. 
William Brown 



308 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Samuel Bigfi^s Robert Cutter 

Joseph Datton Reuben Durant 

Francis Ellis Thomas Hair 
James Haskel, killed Nov, 7, Ephraim Hall 

1811. 

Samuel Johnson Silas Kendle 

Patrick Norton Israel Newhall 

Fredrick Roads Marcus D. Ransdill 

Thaddeus B. Russell William Read 

Francis Rittiere Edward R. Seeck 

Samuel Hing: Ira D. Trowbridg^e, killed Nov. 

7, 1811. 

Neham Wetherill Ezra Wheelock 

The rollfof General Harrison's army in the Tippecanoe 
campaig^n was copiyed from the muster rolls in Washing^ton 
D. C. in 1866, at that time some of the names were hard to 
make out. 



CHAPTER XI. 



INDIANA'S TRIBUTE TO KENTUCKY. 



Blood is thicker than water and in the veins of Indiana^s 
children flows the blood of the brave Kentucky emigrants. 
Forgetful and thankless indeed would we be did we not keep 
the sacred fires of memory burning upon the alter of our ap- 
preciation — appreciation of those finer ties of kindship which 
have woven the experiences of these tvo magnificent states 
into a common history. Amid the busy, absorbing scenes of 
the present and the dawning visions of a still greater future, 
we need some fair muse of history to take us by the hand and 
lead us back for a season under the dark, dense, primeval for- 
ests, and sitting down with us on the fallen trunk of a great 
oak, point out and name the heroic figures which pass by 
with stealthy tread, and there tell us again of the birth and 
childhood of our States. **Great Gk)d of Hosts, be with us 
yet, lest we forget — lest we forget." 

Kentucky, when thy brave children crossed the Ohio and 
pierced our tangled wilderness, here on the hills and in the 
valleys of Indiana many of thy sons poured out their life blood 
and many were burned at the stake. Thy fair daughters, 
too, were led as prisoners by the savage Indians and sold to 
the unprincipled British Officers of Canada— doomed to slav- 
ery and a life worse than death. A race less noble would 
have shrunk back at the awful sacrifice. Not so with thee, 
for thy oflfering was unceasing until from thy bosom thou 
didst send us such men as Boone, Clark, Hopkins, Scott, and 
Shelbey to lead the hosts of Kentucky's heroes in defense of 
Indiana's soil. Thy pure and noble Owen and thy gifted 
patriot, Davis, bled for our protection at Tippecanoe, when. 



310 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

they, with a hundred others, led by Gen. Wells, dared to 
brave the terrible ordeals of that bloody battle. No one can 
lay the charg^e to thee that thou hast been miserly even with 
the choicest blood of thy chivalry. 

We cannot forgret that thou gravest the world its match- 
less Clay and unto us our Lincoln — gifts for which unending 
tribute shall be laid at thy feet. 

Again in' those daj's when the sons of Indiana were pre- 
paring to cross thy soil to save the Union, true it is, that for 
a moment thou didst halt and turn thy face to the Southland 
with a look of anxious solicitude but in the next moment thou 
didst face to the North, look upon the starry emblem of the 
Nation's greatness and invite the boys in blue to cross thy 
borders. Yea, when the smoke of battle had lifted and we 
walked among the pale faces upturned to the stars, Lol 
among the dead in blue were thousands of thine own brave 
sons and none had fallen nearer the ramparts of the foe. 

Yes, Kentucky, as green as the blue grass that tints thy 
everlasting hills, shall Indiana's tribute offering to thee be 
kept, and in her debt of gratitude shall she give thee first 
place for thy priceless gifts as yet unsung but not forgotten. 



CHAPTER XII. 



FURTHER fflSTORY OF TECUMSEH AND THE 

PROPHET, 



In the chapter entitled the battle of Tippecanoe an early 
history of the noted Indians, Tecumseh and the Prophet is 
^iven. That history is carried down to Aug^ust the Sth, 
1811, when Tecumseh started south to lay his plans of con- 
federation before the southern Indians and induce them to 
join the northern Indian Confederation. Tecumseh 's whole 
aim and ambition after the defeat of the Indians by General 
Wayne at the battle of the Maumee, was to bring* all the In- 
dians in America, west of the Alleghanj' Mountains into one 
^reat confederation. He contended that the Great Spirit had 
given the Indian race the hunting grounds to hold in common 
for the use of all and that no tribe or. nation of Indians could 
make any cession or treaty of any of the lands without all the 
tribes in council would sanction the agreement. 

But little is known of Tecumseh's visit south more than 
what has come through tradition. At Taledega in 1811 in 
the last visit Tecumseh made to the southern Indians, when 
he was making a speech before the vast numbers. Weather- 
ford, the great Chief of the Creek Nation asked him why he 
did not bring all his young men from the north, east and 
west and concentrate them at points on the Ohio river and 
drive the Long Knives back, Tecumseh answered — **A11 the 
Indians must work in the same yoke. They must show the 
white man that they are in earnest, not for booty, not for 
scalps — ^Nol No! — but for the country they were born in and 



312 PIONEER. HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

the country the bones of their fathers lay in. There has al- 
ready been too much partisan warfare. It must be made 
g^eneral and alone for the purpose stated. Then all just men 
will be our friends." 

Tecumseh was probably the most noted Indian that was 
known to the white race. His great power by his unequalled 
oratory, combined with an intelligent and a farseeing mind 
was the reason for the influence by which he held such con- 
trol of the different nations which surrounded him. Tradi- 
tion holds that the Shawnee Nation of which he was a dis- 
tinguished member had lived far to the south, that the game 
becoming scarce in the land where they lived, the Nation 
came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and settled in and 
around that section of southern Illinois where Shawneetown 
is located. From there they moved to the Wabash and to 
the waters of the White river. This tribe of Indians was al- 
ways the most determined enemy the whtie man had and carried 
on a relentless warfare with them and were regarded as the 
bravest of all the Indians in battle. The Shawnee language 
was the most musical in its articulation of any spoken by the 
aboriginal race and the speeches made by Tecumseh, had an 
effect on its hearers that was wonderful. His oratory was so 
eloquent in sound and his gestures so forceful that any one 
hearing him, if he did not understand a word he said, would 
be spell bound. At one of the last visits that Tecumseh made 
to Vincennes to hold a conference with (Governor Harrison 
he was invited by Harrison to take a seat with him in a chair 
which stood on a low platform where the Governor, the In- 
terpreter and Secretary sat. Tecumseh hesitated but Harri- 
son insisted saying that it was the wish of their Great Fath- 
er, the President that he should do so. The Chief paused, 
raised his strong, commanding form to its greatest height 
and looking straight at the (Governor, and pointing toward 
the skies with vehement gesture, said in a loud, musical voice 
— "The sun is my father — the earth is my mother and on her 
bosom I win recline." Then he and his warriors seated 
themselves on the earth. The speech and actions were elec- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 313 

trical and every one present felt the greatness of this wonder- 
ful barbarian. 

DeLome, who was a prisoner for many years and by the 
success of battle or by purchase was connected with many 
noted Indians, in his unpublished MSS gives an account of a 
visit by Tecumseh and Francis (The Prophet) to the Osag-e 
Indians in the west some time in the fall of 1809 or '10 for 
the purpose of urging them to join the great Indian confed- 
eration that they were working on. There was a very large 
gathering to hear the Shawnee Chief. The Council was con- 
vened and listened to his eloquent, fiery oratory for more than 
two hours and became intensely wrought up by it. In fact so 
great was the effect produced by the portrayal of the Indians' 
wrongs and the way, by cheating, designing and unfair 
mean^, the white man had gained possession of so much of 
the Indian country, that the head chief, for fear the Council 
would unanimously endorse Tecumseh and join his confed- 
eration, as soon as he had finished speaking, adjourned the 
Council and advised those present to go to their homes and 
think over what their strange brother had so eloquently por- 
trayed to them. In the same connection DeLome says — **The 
occasion and subject were peculiarly adapted to call into ac- 
tion all the powers of genuine patriotism also the language, 
gestures, and feeling, contending for utterance, that were 
exhibited by this untuiored native of the forest, in the cen- 
tral wilds of America. No audience either in ancient or mod- 
ern times, ever before witnessed such an accasion." The 
Prophet the next day made a long speech and used nearly 
the same words Tecumseh had, but did not make the least 
impression on his audience. Some days after these events 
the Indians in Council decided to stand by their treaties with 
the Great Father and declined Tecumseh's invitation. 

Before Tecumseh had left on his southern .trip, he had a 
definite understanding with his brother, the Prophet, and 
the chiefs of the other tribes on the Wabash that nothing 
was to be done during his absence to bring on a collision 
with the white people. The great number of Indians assem- 
bled at the Prophet's town became impatient to test the 



314 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

assured promises of the Prophet. They committed many- 
petty offenses against the border settlements, stealing their 
horses and killing their cattle and in some cases killing and 
scalping the unsuspecting people. This became so offensive 
that Harrison determined to put a stop to it and the battle of 
Tippecanoe was the result. 

Tecumseh on his return from the south, learning what 

had happened was overcome with chagrin, disappointment 
and anger, accusing his brother of duplicity and cowardice. 

He spent some time in negotiating through runners with 
•Governor Harrison to arrange for a visit for himself and a 
number of chiefs, to President Madison. Failing in this and 
other plans which he could not perfect, he went to Maiden 
and joined the British army. 

At the beginning of the war of 1812, Tecumseh was 
ready for the coming conflict. Soon after he went to Maiden 
there was an assemblage of Indians at Browhstown who were 
in favor of standing aloof and letting the British and Amer- 
icans fight it out. They sent a runner to Maiden and invit- 
ed Tecumseh to attend the gathering. He indignantly re- 
fused to have anything to do with the meeting, saying that 
he had taken sides with the king, his father, and would suf- 
fer his bones to bleach on that shore before he would recross, 
the stream to take part in any council of neutrality. He was 
in the battle of Brownstown and commanded the Indians in 
an action near Maguaga where he was wounded. For brav- 
ery in that engagement he was made a Brigadier General in 
the British army and in the protracted siege of Ft. Meigs he 
acted with great bravery. After the telling defeat of Gen- 
eral Procter at Fort Stephenson the British troops returned 
by water to Maiden, while Tecumseh, with the Indians 
passed overland around the head of Lake Erie and rejoined 
the British at Maiden. Tecumseh became discouraged for 
the want of success, having lost all confidence in General 
Procter's ability and seriously meditated the withdrawal of 
his Indians from the service. Commodore Perry's victory 
was witnessed by the Indians from a distant shore. On the 
day after the engagement Proctor said to Tecumseh — *'My 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 315 

:fleet has whipped the Americans but the vessels being much 
injured, have g^one to Put-in-Bay to refit and will be here in 
^ few days." This deception was not of long: duration. 
Tecumseh soon saw indications of a retreat from Maiden and 
promptly inquired into the matter. General Procter informed 
him that he was going to send his valuable stores up the 
Thames where they would be met with reinforcements and be 
^af e. Tecumseh was not to be fooled by such a shallow device 
and remonstrated most earnestly against retreating. He 
finally demanded that the Indians in his command be heard by 
Procter and delivered to him as the representative of his Great 
Father, the king the following speech: * 'Father, listen to your 
children. You have them now before you. The war before 
this you gave the hatchet to your Red Children. Then our 
Oreat Chiefs were alive— now they are dead. In that war our 
Father was thrown on his back by the Americans and made a 
treaty with them of mutual friendship without consulting his 
Red Children and we are afraid that our Father will do 
so at this time. Summer before last, when I came forward 
wiih my red brethren and was ready to take up the hatchet, in 
favor of the British Father, we were told not to be in a hurry 
— that he had not yet decided to fight the Americans. Listen! 
When war was declared our Father stood up and gave us the 
tomahawk and fold us that he was then ready to fight and 
strike the Americans — that he wanted our assistance and 
that we would certainly get our land back that the Amer- 
icans had taken from us. Listen! You told us at that time 
to bring forward our families and we did so and you prom- 
ised to take care of them, that they should want for nothing 
while the men went to fight the enemy — that we need not 
trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrisons, that we knew 
nothing about them and that our Father would attend to 
that part of the business. Listen! You also told your Red 
Children that you would take good care of your garrison here 
which made our hearts glad. Listen! When we were last at 
the Rapids it is true that we gave you but little assistance. 
It is hard to fight people who live like groundhogs. Father, 
Listen! Our fleet has gone out. We know they fought — we 



316 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

have heard the grreat g^uns but know nothing: of what has. 
happened to our Father with the one arm (Commodore Bar- 
clay). Our ships have gone one way and we are much aston- 
ished to see our Father tying up everything and preparing 
to run away the other way, without letting his Red Children 
know what his intentions are. You always told us to remain 
here and take care of our land. It made our hearts glad to 
hear that was your wish. Our Great Father, the King, is. 
the head and you represent him. You always told us that you 
would never draw your foot off British ground but now^ 
Father, we see you are drawing back and we are sorry to see 
our Father do so without seeing the enemy. We must com^ 
pare our Father's conduct to a fat dog that carries its tail on. 
its back but when frightened drops it between its legs and 
runs away. Father, listen! The Americans have not de- 
feated us yet by land neither are we sure that they have done 
so by water. We wish to remain here and fight our enemy 
should they make their appearance. If they defeat us we 
will retreat with our father. Listen! At the battle of the 
Rapids in the last war, the Americans certainly defeated us. 
and when we retreated to our Great Father's fort, at that 
place, the gate was shut against us and we are afraid it 
would now be the same, but instead of that we now see our 
British Father preparing to march out of his garrison. 
Father, you have the arms and the amunition which our 
Great Father sent for his Red Children. If you have an 
idea of going away, give them to us. You may go and wel- 
come. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We 
are determined to defend our land and if it be His will, we 
wish to leave our bones upon it." 

When Tecumseh went into the battle of the Thames he 
had a strong presentiment that he would not survive that 
engagement. He had but little hope of victory but resolved 
to win or die. With this determination he took his stand 
among his men, raised the war-cry and boldly met the enemy^ 
From the commencement of the attack on the Indian line his 
voice was distinctly heard by his followers animating thenr 
to deeds of valor. From the start he was in the thickest of 



PIONEER HISORY OF INDIANA. 317 

the figrht, doing: everything* he could to encourage his men to 
stem the tide of the encroaching Americans. When his voice 
was no longer heard the battle ended as the British had sur- 
rendered some time before. But a little way from the body 
of the great Tecumseh was found that of his friend and 
brother-in-lkw, Wasegoboah. These two heroic Indians on 
many battle fields had fought side by side. Now, in front of 
their men they closed their eventful lives at the battle of the 
Thames, October the 5th, 1813. 

The Prophet, Elkswatawa, after the defeat of 6is mis- 
guided adherents at the battle of Tippecanoe, settled with a 
band of Wyandotte Indians some distance south of the Wa- 
bash river. Remaining there for a while he then took up his 
residence with a small band of Hurons farther north where 
he remained until 1812. He then went to Maiden and was in 
the British service in many capacities. Probably the most 
that he did was to organize raiding parties to murder the in- 
habitants on our frontiers. For this ignominious service, the 
British Grovernment felt so grateful that they gave him a 
pension from 1813 as long as he lived. After the war he 
lived in Canada for several years, then went back to the 
neiighborhood of his old haunts. Here he remained for a 
short period and moved to the west of the Mississippi, where 
he spent his old age with a band of the once powerful Shaw- 
nee Indians, until 1834, when he died. 



CHAPTER XIII 



PIONEER INDUSTRIES. 



Crude Farming Implements and Cooking Utensels^Mil- 
LING — Flax Industry — Loom — Whipsaw — Shoe Mak- 
ing — Rope Walk^Bee Hunting — Witchcraft. 



In the pioneer days there was no wagon or blacksmitn 
shop in the country and the early settlers had to depend on 
their own resources for such farming tools as they needed. 
They made a very ^trviceable plow with a woodenmoldboard. 
The plowshare, point and bar were of iron all in one piece. 
Three short bolts, two for the moldboard and one to fasten 
the handle to the heel of the bar, and one long bolt from the 
bottom of the share up through the plow sheath to the top 
of the beam, was all ihe iron about the plow, and that cost 
more than the best two horse plow would cost now. 

The wooden moldboard was made of the best hard wood 
obtainable. Whiie Oak was ofien used. Post oak was the 
hardest of any and when dried was the smoothest. After 
fashioning the moldboard it was dressed down to the proper 
size and shape and then placed in the chimney above the fire 
to season. The stock was made of the best hard wood and 
much after the fashion of today only not so smooth nor in 
any way finished as well, but it was strong and serviceable. 

They had a very serviceable harrow made entirely of 
wood. They secured a slippery elm or iron-wood if they 
could find any large enough and cut four pieces the proper 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 319 

length for an A harrow, first sloping the two side pieces at 
one end and fitting them to the center or tongue piece, a hole 
having been bored through each of the three pieces^ and 
securely pinning them together. A cross piece ;was then 
placed about the middle of the harrow and pinned to the cen- 
ter and the two side pieces. Two inch auger holes were then 
bored along the two side pieces about ten inches apart and 
filled with dried hickory pins that extended about eight 
inches below the side timbers, thus making a harrow that did 
good work and required a heavy pull to break in any way. 

For single and double trees they made them much after 
the fashion of today, except that the clips, devices and lap 
rings were made of hickory withes, which if properly made 
would last for a season. The horse collars were made mostly 
of corn shucks platted in large rope-like sections and sewed 
together hard and fast with leather thongs, to make the 
bulge or large part of the collar, short pieces of platted 
shucks were made and fastened as high up as needed. A roll 
made by sewing two platted parts .together was securely 
fastened on the edge of the collar forming a groove for the 
hames to fit in. They also made collars of raw hrde, cutting 
it in the proper shape and sewing the edges together, stuff- 
ing the inside with deer hair to make it hold its shape. Hoop 
ash timber was pounded up fine and when mixed with deer 
hair made a better material for the purpose than the manu- 
factured excelsior of today. 

The bridle was made of raw hide. For a bit they took a 
small hickory withe, made a securely fastened ring on both 
ends of it, leaving enough of the withe between the rings to 
go into the horse's mouth and wrapping that portion with 
raw hide to keep the horse from biting it in two. They then 
fastened the head stall and reins to the rings. 

A bridle was made very quickly by securing a piece of 
raw hide long enough for the reins, then putting the leather 
in the horse's mouth and looping it around his lower jaw just 
back of his front teeth, with this a horse was guided better 
and with more ease th^n with the bridle bit. 

Hames were made from the lower part of the tree, in- 



320 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

eluding a part of the root for the proper crook. After they 
were dressed and made the ri^ht shape and size, holes for the 
top hame string were bored through if they had an au^er, if 
not, they were burned through with a small piece of iron. 
For the hame hook two small holes were made and a strong 
piece of leather was fitted into the holes and properly fas- 
tened. To this loop the tug:s were fastened. The holes for 
the bottom hame strings were made in the same way, as the 
upper ones. 

A wa^on that was termed a truck was made by cutting^ 
four wheels from a lar^e tree, usually a black gum. A four- 
inch hole was made in the middle of the wheels in which ax- 
les fitted. Then splitting a tough hickory or white oak pole 
three or four feet at the big end, spreading these split pieces 
apart about fifteen inches, and boring two holes through the 
front axle and the two ends of the tongue, they then fitted a 
piece called a sand board over the ends of the tongue with 
holes in it to correspond with those in the axle. Having 
pinned it all securely together, they fastened the end to the 
front end of the wagon. A coupling pole was fitted into the 
center of the two axles and pinned there. Heavy bolsters 
were put on over the axles and on them a board bed was 
made. Oxen were the usual teams that were hitched to 
these crude but serviceable wagons. A heavy wooden yoke 
went on the oxen's neck. Two hickory bows enclosed the 
neck and up through the top of the yoke, thus fastening the 
two oxen together. There was a hole made in the middle of 
the yoke and a strong hickory withe was fastened into it 
if^ith a loop for the end of the tongue. A better ring was 
made for the tongue and fastened to the yoke by twisting 
into a strong cord a heavy rope of raw hide. The tongue 
was put into this ring and a pin of wood put through the end 
of the tongue before and behind the ring; the oxen were thus 
enabled to haul the wagon. These wagons were very service- 
able for hauling wood, gathering corn, and for many other 
purposes on the farm. They were very musical as well, for 
the more grease one put on the wooden axle tojnake it run 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 321 

lighter, the more it would squeak and squeal, making a noise 
that could be heard a mile. 

The pitch forks for all purposes on the farm were made 
of wood. A young forked dog:wood sapling was secured, the 
bark taken off and the two forks pointed for tines and this 
made a good fork. Some fifty years ago I saw an old four 
pronged fork that was made in a circular head of wood with 
four prongs taken from the antlers of an elk, that was useful 
for many purposes. 

Wooden rakes were made of strong seasoned wood, some 
of them being made by fitting the head piece with deer horns 
and they made very useful implements. A good spade was 
made of hickory, fashioning it after the useful form of a 
spade and if properly seasoned and kept well oiled this tool 
would do good work as long as wanted. 

Sleds were made in many ways and were universally used 
by all who had either oxen or horse teams. 

In early times the hickory withe and deer hides were 
used for all purposes on the crude farming implements as is 
the binder twine and fencing wire of this period. 

The pioneer women who came to the wilderness of Ind- 
iana had very few utensils the)*^ could use for cooking. The 
older sections they had emigrated from were quite distant 
from their new homes and if they had the different dishes 
and vessels to bring it was hard work to bring them for very 
few of them came in wagons or carts but mostly on horse- 
back. There were many who walked all the way and had 
only such things as they could carry. In fact, at the begin- 
ning of the nineteenth century in some of the older states, 
cooking utensils were not plentiful and they were very high 
priced and hard to get. The reader must take into consider- 
ation that this country was just beginning to gather strength 
after the great war of the Revolution, when our finances 
were completely wrecked. There was almost no money and 
the continental script was worthless. Mrs. Nancy GuUick, 
related to me that when she was a grown woman in the 
neighborhood where she lived, there was not more than one 
vessel for cooking in any home and that was nearly always a 



322 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

skillet and a lid. Often the lid was broken and the skillet 
nicked. Many of those who had cabins did not have any sort 
of vessel to cook in unless it was an earthen pot which had 
been made by the owner out of clay and burned as hard as it 
could be. Since there was no g^lazing^, when boiling anything 
that had g:rease in it, there was nearly as much fat on the 
outside as there was inside. So much came through 
the pores that after the first fire to boil the pot, there was 
not much more needed for the fat on the outside was con- 
stantly on fire. In the skillet, all the meat had to be cooked 
on the hearth before a blazing fire, the cook having to stoop 
hajf bent and attend to the meat. The bread was baked in 
the same skillet, if not on a Johnny-cake board that was made 
for this purpose about ten inches wide and fifteen inches long 
and rounding at the top end. The corn dough was made 
thick and put on the board which was placed against a chunk 
of wood near the fire. After one side was baked to a nice 
brown, it was turned over and the other side was baked in 
the same way. This was called a Johnny-cake. If a board 
was not at hand, a hoe without its handle was cleaned and 
greased with bear's oil. Then the dough was put on the hoe 
blade the same as on the board and baked — this was called a 
hoe cake. When they had neither Johnny cake board nor 
hoe, a place was cleaned on the hearth under the edge of the 
fire, the dough wrapped in cabbage leaves or fresh corn 
shucks and laid on the hot hearth and covered with hot emb- 
ers. This was called an ash cake. The bread from any of 
these ways of cooking was good, even delicious. 

A little later on more iron vessels were brought into the 
country and the dinner pot that held about two gollons with 
a lid and three short legs and an ear on each side for the 
hinged hooks to fit in, came into use. It was a great im- 
provement over the old vessels and enabled them to boil the 
meat instead of alwavs having to fry or roast it. A pole was 
put above the fire from jamb to jamb and a hook was put on 
it, sometimes several of them of different lengths. The 
hooks which were fitted in the ears of the pot were hung on 
these hooks holding the pot over the fire. In this pot meat 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 323 

and vegetables could be well cooked. While these people had 
only a very primitive .way of preparing the food, they cooked 
it well and I doubt if any age in this country's history ^will 
see another time when such delicious meats were served or a 
people who so thoroughly enjoyed their food. The country 
was so ubundantly supplied with all sorts of game that all 
could have a bountiful supply. The usual dish for break- 
fast was fried turkey breast and slices of venison; for dinner 
the loin of a fat deer cooked with potatoes; for supper or the 
evening meal usually the meats were roasted. These dishes 
of food served with Johnny cake seasoned with the rich gravy 
of these meats, were certainly a repast which would satisfy 
the most exacting epicure. 

I can't determine the date when stoves came into general 
use but as late as 1820 there were but few stoves in use and I 
very much doubt if one of every twenty families in Indiana 
had any idea of how to cook and prepare food in any other way 
than I have described, up to 1835. 

Possibly they were not so careful in appealing to the eye 
then as now but I am sure the dishes were prepared better 
than they are now and tasted just as well and I think better. 
There were no sweets nor pastries and biscuits were a luxury 
that were served only on Sunday mornings. 

THE MILLING INDUSTRY. 

After the first few years of the early settlement of this 
country, there has been some kind of mill that ground for 
toll. In 1808 Judge Isaac Montgomery built a horse mill on 
his farm about one mile southwest of the court house in 
. Princeton, Indiana. In 1810 Jesse Kimball, the grandfather 
of the Jesse Kimball, of Princeton, Indiana, of today, built a 
flutter wheel water mill on Black river about six miles south 
of Owensville, Indiana and ground corn for himself and few 
neighbors for j^everal years. Mr. Kimball came to that neigh- 
borhood in 1804 from the Red Banks now Henderson, Ken- 
tucky, and took the burrs with him from Henderson with a 
horse in shafts and a pole through the stones for an axle. 
One of the stones is now, 1905, in the possession of Mr. 



324 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Edwad Knowles who is over eighty years old and lives on 
part or the old Kimball farm. 

The Indians were very numerous when Mr. Kimball first 
settled there but he g^ot along: with them, only at such times 
as he was unable to meet their demands for whiskey. The 
Indians finally determined to kill him and he was decoyed 
away from his cabin by what he thought was the call of a 
wild turkey but which proved to be an Indian and he was en- 
abled to get back only by dodging from tree to tree in a zig- 
zag manner. However they watched their opportunity and 
burned his cabin. While he was in hiding he saw them hold 
a pow-wow, then a war dance around his little home, and 
finally set it on fire. In 1813 he built a horse mill that was 
operated up to 1838. 

Major David Robb in 1814 built a small overshot mill on 
Robb's Creek near where the town of Hazleton now stands. 
It was a very successful undertaking and a few years later 
he built a much larger mill on the same site, carrying two 
burrs. A few years after this he added a department for 
making lumber. These ventures were all very successful. 

In 1809 Robert Falls built a horse mill near the center of 
what is now Washington township, in Gibson county, that 
did good work and was well patronized. 

In 1820, Jacob Bonty built a little mill on the Smith's 
Fork of Pigeon creek in Barton township, Gibson Co. This^ 
mill was operated for thirty years and was a great help to 
the surrounding country. 

In 1824 Henry Miley built a horse mill near Petersburg, 
Pike county, Indiana. In 1830, Jacob Stuckey built a grist 
and saw mill at Petersburg, and there were many little horse 
mills built in the settled sections of the state from 1820 up to 
1830, but they were of only local importance. 

The tub mills consisted of an upright post with a row of 
cogs around the lower end. The top end carried the top 
stone. There was a large wheel that was made with cogs to 
fit into those of the post. Buckets or boxes were made all 
around the outside of the tub. The water was let in from a 
wicket in the dam about three feet below the water level of 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 32S 

the dam, and ran against the buckets on the outside of the 
tub, thus putting: the wheel in motion. These mills were 
very easily made. An overshot mill was made with a per- 
pendicular shaft that carried the mill stone on the upper end. 
There was a larjf e horizontal wheel run by the side of the up- 
rigfht shaft that had slanting: cog:s that fitted into those 
around the main shaft. The water ran over the dam and 
fell on the buckets and boxes made on the outside of the 
wheel thus putting it in motion and it ran the upright post 
at a good rate of speed. An undershot mill was made the 
same way, only the water was run against the drum wheel 
from below the water level and turned the wheel the opposite 
way from the overshot. 

A flutter mill was made by the water falling against the 
paddles which put the main shaft in motion by cogs the same 
as the last two described. Horse mills were made in many- 
ways. The only one I ever saw was constructed in a very 
simple manner. The main shaft which was an upright post 
had a small wooden pully on it'about six feet from the ground. 
The post that was turned by the horse had a large wooden 
pulley or hoop about six feet from the ground. A band or 
belt of a raw hide was put around both of the posts on the 
pulleys. The horse was hitched to an arm which was fasten- 
ed into the post with the large pulley and as he went around^ 
the main shaft ran v ery fast. The grinding was done on a 
floor just above the belt. 

Usually the miller measured the grain and poured it into 
the hopper, then with the toll box took out the toll for grind- 
ing. At water mills where permission to build was granted 
under territory or state laws, I think the toll was one^sixth 
but the toll at horse mills and afterwards at steam mills was 
fixed by the owners, about one-fourth usually. There were 
then as there always have been people who claimed that the 
miller took too much toll and most of those who owned mills 
were on the black list for honesty. 

After there was a steam mill at Princeton, Ind., an old 
fellow living near there had to have milling done. He was so 
situated that he could not go so he prepared his corn and sent 



326 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

his boy a good sized lad and told him to watch the miller, for 
if he didn't he would steal all his corn. When the lad got to 
the mill he had to wait a good while foe his turn to come. 
During that time he never lost sight of his sack. Finally 
the miller poured the corn into the hopper and laid the sack 
down. The boy watched him and as soon as the sack was 
laid down he snatched it up and ran to his horse and home as 
fast as he could go. His father seeing him coming in such a 
hurry went out and said — ^'Johnny, where is your meal and 
why are 3*ou riding so fast?" He told his father — **The old 
rascal stole every grain of the corn and aimed to keep the 
sack but I watched him and as soon as he laid it down I got 
it and ran home." 

The doggerel verses below are something like I used to 
hear when I was a mill boy: 

The miller must have a peri of hogs 

And they were always very fat. 
It was uncertain, says the song. 

Whose corn they always ate. 

The miller was an important man, 
He'd make the meal that fed them all 

If you objected to his plan 

He'd even up if it took all fall. 

His toll box bottom was very thin. 
They always heaping measures took 

You couldn't always be in time 

And if you were you hardly dared to look. 

Some time after this there were three mills built on the 
Patoka river, one at Columbia now Patoka, one at Kirksville, 
built by Mason Kirk and one at Winslow, built by John 
Hathaway. These mills were a great improvement on the 
ones I have been describing. They all ground wheat as well 
as corn but they ground very slowly when compared with 
the mills of this date. It often took two full days to get 
one's grinding done as one had to wait one's turn. In grind- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 327 

ing wheat the bran and flour all fell into the chest together 
and they had an arrangement for bolting much the same 
as is now used for screening wheat and it turned in the same 
way. The machine was covered with bolting cloth, but one 
had to bolt one's own flour. This was not hard work but it 
was not necessary to ask a person who had been turning that 
bolting machine where he had been for his clothes had enough 
of flour on them to make a pone of bread. 

THE FLAX INDUSTRY. 

The flax industry was very important to the early set- 
tlers as it formed the chain for all the fabrics woven and 
often the chain and filling until later on when cotton was 
raised. When the flax harvest was ready it was pulled and 
tied into bundles. These bundles were taken to a suitable 
place and spread in a thin swath on the ground and left theire 
until the sun and the rain made the wood in the stem brittle, 
then it was taken to the flax brake and thoroughly broken on 
that machine, until the woody parts had all been loosened 
and most of it had fallen through the. brake. It was then 
taken to the scutching board and with the aid of the scutch- 
ing knife was thoroughly swingled and cleaned of everything 
but the flax fiber. It was then well hatcheled when it wa.s 
ready for the distaff and to be spun into thread on the little 
wheel. 

A flax brake was made by using two thick blocks of 
wood about eignteen inches long with two posts in each block, 
two feet and a half long for legs, then four bars or slats six 
inches wide and one inch thick shaved smooth with a draw- 
ing knife. These slats were about six feet long and fitted 
into mortises made in each block leaving an opening between 
them of about one inch and a quarter. Then another frame 
was made the same way, only the three slates that were in it 
came below the blocks some two inches and fitted in the open 
space between the slats of the first set made. One end of 
this was fastened to the under machine by some kind of a 
hinge often made out of raw hide. The front end had a hole 
made in the middle slat that was made wider than its two 



328 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

mates, and this was used for a hand hold to lift the top brake 
by. The flax was put on top of the lower brake and was 
broken by the upper three slats and the work was well done. 

To work with a flax brake was hard labor but it was fast 
work only requiring a little time to break all the flax needed 
for one family. 

The scutching board was a slab about four feet high 
driven into the ground. It was made perfectly smooth with 
the drawing knife, the top end being brought into a thin 
edge. In taking the flax from the brake it was thrashed over 
the end and around the post to free it from any of the woody 
stems left and finally finished with a scutching or swingling 
knife made of hickory about eighteen inches long, drawn to 
an edge on both sides. 

The hatchel was made by driving long spikes of steel 
through holes made in a heavy piece of plank about one foot 
long and eight inches wide. There were forty or fifty of 
these spikes in a hatchel. 

The distaff was fastened into an arm of the little wheel 
that went from the wheel bench and it stood about two feet 
away from the head of the wheel. The distaff was made out of 
a small dogwood bush, using the part where four small forks 
branch out from the main stem, which is the usual way this 
bush grows. The bush was cut two feet below the fork then 
all the prongs were cut off about fifteen inches long. The 
ends were then gathered to the middle stem and securely tied 
thus making a frame on which the flax was wrapped, ready 
for the spinning to commence. 

The one running the wheel with her foot on the treadle 
used both hands to size the flax so that it would make an 
even thread. The machinery of this little wheel ran very 
fast. I have spent hours when I was a little boy watching 
my mother (God bless her memory) with both her hands full 
of flax, making it even for the spinning. 

The next machine was the reel. There were from four 
to eight arms or spokes to this machine and on the end of 
each spoke there was a small head something like a crutch 
head on which the thread was wound. The arms or spokes 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 329 

were fastened into a small hub which was fastened on a 
spindle on the side of the upright stock of the reel. Attach- 
ed to the spindle was a counting machine that counted the 
number of revolutions made. When it had turned over sa 
many times it would strike and every time it struck, it had 
reeled a cut. Four of these cuts made a hank which was 
taken off and twisted to keep it from becoming- tangled and 
put away for the winding blades, to run on to spools for the 
warping bars or run on to little brooches or quills to be placed 
in the shuttles for filling. 

The pioneer women from the two Carolinas and Tennes- 
see who came in early times to Indiana brought cotton seed 
with them and planted them. Cotton would not bloom as 
well as it would where the seasons were warmer and longer 
but it made enough to aid them in making clothing. It was 
planted as early as it was safe to be free from frost and ten- 
ded well. It made a splended stalk but was lacking in bloom 
consequently not many bolls or pods were formed. The cot- 
ton was gathered and when dry was seeded and was then 
ready for the cards to be made into rolls and spun into threads 
When they had a sufficient quantity of cotton thread it made 
the chain for their linsey cloth. 

THE LeOM AND WHIP SAW. 

The first looms in use in this counry were very crude 
affairs. For the foundation of the loom and to thoroughly 
brace it, two smooth poles were secured about six inches 
through at the top an4 put up slanting, usually in a shed 
room or a smoke house adjoining the cabin, one end resting 
on the ground about eight feet from the wall, the other end 
pinned to the wall about seven feet up. These poles were 
set wide apart as wanted, usually about four and one-half 
feet. There were two other timbers placed in the ground 
about two feet from the lower end of the two slanting timb- 
ers and pinned to them, extending up as high as wanted for 
the top of the loom. Two split pieces about two by six inches 
were pinned to these poles and extending back to the two 
slanting poles were pinned to them, thus forming the top of 



330 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

the loom. The roller for the g^ears and the two upright 
pieces for the cloth batten were fastened to the top pieces. 
The thread beam was fastened to the two pieces of timber 
that extended from the side timbers to the ground and the 
same was true of the cloth beam. The seat and the break 
beam were fastened to the two front upright posts. To the 
lower end of the timbers that held the thread beam in place, a 
small roller was attached and to this roller the treadles were 
fastened. This made a very strong loom and it required 
very little time to make it. It was a very simple piece of ma- 
chinery yet it did its work well for its time and millions of yards 
of cloth were woven on such looms; but the coming of the 
square framed loom was a great blessing to all who had to 
depend on the loom for clothing. This machine is, to this 
day, made very oearly as it was seventy-five years ago and as 
there are several such looms in every neighborhood I shall 
not attempt to describe it. 

The dyeing of the chain and filling was a part of the 
cloth manufacturing that added very much to the looks of 
the clothing. In those early times all the coloring was done 
with different sorts of bark. The walnut bark and the hulls 
of the walnut made a very serviceable brown, often very 
nearly the color of the wool from a black sheep. Maple bark 
mixed with copperas made a very dark color almost black. 
Later the proverbial "old blue dye pot with a niche in the 
top" came. Indigo and madder combined made a very pretty 
blue that would hold as long as any of the cloth was left. 
Still later logwood and many other kinds of dye were used, 
up to the time when the clothing or the cloth was purchased 
from stores. These old days with the stained hands of our 
mothers have gone never to return and there will never be a 
time when such a noble, self-sacrificing band of women will 
live, as those who trained the generation that has made this 
country the Eden of the world. 

When the whip saw was introduced and put to work it 
was a great help to the new comer in securing material to 
finish his log house more comfortably and in supplying lum- 
ber for the outbuildings. Timber of all kinds was of the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. ?.?.l 

best and the yellow poplar the one used most was very easy 
to saw. 

The whip saw was a ven^ simple device. In shape and 
in the handles it was much the same as»the common cross cut 
saw of today. The teeth were so constructed and filed that 
it would cut the timber the long: way, the log: being placed 
on a scaffold. To keep from having: the scaffold too hig:h a 
pit was dug: two or three feet deep for the under sawyer to 
stand in, the top sawyer standing: on top of the log:. The log: 
was first divided into slabs the thickness wanted for the 
width of the planks. The slabs were then turned on their 
sides and after the first one was taken off, a g:aug:e was used to 
g:overn the thickness of the plank, which was usually an inch 
and a quarter thick and any width required for their work. 
This was very slow work but as no one ever wanted a very 
large amount of lumber, two men could soon saw from the 
soft timber. a sufficient amount for all needs. 

The top sawyer was free from the dust and he had to 
look after the g:aug:e used to make the plank the same thick- 
ness all along:. The under sawyer was under the saw and 
all the saw dust fell on him and aside from holding: the saw 
he had to keep his eyes and nose free from the dust. As the 
country was settled these saws were in g:reat demand and a 
g:ood saw pit scaffold was in constant use. 

The whip saw was broug:ht into use when Abraham 
Lincoln's mother died in 1818, to rip planks from a black 
cherry log: to make her coffin. It is a traditionally recorded 
that 5'oung: Lincoln, then a lad only ten years old, sat on the 
door steps of their humble home, watching: his father make 
the coffin out of the g:reen lumber to bury his mother in, sad 
and g:rievously lamenting: their poor and helpless condition 
to have to bury his noble mother so meanly. In after years 
when he was ^he g:reatest President the United States has 
ever had, he said to a friend "All I am or ever hope to be I 
owe to my ang:el mother." 

SHOE-MAKING. 

It was a long: time after the country commenced to be 



332 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

settled before there was any attempt to make any other kind 
of shoes than moccasins and shoe pacs. This soft easy foot 
covering: was the best suited for the times and the business of 
those living: here. After a while they had leather of their 
own tanning: other than deer and wolf hides. 

Nearly every man was an expert at making: moccasins as 
the only thing: to do was to have a pattern of the rig:ht size. 
There were only two seams to sew up, but to make shoes that 
would have the rig:ht shape and be comfortable was another 
thing:. But as in every thing: else they had the will and of 
course there is always a way. They cut blocks of soft tim- 
ber and fashioned a last the size they wanted for the feet, 
then secured a maple rail and cut blocks the rig:ht leng:th for 
shoe peg:s, made a supply of patterns and went to work at 
their new industry. They took the thick part of the cattle 
hides that they had tanned and cut soles and heel taps out of 
them. Then by the patterns cut the uppers, and sewed the 
back quarters and vamp tog:ether, then lasted the shoe and 
peg:gfed the soles and heels on. 

Mr. David Johnson at one time told me his experience 
with a pair of these newly tanned shoes which I will relate. 
He said that with the help of a man who had done some cob- 
bling: before he came to this section, he made a pair of shoes 
and was very proud of them as he felt that he was g:etting: 
away from the savag:e ag:e of the country. In dry weather 
the shoes were all rig:ht and very comfortable. Unfortunately 
he went on a hunt that took him some distance from home 
where he intended to g:o into camp expecting: to kill a lot of 
g:ame. Before he reached the place he wanted to locate the 
camp, a heavy rain set in and it rained all that day, every- 
thing: becoming: very wet. He kept on for several miles in 
the rain but had not g:one far until he felt his feet slipping: 
about in the shoes as if there were room enoug:h for a half 
dozen feet inside. He stood it as long: ^s he could and select- 
ing: a place to make a temporary camp, made a fire and pulled 
off his enlarg:ed shoes, intending: to dry them; but it kept up 
such a torrent of rain that he could keep but little fire. Next 
morning he determined to g:o home and putting: as many 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 333 

leaves in his shoes as he could, walked three or four miles, 
when he found he could go no farther; so he stopped and re- 
solved to cut off the uppers and make a pair of moccasins. 
His foot he said looked like the end of an overturned canoe. 
He pulled them off, cut the uppers away from the sole and 
founli that the uppers of one shoe would make a pair of moc- 
casins with some to spare. Getting: out his whang leather 
he made the string^sand in a little while had a pair of mocca- 
sins made, put them on, and taking the odd shoe, started. 

Being tired when he reached home he made a pallet of 
skins and lay down before the fire as all hunters did when 
they had wet feet. (It was believed that the heat bath that 
all hunters gave their feet was the only thing that kept them 
from becoming hopelessly crippled with rheumatism.) After 
thoroughly baking his feet at the fire, he thought he would 
put on his new moccasins and dry them on his feet, for he 
knew if they dried without something to hold them in shape 
they would shrink until they would be ruined. He was 
awakened from his sleep by his feet cramping as if in a vice 
and had to cut the moccasins off of his feet. 

A little later sole leather was brought from New Orleans 
and Philadelphia that sold for a very high price. The leather 
had been pressed and would hold its shape fairly well. The 
children and most of the women went barefooted as long as 
they could, usually until frost. There were men who went 
around from house to house making shoes and many a half 
grown boy, as well as others, has been made glad by his com- 
ing. I can well remember when I have set for hours with my 
new wool socks on, when it was too cold to be out of doors, 
watching the old shoemaker, make shoes for the family. 
Commencing with the eldest, and going down according to 
the age, as I was near the foot of the line, I had to wait for 
some time for my turn to come; but as I now recall those days 
and how I felt on getting my new shoes, I think that nothing 
in the way of clothing in all my life was so thoroughly en- 
joyed as were the new, warm shoes. The best of care was 
taken of the shoes as it was certain that one pair would have 
to lost until spring came. They were greased with coon and 



334 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

opossum oil to make them soft and with tallow to fill the 
pores to keep the water out. In the early thirties, pot metal 
boots, as they were called because of their being so hard, 
were brought on by the merchants and sold at eight and ten 
dollars a pair. One day's walking in a pair of these boots 
would tire any man. When these heav^', clumsy boots are 
put in contrast with the elegantly shaped and made boots and 
shoes of this day, the great improvement is very apparent. 
There is no business in which there has been more improve- 
ments during the last seventy-five 3'ears than in the boot and 
shoe business. 

ROPE WALK. 

The first generation after settling in this country de- 
pended on the skins of animals and hickory withes to tie and 
bind with. Later on there was plenty of flax and hemp rais- 
ed and when long ropes or twine were wanted a rope walk 
had to be constructed which was very easily done in a crude 
manner, but it was all sufficient for making any sort of twine, 
cording, and strong heavy ropes. A level piece of ground 
was selected about two hundred feet long. A heavy slab was 
put in the ground at each end of the place selected, about 
five feet in height and twelve inches broad. A two inch 
auger hole was made in the center of each slab about three 
feet from ihe botiom. Into these holes were put pins with a 
shoulder on the outside end and a key to hold them in place 
on the inside. To this pin a round wheel about eight inches 
broad was fastened with a pin for a handle placed in a hole 
made for the purpose on the ouisideedgeof the wheel. Along 
the walk about twenty feet apart, smooth posts were set on 
each side about four feet from the center with a number of 
pegs driven on the side facing the walk. Along the center 
of the walk every twenty-five or thirty-five feet a slab was 
driven into the ground, standing about three feet high with 
a notch cut in the top end and made perfectly smooth. 

Whether made of hemp or flax, or of both, as was often 
the case, the bunch of tow or a draw-out end of it was fast- 
ened to the pin that the wheel was on and the wheel was 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 33S 

turned. One held the bunch of tow under his arm, using: 
both hands to even the string as it was twisted, and as he 
passed the low post, put the cord in the notch on top of it, 
and when he had gone the length of the walk he tied the 
string to the end of the other wheel and turned it until the 
string or cord was twisted as hard as wanted. Then it was 
taken off and tied to a peg on the sidepost at each end of the 
walk and lifted onto the pegs all along the line until there 
was enough strings to make a strand for a cord or rope, us- 
ually from three to five. Then all the strings were fastened 
to the ends of the wheels and twisted hard and tied back to 
the side stakes until three or five strands had been made. 
After tliis all the strands were tied to the wheels and twisted 
as hard as was wanted. The small cords were used for bed 
cords. The)^ were either put through holes made in the end 
and side rail of the bed or put around pegs with heads driven 
into the rails to receive the cords. In making large ropes 
such as were used for check ropes or cables, eight 
strings were used for a strand and six strands for a rope. 
When made, this was strong enough to hold anN^thing rea- 
sonable. When first made, the new rope was inclined to un- 
twist, but it was kept in a coil when not in use so that it 
would hold its twist. After it had been used a fe>v times and 
thoroughly wet, there was no further trouble with it. 

When I was about ten years old I helped make a check 
rope for my father that he used on three or four trips for a 
check rope and cable on flatboats loaded with produce, pork, 
wheat, corn and venison hams that he loaded and ran from 
the place where the old town of Dongola stood on the Patoka 
river, to- New Orleans. We made the rope on a walk that 
ran about two hundred feet south of the place where the Mis- 
sionary Baptist church now stands in Oakland Cit)'. We 
used the same walk for many years after that to make all 
sorts of ropes or cords needed for our home use, mostly for bed 
cords. One evening while at the World's Fair in St. Louis, 
as I was passing through the Philippine reservation looking 
at their primitive style of living and the sort of tools and im- 
plements they had to do with, I was very forcibly reminded 



336 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

that they were in the same road we had passed over. Many 
•of their implements, tools and vessels for household work 
were about what were in use in this country a hundred years^ 
ago. In my ramble over their grounds I came to a rope walk. 
I felt at home, and being interested at once in giving it a 
<:areful investigation, I found that it was the same in every 
particular as the one I had worked with more than fifty 
years ago. I then came to the conclusion that in their man- 
ner of living possibly they were not so far behind our people 
as I had thought them. I went over their exhibition pretty 
carefully and found many things that were used in this coun- 
try at an early date. One of them was a truck wagon they 
used with the water buffalo, but it was a very crude wagon, 
not nearly so good as the one I have described in this work. 
After getting home I looked up the history of the Philip- 
pine islands and found that for several hundred years they 
had made but little advance in any way except where they 
came in contact with the white race, and one display they 
made I was forcibly struck with — their display of sisal twine. 
I never saw anything to equal it. 

BEE HUNTING. 

Bee hunting was a very important part of the hunter's 
business and generally was very successfully carried on and 
usually quite profitable. A bee tree marked was worth one 
dollar in most sections of this country. The hunter would 
catch a bee and keep it a prisoner for a while and then it 
would fly away and nearly every time it flew to the tree it 
made its home in. Another way was to make up a bee bait 
^f anything sweet, often a piece of honey comb with sweeten- 
ed water in it. They then made a little trough and put the 
bait in it and set it on a stump. The bees would find it in a 
little while and when loaded with the sweets would fly away 
to their tree which was some times a considerable distance 
away, but usually not more than two or three hundred yards. 
Still another way was to find a tree that they thought was 
probably a bee tree and then get in a position to view every 
part of it between the person hunting and the sun. If there 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 337 

were bees in it, the^' could be seen flying to and from the 
tree. When a bee tree was found, the next thing was to de- 
termine whether it was a strong colony or a weak one. If a 
strong colony the tree would be cut as soon as the bee food 
commenced to be scarce. If it was thought to be a weak 
swarm it was let alone another year. The bee hunter's mark 
was as sacredly respected as was his mark on hogs or cattle. 
The honey was gathered and was a very helpful portion of 
the food. All that was over their needs was. sold and the 
same was true of the bees wax after the honey was extracted. 

In the History of Gibson county, published by James T. 
Tartt & Co., I saw a statement that the honey bee was the 
fore-runner of civilization. It says — '*The approach of the 
honey bee was always a sad harbinger for the Indians for 
they knew that the pale face was not far behind." I think 
that the author was misinformed of the facts in the case and 
instead of the honey bee being here only a little while before 
the white man came, they have been here ever since the 
country was suitable for their occupation, perhaps for a thous- 
and ages. M. Joliet, an agent for the French Colonial Gov- 
ernment and James Marquette a missionary and explorer in 
1670, as they were on an expedition to the Mississippi river 
and up and down that and other rivers, found the honey bee 
in many localities and used the hone}^ for food. Again in a 
history given by Hunter DeMot of his captivity by the Indians 
and his life among them in 1725, he says that the many years 
he traveled all over the north and from Pennsylvania to the 
Rocky mountains, the wild hone}^ bee made its home in the 
hollow of the trees and that near the great prairies where 
such an abundance of flowers were, the bees filled the open- 
ings in trees on the border of the creeks and rivers in such 
localities with most delicious honey and where no trees were 
near he had seen the honey hanging under shelvmg rocks at 
cliffs and bluff banks along the rivers and creeks. 

About 1630 Miles Standish who was so busy hunting In- 
dians that he had no time to court the beautiful Priscilla, had 
two of his men court martialed for being absent. The evid- 
ence showed the)' had found a bee tree and there was so much 



338 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

honey in it they were making a trough to put it in. 

The bear was the greatest lover of honey and would risk 
his life for it. An old hunter by the name of Caleb Spear 
gives his experience in many hunting expiditions which are 
published in a small volume in the colonial days. Spear says 
that one evening while passing near a little lake of water 
he saw a bear jump in and roll over and over several times, then 
wading out and climbing up a tree for about thirty feet he went 
tearing away with his claws at a hole in a large limb, every 
now and then snorting and shaking his head. There 
• were a number of bees flying around his head, and in a little 
while Mr. Bear let all holds go, fell down all in a ball and 
ran to the water, going through the same performance, re- 
peating it half a dozen times and no doubt drowning half of 
the bees for they were not nearly so plentiful flying around 
his head. Finally he climbed up the tree and remained there 
until he had made a hole large enough to put his paw in 
when he scooped out the honey which he gulped down with 
great satisfaction. 

Soon after my father was married he had a pet bear that 
was very tame — so much so that he could handle it. He 
lived at that time on his farm near Francisco, Indiana, now 
owned by Capt. C. C. Whiting. There were great quantities 
of honey in all the woods and he gathered several tubs full 
of it preparatory to taking it to Princeton to market and left 
the tubs in a lean-to back of the main cabin. One Sunday 
they went to visit some neighbors and were gone until late in 
the day. The cabin had two beds in it with nice old South 
Carolina white counterpanes over them. The bear got loose 
and ate all the honey he could hold and then wallowed in it* 
Later he got into the cabin and proceeded to make himself at 
home by rolling all over both the beds and when the family 
got home he was fast asleep in the middle of one of them. 

WITCHCRAFT AND WITCHES. 

To the educated and cultured people of this date it 
sounds strange indeed that there ever was a period in this or 
any other country's history when such foolish fallacy as 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 339 

witchcraft was believed in, but such was the fact. Witch- 
craft and witches were the bane of the lives of very respect- 
able people. 

New Engfland had overdone the witch business so much 
in an early day that those believing such foolery at a later 
period were content to silently suffer the imaginary wrongs 
from those, they thought were witches without resorting to 
drastic measures to punish them. 

In fact, the conduct of the Puritans had such a reaction 
on themselves for brutally murdering innocent men and 
women on spectral evidence, that ever since there has been 
such an odium attached to believers in witchcraft that none 
were willing to own any connection with it. 

The early settlers in Indiana were mostly from the south 
and but few of them ever heard of Salem and the witch 
trials. Some of them believed in witchcraft in a mild form* 
If a gun did not shoot well, it was often said to be bewitched. 
If the butter refused to gather, some said a witch had put a 
spell on the churn. If the soap wouldn't thicken, it was said 
that some old witch was the cause. If a hen failed to hatch 
well or a cow should give bloody milk, it was attributed by 
some to witches. This belief was confined to a very few in 
this section. 

Early in the thirties a band of nomads named Grififys lo- 
cated in eastern Gibson county, about one and one-half miles 
northwest of Oakland City. They built floorless huts in a clus- 
ter around a large spring on land that recently belonged to 
William M. Thompson. There were thirty or forty people 
in the colony, all of whom were superstitious and believed in 
witches and ghosts. They were looked upon as an indolent, 
lazy set, but had one feature about their manner of living 
which was certainly commendable; they had several very Old 
people with them, men and women, whom they cared for and 
who were not related to them or had any claim on them, but 
had been gathered into this colony for no other reason than 
sympathy for their helpless and forlorn condition. 

At one time Jonas and Casway Griffy came to see my 
father and wanted small change in bits and quarters for a 



340 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

silver dollar. One of them wanted to know if silver would 
melt in a ladle with lead. My father at once concluded that 
the}' wanted to make counterfeit coin and told them he was 
surprised to think the}* would undertake such business. They 
were much alarmed at what father said to them and said they 
had no thought of doing wrong; that they had had a secret 
among themselves they had not intended to tell, but would 
have to tell him in order to clear themselves of suspicion, and 
enjoined my father to keep it. They had lived for some 
years in Martin county, this state, before coming to this 
part, and they had so much trouble there that they moved 
awa}'^in the hope that their trouble would cease. But for the 
last several months the same trouble had come to them and 
they were planning to rid themselves of the evil. They 
walited the small coin so they could melt it in lead and run it 
into bullets for the purpose of disabling witches so that they 
would let them alone. They said there was an old woman 
who lived near them in Martin county* who was a terror to all 
the country round. She did not fear anything, would ride 
without a bridle and saddle the wildest, unbroken horse and 
would fight any man. She had nearly killed two of their 
neighbors in a fight. They said that before they moved 
down here they had four head of cows, but could not get any 
milk from two of them at any time — they were always milked 
dry. The old witch did not hav.e any cows, but always had 
plenty of milk and buttej. *'We tried," said they, *'many 
ways to find out how the cows were milked, but did not suc- 
ceed until one morning one of our women went up to the old 
witch's house and saw her doing something with a towel 
which was hanging in a small window. While the witch's 
back was turned she determined to find out what she was do- 
ing. She first stuck a pin in the towel and named it for one 
of our cows. Then she took hold of the fringe and com- 
menced to milk it as if she were milking a cow. When she 
had finished that cow she put another pin into the towel and 
named it after our other best cow and proceeded to milk her 
in the same way. At night she would assume the form of a 
black cat and go all over our homes. We tried many times to 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 341 

kill the cat, but could not do it. Finally old Mr. McCo)% one 
of our people, saw the cat go into his room. He closed the 
door and armed himself with an axe. Opening the door a 
little waj's to let the cat run out, which it did, he cut ofif one 
of its ears. The next morning one of our women went over 
to see the old lad}" and fpund her in bed with a bandage on 
her head. That night she went back to Mr. McCoj^'s cabin,, 
found the ear and it grew back on as well as ever, except that 
it was cropped. After that the same black cat was seen with 
one ear cropped. We brought the same four cows when we 
moved down here. The range was good and they gave an. 
abundance of milk. About two months ago two of our men. 
were in the woods hunting and saw the same crop-eared black 
cat. Ever since that evening our two best cows have given 
no milk, and we have many other troubles which we attribute 
to the same cause." 

A few years later the section that these Griffys occupied 
had a terrible scourge of what was known as the black 
tongue, and fifteen or twenty of the colony died from the 
dreadful disease. They attributed it all to the same one- 
eared black cat, and as soon as they were able to get away^ 
they moved uj) east on the Patoka river and none of them 
were ever seen in this section again. I have been unable to 
learn if the same one-eared black cat still followed them upy 
inflicting misfortune upon them. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



AMUSEMENTS AND SPORTS OF THE EARLY 

PIONEERS. 



There was nothing in the rude condition in which the 
people had to live in the early days that changed their na- 
tures. They had great desire to engage in feats of strength 
or skill and in many athletic sports, and no people ever en- 
joyed these times of recreation more than did these people. 

Many of the games used by the early settlers were bor- 
rowed or copied from the Indians. Playing or rolling the 
hoop was one of the games often engaged in. They made a 
hoop about four feet in diameter out of a young hickory 
sapling and covered it all over with raw deer hide, making it 
se strong that there was no danger of breaking it. There 
were three parallel lines made about one hundred yard^ long 
and about fifteen feet apart on a level piece of ground, the 
middle line about ten yards longer than the others at each 
end. On the outside lines, the opposing parties, which gen- 
erally consisted of from ten to twenty persons, arranged 
themselves from ten to twelve paces apart, each individual 
fronting his opponent, on the other outside line. On the cen- 
tral line, extending a few paces beyond the wings of the 
other two lines, stood two persons facing each other. It is 
their part of the play to alternately roll the hoop with all 
their strength from one to the other. The object of triumph 
between the two is who shall catch his opponent's hoop the 
oftenest, and of the contending parties on the side line, 
which shall throw the greatest number of balls through the 
hoop as it passes rapidly along the intervening space. Two 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 343 

judges were appointed, with powers to appoint a third one, to 
determine which side was victorious. 

Another g^ame that was often played was called **Bull 
Pen." Eight or ten persons could play it. Two would 
choose up and then each select his players. The ground was 
laid ofif as nearly square as possible, about one hundred and 
twenty feet each way. The basemen stood at the corners. 
If five corners were wanted, at one side an extra corner was 
made extending the line to a half angle, making room for the 
fifth corner. The choice as to who should have the corners 
was first decided by the flip of a chip, wet on one side and 
dry on the other. The thrower would call out "Wet" or 
**Dry." The ball was usually a heavy one, made over a 
heavy pebble and wrapped with yarn and covered with buck- 
rskin. The ball was in the hands of the corner man and was 
thrown from one to the other until it had gone around and 
had been caught by each corner; then it was said to be hot ^ 
and could be thrown at any of the other sides who were in- 
side of the pen or square. When the ball was thrown, the 
corner men had to run to the right and change places, but if 
the ball was caught or found and thrown between a corner 
man and the base he was running for, the corner men went 
out and the pen men went to the corners. There was really 
great work in playing this game. 

Boys would run as deer and other boys after them as 
hounds. Jumping was much indulged in, stand and go — 
three jumps or half hamen, a hop, a skip and a jump. They 
climbed trees and shot with a bow and arrow. In^this they 
became experts, killing quail, squirrels and turkeys. They 
would practice the noise made by birds and animals in their 
notes of call. 

When a boy, the author could imitate a squirrel to per- 
fection. Old hunters called the strutting gobbler up to them 
by imitating his gobble and his strutting, blowing noise. 
The bleating of a young fawn was imitated and the mother 
would go to the bleating. The same with wolves. They 
would make the night hideous with their everlasting howl- 
ing, but man did imitate them so perfectly that they would 



344 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA- 

howl in answer and finally come to the man wolf. 

Dancing was the principal amusement of the young- peo- 
ple of both sexes. They were not of the fancy figures of 
these modern times, but were of the simplest figures, three 
and four-ljanded reels and jigs. In most neighborhoods lived 
some old man who would indulge in telling dramatic stories 
of Jack the Giant Killer. In telling these harmless lies, the 
narrator would spin out his tale to quite a length, embracing 
quite a range of incidents, and always told these blood and 
thunder stories of their hero, Jack, in a wa^' to bring him out 
the great victor. He often told tales of impossible character, 
such as the Arabian Nights are full of, such as the flying 
horse with a peg behind his ear to turn when he was desired 
to alight at a certain place. 



CHAPTER XV. 



INDIANA DURING THE WAR OF 1812. 



Reorganize the Ranger Service — Pigeon Roost Massa- 
cre—Attack ON Fort Harrison — General Hopkins^ 
Report to the Gk>vERNOR — Expeditions Against the 
Indians — Delaware Indians Removed to Ohio — Gen- 
eral Gibson's Message to House of Representatives 
IN 1813 — Territorial Gk)VERNMENT Removed from 

ViNCENNES TO CORYDON — MiSS McMuRTRIE'S STATE- 
MENT — Treaty of Friendship and Alliance with the 
Indians — General John Gibson — Gk)VERNOR Thomas 
Posey — Logan, the Indian Chief — Territory Laid 
Off Into Five Districts — Judicial System Improve! 
Charters Granted to Banks — Rappites at Harmony- 
New Harmony Sold to Robert Owen. 



After the battle of Tippecanoe the Indians were appar* 
cntly submissive. This afforded a temporary relief from 
Indian depredations and there was a great impetus given to 
emigration into Indiana Territory from Kentucky all along^ 
the southern borders. 

During December of 1811 Governor Harrison received 
messages from different tribes of the Wabash Indians, ofifer- 
ing to renew their allegiance to the United States. He re« 
fused at that time to have a meeting with them. The same 
month the Legislature of Indiana Territory adopted a me« 
morial to Congress praying that body to authorize the people 
of the Indiana Territory to form a state constitution. In 



346 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

their memorial among: other things they declared they felt it 
a hardship to be disfranchised when they had done no wrong* 
and ended their appeal by saying: *"It is principles and not 
men or measures that we complain of." 

The Indians were too much under the influence of the 
British at Maiden to remain for any length of time submissive 
and early in the spring of 1812 small war parties were on the 
warpath and many petty annoyances were perpetrated on the 
exposed settlements, as stealing horses and shooting dogs. 
Early in April two men were killed near the mouth of the 
Wabash river. They were coming to Vincennes in a large 
skifif. In the same month Mr. Hutson and wife an,d four 
children were killed on the west side of the Wabash thirty 
miles north of Vincennes. On April 22, Mr. Harriman, his 
wife and five children were murdered five miles from Vin- 
cennes. These depredations caused great excitement all 
along the borders of Indiana Territory. The Territorial 
Militia was put in the best possible condition for active serv- 
ice. The settlers over all the settled portions of the territory 
fitted up their old block-houses and erected many new ones. 

The Indians who had for four years before this been 
moving away from the lower White river to stations farther 
north were now returning, and in such numbers as to be very 
threatening to the new settlements. Several scouts were all 
the time on the watch to understand the intention of the In- 
dians. Two scouts were sent to the southeastern section of 
the territory to induce the people to erect forts and block- 
houses on the frontiers of Wayne, Franklin, Dearborn, Clark, 
and Harrison Counties. In this way most of the exposed 
frontiers were put in a fairly good condition to defend them- 
selves. 

Friendly Indians of the Delaware tribe were sent among 
the Indians with instructions to inform them that Harrison 
•did not want any trouble with them, that he was for peace 
and that there was plenty of room for the whites and Indians, 
too, in this big country. These offers of friendship caused 
ithe Indians to hold a great convention at an Indian town on 
.the Mississinawa river. There were deputations from the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 347 

Wyandotts, Chippewas, Attawas, Pottawattamies, Dela- 
wares, Miamis, Weas, Kickapoos, Shawnees and Winne- 
bagoes. Tecumseh was at that great gathering: of Indians 
and made a long speech, declaring that if he had been at 
home there would have been no trouble, that he was all the 
time in favor of peace, if it could be had without the ruin of 
the Indians. The general expression of that meeting was 
for peace, but the speeches were mostly such as the British 
Indian traders and their agents put in the mouths of the 
chiefs, Tecumseh became very much angered at a speech 
made by a Delaware chief, who said things which reflected 
on the way Tecumscfh and his brother, the Prophet, had 
acted and their hypocritical pretensions of friendship to the 
Americans. Tecumseh left the council in great anger and 
immediately repaired to Maiden, where he commenced to 
gather the hostile Indians around his standard in the interest 
of the British. 

Governor Harrison sent his orders to all the commanders 
of detachments of Militia to use all fair means to keep peace 
with the Indians, but if depredations were committed in their 
districts, to follow the Indians and fight them to a finish if 
there was an equal chance of success. 

On June 18, 1812, Congress declared war on Great 
Britain. There was no apparent trouble immediately in 
Indiana Territory. Harrison and the people of the Territory 
had been expecting this and made the best disposition of the 
means at their command to be prepared for any trouble that 
might grow out of open hostilities with the British, by the 
influence they had with the Indians. Soon after the war was 
declared Governor Harrison visited the state of Kentucky to 
consult with the authorities of that state at>out securing help 
to defend the exposed frontier of Ihdiana Territory. 

During, the year of 1812 Gk>vernor Harrison was so busy 
looking after the military affairs of Indiana Territory that 
he turned the general management of the civil department 
and the local military affairs over to General John Gibson 
with the authority of Acting Governor. At>out the first of 
August, the Indians becoming very troublesome, it was re- 



348 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

solved to organize a ranj^er corps on a similar basis to the 
one that was so successful in preserving peace in holding the 
Indians in check during the year 1807, with this difference — 
the rangers of 1^07 were foot soldiers and the corps to be or- 
ganized now were to be mounted in order to cover a larger 
territory in a given time. For this purpose General Gibson, 
wrote a letter to Captain William Hargrove. 



'*Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

Sunday, July 5, 1812. 

* 'Captain Hargrove: 

Dear Sir: 

'*This letter will be handed you by interpreter 
John Severns, Jr. The times are so full of threat- 
enings that it is thought best to reorganize a ran- 
ger service which 3'ou proved yoursel f so competent 
in commanding during the year 1807, and with a 
view to that end, I now invite 3'ou to come to these 
headquarters for consultation. I would suggest 
that you come as soon as convenient for you to do 
so. The Indians are much better than the British 
and if they were not constantly urged to take up 
the tomahawk against the Americans there would 
be no trouble in keeping peace along the border; 
but from this on, as long as the war continues, 
there will be much trouble with all the tribes in the 
northwest and along the Wabash. 

John Gibson, Acting Governor 
Indian Territory in absence of Governor Harrison. 



*'Vincennes, Indiana Territory, July 11, 1812. 

''It is hereby ordered that on and from this 
date, William Hargrove shall be in command of the 
rangers in Indiana Territory and to all whom it 
may concern, he is duly authorized to so act with 
the rank of Lieut. Col. commanding the rangers 
who will be stationed at different points in this 
Territory and will be so obeyed by the militia and 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. J49 

all other troops enlisted for the defense of the Ter- 
ritof}'. 

John Gibson, 

Acting: Governoi." 
Per J. T. D., Clerk. 



Instructions For the Guidance of Lieut. Col. 
William Hargrove Commanding Ran- 
gers IN Indiana Territory. 

1. The object in placing: a mounted corps of 
rangrers on duty is that they can with celerity go 
over the various routes which you will select for 
them to operate on. 

2. You will accept none but the best mounts 
for the men as speed in this service will be the ob- 
ject to gfain. The men must be g^ood horsemen and 
if possible, men who have had practice in shootings 
from horseback. 

3. The most important point to gfuard will be 
the country east of this for twenty miles up to sixty 
or seventy miles east; and, that you may be able to 
have your men well in hand, it is thougfhi best that 
you have a permanent stockade station between the 
White Oak Spring's blockhouse and the Mudholes. 
At this station you will keep a platoon of men and 
four sergeants to rank as first, second, third and 
fourth sergeants, to be men in every way competent 
to take charge of a squad of troops in any emer- 
gency. The next station will be at a point about 
ten miles east of Blue river and to be far enough to 
the north to furnish protection to the few settlers 
who have advanced beyond the line of safet)' in 
that direction. It will be necessar)' to have twent)' 
men at this station, with three sergeants to rank 
as first, second and third sergeants. • 

4. The sections of countrv about Robb's Fort 
and to the southwest of it are amply able to take 
care of themselves and furnish jou all the men that 
you will want. It is thought best to locate a post 
at a point northwest of Kimble's mill on the foot- 
hills of the Wabash river. The need of this sta- 
tion is, that there will be a large territor}' east and 



350 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

west of the Wabash river which is a dense wilder- 
ness and a large body of Indians could concentrate 
there and successfully raid any of the settlements 
in that section. Twenty men, with three ser- 
geants, should be stationed at this point. 

5. It is thought best that a station with ten 
men be at a point about twenty-five miles north of 
the mouth of the Wabash river and on the foothills 
on the east side of the river, to be established un- 
der the command of two sergeants. All these sta- 
tions should have a strong stockade that incloses 
all the ground that will be needed for the horses 
when inside and for barracks for the men. A 
strong, small house should be erected to hold the 
rations and ammunition. 

7. The territory around all the stations from 
whence the Indians are most likely to come, should 
be closely watched, and a vidette station as far 
front as it is practicable to place it. This should 
be done every day. At night two men should be 
selected to act as advance sentinels. These men 
should be placed at points where they can see the 
surrounding country with as little exposure to 
themselves as possible. 

8. The arms should be of the best that can be 
secured, not of the army musket, as that is too 
heavy, but of the regular hunting rifle, with the 
caliber of a size that would make forty balls to the 
pound. For convenience in carrjnng, if the barrels 
could be cut down lo about three feet and a half in 
length, it would be better. For the rest of the 
armament, the usual hunting. outfit will be all suf- 
ficient. 

9. The stations on' the north frontier of Har- 
rison County should patrol the section in their 
front to the north as far as they are safe to go, and 
to the northwest and northeast. The central and 
southern portion of Harrison County ca^n take care 
of afty raids that may come to them. They have 
a company called "Minute Rangers," that is com- 
manded by Captain John Tipton, that patrol all the 
country as far south as the Ohio river and some 
miles west of Blue river and east until in touch with 
guards from Clark's Grant or Jefferson ville. 

10. If you think best, you can detail one man 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 351 

at each station for hunting game. In that way 
there will be no need of meat rations being drawn 
from the Commissary at this post. 

11. You will have a platoon of not less than 
fifteen men with you at the place which you shall 
choose for the headquarters. As a suggestion, this 
headquarters would recommend that you have such 
a station at or near the White Oak Springs Fort. 
From there it will be easy to visit any of the sta- 
tions and you will be near where it is thought the 
most likely place for the Indians to attempt to ^ 
come into the settlements and near these head- 
quarters. 

Done at Vincennes, Indiana Territory, July 11^ 
1812. 

John Gibson, 

Acting Governor^ 
Per J. T. D., Clerk. 



* 'Headquarters, Indiana Territory, 

Vincennes, July 20, 1812. 

**CoL. Wm. Hargrove, Commanding the Mounted 
Rangers of Indiana Territ9ry: 

**This will be handed you by a Piankashaw 
Indian named Minto. Yesterday (Sunday) morn- 
ing a French boy and his mother were out to the 
east in a cart, eight or nine miles from this post, 
when they were met by eight Indians and robbed of 
their horse and csfrt. The woman thinks they were 
Shawnees. She says that she was on the old Dela- 
ware trace and was then some four or five miles^ 
north of White river. There was a cavalry com- 
pany sent out from here to try to intercept them. 
The reason for reporting this to you is that the 
eight Indians seen may be only a small band of a 
much larger one that may be hovering on the fron-^ 
tier, with the hope that they may find an oppor- 
tunity to raid some of the settlements. You had 
better send some of your men to several olF the new 
settlements on the border and notify them of this^ 
and inform the people that they must at once pre- 
pare to go into the fort at the first note of alarm. 

The British will cause the Indians to do all the 



352 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

harm that it is possible for them to do. I have just 
had an interview with the French woman who was 
robbed. I asked her why they did not take her 
and her boy prisoners. She says they seemed to 
want to be friendly and only wanted the loan of the 
cart to haul several deer into their camp and in less 
than one-half moon, they said, they would bring: it 
back to her at Vincennes. This, of course, was 
onl}' a pretense, hoping: that she would report to 
this post that they were friendly Indians. 

The reports from different points of the Terri- 
tory indicate that the Indians are concentrating: at 
various places on the northern frontier. It will be 
best to keep a vig:ilant lookout, for we cannot steer 
clear of trouble if the war continues, and it is much 
better to be prepared for trouble, if it is a little in- 
convenient to do so, than to wish that we had been, 
when it is too late. 

John Gibson, 
Acting Governor." 



* 'Vincennes, Indian Territory, 

July 29, 1812. 
**CoL. Wm. Hargrove, 

Commanding: Mounted Rang:ers: 

**For about ten days a man has been around 
this post claiming: to be an expert eng:ineer and 
that he has built many forts for the mounting: of 
heavy ordnances in the states east of the Alle- 
g:hanies. He had such g:ood papers of recommenda- 
tion that he was permitted to go where he pleased 
and was all through the fort and barracks. Last 
night he disappeared and took with him a very fine 
saddle horse which belonged to Col. Luke Decker, 
together with a fine saddle and a pair of heavy pis- 
tols in the holsters. It was thought he went to- 
ward the Ohio river and may come near some of 
30ur stations. You had better inform your men by 
a courier. There is no doubt that he is a British 
spy and it is very desirable to capture him. A de- 
scription of him given by those with whom he was 
is: A heavy man, five feet ten in height: would 
weigh about one hundred and eighty pounds; dark 
hair, black eyes, and he wore a fine velvet vest and 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 353 

a dark bltie longf-tailed coat both ornamented with 
silver buttons. A pair of fine white dressed buck- 
skin knee breeches with silver buckles at his knee; 
a pair of fine leather shoes with silver buckles; a 
swiveled hat, made out of beaver skin. Have your 
men keep a good lookout for him. 

**I will here again inform you that in the near 
future there is danger ahead if the war lasts any 
length of time This lull is only the fore runner of 
certain stirring times. Be sure that everything is 
in readiness for what may come. 

John Gibson, 
Acting (Jovernor. 

**By the hand of a friendly Delaware Indian. 
Return him in two days with anything that you 
wish to say. J. G." 

Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

August 10, 1812. 
Col. Wm. Hargrove, 

Commanding Mounted Rangers. 
**The new men can be mustered in and the 
two young boys will be returned to their homes. 
Two scouts from this post were at a point on 
West White river thirty miles east of the forks 
and saw two old Delaware Indian men who have a 
lone wigwam at that place. These Indians were 
friendly and "have been for a long time. They 
said that several Pottawattamies had recently been 
at that point and told them — *Soon we will go to 
the Ohio river — get heap horses — maybe get scalps 
— the British drive Americans away soon.' 

The scouts report that there is a'general move- 
ment among the Indians, a sort of nervous unrest 
that forebodes trouble and that the Indians did not 
seem to show that hearty friendship as formerly. 
-One friendly Indian was with the scouts pretend- 
ing to be a hunter, and said that if an opportunity 
offered, the Indians would strike our people soon. 

John Gibson, 
Acting Grovernor. 



t( 



»» 



During the month of August there was a great deal of 
activity in military circles. On the 12th of the month, Gov- 



354 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA, 

ernor Harrison was made a Major General by Governor Scott 
of Kentucky, with authority to command the militia of that 
State which was to be sent to assist Indiana Territory for 
the protection of her iFrontiers. Soon afterward two thous- 
and Kentuckians were assembled near the borders of the 
State of Ohio and with the militia of Indiana and Ohio, 
formed an army of three thousand four hundred men. 

They marched from their place of rendezvous and ar- 
rived at Ft. Wayne in Indiana Territory on September 12th. 
The approach of such a largfe army caused the hostile Ind- 
ians to retire from in front of that fort. 

On the 15th of August, 1812, General Hull, an old Rev- 
olutionary oflScer, ingloriously and cowardly surrendered the 
post of Detroit with two thousand men as prisoners. Thi& 
substantial victory by the British was a great aid to them in 
allying all the tribes of the Indians on the Wabash and the 
Northwest Territory to their standard and very soon after 
this there lyere many partisan organizations prepared for the 
purpose of preying on the most exposed places of the front- 
iers of Indiana and Illinois Territories and the State of Ohio* 

THE PIGEON ROOST MASSACRE. 

In 1809 there was a settlement made by a few families at 
a place known as Pigeon Roost in what is? now Scott county. 
These families were from four to five miles away from other 
settlers who had located in that section some years before* 
They bad been busy cleaning up and cultivating the rich 
land for more than* three years, without taking the precau- 
;ion to build a fort for protection against the Indians who 
were not far away in their towns. On the 3d of September, 
1812, while Jeremiah Payne and a visitor named G^ffman 
were out in the woods some two or three miles from the set- 
tlement locating bee trees, they were ambushed and killed by 
a party of Indians which afterward was learned to consist of 
nine Shawnees and four Delawares. The Indians moved on 
to the settlement and in less than two hours killed one man, 
five women and sixteen children. Mrs. Jane Biggs and three 
Httlc children escaped and after wandering through the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 355 

woods^ nearly all nigfht, reached the home of her brother, 
Zebulum Colling^s, six miles awaj. Iii one house there were 
William Collingrs (who was an old man), and Captain John 
Norris, and two small children, Lydia and John Colling^s. 
The two men made a brave defense and held the Indians in 
check until night and then escaped with the two children, 
and a little while before day arrived at the home of Zebulum 
Collinjrs. • 

The total number killed in this massacre was twenty- 
four — the two who were bee hunting^, Henry Collings and his 
wife, Mrs. Payne and eigfht children, Mrs. John Norris and 
her only child, and Mrs. Norris, the mother of John Norris, 
and Mrs. Richard Collingfs and seven children. These vil- 
lainous murderers, after committing this awful crime, scalped 
their victims, took all the goods which the}" could carry »nd 
set fire to the houses. They then hastily returned the way 
they had come. Captain Devalt with his company of rangers 
pursued them and at one time came up with their rear guard, 
when a running fight took place. One of the Captain's men 
was killed. Still the pursuit was kept up through the woods 
but the Indians were not overtaken again. The Legislature 
recently appropriated two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) and 
the State has erected a suitable monument to the unfortunate 
people at the place where their settlement was. 

AN ATTACK ON FORT HARKISON. 

On September 3. 1812, two men were killed near Fort 
Harrison while ihey were cutting wild hay. On the night of 
the 4th of September a large body of Shawnees, Pottawatta- 
mies, Winnebagoes and Kickapoos attacked Fort Harrison. 
At the outset they set fire to a blockhouse which was near 
the fort. Captain Zachary Taylor, who afterward was the 
twelfth President of the United States, was in command and 
determinedly resisted the attack, which was persistently kept 
up all night, at which time the Indians withdrew. 

In order to show the material this commander was made 
of, his report to Governor Harrison is here produced. In the 
official account of this action, written on the 10th of Septem- 
ber, 1812, Captain Taylor *iaid: 



356 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

'* About eleven o'clock I was awakened by the 
firing: of one of the sentinels. I sprang: up, ran out 
and ordered the men to their posts — when my or- 
derly sergfeant, who had chargfe of the upper 
blockhouse, called out that the Indians had fired 
the lower blockhouse. The g:uns had begfun to 
fire pretty smartly from both sides. I directed the 
buckets to be prepared and water brought from 
the well and the fire lo be extinguished immedi- 
ately as it was perceivable at that time, but from 
debility or some other cause, the men were slow in 
executing: my orders. The word 'Fire' appeared to 
throw all of them into confusion, and by the time 
they had g:otten the water and broken open the 
door, the fire had, unfortunately, communicated to 
a quantity of whisky, and in spite of every exertion 
we could make use of, in less than a moment it as- 
cended to the roof and baffled every effort we could 
make to exting:uish it. As that blockhouse joined 
pirt of the barracks that make part of the fortifica- 
tions, most of the men immediatelj' g:ave them- 
selves up for lost, and I had the g:reatest difficulty 
in g:etting my orders executed. And, Sir, what 
from the raging of the fire — the yelling and howl- 
ing of the several hundred Indians — the cries of 
nine women and children (a part soldiers' and part 
citizens' wives w.ho had taken shelter in the fort), 
and the despondency of so many men, which was 
worse than all — I can assure you ray feelings were 
unpleasant; and, indeed, there were not more than 
ten or fifteen men able to do a good deal, the 
others being sick or convalescent; and to add to our 
other misfortunes, two of the strongest men in the 
fort, that I had every confidence in, jumped the 
pickets and left us. My presence of mind, how- 
ever, did not forsake me. I saw that by throwing 
off a part of the roof that joined the blockhouse 
that was on fire and keeping this end perfectly 
wet, the whole row of buildings might be saved 
and leave only an entrance of eighteen or twenty 
feet for the Indians after the house was consumed, 
and that a temporary breastwork might be erected 
to prevent their even entering there. I convinced 
the men that this might be accomplished and it in- 
spired them with new life, and never did men work 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 357 

with more firmness or desperation. Those who 
. were able (while the others kept up a constant fire 
from the other blockhouse and the two bastions'^ 
mounted the roofs of the houses, with Dr. Clark at 
their head (who acted with the gfreatest firmness 
and presence of mind the whole time the attack 
lasted, which was about seven hours), under a 
shower of bullets, and in less than a moment 
threw oflf as much of the roof as was necessary. 
Although the barracks were several times in a 
blaze and an immense quantity of fire against 
them, the men used such exertions that they kept 
it under and before day raised a temporary 
breastwork as high as a man's head, although the 
Indians continued to pour in a heavy fire of ball 
and an immense quantity of arrows during the en- 
tire time that the attack lasted. After keeping up 
a constant fire until about six o'clock the next 
morning, which we began to return with some ef- 
fect after daylight, they removed out of reach of 
our guns. A party of them drove up the horses 
that belonged to the citizens, and as they coald not 
catch them very readily, shot all of them in our 
sight, as well as a number of their hogs. They 
drove oflf all of the cattle, which amounted to 
sixty-five head, as well as the public oxen." 

The sight that met the soldiers of this garrison when 
aroused from their slumbers to find the roaring flames of fire 
devouring a part of their blockhouse, was enough to try the 
nerves of the bravest. The men, with very few exceptions^ 
after being infused with the heroism of their commander^ 
fought like heroes. Two big burly fellows, however, let 
their heels get the better of their honor, jumped over the 
fence and attempted to break through the Indian lines and 
get away. One was killed and the other was glad to get 
back to the fort, where he lay on the outside of the walU 
screened by some logs until daylight, when the Indians with- 
drew and he was admitted into the fort, without having a 
very high appreciation of the famous lines, '*He who fights 
and runs away, will live to fight another day. 

When the authorities at Vincennes were informed of the 



3S8 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

attack on Fort Harrison, Colonel Russel, with ten hundred 
men, was dispatched to that i>oint for the purpose of chastis- 
ing: the Indians and relieving the fort. The troops arrived 
at that point on the 6th of September, but found the Indians 
had retired. A small detachment commanded by Lieut. 
Richardson, acting^ as an escort for provisions sent to Fort 
Harrison, was attacked by a large party of Indians at a point 
within the boundary of Sullivan county. Seven of the men 
were killed and the balance, with the provisions, fell into the 
hands of the Indians. ' 

Colonel Wilcox, with the command of Kentucky volun- 
teers, remained at Fort Harrison; Colonel Russel, with the 
two regiments of Indiana Militia, returned to Vincennes. 

There was a noted Shawnee chief named Captain Logan, 
acting as a scout, who was with Harrison during his march 
for the relief of Fort Wayne. Some time after the relief of 
this fort he and two warriors of his tribe were on a recon- 
noisance about thirty miles north of Ft. Wayne, when they 
had a skirmish with a like party of the enemy, consisting of 
several hostile Indians and two or three white men in the 
British service. During the skirmish one of the white men 
was killed and Winnamac, a Pottawattamie chief, was killed 
by Logan, who. being mortally wounded, retreated and got 
back to the camp of General Winchester, where shortly after- 
ward he died and was buried with military honors. 

During the occupancy of Ft. Wayne by Harrison's army 
the Indian village and their cornfields were destroyed for 
many miles in every direction. In the latter part of Septem- 
ber General Harrison turned over the command at Ft. Wayne 
to Brigadier-General James Winchester. On the 24th of the 
same month Harrison received a dispatch from the Secretary 
of War with orders assigning him to the command of the 
Northwest Army, with a command estimated at about ten 
thousand men, with Instructions to recapture Detroit, invade 
the Canadas and destroy the British army in that quartet^- 
all of which he thoroughly accomplished. 

As the seat of war was removed out of Indiana Territory, 
Harrison and his command will be left for the general history 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 359 

of the United States to tell of the heroism of that ^reat gren- 
«eral and the valor of his brave and determined men. 



4»i 



**Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

Augrust 20, 1812. 
C01.ONEL Wm. Hargrove, 

Commanding Mounted Rangers: 
General Harrison has been commissioned 
Major General by the Governor of Kentucky and 
placed*' in command of the militia of that state, 
who are ordered to report to him in this territory. 
There will soon be a largre number of troops cross- 
ing: the Ohio river into this Territory. This ap- 
parent security will not in the least changre your 
duties. The men under your command will still 
keep up the same vigfilance. The militia of this 
Territory will in a g^reat measure leave for the 
north. Then our force of able bodied men will be 
much reduced and it will be necessary to carefully 
watch every point of our frontier. 

John Gibson, 
Acting: Governor." 



*Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

Augrust 28, 1812. 
"^'Colonel Wm. Hargrove, 

Commanding Mounted Rang^ers of Indiana 
Territory: 
''General Hull ing^loriously and cowardly sur- 
rendered Detroit and two thousand troops to the 
British on the 15th inst. It is feared that this suc- 
cess on the part of the Britir^h will cause the Ind- 
ians who have been apparently friendly to go to 
their standard. There is no doubt of the ultimate 
outcome of this war, but there seems to be much 
incompetency in hig^h places. 

John Gibson, 
Acting: Governor." 

**Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

September 8, '12. 
Colonel Hargrove, 

Commanding: the Mounted Rangier Service: 
"On last Thursday, the 3d inst., there were 



360 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

twenty-four people killed at a point north of Louis^ 
ville, some thirty or forty miles. The Indians who* 
committed this murder came from the north be- 
yond White river. These fool-hardy people had 
moved away from all others and made no attempt 
at preparing: a place for defense. 

"You will go over your territory and at each 
post ascertain if there are people who are out be- 
yond the line that you are protecting:. If you 
should find such to be the case, then order them to 
prepare a fort and see that they do it, where there 
are as many as three families. If you should find 
less than three families at any isolated point, have 
them and their effects moved to a place where they 
can be protected and where the men of these fam- 
ilies can help protect others. See that this order 
is carried out in the earliest possible time. 

John Gibson, 
Acting: Governor- 
Per J. T. D." 



* Vincennes, Indiana Territory, 

September 12, 1812. 
*'CoL. Hargrove, Commanding: Rang:ers: 

*'The brave defense made by Captain Taylor 
at Ft. Harrison is one bright ray amid the gloom 
of incompetency which has been shown in so many 
places. 

*'Your force east of Blue river was not expect- 
ed to do anything toward guarding the country for 
several miles this side of the frontier where the 
twenty-four foolish people were murdered. The 
militia of Clark county are supposed to be on duty 
in that direction and were not to blame. The ven-^ 
turesome people who are in all sections of the 
country cause their own destruction and keep the 
country in a great turmoil. The orders in regard 
to people moving beyond the line of protection 
from this date shall be obeyed and the venturesome 
people who are continually wanting to go too near 
the front, shall go into forts in touch with our 
guards or brought back inside of the line. 

**There is great need of vigilant watch being 
kept. The Indian will attempt in many ways to 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 361 

wreak veng^eance on the white people. 

John Gibson, 
Acting as Governor." 
Per J. T. D." 



During the last part of 1812 there was so much uncer-^ 
tainty in all parts of Indiana Territory and so many men 
who were members of the Legislature who were on military 
duty, that when the time for the regular Legislature came- 
around it was thought best to postpone it. 

After it became evident that the Indians were concen*^ 
trating at different points in Illinois and Indiana Territories^ 
so as to be in position to send out various raids to all the dis- 
tricts which were "the most exposed on the borders of these 
two Territories, the Governor of Kentucky became alarmed^ 
After the determined attack made upon Ft. Harrison and 
numerous raids made by the Indians along the line and the 
murder of so many citizens north of Louisville, he determined 
to strongly reinforce the militia of these two territories. Is- 
suing a call for volunteers for that purpose, there were so. 
many responded that he could not accept half of them.. 
At)out the middle of September General Samuel Hopkins, a 
man of noted distinction, was placed in command of two. 
thousand Kentuckians and marched with them to Vincennes^ 
Indiana. Refitting his corps with the proper supplies and 
ammunition, along about the fourth of October he was ready 
to march. In a conference between the military commanders 
and Governor Gibson, of Indiana Territory, and Gov*^ 
ernor Eidwards, of Illinois Territory, it was decided that 
so many of the Wabash and Northwest Indians had 
moved and settled in that section around the Illinois river 
and at)out where Peoria, Illinois, is now located, placing them 
in a position to raid any of the settlements along the borders, 
of the the two territories, that Hopkins' corps should be sent 
against them. The first objective point would be the villages 
of the Kickapoo Indians beyond and to the northwest of Ft^ 
Harrison. Hopkins got away with his army and crossed the- 
Wabash at Fort Harrison. After marching some days and 



3h2 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

-coming' near to the objective {>oint, owingf to the loose man- 
ner in which the rules of discipline were enforced, thete 
arose grreat disscntion amon^ the men and officers, several of 
whom possibly felt that they had not bee^n consulted concern- 
ing matters about which they thougfht themselves competent 
to give advice, and others claiming that they were not ex- 
pected to march so far into the interior when they enlisted. 
After getting probably within one da)'*s march of the Peoria 
Indians there seemed to be a spirit of mutiny among all the 
men which was led on by one very officious major. The army 
followed their trail back, recrossed the Wabash, General Hop- 
kins following in the rear with a picked corps to protect the 
army from being: assailed by any Indians who migfht be fol- 
lowing on their trail. This mutinous army was discharged 
and sent to their homes. The conduct of the men and a por- 
tion of the officers was deeply deplored by General Hopkins, 
who was a brave, gallant and generous-hearted man, worthy 
the confidence of this nation. 

Soon after this General Hopkins asked permission to or- 
ganize another corps which was g'ranted and three regiments 
of Infantry were organized under the commands of Colonels 
Barbour, Miller and Wilcox, and a company of Regulars 
under the command of Zachary Taylor. With this command 
there were several companies of the militia infantry rangers 
of Indiana Territory. 

The army rendezvoused at Vincennes and in the early 
part of November marched to Ft. Harrison and from there up 
to the regfion round the Tippecanoe river, where they de- 
stroyed a largfe amount of Indian stores and a number of their 
towns. In defense of this otd veteran hero. General Hop- 
kins, it is thoug^ht best to let him tell to the Governor of his 
state in his own way the doings of the corps under his com- 
mand: 

'*On the 11th of Noveml)€r the army marched from 
Ft. Harrison on the road formerly made by Governor Har- 
rison*s army and the boats set out at the same time. The 
lengfth of time the enemy had expected us made it necessary 
to gfuard ourselves in a special manner. The rise of the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 363 



% 



waters from the heavy rain preceding^ our march and some 
largre creeks, left us no doubt of considerable difficulty and 
embarrassment in so much that not until the 14th did we pass 
Sugar Creek, three miles above the road. From every infor- 
mation I had no hesitation in moving: on the east side of the 
Wabash. The Vermilion Pine Creek and other impediments 
on the west side, superadded to the presumption that we were 
expected and migfht more easily be annoyed and ambuscaded 
on that route, determined me in this measure. The boats, 
too, with provisions of rations, forage and military stores, 
could be easily covered and protected, as the line of march 
could be invariably nearer the river. Lieutenant Colonel 
Barbour, with one battalion of his regiment, had command of 
the seven boats and encamped with us on the bank of the 
river almost every night. This so protracted our march that 
we did not reach the Prophet's town until the 19th. 

'*On the morning of this day I detached three hundred 
men tp surprise the Winnebago town lying on Ponce Passu 
(Ponce peau pichou) Creek, one mile from t4ie Wabash and 
four below the town of the Prophet. This party, commanded 
by General Butler, surrounded the place about break of day, 
but found it evacuated. There were, in the main town, about 
forty houses, many of them from thirty to fifty feet in length, 
besides many temporary huts in the surrounding prairie, in 
which they had cultivated a good deal of com. 

"On the 20th, 21st and 22d we were embarked in the 
-complete destruction of the Prophet's town, which had about 
forty cabins and huts, and the large Kickapoo village adjoin- 
ing, below it on the west side of the river, consisting of about 
one hundred and sixty cabins and huts—finding and destroy- 
ing their corn, reconnoitering the circumjacent country and 
constructing works for the defense of our boats and army. 
Seven miles east of us, on the Ponce Passu creek, a party of 
Indians w-ere discovered. They had fired on a party of ours 
on the 21st and killed a man by the name of Dunne, a gallant 
^dier in Captain Duval's company. On the 22d upwards of 
sixty horsemen, under the command of Lieutenant Colonels 
Miller and Wilcoju anxious to bury their comrade, as well as 



364 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

g^ain a more complete knowledg^e of their g^round, went to a 
point near the Indian encampment, fell into an ambuscade 
and eighteen of our party were killed, wounded and missing. 
On the return of this party and the information of a large 
assembly of the enemy, who, encouraged by the strength of 
their camp, appeared to be waiting for us, every preparation 
was made to march early and to engage the enemy at every 
risk, when from the most violent storm and fall of snow, at- 
tended with the coldest weather I ever saw or felt at this sea- 
son of the year and which did not subside until the evening 
of the 23rd, we were delayed until the 24th. Upon arriving 
on the ground, we found the enemy had deserted their camp 
before the fall of the snow and passed the Ponce Passu. I 
have no doubl but their ground was the strongest I have ever 
seen. The deep-rapid creek spoken of was in their rear, run- 
ning in a semi-circle and fronted by a bluff one hundred feet 
high, almost perpendicular, and only to be penetrated by 
three steep ravines. If the enemy would not defend them- 
selves here, it was evident they did not intend to fight at all. 

''After reconnoitering sufficiently, we returned to camp- 
and found the ice so accumulated as to alarm us for the re- 
turn of the boats. I had fully intended to spend one more 
week in endeavoring to find the Indian camp, but the shoe- 
less, shirtless state of the troops now clad in the remnants of 
their summer dress — a river full of ice — the hills covered with 
snow — a rigid climate and no certain point to which we could 
further direct our operations — under the influence and advice 
of every staff and field officer, orders were given and meas- 
ures pursued for our return on the 25th. 

'*We are now progressing to Ft. Harrison through ice 
and snow, where we expect to arrive on the last day of this 
month. Before I close this I cannot forbear expressing the 
merits of the officers and soldiers of this command. After 
leaving Ft. Harrison, all unfit for duty, we had in privates of 
every corps, about one thousand — in the total, twelve 
hundred and fifty or thereabout. At the Prophet's town up- 
wards of one hundred there were on the sick report, yet, sir, 
have we progressed in such order as to menace our enemy.. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 36^ 

free from annoyance; seven large keel boats have been con- 
voyed and protected to a point heretofore unknown to Indian 
expeditions; three larg^e Indian establishments have been 
burned and destroyed, with nearly three miles of fence (and 
all the corn, etc., we could find), besides many smaller ones. 
The enemy have been sought in their strongholds and every op- 
portunity afforded them to attack or alarm us; a march on the 
•east side of the Wabash without road or cognizance of the 
country, fully one hundred miles perfected, and this has been 
done with a naked army of infantry, aided with only fifty 
rangers and spies. All this was done in twenty days — no 
sigh, no murmur, or complaint. 

"I certainly feel particular obligations to my friends, 
General Butler and Colonel Taylor, for their effectual and 
ready aid in their line; as also to Captain Z. Taylor, of the 
Seventh United States Infantry. Messrs. Gist and Richen- 
son, my aide-de-camps, and Major J. C. Breckinridge, my sec- 
retary, for prompt and effectual support in every instance. 
The firm and almost unparalleled defense of Ft. Harrison by 
Captain Z. Taylor has raised for him a fabric of character not 
to be effaced by my eulogy. To Colonel Barbour for his 
of5cer-like management in conducting and commanding the 
boats, my thanks are due. As also to Colonels Miller and 
Wilcox; and to Majors Hughes and Shacklett, and to the 
Captains and subalterns of the army in general. From 
Lieutenants Richenson, Hawkins and Sullivan, of the U. S. 
troops, I have to acknowledge my obligations for their steady 
and uniform conduct, as well as Captain Beckes, of the 
rangers. Captain Washburn of the spies, and the staff gen- 
erally." 

When the army on its return trip had arrived at Vin- 
cennes. General Hopkins announced in a general order his 
determ ination to retire from military life. 



From the northern borders of Indiana Territory many 
ludians had returned to the former sites of their old towns in 
the central part of the Territory and rebuilt them. The 



366 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Miamis occupied many stations alon^^ the Mississinewa river 
and were concentratipc: a large force at these towns. Gen- 
eral Harrison ordered Lieutenant Colonel John B. Campbell 
of the Nineteenth U. S. Rej^imcnt to organize a corps of 
mounted troops for the purpose of breaking up these stations 
along the Mississinewa river. A regiment of Kentucky 
Dragoons, commanded by Colonel Simerall, and a detachment 
of U. S. Dragoons, commanded by Major Ball, and a few 
other detachments of regular and volunteer troops — in all 
something over six hundred troops. With the command was 
a company of spies and several guides who had been impris- 
oned with the Indians for a long, time when stationed in the 
section that the army intended to march through. 

This detachment started on the expedition along the lat- 
ter part of November. The weather becoming very cold, 
they were very much retarded in their march. They carried, 
individually, a full ration for twelve days and on their horses, 
strapped behind their saddle, a bushel of corn. It was not 
until the 17th of December that they arrived at a town on the 
Mississinewa river, inhabited by the Indians. The ground 
being covered with snow and ver>^ cold, the Indians were in 
their wigwams. The troops entered the town from several 
points and killed several warriors and captured between fort)' 
and fifty prisoners, most of them women and children. Then 
they went to some other villages farther down the river, but 
found them all evacuated. The weather was so extremely 
cold that it was thought best by the council of officers assem- 
bled for the expedition to return, but while the officers were 
in council the camp was attacked by a large body of Indians. 
The attack was made upon the left flank of the camp, but in 
a very ^hort time became general. The enemy advanced 
very close to the line, and seemed determined to come into 
the camp. The soldiers along that line were brave men, 
many of them old Indian fighters, and they met this o;irush 
of the Indians with a leaden hail that checked them, when 
they rushed to find places of concealment, from which posi- 
tion they kept up a furious fire on the American troops for 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 367 

more than one hour, when the Indians gave way and retired 
from the field. 

Of the Americans, eight were killed outright and several 
died that day of their wounds. In all there were about fifty- 
five soldiers hit. They lost something more than one hun- 
dred horses. The Indians left on the field fifteen dead. It 
was not known how many they carried off the field dead or 
mortally wounded, but probably as many as they left. There 
was no way of ascertaining the number of others wounded 
who were able to get away. 

After the battle was over and the dead were buried, it 
was decided to commence immediately their return trip. They 
were compelled to move very slowly owing to a number of 
severely wounded men, whom. they had to carry with them» 
Colonel Campbell sent an express to Greenville notifying the 
authorities there of their condition,' and a detachment of 
ninety men, commanded by Major Adams, started to meet 
them with supplies and conveyances for the wounded. 

At a large town in what is now Delaware county, Indiana, 
the Delaware Indians were in considerable force, and at vari- 
ous other towns up and down that river and its tributaries.. 
These Indians were regarded as friendly to the United States 
and were urged to move away from the routes of the hostile 
Indians into the state of Ohio at a reservation assigned for 
them on the Auglaize river. This arrangement was carried 
out and the friendly Delawares placed themselves under the 
protection of the United States Government. 

During the times of these expeditions against the Indians 
and the many battles with them, Governor Gibson and the 
few troops of his command were busy trying to influence the 
people who had settled in the Territory to prepare suitable 
places in each settlement where the people could, rally in case 
of danger and defend themselves. 

On the I8th of December, 1812, General Gibson, acting 
Governor, issued a proclamation in which he required the 
Legislature to meet on the first day of February, 1813. In a 
message which he delivered to the House of Representatives 
in 1813, the acting Governor said: **The Governor of the 



368 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. ' 

Territory, having been for some time absent from us, the 
gfubernatorial functions consequently devolving: upon him 
have been exercised by me. In my discharge of this import- 
ant trust, I have been actuated by none other than a wish to 
preserve public rights and protect private property. If I 
have, at any time, failed in my official duties, or erred in my 
plans you must attribute it to the head and not to the heart. 
My address to you, gentlemen, shall be laconic, for I am not an 
*orator nor accustomed to set speeches and did I possess the 
abilities of Cicero or Demosthenes, I could not portray in more 
glowing colors our foreign and domestic political situation than 
it is already experienced within our own breasts. The United 
'States has lately been compelled by frequent acts of injustice 
to declare war against England. I say compelled, for I am 
•convinced from the pacific and agricultural disposition of her 
•citizens that it must be a case of the last necessity which 
would induce such a measure. For the detailed causes of the 
\7ar, I beg leave to refer you, gentlemen, to the message of 
his excellency, the President, to Congress at the commence- 
ment of the present session. It is highly worthy of the ser- 
ious perusal of the sage and patriot. It does honor to the 
liead and heart of Mr. Madison. Although I am not an ad- 
mirer of wars in general, yet, as we are now engaged in a 
necessary and justifiable one, I can exultingly say that I am 
happy to see, in my advanced days, our little but inimitable 
navy riding triumphant on the seas; but chagrined to find 
that our armies by land are so little successful. The spirit 
«of 76 appears to have fled from our continent, or if not fled, 
is at least asleep for it appears not to pervade our armies 
generally^ On the contrary, lassitude, and too often schisms 
— hav€ crept in and usurped the place of patriotic ardor. 

*^At your last assemblage, gentlemen, our political hor- 
izon seemed clear; our infant Territory bid fair for a rapid 
and rising grandeur; our population was highly flattering; 
•our citize«is were becoming prosperous and happy, and secur- 
ity dwelt everywhere, even on our frontiers. Alas! the 
scene has <:hainged and whether this change, as it respects 
our Terri4s0»y i^as been owing to over anxiety in us to attend 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 369 

our dominions or to a wish for a retaliation by our foes or to 
a foreigrn influence, I shall not pretend to decide, but that 
there is a change, and that, too, a distressing: one, is evident. 
For the aborigines, our former neighbors and friends, have 
become our most inveterate foes. They have drawn the 
scalping knife and raised the tomahawk and shouts of savage 
fury are heard at our thresholds. Our former frontiers are 
now our wilds and our inner settlements have become fron- 
tiers. Some of our best citizens and old men worn down with 
age and helpless women and innocent babes, have fallen vic- 
tims to savage cruelty. Our citizens, even in our towns, have 
frequent alarms and constant apprehensions as to their 
preservation. I have not been inattentive to my duty, gen- 
tlemen, but have hitherto and shall continue to exert every 
nerve to afford our citizens all possible protection, and it. is 
hoped that the all-wise and powerful Creator and Governor of 
the Universe will not forget his people, but cover us from our 
savage and sanguinary foe by his benign interposition." 

During the session of this Legislature there were thirty- 
two laws passed, mostly of local importance to a number of 
sections in the Territory. Fixing the seat of justice in new 
counties; an act to organize Gibson and Pike Counties and 
defining their boundaries; an act to remove the Territorial 
government from Vincennes to Corydon, Harrison County; an 
act to reduce into one the several acts, establishing a perma- 
nent revenue. *'The following tax shall be paid annually on 
one hundred acres of first rate land, and so in proportion for 
a lesser amount of first rate land, seventy-five cents. On one 
hundred acres of second rate land, fifty cents: and so in pro- 
portion for lesser amount of second rate land. On third rate 
land, one hundred acres, twenty- five cents; and in proportion 
for lesser amount of third rate land. For every slave or serv- 
ant of color over twelve years of age, two dollars; for a retail 
store, twenty dollars; town lots to be taxed at a rate of fifty 
cents on every hundred dollars worth; for a tavern, not more 
than twenty dollars; for a billiard table, fifty dollars." 

By an act which was approved on the 11th of March, 
1813, the seat of government was declared to be fixed at the 



370 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

town of Corydon from and after the first day of May, 1813. 

After having been in session about forty days, the General 
Assembly, in conformity to a joint resolution of both Houses, 
was prorogued by proclamation of Gk)vernor Gibson to meet 
at Corydon on the first Monday in December, 1813. 

Governor Gibson becoming convinced that the only safety 
to the people in his Territory lay in increasing the number of 
the militia, a proclamation was issued calling for twelve com- 
panies of militia. This call was but partly filled, owing to 
the fact that so many were already on militar}' dut}^; but the 
number enlisted added much to the prospect of resisting the 
attacks of the Indians when they were stationed at the differ- 
e It places along the most exposed part of the Territor}'. 

Wayne, Franklin and Dearborn Counties, or the eastern 
portion of those counties, being near the thick settlement of 
the state of Ohio, was nluch more securely protected than 
many other districts to the west. The new companies organ- 
ised — one of them went on duty on the borders of Wayne,, 
and their line of defense extended along part of Franklin 
County. That company, together with the militia and the 
rangers already on duty on that border, made that section 
quite secure. Another company went on duty on the north- 
ern borders of Dearborn County and the south and west part 
of Franklin County; another company was placed on duty on 
t le northern border of Clark County, and another company 
went on duty on the northern border of Harrison County; the 
rangers alread}' on duty in these two last named counties co- 
u;>erated with these new militia companies. These two last 
named companies, with all the other miliiar}^ forces in that 
district, were commanded by Major John Tipton, who after- 
ward became U. S. Senator from Indiana. Col. Robert M. 
Evans, who was in charge of this militia, at one time while 
making inspection of the forces somewhere in the woods 
where Jackson County now is, with his large cavalry escort, 
c ime up to the place where Major Tipton was 'giving some 
directions to mounted spies. Tipton, not paying the Colonel 
what he (the Colonel) thought was proper military attention, 
Kvans said, '*What is your name, sir?" Tipton turned 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 371 

around in his saddle and looking at him, said, *'If that is of 
any importance, Colonel, my name is John Tipton." '*Where 
are your headquarters?" asked the Colonel. The Major re- 
plied, **It is now on this saddle, and tonight, sir. if I can find 
a tree without a panther being at roost in it, it will be on this 
saddle at the root of that tree." The Colonel, being a very 
dignified man and much used to formality, in making his re- 
port to Governor Gibson, said: **That varmint that you have 
on duty up in the wilds of Harrison County paid no more at- 
tention to me than he would have to an ordinary' man." 

The rest of the militia companies organized, two of them 
being enlisted at Vincennes. were stationed at points above 
and below that post at or near the Wabash river. One of the 
other two companies raised was on duty near the forks of 
White river and the last near Blue river. The ranger service 
which had been organized and was under the command of 
Colonel Hargrove, was all merged into these organizations 
and Colonel Hargrove went on duty under Colonel Evans, 
who commanded all these new levies. 

During the year of 1813 the Indians did not attempt to 
attack any of the forts on the frontiers, but gathered at dif- 
ferent points in small numbers in the neighborhood of a fort 
or blockhouse and laid in wait for days at a time, until they 
caught some unguarded man stealing away from the fort to 
look after his little fields of corn or stock. In -this way a 
number of men were killed and several women and children 
captured. Wiih all of the vigilance that the rangers and 
soldiers could bestow upon the thinly settled sections of th^ 
country, these depredations were committed. Many horses 
were stolen and houses plundered of such things as they 
could carry away, and then burned. . 

Within a very few miles of Vincennes at one time, three 
men were killed and scalped and twenty-five horses were sur- 
rounded and captured and ridden away by the Indians. Dur- 
ing the early part of the spring of that year two men who 
were cutting a bee tree in Franklin County were surprised by 
seven or eight indians, killed and scalped and their vessels 
full of honey carried away. 



372 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

There was a running fight between three scouts of Tip- 
ton's command and about twenty-five Indians. One of the 
men, after running over eight miles, was shot dead. The In- 
dians lost three of their men in the encounter. 

At a point near White Oak Springs fort (now Peters- 
burg, Ind.), and within the lines of the patrol guard, two 
men were killed while out hunting for their horses that were 
belled. The Indians had caught the horses and tied them in 
a thicket, taking the bells off their necks and climbing into a 
low, bushy tree. At intervals they would ring these bells 
and the men, not suspecting any danger, deliberately went 
forward to within a short distance, when two out of the three 
who were together were shot dead by two Indians who were 
hidden in the tree. The third rushed back to the fort, less 
than a mile away, raised the alarm and twenty mounted sol- 
diers went to the point and found the two men dead and 
scalped. They found where the horses had been hitched and 
where the Indians had hurriedly ridden away. 

These maraudings were very annoying, but it was im- 
possible to break them up, as there were many square miles 
in one body of land, which was a perfect wilderness and un- 
surpassed for density. There were a great many such places 
as this in which the Indians, in small squads, could hide in 
for weeks at a time without being discovered. 

With all the precaution that could be used, the Indians 
would appear from points near where the guards were sta- 
tioned, killing many of the settlers and stealing their horses. 
A letter written by Major Tipton to General Gibson in April, 
1813, will explain the condition of affairs of the Indiana Ter- 
ritory at this time: 

'*Since I have had command of the militia on 
the borders of Harrison and Clark Counties, the 
Indians have caused us much trouble and murdered 
a number of citizens on the frontiers of these coun- 
ties, all of which I have reported to Colonel Evans; 
but in order that )'ou may understand the situation, 
I have directed this letter to )'ou. 

**On the 18th of March ohe man was killed and 
three others wounded near this place (Valonia), 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 373 

At that time I was not there. On my arrival I 
took twenty-nine men and went up to Drift river, 
twenty-five miles, and here found a party of Indians 
on an island in the river. In a skirmish of twenty 
minutes, I defeated them, killed one and saw others 
sink in the river, and I believe if any made their 
escape by swimming, they lost their guns. I lost 
no men. 

*'On the sixteenth inst. two men were killed 
and one wounded southwest eight miles of this- 
place and a number of horses were stolen. I im- 
mediately took thirty men and followed them three 
days. We had five large creeks to raft and many to 
wade and every day a heavy rain fell. The third day 
I directed my spies to march slowly. The Indians^ 
horses were showing evidences of fatigue, and I 
thought it best not to overtake them until night; 
but contrary to my orders, they came up with one 
Indian who had stopped to fix his pack and fired at 
him. The other Indians were but a little in ad- 
vance and they all left their horses and plunder. 
The ground being hilly, we could not overtake 
them. Had it not been for my orders being dis- 
obeyed, I would have been able to have killed or 
captured them in their camp that night. As they 
went out they passed Salt creek and there took an, 
old trail directly for Delaware town, and it is my 
opinion that while the government was supporting 
one part of that tribe, the others were murdering 
our citizens. It is much to be desired that these 
rascals, of whatever tribe they may be harboring 
about their town, should be routed. This could be 
done with one hundred mounted men in seven days. 

'*If there is not an effective measure taken to 
guard this place, all of Clark and Harrison Coun- 
ties will break.' It is rumored here that when the 
rangers come out, the militia will be dismissed. If 
so, our case is a dangerous one, as it is hard for 
mounted men to range through the swamps and 
backwaters of Driftwood and Muscackituck rivers, 
as they have been for most of the season more than a 
mile wide, by reason of low, marshy bottoms which 
overflow, and many times three and four miles 
wide. The Indians come in and secrete themselves 
in some high ground surrounded by water and by 



374 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

the help of bark canoes, come in and do mischief 
and until I came out, never could be found. Since 
I came they have made two attempts to take off the 
horses. The first time, on the 12th inst., I took 
all their horses but one. The last time I took all 
and still followed them with footmen. The last 
time we lived three days on a little venison, with- 
out bread or salt, and I believe if there are to be 
rangers, there should be spies of young and hardy 
footmen, who can lay and scout through the 
swamps and thickets as the Indians do; then we 
will be secure, not else. I have been constantly out 
for the last eight days on foot, wading and rafting 
the creeks. I have seen many signs of Indians, 
such as camps where they have lain, and killed 
hogs and cattle to live on, and many canoes to ap- 
proach our settlements, and I am conscious if you 
had not ordered out the additional company and 
made those excellent arrangements of the ninth of 
February, all of this frontier would have been 
murdered ere now. The citizens are living be- 
tween hope and despair, waiting to know their 
doom." 

In June, 1813, an expedition of one hundred and thirty- 
five men under Colonel Joseph Bartholomew left Valonia in 
the direction of the Delaware town on the west fork of White 
river to capture several hostile Indians who were thought to 
be among the Delawaies. The most of these places they 
found deserted. Some were burnt and others had been only 
temporarily occupied by the Indians to collect and carry away 
their corn. Colonel Bartholomew's forces succeeded in kill- 
ing one Indian and wounding two more and capturing a very 
old man who claimed to be a brother of Buckongahelas, th'e 
great chief of the Delawares. The old man was fitted up in 
comfortable quarters by the troops and given supplies of food 
and ammunition for his fine gun, a present from Daniel 
Boone, which had engraved on the metal plate, fastened to 
the stock of the gun, ''Presented to my friend, Treat way, 
brother of Chief Buckongahelas, for great favor shown me 
when my life was in peril, while a prisoner among the In- 
dians during the year 1779; this is given in testimony for my 
sincere regard for this kind-hearted Indian. D. Boone." 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 375 

In one of the treaties which Clark had with the Indians, 
Boone, who was one of the commissioners to make the treaty, 
sent the gun b}' Chief Buckongahelas to his brother. 

In July, 1813, Colonel Russel organized a force of six 
hundred men at Valonia and marched to the Indian villages 
which were about the mouth of the Mississinewa river, and 
found they were all deserted.- It appeared that the Indians 
had all left the country. 

During the summer there were man}^ smaller expeditions, 
but they found no Indians. With all of these expeditions, 
there were many of the most noted Indian fighters of that 
period, and had they found the Indians, would have given a 
good account of themselves. 

The British still held Detroit, and from that point had 
furnished supplies to the Indians and paid for scalps of the 
Americans up to July, 1813. A young Kentucky woman, 
named McMurtree, was sold to a Canadian officer named 
Rahel in July, 1813, and was recaptured October 5, 1813, after 
the battle of the Thames, when General Procter's headquar- 
ters and all his baggage was captured. With that was a 
large number of American women who had been captured and 
sold into slavery. With this number was Miss McMurtree, 
and she was recognized b}^ some of her former neighbors be- 
longing to a Kentucky battalion who were in that fight. The 
statements made by this lady were so damaging to the 
British that it was thought best to preserve them. Her tes- 
timony was taken down by the adjutant of that batallion. 
She said that she was captured at a point about thirty-five 
miles northwest of Louisville as she, with her father, mother 
and brother were coming to Indiana Territory. Her father 
and mother were killed and scalped and she and her brother 
were captured, and after the first day's march, her brother 
was taken by the Indians to a town which they passed near a 
large river and she had never seen him since. Three Indians 
had her in charge atld took her to Detroit, where she was 
taken into a building in which quartermaster supplies were 
stored. Here she saw a man who seemed to be in charge of 
that building pay the three Indians who had her in charge 



.^76 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

S3me pieces of coin and presented each of them with a jack- 
knife and then the Indians gave the man the scalps of her 
mother and father. Her father's hair being: of a fiery red 
color, this white man made joking remarks to her that they 
would keep that and would not have to use the steel and 
punk any more — that they could catch fire by the brilliancy 
of that hair. They sent to the fort or barradcs for Lieuten- 
ant Rahel. He returned with the messenger, looked at the 
girl carefully and said to the man who seemed to be in charge 
of the quartermaster's building something she did not under- 
stand. This quartermaster gave each of the Indians a piece 
of coin, also a red blanket. The man who paid for her said 
she would go to his home, that he had a mother there and 
she would provide for her. These was so much excitement 
about the army evacuating Detroit that she saw the young 
lieutenant but once after this. He was then making prepara- 
tions to send his mother and household effects to Maiden, 
where they remained for a few days until Procter evacuated 
that town. This young man was killed at Maiden while try- 
ing to quell a drunken riot among the Indians. 

After the destruction of Procter's army and the death of 
Tecumseh, the Indians became less troublesome and several 
tribes sued for peace. Among them were some which had 
caused much trouble in Indiana Territory — the Pottawata- 
mies, Miamis and Kickapoos. About the middle of October, 
1813, General Harrison for the United States and several 
tribes of Indians, the Miamis, Pottawattamies, Wyandotts, 
Eel River Miamis, Ottawas and Chippewas, held a meeting^ 
and agreed on the terms of an armistice, as follows: 

**1. There shall be a suspension of hostilities 
between the United States and said tribes from this 
day until the pleasure of the Gk)vernment of the 
United States can be known. In the meantime, 
these said tribes may retire to their hunting 
grounds and be unmolested, if they will behave 
themselves. 

"2. In the event of any murder or other dep- 
recations being committed upon any citizen of the 
United States by any of the other tribes of Indians, 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 377 

those who are parties to this agreement shall unite 
their efforts to punish the offenders. 

'*3. Hostages shall be given by said tribes 
who shall be sent into the settlements and there 
remain until the termination of all the differences 
with the United States and said tribes by a council 
to be held for that purpose. 

*'4. All prisoners in the possession of said 
tribes shall be immediately brought to Ft. Wayne 
or some other post and delivered to the command- 
ing of&cer."^ 

This armistice affected about three thousand five hun- 
dred Indians. 

During the early part of the year 1814, General Harrison^ 
General Lewis Cass and General Adair were appointed com- 
missioners to hold a conference at Greenville, Ohio, with the 
Indians named in the armistice and all other Indians of the 
Northwest. The information of this treaty was sent to all 
tribes by the hands of friendly Indians^ asking -them to meet 
on the 20th of June, 1814, at Greenville to form a treaty of 
friendship and alliance between the United States and the 
Northwest Indians. Nearly all the tribes of Indians that had 
been at war with the United States resjwnded to this call. 
The negotiations were not concluded until late in July, when 
the treaty of friendship and alliance was signed, and from 
that period on there was but little trouble with the Indians* 

GENERAL JOHN GIBSON. 

In the early part of 1813 Thomas Posey was appointed 
Governor of Indiana Territory, thus relieving General Gib- 
son of his duties of Acting Governor. It is thought to be 
but a just tribute to this gallant old hero to give a short 
sketch of his life. 

He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in May, 1740, 
and was well educated for that day. He was of Scotch-Irish 
ancestry and was thoroughly imbued with the patriotism, 
energy, and physical and intellectual strength sa typical of 
these people. In his youth he served under (Jeneral Forbes, 
who commanded an expedition against Fort DuQuesne on the 
site of the present city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, which re- 



378 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

suited in its reduction. This became the first settlement west 
of the main region of the Allegfhanies made bj' the English 
and away from the seaboard. He remained in the infant 
town for some time as an Indian trader. In an excursion with 
another party into the country in 1763, he was captured by 
the Indians and was adopted by an Indian squaw whose son 
he had slain in battle. He remained with these Indians for 
a time and had an opportunity to acquire the language 
of several Indian tribes and also to learn their customs and 
manners of warfare and attack, which afterward became of 
great use to him as an Indian trader and government officer. 
His conduct was so exemplary that he won the confidence and 
esteem of his Indian neighbors, and they, in council, deter- 
mined that he should be released and returned to his own 
people. He then resumed business at Pittsburg. 

Governor Dunmore of Virginia organized an expedition 
against the Indians in 1774; Gibson was enlisted by that of- 
ficer to go with them and by his influence with the Indians 
negotiate important treaties. 

The speech of the celebrated Indian chief, Logan, on this 
occasion, which was cited by Thomas Jefferson as one of the 
masterpieces of eloquence of all times, owes its English ver- 
sion to the skill of General Gibson in translating it from the 
Indian language. 

On the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, Gibson 
was made Colonel of a Virginia regiment, remaining in that 
command for seven long years; he again returned to Pitts- 
burg. From that district he was elected a member of the 
Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. He also became a 
Major-General of the militia and an associate judge. 

In 1800 he was appointed Secretary of the Territory of 
Indiana and held the office until 1816. 

At the outbreak of the second war with Great Britain he 
was left as Acting Governor while General Harrison was en- 
gaged at the front. In his old age he became afflicted with 
an incurable cataract which compelled his retirement from 
office. He ended his da^s with his son-in-law, George Wal- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 379 

lace, at Braddocks Field, near Vincennes, Indiana, where he 
died in May, 1822. 

LOGAN, THE INDIAN CHIEF. 

The object of this is to show a few of the man)' instances 
of the wrong doing pf the Americans which had much to do 
with bringing about man)' of the blood curdling atrocities 
of the savage race, who were only too glad for an excuse to 
destroy the white intruders, as they termed them. 

In showing this, it is not for a moment intended to ex- 
cuse or paliate the cruel, barbarous and fiendish actions of 
the Indians, who murdered, scalped and burned because they 
loved to destroy. They fought and destroyed their own 
people of other tribes with the same relentless cruelty that 
they did the whites; even the members of the same tribe 
would fall out over some trivial thing and bring on a feudal war 
which only ended when all the partisans were killed. This is 
the reason the Indians were in so many little bands and the 
great reason why they were not mOre numerous when our 
people came to this country. They had been here for a long 
time and it is now generally conceded that they over-ran the 
country and destroyed its inhabitants when it was peopled by 
a far superior race. There should not be the least sympathy 
with those who are ever lamenting the sad fate of the Indians, 
accusing the white race of stealing their lands from them. 
The good Lord never intended this fair domain to remain a 
howling wilderness, nor the hands of the world's onward march 
to stop, that a race of barbarians might have this^immense 
country for a hunting ground. No; it was intended for just 
what has been and is still being done, making of it the 
cultured and beautiful home of the greatest people that are 
yet on record in the world's history. Of the white people 
who wronged the Indians none were more cruel than Colonel 
Cresap, who was a brave man but the spirit of the border 
ruffian controlled him. He was as cruel as the worst of the 
savage Indians at times, and much more resourceful in hunt- 
ing them and much more determined in battle. Without an 
excuse he and his fellows ambushed and murdered two friend- 



380 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ly Shawnee Indians against a protest of the better element of 
his followers. The next day he led his band and killed sev- 
eral other friendly Indians and the day after that they made 
arrangements to march and attack Logan's camp on Yellow 
Creek, fifty miles away. Young Greorge Rogers Clark who 
was one of the company, talked with different parties of the 
expedition while they were marching, telling them the In- 
dians they were intending to attack were friendly to the 
white people and he felt it a great wrong to murder them.. 
Some of the older ones told Cresap that they felt condemned 
for engaging in such uncalled for murder. 

When the party had stopped for dinner young Clark ap- 
pealed to theHi — *Xet us go and hunt enemies, not friends; 
there are plenty of them and it is a disgrace for the white 
race to murder the friendly Indians." After talking the mat- 
ter over, Cresap and all the company felt ashamed of their 
action. They about faced and went back to their homes. A 
few days after this a dozen or more Indians, all of them 
Logan's family and relatives, crossed the river from Logan's 
camp and went to a trading post of one Greathouse, where 
mm was for sale. He sold them the fiery liquor until they 
became helplessly drunk and then he and a lot of drunken 
white men murdered every soul of the party. Had it not 
been for Clark, Cresap instead of Greathouse would have 
been the bloody butcher. The murder of these friendly In- 
dians all came so close together that they were all charged 
to Colonel Cresap by the Indians. The Indians were in a 
furious rage and determined to have revenge for the coward- 
ly, dastardly crime. 

Logan was an Iroquois Indian but had moved away from 
his people and settled among the Mingo tribe and was known 
far and near as the white man's friend. He was named by 
his father for Governor Logan of Pennsylvania. As soon as 
the brutal murder became known the frontier Indians hur- 
riedly made preparations to defend themselves. Logan or- 
ganized the Mingos into a company and commenced his 
bloody work, killing, burning and destroying those he had so 
recently protected, .until his cup of revenge was full. After 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 381 

the war had raged for some time, the Shawnees sent word to 
the white people — '*Send someone who can understand our 
lang-uage." General John Gibson was selected to go. Enter- 
ing the town he was conducted to the great Shawnee JChief, 
Cornstalk, and other chiefs of the same nation. Logan camje 
to the place where they were and asked Gibson to walk with 
liim. When they had reached a nearby copse of woods, they 
sat down on a log and Logan, after shedding an abundance 
of tears made the following speech to Gibson: "I appeal to 
any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin 
liungry and he gave him not meat. If he ever came cold 
and naked and he clothed him not. During the course of the 
last long and bloody war, Logan remained idily in his cabin, 
an advocate of peace. Such was my love for the whites that 
my countrymen pointed as they passed and said — 'Logan is 
the friend of the white man.' I had even thought to have 
lived with you, but for the injuries of one man, Colonel 
Cresap, who last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, mur- 
dered all the relatives of Logan, not even sparing my women 
and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins 
of any living creature. This called for revenge. I have 
sought it. I have killed many. I have glutted my ven- 
geance. For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace but 
don't harbor for a moment the thought that mine is the joy 
of fear — Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel 
to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not 
one." 

One of the lords of England, when on a visit to Lord 
Dunmore went with him to the wilds of Virginia and met 
Logan. When he returned home, in a speech telling of what 
he had seen, he said: "I met an Iroquois Indian b/ the name 
of Logan and he was the finest specimen of humanity, red or 
white, that my eyes have ever seen." 

GOVERNOR THOMAS POSEY. 

In February, 1813, President Madison appointed Thomas 
Posey who was a senator in Congress at that time from the state 
of Tennesee, Governor of the Indiana Territory. Governor 



382 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Posey had been an officer in the Revolutionary war and went 
to Vincennes to take charg-e of his office on the 25th of May, 
1813. The Territorial Legislature met at Corydon on the 6th 
day of December, 1813 and received the Governor's message. 
This message in part said: 

''The present crisis is awful and big with 
events. Our land and nation is involved in the 
common calamity of war but we are under the pro- 
tecting care of the beneficent Being who has in 
former occasions brought us in safety through an 
adventurous struggle and placed us on a founda- 
tion of independence, freedom and happiness. He 
will not suffer to be taken from us what he has, in 
his great wisdom, thought proper to confer and 
bless us with, if we make a wise and virtuous use 
of his good gifts. 

'* Although our affairs at the commencement of 
the war wore a gloomy aspect, thej^ have bright- 
ened and promise a ceria nty of success if proper- 
ly' directed and conducted, of which I have no 
doubt, as the President and heads of departments 
of the general government are men of undoubted 
patriotism, talents and experience, who have grown 
old in the service of their country. It must be ob- 
vious to every thinking man that we were forced 
into the war. Every measure consistent with 
honor before and since the declaration of war has 
been tried to be on amicable terms with our en- 
emies. If they will noi listen to terms of recipro- 
city and be at peace with us, who is the man who 
is a friend to this country who will not give a 
helping hand and use his best exertions to preserve 
and maintain inviolate the just rights of this 
country? 

*'It is to be hoped that there are none such.'' 

During that session of the Legislature, which lasted 
altogether thirty days, there were several very useful and 
commendable laws passed. One of the most important was 
that regulating and reorganizing the Territorial militia. 
Others were to regulate the practice of attorneys; to author- 
ize collection of taxes; an act to regulate elections; an act to 
prevent duelling, requiring all of the civil and military of- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 383 

ficers to prescribe to an oath that they would not accept a 
challenge or carry a challenge for a duel. 

Grovernor Posey was in very poor health and had to leave 
the seat of Territorial government and go to Jeflfersonville 
for medical attention. He remained away all the time dur- 
ing the session of the Legislature and for a long time after- 
ward. 

The House of Representatives of Indiana Territory, by 
an act of Congress on the 4th of March, 1814, was authorized^ 
to lay off that territory into five subdivisions or districts, and 
in each of these districts the voters were empowered to elect 
a member to the Legislative Council. The members of the 
House assembled at Corydon in June, 1814, and divided the 
districts in accordance with the ^iaid act of Congress. These 
divisions consisted of the following counties: 

1. Washington and Knox. 

2. Gibson and Warrick. 

3. Harrison and Clark. 

4. Jefferson and Dearborn. 

5. Franklin and Wayne. 

There was a great deal of contention at this time that 
interfered with the administration of the laws. The contro- 
versies grew out of a doubt that the people had as to the 
jurisdiction and powers of the several courts of the Territory. 
To cure this defect, Governor Posey issued a proclamation 
convening the General Assembl)^ to meet at Corydon on the 
15th of August, 1814. 

The General Assembly was convened for the purpose of 
organizing a judiciary system in conformity to the laws of 
the United States and that Legislature by an act, divided the 
territory into three judicial circuits and made provisions for 
holding courts; defined the jurisdiction of such courts and 
authorized the Governor to appoint a presiding judge in each 
circuit and two associate judges of the circuit courts in each 
county. The Governors were required b^^ this statute to se- 
lect for the circuit judges men learned in law who were citi- 
zens of the United States and had regularly practiced in the 



384 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

courts of the United States or in this Territory for the three 
years previous. 

The administration of justice in the Indiana Territory 
was embarrassed by difiSculties which no Territorial Leg^isla- 
ture could remove. These difficulties were mentioned in a 
memorial by the Territorial General Assembly and laid be- 
fore the House of Representatives of the United States on the 
18th of October, 1814. It seems by a former law which Con- 
gress had passed, one of the judges appointed for the govern- 
ment of this Territory was authorized to hold court. By this, 
•one of the judges was competent to hold a court and decide a 
point of law at one term, and at the next, if the other two 
judges should be present, they might decide the same princi- 
ples of law differently. 

There was another evil growing out of the system of one 
judge holding the superior court, or the court of last resort, 
for appeals were taken from all the courts of inferior juris- 
diction to the court organized by the ordinance, which in- 
ferior courts are never constituted of less than two judges. 
Thus the suitor in the Territory was frequently driven to ap- 
peal from the judgment of the two men to that of one, but 
this only constituted part of the trouble, for the next superior 
court and the other two judges might over-rule the decision of 
their judge at the preceding term. Hence the want of Uni- 
formity in the decisions of the court of the last resort. 

Some of the evils complained of were cured by an act of 
•Congress on February 24, 1815. That act set out that the 
general or superior court of the Indiana Territory should be 
•composed of at least two of the judges appointed by the 
United States. 



After the successes by land and sea of the American 
army and navy, all opposition disappeared from the north- 
w^est section of the United States, and England seemed to 
have contented herself with the guerilla-marauding, house- 
burning kind of war at exposed places on the Atlantic coast. 
During 1814 there was a large emigration into Indiana Ter- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 385 

ritor)'. The trouble with the Indians had passed, never to 
return with any severity in this section. The people com- 
menced to develop the country, build houses, repairing the 
damag-e done by the Indians and their brutal allies. By the 
time that the joyful news of peace was declared in the latter 
part of December, 1814, all the older settled districts of 
Indiana Territory had received such a large addition to their 
population that the hum of busy industry was heard on every 
hand. They built mills, cleared land, opened roads and In 
many ways started out to develop and improve the rich coun- 
try they had selected for their homes. 

In the year 1814 the General Assembly of Indiana Territory 
granted charters to two banking institutions. The Farmers* 
and Mechanics' Bank of Indiana at Madison was incorporated 
by an act approved the 5th of September. The charter ex- 
tended to the first of January, 1835. That act declared that 
the property of the corporation, including the capital stock, 
should not exceed $750,000.00. An act incorporating the 
Bank of Vincennes was approved on the 10th of September. 
The capital stock of this institution was fixed at $500,000.00, 
the charter authorizing the stockholders to organize a bank 
on prescribed conditions until October 1, 1835. The charters 
of these banking institutions were confirmed by the state 
constitution in 1816. The Legislature by an act of 1817 
adopted the Bank of Vincennes as the State Bank of Indiana. 



In 1814 Frederick Rapp bought a large body of land on 
the Wabash river and founded the society known as the Rap- 
pites and established a town which they named Harmony. 
The society was composed of Germans who were principally 
natives of Wurtemberg. The members of the society were 
professedly Lutherans and were very simple in their manners, 
dress and living. By industry and economy they purchased 
a very large body of land, opened farms, planted vineyards 
and orchards, erected mills for the manufacture of flour and 
meal and an establishment for the manufacture of various 
sorts of articles of industry. In the town they erected 



386 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

• 

churches and public schools. Their farms, homes and prop- 
erty, by certain stipulations of agreements in their organiza- 
tion, were owned in common by the members of that com- 
munity; and their spiritual welfare was vested in Frederick 
Rapp, who was the founder of the society. They manufac- 
tured many things, having artisans of many professions — 
hatters, shoemakers, blacksmiths and coopers, tailors, tan- 
ners and wagon-makers, wheelwright mechanics, and sad- 
dlers. They had establishments for spinning and carding 
and making various sorts of cloth, both cotton and woolen 
and the common goods for dresses of that day — flannel and 
linsey. They brought from the old country their love of the 
distilled hops, which they brewed in a large distillery. 

The community under Rapp had in the neighborhood of 
nine hundred persons. Schoolcraft, who visited New Har- 
mony in 1821, said: "There is not an individual in that so- 
ciety who is of the proper age who does not contribute his 
proportional share of labor. They have neither spendthrifts 
nor drunkards, and during the whole period of their residence 
in America, about seventeen years, there has not been a 
single lawsuit among them. If a misunderstanding or quar- 
rel occurs, it is a rule to settle it before retiring to rest, thus 
obeying the injunctions of the prophets." 

In 1825 the town of Harmony, now called New Harmony^ 
was sold to Robert Owen, of Scotland, and Mr. Rapp and his 
associates moved away. Mr. Owen came from Scotland and 
was regarded as a philanthropist who did not regard Chris- 
tianity as an essential element of society, and made efforts ta 
establish a community at New Harmony who were under the 
same impression. 

There is a very interesting volume written by Lockwood 
giving a full history of the Harmony movement. The author 
will only give here an anecdote showing Father Rapp's re- 
sourcefulness in bringing his adherents to his way of think- 
ing. The latter part of this has not been published before. 

Those who are familiar with the history of the Rappites 
will recall that while they were at New Harmony, Father 
Rapp in many instances had difficulty in bringing his indus- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 387 

trious followers to a point where they were willing to leave 
their works of useful industry to gratify his ideas for erect- 
ing great structures. At one time Rapp was very desirous of 
building a large granary to store the cereal the community 
raised and also to build a very large military fortress pierced 
with portholes for artillery and musketry in tiers one above 
the other, in case he should have trouble with the Indians. 
He allowed his wants to become known to the community, 
but they demurred against his wishes. He then realized that 
the time was at hand when he must bring to his aid other 
than temporal things to gain his point. For the time he 
seemed to acquiesce in their opposition. In the meantime he 
sent some of his trusted adherents with a boat to a point on 
the Mississippi river, where he knew there were two large pic- 
tograph rocks. In each of them was an impression of an enor- 
mous human foot. These boats were returned at night and the 
treasured rocks were conveyed into Rapp^s front yard and 
nicely imbedded in the turf The next morning he sent a 
courier around to see all his people and invited them at a cer- 
tain hour to come to his house. When the people arrived 
they were amazed to find these two great slabs of stone with 
the immense footprints. In a short time Father Rapp came 
slowly out of his house and walked down to where the people 
were standing and in a very meek and submissive manner told 
the people that during the night Gabriel had come down 
from Heaven on these stones and had given him instructions 
to forthwith proceed lo the erection of the granary and the 
great military fortress, and thai if he failed to carry out 
these injunctions, there would be visited upon him and his 
people plagues and disasters which would be their ruin. This 
was all that was needed. The shoemaker lorsook his bench, 
the hatter his blocks, the tailor his table, the blacksmith his 
anvil, the weaver his loom, and ihe dyer his pots, the farmer 
his plow, and even the distiller left ofF brewing his favorite 
beverages in the great rush to erect that immense granary 
and military fortress, which is standing today in a good state 
of preservation at New Harmony, Indiana. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
INDIANA BECOMES A STATE. 



Constitution Adopted — Officers Selected — Governor 
Jennings' First Message — Bodndary and Area' of 
State — Survey — Taxes — Internal Improvements — 
Purchase of Indian Claims — Counties Organized — 
Ague and Other Illness — Failure of State Banks — 
William Hendricks Elected Governor — Site of In- 
dianapolis Chosen for Capital — India nians Called 
HoosiERS — Counties Organized — White Men Exe- 
cuted FOR Murder of Indians— A Letter From Oliver 
H. Smith— Improvements Recommended by Governors 
Hendricks and Ray. 



On the first Monday in December, 1815, the Legislature 
of Indiana Territory met at Corydon. Governor Posey was 
still an invalid at Jefferson ville, but on 
his message to the General Assembly, 
congratulating them and the country on 
I the termination of the war. and alluded 
to the vast tide of emigration which 
was coming into the Territory from 
every quarter, and advising the Legis- 
lature to make such wholesome laws as 
would develop the country and add to the comfort of the new 
comers. Among the beneficial acts that he asked them to 
look after, was education and the opening of public highways 
throughout the settled portions of the Territory, The Leg- 
islature, which lasted for thirty days, passed some amend- 




PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 389 

ments to the existing- laws and adopted some others which 
would meet the requirements of the condition of the Territory. 

A memorial was adopted by that Legislature and sent to 
Mr. Jenning-s, the Territorial delegate in Congress, which he 
laid before that body. It contained the followin t^ 

* 'Whereas, The ordinance of Congress for the 
government of this Territory has provided that 
when there shall be sixty thousand free inhabit- 
ants therein, this Territory shall be admitted inta 
the Union of equal footing with the original states; 
and whereas, by the census taken by the authority 
of the Legislature of this Territory, it appears that 
the number of free white inhabitants exceeds 
sixt)" thousand, we therefore pray the honorable 
Senate and House of Representatives,in Congress as- 
sembled, to order an election according to the exist- 
ing laws of this Territory to be held in the several 
counties on the first Monday in May, 1816, for rep- 
resentatives to meet in convention at the seat of 
government of this Territory on the 10th day of 
June, 1816, who, when assembled, shall determine 
by a majority of the votes of all the members 
elected whether it will be expedient to form a 
state government, and if it is determined expedient, 
the convention thus assembled shall have the power 
to form a constitution and frame of government, or 
if it be deemed inexpedient to provide for the elec- 
tion of representatives to meet in convention at 
some future time to form a constitution. Whereas, 
the inhabitants of this Territory are principally 
emigrants from every part of the Union and as 
various in their customs 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 
freedom and involuntary servitude, and hope they 
may be continued as a basis of the constitution." 

The memorial was referred to a committee, of which Mr, 
Jennings was chairman, and on the Sth of January, 1816, was 
reported to the House of Representatives of the United 
States. A bill enabling the people of Indiana Territory to 



390 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

form (a constitution and state gfovemment and for the 
admission of the state into the Union on the same basis as 
other states had been admitted, was passed by Congress and 
approved by the President of the United States on the I9th of 
April, 1816. 

On Monday, the 13th day of May, 1816, members of the 
constitutional convention were elected in proportion to the 
population of each county in the Territory of Indiana. 

Clark County — White males over 21 years, 
1,387; total population, 7,150. Members of the con- 
vention, Jonathan Jennings, James Scott, Thomas 
Carr, John K. Graham and James Lemmon. 

Dearborn County — White males over 21 years, 
902; total population, 4,424. Membeis of the con- 
vention, James Dill, Solomon Manwaring and Ezra 
Ferris. 

Franklin County— White males over 21 years, 
1,430; total population, 7,370. Members of the con- 
vention, William H. Bads, James Brownlee, Enoch 
McCarty, Robert Hannah, Jr., and James Noble. 

Gibson County — White male inhabitants over 
21 years, 1,100; total population, 5,330. Members 
of convention, David Robb, James Smith, Alexan- 
der Devin and Frederick Rapp. 

Harrison County — White male inhabitants 
over 21 years, 1,050; total, 6,975. Members of con- 
vention, Dennis Pennington, Davis Floyd, Daniel 
C. Lane, John Boone and Patrick Shields. 

Jefferson County — White males over 21 years, 
874; total, 4,270. Members to convention, David 
H. Maxwell, Samuel Smock and Nathanial Hunt. 

Knox County — White males over 21 years, 
1,391; total, 8,068. Members to convention, John 
Johnson, John Badollet, William Polk, Benjamin 
Park and John Bennefield. 

Posey County — White males over 21 years, 
320; total population, 1,619. Member to conven- 
tion, Dann Lynn. 

Perry County — White males over 21 years, 
350; total popiilation, 1,720. Member to conven- 
tion, Charles Polke. 

Switzerland County — White male citizens 
over 21 years, 377; total population, 1,832. Member 
to convention, William Cotton. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 391 

Wayne County — White males over 21 years, 
1,225; total population, 6,407. Members to conven- 
tion, Jeremiah Cox, Patrick Baird, Joseph Holman 
and Hugh Gull. 

Washington County — White males over 21 
years, 1,420; total population, 7,317. Members to 
convention, John DePauw, Samuel Milroy, Robert 
McAntire, William Lowe and William Graham. 

Warrick County -White males over 21 years, 
280; total population, 1,415. Member to conven- 
tion, Daniel Grass. 

Grand Total Population — 63,897. 

The convention assembled at Corydon on the 10th of 
June, 1816, and completed its work on the 29th day of June, 
1816. Jonathan Jennings was chosen to preside over the 
•convention and William Hendricks was elected secretary. 
The constitution framed by the men of this convention was a 
practical business document, and in the interest of good gov- 
ernment and for the advancement of the individual and state 
interests. Under the wise provisions of this constitution the 
State of Indiana made rapid advancement in the improve- 
ments of the country and in upbuilding of state institutions 
and in internal improvements, which were carried out for the 
advancement of the interest, comfort and convenience of the 
people. 

Under this code of laws made by the old pioneers (who 
had undergone the perils, hardships and many privations in 
order that they might have this rich domain as a home for 
themselves and to transmit as a princely heritage to their 
children), with amendments adopted from time to time, the 
people of this state lived and prospered for thirty-six years, 
when it was thought best to adopt a new constitution in 1852. 

An act of Congress enabling the people of Indiana Terri- 
tory to form a constitution and state government, contained 
several conditions and propositions with respect to boundaries, 
jurisdiction, school lands, salt springs and land for seat of 
government. All the conditions and propositions were ac- 
cepted by an ordinance which passed the Territorial conven- 
tion on the 29.th of June, 1816. 



392 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

The oflScers of the Territorial Government of Indiana^ 
including the Governor, Secretary of State, Judges, civil and 
military officers, were required by the provisions of the State 
constitution to continue the exercise of their duties until they 
were superseded by officers under the authority of State 
government. The president of the convention which formed 
the constitution was required to issue writs of election to the 
sheriffs of the different counties, requiring them to call an 
election to be held for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, a Rep- 
resentative to Congress of the United States, members of the 
General Assembly, sheriffs and coroners, at the respective 
election districts in each county; election to be held the first 
Monday in August, 1816. At the first general election held 
in the different counties in Indiana, Jonathan Jennings was 
elected Grovernor, receiving 5,211 votes. His opponent was 
Thomas Posey, then Governor of Indiana Territory, he re- 
ceiving 3,934. Christopher Harrison, Washington County, 
was elected Lieutenant Governor; JVilliam Hendricks was 
elected the first Representative from the State of Indiana to 
Congress. At that election the following named individuals 
from the counties here named were elected as Senators and 
Representatives: 

SENATE. 

Knox County: William Polk. 

Gibson County: William Prince. 

Posey, Perry and Warrick Counties: Daniel Grass. 

Wayne County: Patrick Baird. 

Franklin County: John Conner. 

Washington, Orange and Jackson Counties: John Depauw. 

Jefferson and Switzerland Counties: John Paul. 

Dearborn County: Ezra Ferris. 

Harrison County: Dennis Pennington. 

Clark County: James Beggs. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

Clark County: Benjamin Ferguson, Thomas Carr and 
John K. Graham. 

Dearborn County: Amos Lane and Erasmus Powell. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 39S 

Franklin Count}': James Noble, David Mount and James 
Brownlee. 

Gibson County^ John Johnson and EMmund Hogan. 

Harrison County: John Boone, Davis Floyd and Jacob- 
Zenor. 

Jefferson County: Samuel Alexander and Williamson 

Dunn. 

Knox County: Walter Wilson, Henry I. Mills and Isaac 

Blackford. 

Posey County: Daniel Lynn. 

Perry County: Samuel Conner. 

Switzerland County: John Dumont. 

Wayne County: Ephriam Overman, Joseph Holman and 
John Scott. 

Washington Count}': Samuel Milroy and Alexander 
Little. 

Warrick County: Ratcliflfe Booile. 

Jackson Count)': William Graham. 

Orange County: Johnathan Linley. 

The first meeting of the General Assembly commenced 
its session at Corydon on the 4th of November, 1816. John 
Paul was elected chairman of the Senate pro-tem until the 
oath of oflSce would be administered to Lieutenant Governor 
Harrison. Isaac Blackford was elected Speaker of the House 
of Representatives November 7th; the oath of office was ad- 
ministered to Grovernor Jennings and Lieutenant Governor 
Harrison, after which Grovernor Jennings delivered his first 
message to the Greneral Assembly. This message was so re- 
plete with many good things for the interest of the inhabit- 
ants of the young state and gave evidence of such wise ad- 
ministration for the people, that it is here given in full: 

*'Qentlkmen of the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives: 

'*The period has arrived which has devolved 
on you the important duty of giving the first im- 
pulse to the government of the State. The result 
of your deliberation will be considered as indica- 
tive of its future character, as well as the future 
happiness and prosperity of its citizens. The repu- 



-394 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

tation of the State; as well as its highest interest, 
will require that a just and generous policy toward 
the general government and due regard to the 
rights of its members, respectively, should invari- 
ably have their proper influence. 

In the commencement of the State government 
the shackels of the colonial should be forgotten in 
your united exertions to prove, by happy experi- 
ence, that a uniform adherence to the first princi- 
ples of our government and a virtuous exercise of 
its powers, will best secure efficiency to its meas- 
ures and stability to its character. Without a fre- 
quent recurrence to those principles, the adminis- 
tration of the government will imperceptibly be- 
come more and more arduous, until the simplicity 
of our republican institutions may eventually be 
lost in dangerous expedients and political design. 
Under every free government the happiness of the 
citizens must be identified with their morals, and 
while a constitutional exercise of their rights shall 
•continue to have its due weight in the discharge of 
the duties required of the constituted authorities of 
the State, too much attention cannot be bestowed 
to the encouragement and promotion of every moral 
virtue and to the enactment of laws calculated to 
restrain the vicious and prescribe punishment for 
every crime commensurate to its enormity. 

*'In measuring, however, to each crime its ade- 
quate punishment, it will be well to recollect that 
the certainty of punishment has generally the 
surest effect to prevent crime, while punishments 
unnecessarily severe too often produce the ac- 
quittal of the guilty and disappoint one of the 
greatest objects of legislation and good govern- 
ment. The dissemination of useful knowledge will 
be indispensably necessary as a support to morals 
and a restraint to vice, and on this subject 
it will only be necessary to direct your attention to 
the plan of education as prescribed by the consti- 
tution. 

**I recommend to your consideration the pro- 
priety of providing by law, to prevent more effect- 
ually any unlawful attempts to seize and carry into 
bondage persons of color legally entitled to their 
freedom, and at the same time, as far as practi- 



V 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 395 

cable, to prevent those who rightfully owe service 
to the citizens of any other state or territory from 
seeking, within the limits of this state, a refuge 
from possession of their lawful owners. Such a 
measure will tend to 'secure those who are free 
from any unlawful attempts (to enslave them) and 
secure the rights of the citizens of the other states 
and territories as far as ought reasonably to be ex- 
pected." 

BOUNDARY AND AREA. 

The State of Indiana is situated between the parallels of 
37 degrees, 50 minutes and 41 degrees, 46 minutes north lati- 
tude, and between 8 degrees, 48 minutes and 11 degrees and 1 
minute west longitude from Washington. The extreme 
length from north to south is two hundred and seventy-six 
miles. The state, however, is nearly an oblong, the only ir- 
regularities being the Ohio river on the south and where the 
Wabash is the dividing line between it and Southern Illinois. 
The average length is two hundred and forty miles, the aver- 
age width one hundred and fifty-two miles, making the con- 
tents about thirty-six thousand five hundred square miles, or 
twenty-three million three hundred and sixty thousand acres. 

B}^ the ordinance of Congress of April 19, 1816,' the con- 
templated s]tate was to be bounded on the east by a meridian 
line which forms the western boundary of the State of Ohio, 
being a northern line from the mouth of the Miami; on the 
south by the River Ohio, from the mouth of the great Miami 
to the mouth of the River Wabash; on the west by a line 
drawn along the middle of the Wabash from its mouth to a 
point where a due north line drawn from the town of Vin- 
cennes would last touch the northwestern shore of said river 
and from thence by a due line north until the same should 
intersect an east and west line drawn through a point ten 
miles north of the southern extremity of Lake Michigan; on 
the north by the said east and west line until the same shall 
intersect the first mentioned meridian line, which forms the 
western boundary of the State of Ohio. 

Indiana is therefore 'bounded by Ohio on the east. Ken- 



396 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA, 

tucky on the south, Illinois on the west, and Michigan on the 
north. 

The titles to the lands in this state have been acquired 
and the lands all passed through the general government, ex« 
cept the French grants near Vincennes, which were con* 
firmed to the descendants of the early settlers there, and the 
grants near the falls of the Ohio made to Clark's regiment by 
the State of Virginia for their services in the Indian cam- 
paign. 

In the surveys, meridian lines were first established run* 
ning due north from the mouth of some river or from some 
other point easily located. These are intersected at right 
angles by lines running east and west and called base lines. 

The first principal meridian for the State of Indiana is a 
line running due north from the mouth of the Miami, and is 
in fact the east line of the state. The second principal 
meridian is a line running due north from the mouth of 
Little Blue river, eighty-nine miles west of the eastern state 
line. The only base line running through the state crosses 
it from east to west in latitude 38 degrees, 30 minutes, leav- 
ing the Ohio twenty-five miles above Louisville and striking 
the Wabash four miles above the mouth of White river.. 
From thi« base line the Congressional townships of six miles 
square are numbered north and south from the second principal 
meridian crossing the base line six miles south of Paoli, in^ 
Orange County; all' the ranges of township are numbered east 
and west, except the counties of Switzerland, Dearborn and 
parts of Franklin, Union, Wayne and Randolph. This part 
of the state, which was acquired by the Greenville treaty in 
1795, was attached to the land oflSce at Cincinnati and was 
surveyed in townships from a base line fifteen miles north of 
the former and it ranges west of the first principal meridian.. 

Townships are sub-divided into thirty-six equal parts or 
thirty-six square miles, containing six hundred and forty 
acres each, called sections. These sections are sub-divided 
into halves of three hundred and twenty acres and quarters 
of one hundred and sixty acres each, which last are again 
sub-divided into halves of eighty acres and into quarters of 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 397 

eighty acres and into quarters of forty acres each. 

The townships are laid off into sections, commencing: at 
the northeast corner, numbering from the right to the left 
hand and from the left to right hand until the thirty-six sec- 
tions are numbered. 

The Territorial government of Indiana ended on the 7th 
of November, 1816, when it was superseded by the state gov- 
ernment and the state was formally admitted by resolution of 
Congress, approved the 11th of December the same year. 
The first Senators elected to represent Indiana in the United 
States Senate were James Noble and Waller Taylor. Robert 
C. New was elected Secretary of State; William H. Lilly was 
elected Auditor; Daniel C. Lane, Treasurer. After this the 
first General Assembly adjourned on the third day of Janu- 
ary, 1817. 

The citizens of the infant state had but very few among 
its number who were well off financially, and as the amount 
required to run the state machinery at that period was not 
large, the taxes on the property were kept at the lowest 
possible figure. For state revenue purposes the taxes were 
raised from the land, of which they made three classes. In 
1817 and 1818 the rate of taxation on one hundred acres of 
first rate land was one dollar; on a hundred acres of second 
^ate land, eighty-seven and a half cents; on a hundred acres 
of third rate land it was fifty cents. In 1821 it was increased 
to a dollar and a half on one hundred acres of first rate land 
and other land in proportion. About this same rate of tax- 
ation was continued until the year 1831, when the taxes on 
one hundred acres of first rate land were reduced to eighty 
cents; second rate land, sixty cents, and third rate land, forty 
cents. The tax for the funds to support the county institu- 
tions and officers, taking care of the poor and for such im- 
provements on public highways as building bridges, etc., was 
secured from a poll tax on the head Of every man over twenty- 
one and under fifty j^ears, and from all sorts of merchandise 
and personal property and a license to venders of all sorts of 
merchandise. Even at these low rates of taxation it was a 
great hardship on many people to pay the small amounts as- 



398 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

sessed against them. , Nearly all the people were more or less 
in debt in small amounts, and in some cases for the money 
which purchased their lands. Very little of the land was 
cleared up and productive, and it was several years after 1820 
before the people could depend upon agricultural sources for 
money. Nearly all of the men put in their time on the chase 
and paid but very little attention to clearing the land or cul- 
tivating the soil. 

While It was true that money was hard to get and many 
of the people had nothing practically in this way, there never 
were people who lived better or had more of the real comforts 
that come to people who are willing to accept the situation 
and make the best of it, than did the pioneers of Indiana. 
Their homes at that time were log cabins and were finished 
in a very rude manner— in most cases with such furniture as 
the men could make by the use of an auger and an ax. 

During Jennings' administration as Governor of Indiana, 
the inconvenience of transporting articles of merchandise and 
of travel, was so apparent that the first note of internal im- 
provements was sounded by him in a message to the Legisla- 
ture in 1818, in which he said: 

**The internal improvements of the state form 
a subject of the greatest importance and deserves 
the most serious consideration. Roads and canals 
are calculated to afford facilities for commercial 
transactions connected wiih the exports and im- 
ports of the country, by lessening the expense and 
time attendant, as well as on the transportation of 
bulky articles which compose our exports, as on the 
importation of articles, the growth and manufac- 
ture of foreign countries, which luxury and habit 
have rendered too common and indispensable to our 
consumption. They enhance the value of the soil 
by affording agriculturists the means of deriving 
greater gains irom its cultivation with an equal 
proportion of labgr, thereby presenting stronger 
inducements to industry and enterprise, and at the 
same time, by various excitements, invite to a 
more general intercourse between the citizens. The 
success which had attended the exertions of the 
Jeffersonville and Ohio Canal Company affords a 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 399^ 

flattering prospect of a speedy commencement upon 
a g^reat object for which the corporation was cre- 
ated, and presents still strongrer claims upon the 
General Assembly to aid in its ultimate execution." 

Governor Jennings in 1818, in connection with General 
Cass and Judge Parks, was appointed a commissioner to 
treat with the various tribes of Indians for lands in central 
Indiana. In the series of treaties they succeeded in purchase 
ing the Indians' claims to all the lands in the central part of 
the state. In fact, except the Miami, Thorntown and a few 
other small reservations, they purchased all the land south of 
the Wabash river. This was a very important transaction 
for Indiana, and was of sufficient excuse, in the opinion of 
the majority of the people, for the violation of the clause in 
the constitution which forbids the Grovernor of the State to 
hold any office under the United States. In order to insure 
success, the contemplated proceedings were kept secret. The 
negotiations were not protracted and the offense, whatever it 
may have been, was wholly inadvertent on the part of the 
Governor. He was, however, very much chagrined when he 
learned that his conduct had been called into question. He 
threw his commission into the fire and left it to his enemies, 
as he called them, to sustain their charge The subject came 
up before the Legislature whether the Grovernor had not va- 
cated his office, thereby devolving it on the Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor by acting as commissioner of the United States. The 
Legislature, however, appreciated the motives of the Gov- 
ernor and declined any action in the premises. Lieutenant 
Governor Harrison immediately resigned his ofl&ce and at the 
August election of 1819 was a candidate against Jennings for 
Governor. Jennings received 9,168 votes out of 11,256. 

During the year 1816 the following counties were organ- 
ized: 

Pike County, containing 338 square miles. 
Jennings County, containing 380 square miles. 
Monroe County, containing 420 square miles. 
Orange County, containing 400 square miles. 
Sullivan County, containing 430 square miles. 



400 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

During the j^ear 1817 the following: counties were organ- 
ized : 

Davis County^ containing 420 square miles. 

Dubois County, containing 432 square miles. 

Scott County, containing 200 square miles. 

In the year 1818 the following counties were organized: 

Crawford County, containing 320 square miles. 

Lawrence County, containing 438 square miles. 

Martin County, containing 340 square miles. 

Morgan County, containing 453 square miles. 

Owen County, containing 396 square miles. 

Randolph County, containing 440 square miles. 

Ripley County, containing 440 square miles. 

Spencer County, containing 408 square miles. 

Vanderburg County, containing 240 square miles. 

Vigo County, containing 408 square miles. 

Flo3'd County was organized in 1819, containing 144 
square miles. 

The first few years after the state was admitted into the 
Union the price of government land was held at two dollars 
an acre. One-fourth of which must be paid down and the 
balance in three equal annual payments and a year of grace 
after the last payment became due before forfeiture was ex- 
acted. If paid at the end of four years, interest was exacted 
on all the unpaid installments. The government allow- 
ing credit to the purchaser caused many men to bargain 
for more land than it was possible for them to pay for. 
In man}' cases they would borrow mone}^ and buy a half 
section or more ^of land, paying one-fourth or fifty cents an 
acre. Good land at this time advanced very rapidly in 
price. About the year 1818 there was great trouble caused 
by so many who were unable to secure mone}' to settle the 
second or third pa3'ments. 

By 1821 thousands of those purchasers were unable to 
meet their obligations as it was utterly impossible for them 
to secure the money. This subject was brought up before 
Congress and the plan that was agreed upon was probably 
most favorable to the people of any that could have been 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 401 

adopted. All interest, which then amounted in man}^ cases 
to more than one-third of the debt was released. Lands en- 
tered, that part payments had been made on, were allowed to 
be relinquished and the amount that h^d been advanced was 
applied on such lands as the purchaser would select, paying: 
for it in full. The lands were thereafter sold for cash only 
at $1.25 an acre. 

The three years of 1820, '21 and '22 were attended with 
more fatal sickness than has ever been known either before 
or since in the western countr}-. Many of the young: towns 
which were county seats, which had sprung: up in the vari- 
ous parts of the country, were almost depopulated. During: 
that time very few persons escaped without one or more se- 
vere attacks of fever. The prevailing: disease was what is 
known as bilious or remittent fever, in man}'^ cases diflFering: 
very little from the yellow fever known in the extreme south. 
In all parts of the new country, owing to so much decaying: veg:- 
etation, there was a g:reat deal of malaria and almost every- 
body was affected with it. The reg:ular old shaking: **ag:ue 
fits'' and fever were common on every hand. 

The persons owning: milk cows permitted them to g:ra2e 
on the rich rang:e of the country, and from some cause the 
cows contracted a disease called Tires, or Milk-sickness. The 
disease was thus conveyed to the people and in many cases 
proved fatal. A tired and weary feeling: was the chief char- 
acteristics of this disease, and many times the little calves 
would reel and fall down while sucking: milk from their 
mothers. As the country was cleared this disease became 
less prevalent, and in a few years entirely disappeared. The 
same was also true of the ag:ue which was so prevalent. 

In November, 1821, Governor Jenning:s convened the Leg:is- 
lature in extra session to make provisions for the payment of 
the interest on the state debt. It was thoug:ht that a sufficient 
amount for that purpose could be realized on the notes of the 
State Bank and its branches, and the Governor urg:ed upon 
the Leg:islature that the public debt could honestl}'^ and con- 
scientiously be paid with these depreciated notes. He said 
that it would be oppressive if the state, after the paper of 



402 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

this institution was authorized to be circulated in revenue^ 
should be prevented by any assignment of the evidence of the 
existing^ debt, from dischargfing at least so much of the debt 
with the paper of the bank as would absorb the collections of 
that year, especially when their notes were to be made re^ 
ceivable by the agent of the state because greatly depreciated 
by mismanagement on the part of the bank itself. It was not 
to be expected that a public loss to the state should be 
avoided by resorting to any measures which would not com- 
port with the correct views of public justice, nor should it be 
anticipated that the Treasurer of the United States would 
ultimatel}" adopt measures to secure an uncertain debt, which 
would interfere with the arrangement calculated to adjust 
the demands against the state without producing an ad- 
ditional embarrassment. 

The manufacturing industries which had been started in 
New England and the Atlantic states furnished a good de- 
mand for cotton that was raised in the Southern states and 
territories. This furnished labor for a large number of per- 
sons in the East, also a large amount of slave labor in the 
«outh and there was a great demand for produce raised in 
the western states. Flat-boating commenced and was in full 
blast, carrying corn, wheat and pork to New Orleans, where 
it was then distributed to the cotton country and by ship to 
the New England shores. All sorts of business flourished 
and there was a great deal of emigration into this state. 
This favorable condition of things was noted b}^ the min- 
isters of foreign countries. There being no tariff (or not a 
sufficient one) to protect our new industries, in a short time 
immense quantities of goods were imported into our country 
which could be sold for much less price than our new man- 
ufacturing institutions could make them. This stopped our 
manufacturing business, broke down the demand for cotton 
and destroyed, or nearly so, our flat boat trade with produce 
in the south. 

For the next few years after 1820, produce became so 
cheap that it did not pay to raise any more than was needed 
for the home consumption. Everything and all sorts of busi- 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 403 

ness was affected from the same cause. Land that had been 
advancing in price during the short period of good times was 
now in yio demand. Improved farms which had been worth 
from six to ten dollars per acre were not worth now more than 
two and a half. Contracts which were made during the good 
times, where deferred payments were to be made, caused ruin 
to many parties. 

It was impossible to collect debts by forced sales; nobody 
wanted property. The failure of the bank at Vincennes that 
had become the state bank of Indiana, and its branches at 
Corydon, Brookfield and Vevay left a large amount of worth- 
less paper in the hands of the people. This was another 
severe blow to the people of this State. There was no possi- 
ble reason why this bank and its branches should not have kept 
solvent if they had lived up to the conditions of their charter; 
but speculation and peculation were engaged in contrary to 
the stipulated and lawful conditions of the charter of this 
bank, which brought ruin to it and injured thousands of the 
citizens of Indiana. The Government of the United States 
received only thirty-seven thousand dollars on a deposit of 
two hundred thousand dollars for land sales. 

The bank at Madison, Indiana, was an honest institution 
and was governed by a Board of Directors and bank officers 
who regarded a solemn oath to mean that it was their duty to 
protect those who intrusted them with the keeping of their 
means, and not to mean to get all they could by honest or 
dishonest means and keep it all. The financial pressure on 
this bank, however, was very heavy, caused by the failure of 
the others, and it was forced to suspend. A little while af- 
terward it terminated its business and paid the last farthing 
of its debts. 

These bank failures were one of the real causes of such 
hard times in Indiana at that period. There was very little 
coin in the country at that time, the silver, with the excep- 
tion of a small amount of subsidiary coin, the old style bits 
^twelve and a half cent pieces) and what was termed by the 
Hoosiers '*fo-pence" (six and a half cents), was all Mexican 
dollars. They cut man}- of these dollars into quarters and 



404 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

sometimes into eighths when the transaction called for twelve 
and a half cents. Then, as now, some who wanted to get the 
best of the bargain would cut the dollar into five pieces, thus 
making a quarter on each dollar cut up. This became so 
common that man}" count)' commissioners had a diagram 
made of a cut quarter when a dollar was to be cut in equal 
parts, and when paying taxes and cut money was used, it had 
to conform to the diagram or it was rejected. Storekeepers 
resorted to the same expedient to detect short quarters. 

When blacksmithing was needed, if the account amounted 
to a quarter and the customer had a dollar to pay it with, 
they took the dollar and laid it on the anvil and the black- 
smith, with a cold chisel, cut out a notch of one-fourth of the 
dollar for his pay. Some times a round bit would be fur- 
nished when the article was only six and a fourth cents and 
it would be cut in the middle. 

Governor Jennings was elected to two terms as Governor 
of Indiana. At the August election of 1822 he was elected as 
member to Congress and served in that position until 1831. 
Soon after his being elected to Congress, he resigned his po- 
sition of Governor and was succeeded by Ratliffe Boone, of 
Boonville, Indiana, who at that time was Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor. At the election of August, 1822, William Hendricks 
was elected Governor. He was a good man and made a good 
Governor and held that position until 1825, when he was 
elected United States Senator. 

In 1820 a committee was appointed to select a suitable 
place for a state capital. The commissioners for that pur- 
pose were George Hunt, of Wayne County; John Conner, of 
Fayette County; Stephen Ludlow, of Dearborn County; 
Joseph Bartholomew, of Clark County; John Tipton, of Har- 
rison County; Thomas Emmerson, of Knox County; Jesse B. 
Durham, of Jackson County; John Gilliland, of Switzerland 
County, and Frederick Rapp, of Posey County. Williarn 
Prince was appointed on that committee from Gibson County, 
but failed to go. The commission, in accordance with a 
proclamation of Governor Jennings, met at the cabin of Wil- 
liam Conner on the west fork of White river. May 22, 1820. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 405 

After canvassing: many sites which were presented and rec- 
ommended to them by delegfations of citizens from various 
towns who were at the meeting, owing to the location of 
many of these recommended sites being so near the southern 
border of the state, it was agreed to select a site as near as 
practicable in the center of the state. This had to be deter- 
mined by the surveys which had then been made and by the 
length and breadth of the territory which was then unsur- 
veyed. After a heated controversy the site of Indianapolis was 
agreed upon, it having received the votes of a majority of two 
of all the commissioners present. At that time there was not a 
white family located in that immediate neighborhood. Sur- 
veyors were put to work and laid out a new location for the 
capital. On the 9th of January, 1821, the report of the com- 
mission was accepted and the capital of Indiana, then a dense 
woods, was located and named Indianapolis. Congress do- 
nated four sections of land for that purpose, on which the 
city was laid out and which now stands so proudly as a mon- 
ument to Hoosier progress and industry. 

The first sale of lots at Indianapolis was a spirited af- 
fair. Many of them sold for five hundred dollars and some 
that are now located in the most valuable portions of the city 
sold as low as thirty dollars. It was difl&cult to gather to- 
gether a sufficient number of bidders in that remote section 
to sell the lots at a very advantageous price. Everybody in- 
terested in the capital bought all they could pay for. As soon 
as it became known that the capital was to be at that point, 
there was a rush of settlers to that section and nearby 
country. Nearly all of them adopted the same tactics that 
all early settlers did, of purchasing forty acres of land out of 
a hundred and sixty acres which they located and intended to 
purchase as soon as they could in any way secure the means. 
This was true of all the country around Indianapolis for 
many miles and very soon speculators started out to select 
lands in the country around where the new capital was 
located. 

The first of these were three or four from Louisville^ 
Kentucky, who were acting as agents for large land syndi- 



406 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

cates in the east and were preparing to locate some land ten 
or fifteen miles to the south-east of Indianapolis. The}' were 
met by some of the squatters, who had boug^ht small pieces of 
land, who told them there was much better land than they 
were preparing to select nearer the capital. Accepting this ad- 
vice and the guidance of these citizens, they started out to 
examine some lands, and while in a dense wilderness they 
were fired on by a concealed foe, several shots passing very 
near their heads. This was evidently done by men who 
wished to drive them out of the country and it had the de- 
sired effect, they reporting at Louisville that they had been 
fired on by Indians. 

The settlers in the country in the meantime were making 
ever}' effort to secure the land they wanted, but for fear of 
trouble from the land sharks and of losing the land they 
wanted to purchase, some of which they had made improve- 
ments on, they determined to form an organization for self 
protection and to that end they called a meeting of all the 
citizens in the surrounding country to assemble at a given 
point. They called themselves **Home Defenders." Every- 
thing that took place at this meeting was to be a profound 
secret. They resolved that these land sharks should be de- 
feated in their attempts to purchase the lands these farmers 
had selected even if they had to kill them to accomplish their 
object. They selected three of their most resolute men to 
keep a lookout for the agents of these land syndicates. They 
organized a company of thirty men who were dressed in reg- 
ular Indian costumes and when needed they were to be 
painted and wear all the paraphernalia that the Indian wore 
.to make them look as dangerous and hideous as possible. 
They had another company of twenty-five men who were 
dressed in the home spun wear of the pioneer, hunting 
shirts and coon-skin caps. Having their organization in 
readiness, they sent their spies out in various directions to 
watch for these dressed-up dandy agents, many of them 
wearing the stove-pipe hats of that period, whom they knew 
would come by the way of the White water country from 
Cincinnati or from Louisville over the beaten trace which 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 407 

liad been made through Jackson county that crossed the east 
fork of the White river not far from Columbus, Indiana. 
Having a detachment of mounted men who were all the time 
in touch with their spies who would notify all the organiza- 
tions at the earliest possible moment when they should find 
out that any of the speculators were coming into that section, 
the main body of these people returned to their homes. 
Everything went on very quietly for some time, until finally one 
day several of the detachment left on duty came into the set- 
tlement and notified all the citizens to assemble at a point 
formerly selected, as the speculators were coming. 

These speculators traveled in a body of from fifteen to 
twenty men, in order that they might be company for each 
other and that they might be better able to defend them- 
selves as each of them had«on his person a pair of pistols or 
some weapon of defense. These men were coming by way of 
Wayne county, there being a trace from Cincinnati through 
the White Water valley, up to that country. 

After the men who had organized to defend their homes 
had been in camp some time and had all their preparations 
made, one of their spies rode hurriedly ui^ and told them that 
the land sharks were coming and would be in the 
neighborhood, where they had selected to receive them 
within two or three hours. Three men were sent back 
to meet the speculators proposing to act as guides for them 
and show them the best lands to select from. They were rid- 
ing leisurely along looking at lands, having a jolly, social 
time, when all at once they heard several shots fired not far 
away, and they saw a number of backwoodsmen, riding at 
breakneck speed across their front, stopping every little 
while and firing back. These backwoodsmen apparently, 
were being pursued by some men who were yet in the dis- 
tance. They halted not far from the place where these 
speculators had stopped and leaving t^heir horses in the hands 
of a few men to hold, they rushed back and selected places to 
defend themselves, seeming to be waiting for the coming ene- 
my whatever it was. In a few minutes a large body of In- 
•dians came rushing over the brow of the hill screaming and 



408 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

whooping: as Indians do. The white men fired several shots: 
at them which seemed to stop the advance of the Indians. 
The pioneers went to the point where their horses were left 
and gfot onto them and rode in among the speculators and 
told them that they had been assailed by a strong body of In- 
dians, two of their men had been killed and that they were 
not strong enough to hold their ground as the Indians out- 
numbered them two to one and appealed to the speculators to 
form and help them protect their homes. About this time 
the Indians were seen coming, whooping and firing as they 
came, the pioneers firing back at them, at the same time ap- 
pealing to these speculators to get in position and help them 
drive the Indians back. This was a little more than the 
speculators had bargained for. -Ther turned and took their 
back trail at the best speed their borses had in them. They 
were followed by tire pioneers who tried to prevail on them to 
— **StopI Be men and help us defend our homes." The In- 
dians all the time, whooping and yelling and firing, many of 
the balls coming in close proximity to their heads. These 
agents lost all thought of honor and determined to take care 
of themselves only. The white soldiers kept up with them 
for some distance in their mad race, finally cursing them for 
a lot of cowardly, speculating villians. They halted their 
detachment and as the Indians came up, they fought a sham 
battle of no mean proportion. The speculators made good 
their retreat and did not halt until they reached Cincinnati. 
It was said afterward that in the woods in eastern Marion 
and the western part of Hancock county, many "plug" hats 
were found which had been worn by these gentry. The 
farmers returned to their homes and were never bothered 
again by speculators, purchasing their homes and living 
happily. 

HOOSIER." 

It was in 1830 that the word **Hoosier" became known as 
meaning Indiana people. In 1833 the New Year's address, 
published by the Indianapolis Journal, contained a poem 
written by John Finley, of Richmond, Indiana.^ The poem 
was entitled, **The Hoosier's Nest." The word "Hoosier'" 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 409 

evidently was intended to convey the meaning of an uncouth, 
crude, uncultivated people who lived in Indiana, and the 
**smart set" of other parts of the United States had tried to 
construe the word to express odium on our people. When 
taking: into consideration the advanced steps taken by our 
state in educational matters, these attempts have been as a 
boomerang and only reflect upon those ignorant enough to 
attempt to cast the odium. There is no Indianian today of 
any note who does not accept the term *'Hoosier" and is 
proud of the name. In the earl}^ days men who went from 
Indiana to California, when in answer to the question, 
/* Where are you from?" said '^Indiana," the reply would be, 
"A Hoosier from Posey County, Hooppole Township." Much 
of such slang was originated by the Pittsburg coal boatmen. 
"Hooppole Township" came to be used in this way: In the 
early boating days of this country, Mt. Vernon was a head 
centre for the gathering of flatboat crews. At one time a 
large coal fleet had landed at that point from Pittsburg and 

a number of the boatmen had gone up into the town and 
filled up on fighting whisky. They soon raised a disturbance 
and started in to clean out the town. At that time there were 
some large cooper shops in the lower edge of the village next 
the river and some twenty-five or thirty coopers were working 
there. As the boatmen and citizens were having the battle, 
these coopers, with a stout hooppole, went to the relief of the 
officers who were trying to quell the disturbance, and with 
these formidable weapons gave the Pittsburg boatmen a 
chastising which they remembered for all time afterward. 
Hence the name of "Hooppole Township, Posey County." 

In 1821 there were several counties organized: 

Bartholomew County, containing 405 square miles. 

Decatur County, containing 380 square miles. 

Green County, containing 540 square miles. 

Henry County; containing 385 square miles. 

Marion County, containing 400 square miles. 

Park County, containing 440 square miles. 

Putnam County, containing 486 square miles. 

Rush County, containing 414 square miles. 



410 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Shelby County, containing: 408 square miles. 
Union County, containing 168 square miles. 

In 1822 the following counties were organized: 
Johnson County, containing 320 square miles. 
Montgomery County, containing 504 square miles. 

In 1823 the following counties were organized: 
Hamilton County, containing 400 square miles. 
Hendricks County, containing 380 square miles. 
Madison County, containing 390 square miles. 
Vermilion County, containing 280 square miles. 

In 1824 the following county was formed: 
Allen County, containing 672 square miles. 

In 1825 the following counties were formed: 
Clay County, containing 360 square miles. 
Fountain County, containing 390 square miles. 

In 1826, Tippecanoe County, containing 504 square miles. 

In 1820 the population was 147,178. The increase for the 
next three and a half years was very light, as that embraced 
one of the hardest financial periods in the state's early history. 

The administration of Governor Hendricks was a wise 
and careful one. No man was more respected and none more 
worthy of it. He was ever on the lookout for the interests of 
his state and its people. 

From 1816 to 1821 the Legislature was organized with 
ten Senators and twenty-nine Representatives. By ap- 
portionment law made by the Legislature at Corydon in 
1821, the Senate was increased to sixteen members and the 
House to forty-three members. The men composing the 
General Assembly were not always men of profound learn- 
ing, but in most cases were the best men of the section in 
which they lived. At that time politics had not invaded this 
country in any serious degree and the difference between the 
men was usually local. These lawmakers had to face the 
dishonest actions of men who had been entrusted with the 
banking interests of the state and the unfavorable condition 
brought about by the paralyzing situations that our manu- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 411 

facturing interests were in and the consequent hard times, the 
want of a market put upon our people. 

Portions of the new country had settled up previous to 
these hard times very fast, and in that day what was termed 
a neighborhood was a cluster of families over several quarter 
sections of land, and most likely there was a wilderness of six 
to eight miles between them and the next neighborhood. 
Around the most important towns they were much closer to- 
gether. These pioneers were very short of money, but they 
had their guns and were good marksmen. The country at 
that time was at peace with the Indians. The greater por- 
tion of all of them had moved to the west and northwest to 
better hunting grounds, where there were no white people. 

In Madison County in 1824 there were two or three fami- 
lies of friendly Indians who had located a camp on Fall creek 
and were hunting in the surrounding country. These Indians 
had a large amount of valuable furs. This becoming known 
to some parties, it aroused their cupidity and they resolved to 
kill the Indians in order that they might secure the booty. 
The history of this murder and the trials which followed are 
so well told by the Honorable Oliver H. Smith in his "Early 
Indian Sketches," that it is thought best to here produce 
it — also a letter from Mr. Smith to the author in 1856 in rela- 
tion to this matter. The letter speaks for itself; 

Indianapolis, Ind., 

February 10, 1856. 
Mr. Wm. M. Cockrum, 

Oakland, Gibson County, Indiana — 

My Dear Young Friend: Your letter of recent 
date is before me. Certainly I recollect you. You 
drove me too many times over the hills and bad 
roads of Gibson and Pike Counties for me to forget 
you so soon. Your good mother I shall always re- 
member for the kind and thoughtful attention she 
showed for my comfort during the many weeks I 
was at your father's home. 

Let me say, you are very young yet. The first 
dawn of manhood is just opening to you. It is 
reasonable to conclude that you will grow old. If 
you do, you will then realize that the best friend 



412 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

that Grod gave 3^ou was your mother. There could 
be no misfortune or sorrow, disgrace or evil, come 
to you but your mother would stand by you. 
Others may leave, but a mother's love endureth 
beyond the grave. 

Your request for the trial of the men for kill- 
ing the Indians and their execution and the story 
of Doderidge being treed by his own dogs for a 
panther, which I told you, I would have copied 
from my MS., but I can do better than that; 
I will publish a book, * 'Early Indiana Sketches," 
during the next year and will send you a copy; you 
then may use the two articles and as many others 
as you care to, if you conclude to put your data 
into book form. Just such hunting stories as your 
father tells so well is the sort of material that the 
young people will read. In writing a book, the 
author must write for the young to read. They 
soon will grow old and still other young people 
take their places. 

I hope that you may, in the near future, visit 
us, and come on the Evansville, Indianapolis and 
Cleveland Straight-Line Railroad.* 

Very truly yours, 

Oliver H. Smith. 

Following is a history of the trial and execution of sev- 
eral white men for the murder of Indians in Madison County 
in 1824, the only case of the sort in the State or Territory of 
Indiana; related by the Honorable Oliver H. Smith. 

At the time of the Indian murders of Fall Creek, the 
country was new and the population scattered here and there 
in the woods. The game was plenty and the Indian hunting 
grounds had been forsaken by many of the tribes. The white 
settlers felt some alarm at the news of an Indian encamp- 
ment in the neighborhood and although they were all friend- 
ly a watchful eye was kept on all their movements. The 
county of Madison had been organized but a short time be- 
fore. Pendleton, with a few houses at the falls was the seat 



* Author's NoTB.~Mr. Smith at that time was the President of the 
Bvansvine, Indianapolis and Cleveland Straight-Line R. R. (now Evansville 
& Indianapolis R. R.) 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 413 

of the new county. Anderson on White river was a small 
village; Chesterfield and Huntsfield were not heard of. 
There were only a few houses between Indianapolis and 
the falls and still fewer in other directions from the capital. 

Early in the spring pi 1824 a hunting party of Seneca 
Indians, consisting of two men, three squaws and four child- 
ren, encamped on the east side of Fall Creek about eight 
miles above the falls. The country around their camping 
ground was a dense, unbroken forest filled with game. The 
principal Indian was called Ludlow and was said to be named 
for Stephen Ludlow, of Lawrenceburg. The other man I call 
Mingo. The Indians commenced their season's hunting and 
trapping — the men with their guns and the squaws setting 
the traps, preparing and cooking the game and caring for 
the children, two* boys some ten years old, and two girls of 
more tender years. A week had rolled around and the suc- 
cess of the Indians had been very fair with better prospects 
ahead as spring was opening. and raccoons were beginning to 
leave their holes in the trees in search of frogs that Had 
begun to leave their mudd}^ beds at the bottom of the creeks. 

The' trapping season was only just commencing. Ludlow 
and his band wholly unsuspicious of harm and unconscious 
of any approaching enemies, were seated around their Camp 
fire, when there approached through the woods five white men 
— Harper, Sawyer, Hudson, Bridge Sr., and Bridge Jr. Harper 
was the leader and stepping up to Ludlow, took him b}' the 
hand and told him his part}^ had lost their horses and wanted 
Ludlow and Mingo to help find them. The Indians agreed 
to go in search of the horses. Ludlow took one path and 
Mingo the other. Harper followed Ludlow; Hudson trailed 
Mingo, keeping some fifty yards behind. They traveled 
some short distance from the camp when Harper shot Ludlow 
through the body. He fell dead on his face. Hudson, on 
hearing the crack of the rifle of Harper, immediatel}' shot 
Mingo, the ball entering just below his shoulders and pass- 
ing clear through his body. Mingo fell dead. The party 
then met and proceeded to within gunshot of the camp. 
Sawj^er shot one of the squaws through* the head. She fell 



414 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

and died without a struggle. Bridge Sr. shot another squaw 
and Bridge Jr. the other one. Both fell dead. Sawyer then 
fired at the eldest boy, but only wounded him. The other 
children were shot by some of the party. Harper then led 
on to the camp. 

The thr^e squaws, one boy and the two little girls lay 
dead but the oldest boy was still living. Sawyer took him 
and knocked his brains out against the end of a log. The 
camp was then robbed of everything worth carrying away. 
Harper, the ringleader, left immediately for Ohio and was 
never taken. Hudson, Bridge Sr., Bridge Jr., and Sawyer 
were arrested and when I first saw them they were confined 
in a square log jail built of heavy beech and sugar-tree logs, 
notched down closely and fitting tight above and below on 
the sides. I entered with the sheriff. The prisoners were all 
heavily ironed and sitting on the straw on the floor. Hudson 
was a man of about middle size, with a bad look, dark eyes 
and bushy hair, about thirty-five years of age in appearance. 
Sawyer was of about the same age, rather heavier than Hud- 
son but there was nothing in his appearance that could have 
marked him in a crowd as anything more than a common far- 
mer. Bridge, Sr. was much older than Sawyer, his head was 
quite grey, he was about the common height, slender and a 
little bent while standing. Bridge, Jr. was some eighteen 
years of age, a tall stripling. Bridge, Sr. was the father of 
Bridge, Jr. and the brother-in-law of Sawyer. 

The news of these Indian murderers flew upon the wings 
of the wind. The settlers became greatly alarmed, fearing 
the retaliatory vengeance of the tribes and especiall}' of the 
the other bands of the Senecas. The facts reached Mr. John 
Johnston at the Indian Agency at Piqua, Ohio. An account 
of the murders was sent from the agency to the war depart- 
ment at Washington City. Colonel Johnston and William 
Conner visited all the Indian tribes and assured them that 
the government would punish the offenders and obtaining the 
promises of the chiefs and warriors that they would wait and 
see what their ''Great Father'' would do before they took the 
matter into their own hands. This quieted the fears of the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 415 

settlers and preparation was commenced for the trials. A^ 
new log building was erected at the north part of Pendleton 
with two strong rooms, one for the court and one for the 
grand jury. The court room was about twenty by thirty feet 
with a heavy **puncheon" floor, a platform at one end thr^e 
feet high, with a strong railing in front, a bench for the 
judges, a plain table for the clerk, in front on the floor a long 
bench for the counsel, a little pen for the prisoners, a side 
bench for the witnesses and a long pole in front, sub- 
stantially supported to separate the crowd from the court and 
bar. A guard by day and night was placed around the jail. 
The court was composed of Wm. W. Wick, presiding judge, 
Samuel Holliday and Adam Winchell associates. Judge Wick 
was young on the bench but with much experience in crim- 
inal trials. Judge Holliday was one of the best and most 
conscientious men I ever knew. Judge Winchell was a black- 
smith, and had ironed the prisoners. He was an honest, 
frank, rough illiterate man, without any pretensions of legal 
knowledge. Moses Cox was the clerk. He could barely write 
his name and when a candidate for justice of the peace at 
Connersville, he boasted of his superior qualifications, saying: 
*'I have been sued on every section of the statute and know 
all about the law, while m}^ competitor has never been sued 
and knows nothing about the. statute." Samuel Cory was a 
fine specimen of a woods' Hoosier. tall and strong-boned, 
with a hearty laugh, without fear of man and beast, with a 
voice that made the woods ring when he called the jurors and 
witnesses. The county was then prepared for the trials. 

In the meantime the government was not sleeping. 
Colonel Johnston, the Indian agent, was directed to attend 
the trials to see that the witnesses were present and to pay 
their fees. General James Noble, then a United States Sen- 
ator, was employed .by the Secretary of War to prosecute, 
with power to fee an assistant. Philip Sweetzer, a young 
son-in-law of the General, of high promise in his profession, 
was selected by the General as his assistant. Calvin Fletcher 
was the regular prosecuting attorney, then a young man of 
more than ordinary ability and a good criminal lawyer. The 



416 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

only inn in Pendleton was a new frame house near the creek, 
still standing by the side of the railroad bridgfe. 

The term of the court was about being held. The Sun- 
day before the term commenced, the lawyers began to arrive 
and, as the custom was in those days, they were invited out 
to dine on the Sabbath b}'^ the most wealthy citizens as a 
• favor and compliment, not to the lawyers but to their hosts. 
We had a statute in those days imposing a line of one dollar 
on each person who should * 'profanely curse, swear or damn," 
and making it the duty of all judges and magistrates to see 
that the law was enforced upon offenders in their presence. 
Judge Holliday invited Calvin Fletcher, the circuit prosecut- 
ing attorney, and his Indianapolis friend, Daniel B. Wick, 
the brother of the Judge, to dine with him. The invitation 
was accepted, of course, there being no previous engagement 
in the way. Dinner was announced; Judge Holliday asked a 
**blessing" at the table — Mr. Fletcher declining. The Judge 
had killed a fat goose for the extraordinary occasion, which 
was nicely stuffed with well-seasoned bread and onions and 
placed in the center of the table. Mr. Wick, who was not a 
church member, fixed his e3^e an the goose and said, by way 
of compliment, ^'That's a damned fine goose. Judge." *'Yes, 
it is a fine goose, and you are fined one dollar for swearing." 
Not a word more was spoken at the table. Dinner over. 
Judge Holliday said, **Squire Wick, pay me the dollar." '*! 
have not a cent with me, Judge." **Perhaps Mr. Fletcher 
will lend it to you." Mr. Fletcher: ''I really have with me 
only sufficient to pay my tavern bill." Judge Holliday: 
''What is to be done?" Fletcher: **Lend him the money. 
Judge, take his note or bind him over to the court." *'I'll 
bind him over; you'll go his security?" **The rules of the 
court forbid lawyers to go security for anyone, but you can 
go it yourself; just draw the recognizance, 'Daniel B. Wick 
and Samuel Holliday appear before Samuel Holliday, associ- 
ate judge of the Madison circuit court, and acknowledge 
themselves to be indebted to the state in the penalty of 
twenty-five dollars each for the appearance of Daniel B. 
Wick at the next term of court to answer." The reasonable 



"PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 417 

proposition of Mr. Fletcher was at once accepted by all par- 
ties. The recognizance was taken in due form and forfeited 
at the next term of court by the absence of Mr. Wick. Judge- 
ment was rendered against Judge Holliday for twenty-five 
dollars. A petition to the Governor was drawn and signed 
by the whole bar; a remittance soon followed. 

The trial of Hudson commenced the next day after the 
Sabbath dinner at Judge Holliday's. A number of distin- 
guished lawyers were in attendance from this state and sev- 
eral from the State of Ohio. Among the most prominent I 
name General James Noble, Philip Sweetzer, Harvey Gregg, 
Lot Bloomfield, James Rariden, Charles H. Test, Calvin 
Fletcher, Daniel B. Wick and William R. Morris, of this 
state; General Sampson Mason and Moses Vance, of Ohio. 
Judge Wick being temporarily absent in the morning, Wil- 
liam R. Morris arose and moved the associate judges: **I ask 
that these gentlemen be admitted as attorneys and counselors 
at this bar; they are regular practitioners, but have not 
brought their licenses with them." Judge Winchell: **Have 
they come down here to defend the prisoners?" "Most of 
them have." 'Xet them be sworn — nobody but a lawyer 
would defend a murderer." 

Mr. Morris: *'I move the Court for a writ of habeas cor- 
pus to bring up the prisoners now illegally confined in jail." 
Judge Winchell: '*For what?" **A writ of habeas corpus.'* 
**What do you want to do with it?" "To bring up the pris- 
oners and have them discharged." "Is there any law for 
that?" Morris read the statute regulating the writ of 
habeas corpus. "That act, Mr. Morris, has been repealed 
long ago." . "Your honor is mistaken; it is a constitutional 
writ as long as Magna Charta itself." "Well, Mr. Morris, to 
cut this matter short, it would do you no good to bring out 
the prisoners; I. ironed them myself, and you will never get 
them irons off until they have been tried, habeas corpus or 
no habeas corpus." Per curia, "Motion over-ruled." Judge 
Wick entered and took his seat between the two side judges. 
**Call the grand jury." All answer to their names and are 
sworn. Court adjourned for dinner. Court met; the grand 



418 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

jury brought into court an indictment for murder drawn by 
Fletcher against Hudson. Counsel on both sides: "Bring- 
the prisoner into court." The Court: ''Sheriff, put in the 
box a jury." Sheriff: "May it please the Court, Dr. Highday 
just handed me a list of jurors to call on the jury." Judge 
Wick: "Bring Dr. Highday into court." "Did your honor wish 
to see me?" "Dr. Highday, is this your handwriting?" **I 
presume it is." **Dr. Highday, we have no jail to put you 
in; the one we have is full; hear your sentence: It is the 
judgrfient of the court that you be banished from these court 
grounds till the trials are over. Sheriff, see the judgment of 
the court is carried strictly into execution." 

I digress to give here the scene in court, published by 
General Sampson Mason in a Springfield, Ohio, paper: "As- 
I entered the court-room, the judge was sitting on a blocks 
paring his toe-nails, when the sheriff entered, out of breath, 
and informed the court that he had six jurors tied and his^ 
deputies were running down the others." General Mason, with 
all his candor, uuquestionably drew upon his imagination in 
that instance. 

Hudson, the prisoner, was brought into the court by the 
deputy sheriff and two of the guard. His appearance had 
greatly changed since I first saw him in the long pen with 
his comrades in crime. He was now pale, haggard and 
downcast, and with a faltering voice answered, upon his ar- 
raignment, "Not guilty." The petit jury w^re hardy, honest 
pioneers, wearing moccasins and side knives. The evidence 
occupied but a single day and was positive, closing every 
door of hope to the prisoner. The prosecuting attorney read 
the statute, creating and aflBxing the punishment to the 
homicide and plainly stated the substance of the evidence. 
He was followed for the prisoner in an able, eloquent and 
powerful speech, appealing to the prejudice of the jury 
against the Indians; relating in glowing colors the early 
massacres of white men, women and children by the Indians; 
reading the principal incidents in the history of Daniel 
Boone and Simon Kenton; relating their cruelties at the bat- 
tle of Blue Lick and Bryant's Station, and not forgetting the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 419 

defeat of Braddock, St. Clair and Harmar. General James 
Noble closed the argfument for the state in one of his forcible 
speeches, holding: up to the jury the blood}' clothing of the 
Indians and appealing: to the justice, patriotism and love of 
the law of the jur}', not forgetting that the safety of the set- 
tlers might depend upon the conviction of the prisoners, as 
the chiefs and warriors expected justice to be done. The 
speech of the General had a marked effect upon the crowd, as 
well as the jury. Judge Wick charged the jury at some 
length, laying down the laws of homicide in its different de- 
grees and distinctly impressing upon the jury that the law 
knew no distinction as to nation or color; that the murder of 
an Indian was equally criminal in law as the murder of a 
white man. The jur}' retired and next morning brought into 
court a verdict of *'Guilty of murder in the first degree." The 
moiion for a new trial was over-ruled, the prisoner was 
brought into court and sentence of death pronounced in the 
most solemn manner b}- Judge Wick. The time for ihe exe- 
cution was fixed, as is usual, for a distant day In the mean- 
time Hudson made his escape from the guardhouse one dark 
night and hid himself in a hollow log in the woods, where he 
was found and arrested. 

Time rolled on and the fatal day for execution arrived. 
Multitudes of people were there. Among them were several 
Senecas, relatives of the murdered Indians. The gallows 
was erected just above the falls on the north side. The peo- 
ple covered the surrounding hills, and at the appointed hour, 
Hudson, by the forfeiture of his life, made the last earthly 
atonement for his crimes. Such was the result of the first 
case on record in America where a white man was hung for 
killing an Indian. The other cases were continued until the 
next term of court. 

TRIAL OF SAWYER. 

Monday morning came. Court met. Judge Eggleston, 
in fine health, on the bench in the center; Adam Winchell on 
his left and Samuel Holliday on his right; Moses Cox at the 
clerk's desk; Samuel Cory on the sheriff's platform, and 
Colonel John Berry, captain of the guard, leaning against the 



420 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

log's. The grand jury was called, sworn and charged and 
court adjourned for dinner. In the afternoon the evidence of 
the main witnesses were heard. I had prepared the indict- 
ments in my office and had them with me. The foreman 
signed the bills on his knee and they all returned into court 
before the adjournment. That night Col. John Johnston, 
the Indian agent, called at my room and offered me one hun- 
dred dollars on behalf of the United States. I informed him 
that I was a state officer and could not accept the money, 
however tempting it might be under other circumstances. 

The court met in the morning. We agreed to try Saw- 
yer first for shooting one of the squaws. The prisoner was 
brought into court by the sheriff. He appeared so haggard 
and changed from his long confinemant that I scarcely knew 
him. The court-room was crowded. Greneral James Noble, 
Philip Sweetzer and myself for the state; James Rariden; Lot 
Bloomrield, William R. Morris and Charles H. Test for the 
prisoner. Judge Eggleston: ''Sheriff, call the petit jury." 
Judge Winchell: **Sheriff, call Squire Makepiece on the 
jury; he will be a good juror; he will not let one of these 
murderers get away." Judge Eggleston, turning to Judge 
Winchell: *'This will never do. What! the couit pack a jury 
to try a capital case?" The jury was soon impaneled. The 
evidence was conclusive that the prisoner had shot one of the 
squaws at the camp with his rifle, after the killing of Ludlow 
and Mingo by Harper and Hudson in the woods. The jury 
were a hardy, heav} -bearded set of men with side knives in 
their belts and not a pair of shoes among all of them; 
they wore moccasins. Mr. Sweetzer opened for the state 
with a strong, matter-of-fact speech, which was his forte. 
He was followed in able speeches by Mr. Morris, Mr. Test 
and Mr. Rariden for the prisoner. General Noble closed for 
the prosecution in a powerful speech. The General was one 
of the strongest and most effective speakers before a jury or 
promiscuous assembly I have ever heard. The case went to 
the jury under an able charge from Judge Eggleston and 
court adjourned for dinner. 

At the meeting of the court in the afternoon, the jury 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 421 

returned the verdict of ''Guilty of manslaughter — two years 
at hard labor in the penitentiary." Mr. Rariden sprang to 
his feet: *'If the court please, we let judgment go on the 
verdict and are ready for the case of Sawyer for killing the 
Indian boy at the camp." '*Ready for the state." The same 
jury were accepted by both sides — being in the box. They 
were immediately sworn. The evidence was heard, again 
conclusive against the prisoner. General Noble opened for 
the prosecution, and was followed by Charles H. Test, Wil- 
liam R. Morris and James Rariden with powerful speeches^ 
The jury were referred to their verdict in the previous case 
and their judgments were warmly eulogized. This was, by 
arrangement,*my case to close. I saw my position, and the 
only point which I had to meet was to draw the distinction 
between the two cases, so as to justify the jury for finding a 
verdict for manslaughter in one case and of murder in the 
case before them. In law there was no difference whatever. 
They were both cold-blooded murders. The calico shirt of 
the murdered boy, stained with blood, lay upon the table. I 
was closing a speech of an hour. Stepping forward I took up 
the bloody shirt and holding jt to the jury: **Yes, gentle- 
men of the jury, the case is very different. You find the 
prisoner guilty of only manslaughter in using his rifle on a 
grown squaw — that was the act of a man; this was the act of 
a demon. Look at this shirt, gentlemen, with the bloody 
stains upon it. This was a poor helpless boy, who was taken 
by the heels by this fiend in human shape and his brains 
knocked out against a log! If the other case was man* 
slaughter, is not this murder?" The eyes of the jury were 
filled with tears. Judge Eggleston g^ve a clear and able 
charge upon the law. The jury, after an absence of only a 
few minutes, returned a verdict of **Murder in the first de- 
gree." The prisoner was remanded and the court adjourned. 

TRIAL OF BRIDGB — SCENES AT THE EXECUTION. 

The next morning the case of Bridge, Sr., for shooting a 
little Indian girl at the camp, was called. The prisoner en- 
tered with the sheriff. He was more firm in his step and. 



422 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

looked better than Sawyer, though a much older man. 
A jury was impaneled. The proof was positive. The case 
was argued by Mr. Morris and Mr. Rariden for the prisoner, 
and Mr. Sweetzer and myself for the state. The charge was 
given by Judge Eggleston, and after a few minutes' absence, 
the jury returned the verdict of '*Murder in the first de- 
gree." The only remaining case — of the stripling, Bridge, 
Jr., for the murder of the other Indian boy at the camp — 
came on next. The trial was more brief, but the result was the 
same — verdict of murder in the first degree - with a recom- 
mendation, however, to the Governor for a pardon, in conse- 
quence of his youth, in which the court and bar joined. Pro 
forma, motions for new trials were over-ruled, the prisoners 
remanded to be brought up for sentence next morning, and 
the court adjourned. 

Morning came and with it a crowded court-house. As I 
walked from the tavern, I saw the guard approaching with 
Sawyer, Bridge, Senior, and Bridge, Junior, with downcast 
eyes and tottering steps in their midst. The prisoners en- 
tered the court-room and were seated. The sheriff com- 
manded silence. The prisoners arose, the tears streaming 
down their faces and their groans and sighs filling the court- 
room. I fixed my eyes on Judge Eggleston, I heard him 
pronounce sentence of death on Fuller for the murder of War- 
ren, and upon Fields for the murder of Murphy. But here 
was a still more solemn scene: An aged father, his favorite 
son and his wife's brother — all standing before him to receive 
the sentence of death. The face of the judge was pale, his 
lips quivered, his tongue faltered, as he addressed the prison- 
ers. The sentence of death by hanging was pronounced, but 
the usual conclusion, '*and may Gk)d have mercy on your 
souls," was left struggling for utterance. 

The time for the execution was fixed at a distant day, 
but it soon rolled around. The gallows was erected on the 
north bank of Fall Creek; just above the falls at the foot of 
the rising grounds one may see from the cars. The 
hour for the execution had come. Thousands surround- 
ed the gallows. A Seneca chief, with his warriors, 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 423 

ivas posted near the brow of the hill. Sawyer and Bridg^e, 
Senior, ascended the scaffold together, were executed in 
quick succession and died without a struggle. The vast au- 
dience was in tears. The exclamation of the Senecas was in- 
terpreted, "We are satisfied." An hour expired. The bodies 
were taken down and laid in their coffins, when there was seen 
ascending the scaffold, Bridge, Junior, the last of the con- 
victs. His step was feeble, requiring the aid of the sheriff; 
the rope was adjusted; he threw his eyes around upon the 
audience and then down upon the coffin where lay exposed the 
bodies of his father and uncle. From that moment his wild 
gaze showed too clearly that the scene had been too much for 
his 3'outhful mind. Reason partially left her throne and he 
stood looking at the crowd, apparently unconscious of his po- 
sition. The last minute had come, when James Brown Ray, 
Governor of the state, announced to the immense crowd that 
the convict was pardoned. Never before did an audience 
more heartily respond, while there was a universal regret 
that the executive authority had been deferred until the last 
moment. Thus ended the only trials where convictions of 
murder were followed by the execution of white men for kill- 
ing Indians, in the United States up to that period. 

The following story is also from Mr. Smith's '*Early 
Sketches": 

Manj' years ago while our frontier counties were a 
ivilderness, the settlers lived far apart. It had been whis- 
pered about in private circles that some boys had seen a 
panther looking out of a hole in a black walnut tree. The 
story was doubted by many, still it was sufficiently alarming 
to induce settlers to prepare themselves with rifles and large 
packs of hounds. Among the settlers there was a^an, for 
the sake of a name I call Doderidge Alley, a neighborhood 
leader. He had often been elected captain of one side at 
log-rollings and corn-shuckings. Doderidge had one of the 
severest packs of hounds in the settlement, of which he often 
boasted, especially of **01d Ring." The county in which 
Doderidge resided was entitled to a Representative in the State 
Legislature. A number of candidates brought themselves 



424 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

out, Doderidge among them. There were no caucuses nor 
conventions in that day; every one ran upon his own hook and 
mounted his own hobby. Doderidge believed strongly in love 
at first sight and in early marriages. He selected the idea of 
authorizing constables in their several townships to solemn- 
ize marriages, so as to tie the hymeneal knot before the first 
love could have time to cool while they were sending to town 
for a preacher. Doderidge had, no doubt, seen the first verse 
of *'Love at First Sight," but had not read the last. 

The contest was very close, but Doderidge triumphed.. 
The session of the Legislature was approaching — a new suit 
of clothes would be needed; the yarn was spun, the cloth 
woven and colored with butternut bark, a kind of yellowish 
brown. The neighboring tailor had cut and made the suit, 
coat, vest and pantaloons; they hung in folds upon him, but 
still he looked pretty well and felt right comfortable, as his 
blood had free circulation. All things were ready for his de- 
parture for the capital; business required him to go to one of 
the upper settlements. He dressed up in his fine butternut 
suit for the first time, promising: to be back for supper. Time 
passed on and no Doderidge. His lady became uneasy; the 
story of the panther came fresh in her mind; the clock struck 
ten, still no Doderidge. The dogs had not been seen for an 
hour before dark. Hark! the sound of hounds is heard in the 
distant forest. A panther, no doubt. Night wore away, 
morning dawned, no Doderidge. The lady left her cabin and 
directed her course through the woods by the distant baying. 
The spot was reached at last.' There, perched upon a lean- 
ing tree, some fifty feet up, sat Doderidge in his butternut 
suit, the very image of a panther, old Ring tearing the bark 
from the root of the tree and the rest of the pack baying at 
the top of their lungs. A word from the voice of their well- 
known mistress was enough; Doderidge came down, old Ring 
took the lead for home and away went the whole pack, leav- 
ing Doderidge and his rescuer to walk home together, deadly 
enemies to butternut bark while there were panthers in the 
woods. 

Weeks afterward, Doderidge arises in the Legislature: 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 425 

• 

*'Mr. Speaker, I hold in my hand a bill to authorize con- 
stables to solemnize marriages; it is laid off into sections of 
four lines." A member I call Hugh Barnes, with a powerful 
sing-song voice: **I am opposed, Mr. Speaker, to that bill. 
Marriage is a solemn thing; it ought never to be entered into 
without the greatest deliberation and the maturest reflection. 
Why all {his haste to tie the knot? Constables ought to have 
nothing to do with it except when they get married them- 
selves." As the speaket progressed, he became more and 
more animated; his voice rose to the highest tones, not unlike 
Old Hundred. As he closed, all eyes were upon Doderidge; 
the speech sounded very much like the funeral services of the 
bill and Doderidge looked like chief mourner. Doderidge 
sprang to his feet as quick as thought: **Mr. Speaker, would 
it be in order now to sing a hymn?" The Speaker hesitated, 
the house roared, the triumph of Doderidge was complete, 
the session closed, the bill was left for the next Legislature. 
Doderidge returned home, the hounds were disposed of, and 
there was never an ounce of butternut bark used for dyeing 
purposes in the family of Doderidge afterward. 

In 1822 (Governor Hendricks, in a message to the Legis- 
lature, recommended that as fast as the state was able, it 
should make many improvements that were much needed. He 
named improvements for the falls of the Ohio, also the 
Wabash and White rivers, making them navigable for keel 
and flatboats; also the construction of the national road 
through the state. 

These recommendations were among the first which were 
afterward carried out, of the great system of internal im- 
provements engaged in by our state. The most expensive of 
all of these was the construction of the Wabash and Erie 
canal. The act of Congress granting land for its construc- 
tion was passed in 1827. It was more than twenty years after 
this before it was completed. An account of this work will 
be given in another chapter. 

At an election of 182S James B. Ray was elected Gov- 
ernor. At this time the revenue of the state to pay its ex- 
penses was a little over thirty-six thousand dollars, and this 



426 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

was the average amount received for that purpose until about 
1830. In 1825 the state government was moved from Cor)-- 
don to Indianapolis, a distance of about one hundred and 
twenty-five miles. 

In 1826 there was a treaty held with the Pottawattamie 
Indians. The commissioners in this case were Governor Ray, 
General John Tipton and Governor Cass. At that treaty a 
strip of land ten miles wide on the north line of the state, 
also a small tract between the Wabash and Eel rivers, was 
purchased. 

From 1826 the prices of land and produce improved and 
continued to improve for the next six or seven years. Confi- 
dence was restored in the business circles and everything" 
gradually kept on improving. There was a large increase in 
the population during the years 1825 and 1826. At the close 
of 1826 there were 250,000 people in Indiana; this from 1800, 
when there were 5,000 persons in the state, was a gain of 
245,000. 

In the year 1825 Governor Ray in his message to the Legis- 
lature urged upon them the necessity of adopting a system of 
internal improvements, such as building canals, railroads and 
plank roads. The policy that he urged was. not attempted to 
be carried out until ten years later. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



ANIMALS OF EARLY INDIANA. 



Game Animals — Game Birds — Ferocious Animals — Fur- 
Bearing Animals — Birds of Prey. 



BUFFALO. 

The buffaloes varied in height from five to five and one- 
half feet. They differed from our domestic cattle in beingf 
longerof limb and shorter bodied and in having a large hump 
on the back. The males had a long mane and much longer 
hair on their heads, backs and shoulders. Their bodies were 
the largest just back of their fore legs and graduall}' tapered 
back and diminished in height. They had a long neck; head 
and eyes small. Their build denoted speed and their general 
appearance was fierce and dangerous. The}' had a very 
acute sense of smell and could scent danger a long way off. 
These animals migrated from south to north in the summer 
season, aod from north to south in the winter season, across the 
great western plains that nature had provided with buffalo 
grass for them. Many small herds did not migrate and remained 
in the same sections winter and summer; even as far north as 
North Dakota this was true. Whether there was a difference 
or what caused small isolated herds to remain in the same 
section all the time, is not known. 

On the great western plains, from Texas to the Dakotas, 
until only a few years ago, the buffaloes were in such count- 
less numbers that the)' had to spread over an immense terri- 
tory to find food for their sustenance. The males and fe- 



428 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

males herded separately, except in the coupling season^ 
which was in June and July. The males at this time con- 
tended for the mastery. Hundreds of them would eng^age in 
fightingf at the same time. The roar from these conflicts 
was deep, loud and most terrible, and in many cases they 
gored each other to death with their strong, sharp horns. 
The cows brought forth in March and April. They were 
very much attached to their calves, and to protect them from 
the many animals that were always prowling around for an 
opportunity to catch a laggard calf, the cows at night would 
form a circle, the cows lying down with their horns outward, 
the calves on the inside of the circle. The usual weight of 
these animals was from ten to fourteen hundred pounds. Some- 
times, as in our domestic cattle, there would be some whicli 
would weigh two thousand pounds. A buffalo cow in the 
northwest has been known to defeat and kill a grizzly bear 
with her horns, in defending her young calf. The flesh was 
better, if possible, than the best stall fed beef. It may be 
owing to the food they ate, which was fresh young grass of 
the plains and in Indiana, when in the timbered sections, 
young cane. The flesh had a wild, venison taste that gave 
it an excellent flavor. The hump was considered the choice 
piece. The buffalo of this country were hard to domesticate, 
not tractible as the buffalo in the old country. When they 
were domesticated, they became valuable in drawing im- 
mense loads. There were no such numbers of these animals 
in southern and southwestern Indiana when the pioneers first 
came to it, as was described by Daniel Boone when he first 
traversed the wilds of Kentucky, nor were there so many as 
there were at a much later date in northern and northwestern 
Indiana, on the prairies and around the Kankakee country. 
The reason for this was probably that the southern section of 
the state was a dense wilderness and the home of the 
panther, which was the only animal in Indiana that could 
contend successfully with the buffalo. The panther, from a 
perch in a tree, near a lick, would land on the buffalo's back 
and could not be shaken off, but would retain his hold, and 
with his long, sharp claws, cut the jugular vein. In this way 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 429 

untold numbers of buffalo were killed. 

The settlers who were in the state before 1810 did kill 
some buffalo. All the country in southwestern Indiana, 
along the rivers and branch bottoms and the foothills, were 
covered with a rich growth of cane. On this the buffalo 
could live in the winter and have the shelter of the timber 
and brush for protection; but they were so very wild it was 
very hard to get near enough to shoot at them with any 
certainty. 

THE ELK. 

The elk was of the deer species and between the red deer 
of this country and the moose of the northeastern states in ap- 
pearance. In the shape of the body they resembled the deer, but 
were many times larger. The male had a pair of very large, 
branching antlers. It has been known when standing on the 
point, that a man six feet tall could walk under them. It would 
seem impossible that they could make.any speed through the 
woods with such an enormous pair of horns; but they would 
lay them back on their shoulders and run very fast. Hunters 
who moved to Indiana from the south claimed that the elk 
were not nearly so large there as the ones which they found 
here. Those that were in this section were much inferior in 
size to those in Minnesota and the Dakotas. There they 
were said to be the size of a horse. Hunters with the Lewis 
and Clark expedition to Oregon claimed to have killed an elk 
on the headwaters of the Missouri river that was twice the 
size of those that were in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. 

The flesh of the elk is dark and coarse, like that of the 
buffalo, but very nutritious. They are very shy animals, and 
when disturbed will run three and four miles without stop- 
ping. An old male elk, when wounded, will fight most des- 
perately, and anything that comes within range of his horns 
is sure to be badly hurt. The skin of these animals was used 
for many useful purposes. The elk is easily domesticated 
and has been known to pull a sled over frozen ground two 
hundred miles in one day. 

THE DEER. 

The red deer is one of the most beautiful creatures of all 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 430 

the animal kingdom. They were in such number^ in all sec- 
tions of Indiana up to 1840, that a hunter with any sort of 
skill could kill two or three each day. Many old hunters, 
after the Indians had gone away, which allowed them to 
hunt in security, would kill eight and ten a day. 

The deer undergoes three distinct colors during the 
3'ear — red in the spring, blue in the fall, and grey in the win- 
ter. The fekin is best when red or blue; when grey it is of 
little value. The meat is the most easily digested of any, 
and when cooked in the fat of the bear or in hog's lard, it 
was the most delicious steak of any. Venison, cooked in its 
own fat, is not so good, as the fat makes tallow, and when so 
cooked, the meat is dry. 

The deer lives on vegetable food and has one peculiar- 
it}' — that of having no gall, as they did not require that 
agent to help in digesting their food. The skin, as well as 
the meat, was used for, so many purposes by the first settlers 
in Indiana, that it was almost indispensable, and many of the 
scant comforts that the pioneers did have would have been 
materially lessened if there had been no deer. The does have 
their fawns in the middle of the spring, usually two. These 
little creatures were of a pale, red color, with white spots, 
and it is said that there was no odor about them which would 
attract the wolf or the wildcat to the beds where they were 
hidden by their mothers. They would bleat much like a 
young lamb, and when the mother heard them she would run 
to them. Many an old mother doe has been killed by the 
hunters who could imitate the bleat of the fawn. When 
three months old they can follow their mother and run very 
fast. The male deer, or **bucks," as the hunters call them, 
shed their horns each year about ihe first of spring. At that 
time they separate from the does and go into seclusion. 
Where they drop their old horns has been a very hard ques- 
tion for the hunters to decide, for but very few of them are 
ever found. As soon as the old horns are off, the new ones 
commence to grow; in fact, it is believed that the new ones 
crowd the old ones oflf. The new horn is covered all over 
with a thick coat which looks like velvet and it grows verv 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 431 

• 

* fast. In sixty to ninety days the new horns are fully formed. 
As soon as the horn has its growth, the velvety skin begins 
to break open and peel off. The deer help get it off by rub- 
bing their horns against small saplings and brush. The 
one-year-old male fawn grows a short, sharp spike on each 
side of its forehead. When it is two years old it will grow a 
forked horn, and at three years old, three pointed horn, and 
so on up — one for each year to seven or eight year. Nine 
points on the horn of the red deer species have been seen. 

The deer are very fleet of foot and can run for a long dis- 
tance at a time when pursued by dogs or wolves. They are 
lightning-quick motioned. In their hind legs they seem to 
have the strength of a much larger animal, although a small 
hand can easily reach around their ankle, but the man who 
attempted such a thing was sure to come to grief. In the 
middle of the fall, when the mating season comes on, the 
deer are very fat. During this period the male deer run very 
much and have the most terrible combats, trying to gore each 
other with their sharp horns, often interlocking them so 
tightly together that they cannot loosen the hold and remain 
in this condition until they are starved to death. During 
this running period the bucks become very poor and their 
necks swell and their meat is not fit to be used, as it has a 
very disagreeable, musky odor. During the winter months, 
the deer go in droves like sheep, and unless there is a large 
mast of acorns or they are in the blue grass country where 
the grass is green, under that which has fallen down, they 
become very thin. 

In the early spring droves of these deer would come into 
the wheat fields when the wheat first began to show and bite 
it down even with the ground. They were hard to keep out 
and were too thin in flesh to be of any use to the hunters, 
who resorted to the notched hickory rattle, which made a 
fearful noise, and would try to drive them away. They would 
run to the side of the field farthest from the rattle and com- 
mence again to nip the short wheat. A deer would kill any 
sort of a snake so quickly that you could hardly see their mo- 
tions until they had torn it all to pieces. On discovering a 



432 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

snake they would go near it, when it would coil up in a bunch 
ready for battle. The deer would bound into the air and 
come down with all of its feet on that coil and with lightning- 
like stamps and strokes, tear it into shreds. After deer be- 
came less plentiful in Indiana, they were much harder to find 
and the hunters resorted to many ways of killing" them. The 
saline licks that Nature distributed at convenient places for 
all wild animals to secure the needed salt for their health, 
were often watched, and as the deer in the night, would come 
to these licks, the hunter from a screen would shoot them. 
These "licks," as they were called, were provided by the 
Great Giver of all things for the bovine creation, and as the 
need of them has passed, it is doubtful if any exist now in 
Indiana that have any saline taste about them. The deer 
was an inquisitive animal and the hunter would shine their 
eyes with a torch and slip upon them. Both these modes of 
killing deer were considered by the real hunters as taking 
unfair advantage of these harmless animals. 

The black tailed deer, sometimes called the mule deer 
(this term I suppose comes from the fact that they are a spe- 
cies between the elk and the red deer in appearance, and par- 
take of some of the peculiarities of both) has meat in taste 
and color between that of the red deer and the elk, but there 
is no doubt- that they propagate their own species. The 
black tailed deer are found only west of 105 west longitude 
and goes north to about 54 north latitude. In all the vast 
belt south and west of these lines it is and has been in vast 
numbers, to the Pacific Ocean. 

THE BLACK BEAR. 

The bear stood at the head of all the game animals for 
general use by the pioneers in Indiana. They were not so 
plentiful as the deer, but were in such numbers that all 
could be supplied with their meat and grease for more than 
twenty-five years after Indiana began to be settled. From 
1800 up to 1815 or 1820 they were so plentiful that it was im- 
possible to raise pigs, as the bears would carry them off in 

the daytime. 

The bear is a peculiar species andl there is no other 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 433 

animal that in any wa}' resembles them in habit or appear- 
ance. When full-grown and fat, the usual weight is from 
350 to 400 pounds. Their flesh, when properly cooked, is the 
most delicious, as well as nutritious, of any animal that was 
found in this countr}-. Their meat when killed, after taking 
off the hide, was formerly cut up much as we do that of the 
hog now, salted and bacon made out of it. The lard or 
grease was used as hog's lard is, for all purposes in preparing 
the food. The bear is not a vicious animal, only when 
wounded or in defending their young; then they will fight to 
the last, and are very dangerous. They have great skill in 
using their fore arms and used to parry the blow of a toma- 
haw^k by this means. 

In an article about a bear recently, the writer claimed 
that the hugging so much talked of was never brought into 
use only when the bear had a pig too heavy to carry away in 
its mouth, as it would then rear on its hind legs and carry it 
off in its arms. This writer, possibly, had never had a battle 
with a bear. In 1819 a young man named John Deputy, from 
Ken tuck)', was in the neighborhood of the place where 
Hazelton, Indiana, now is, visiting some friends. One day 
While out hunting he caught a young bear cub; before he 
could get away, the old mother was on him. In fighting her 
with his tomahawk he broke her under jaw. She caught him 
in her arms and hugged him to death, breaking his ribs as if 
they had been pipe-stems. This incident was given to the 
author by Mrs. Nancy Gullick. 

There could be fifty instances given where the bear, in 
fighting both Indians and white men, came near squeezing 
the life out of them with their strong arms. It used to be a 
common saying with old hunters, that they had no fear of a 
bear so long as they could keep from being pounded to death 
with its strong arms or squeezed to death. There are but 
very few instances on record where the bear has been known 
to attack a man unless wounded or their cubs disturbed, and 
this continued to be the case in most sections of the country. 
After Braddock's defeat at Fort Duquesne in 1755, where so 
many men were killed and left for the animals and vultures 



434 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

to feast on, the bears in that section became so used to eatingr 
human flesh that afterward thev were ferocious and would 
attack a man at si^ht. The same was true in 1791 at St. 
Clair's defeat and in the everglades of Florida where Major 
Dade's army was murdered and slaughtered by the Seminole 
Indians. The bears in that section for many years afterward 
would attack every human being they saw. 

Bears look to be awkward and clumsy, but such is not 
the case. It can, with ease, climb the tallest tree, and when 
lean, can run very fast. They eat nearly every sort of food,, 
but beechnuts, chestnuts and acorns are the food on which 
they fatten very fast. At times in early autumn, just before 
the nuts begin to fall, they will climb the oak and beech, 
trees and pull the limbs to secure the nuts. This the old 
hunters called **lopping." After becoming very fat in the 
late fall or early winter, they will seek for a suitable hollow 
tree and go into a long sleep, called hibernating, and do not 
wake up until spring, when the frost is gone. It was. always 
thought that they sucked their paws during this long period 
of rest and subsisted on the oil they drew out of them. At 
those times when they have been smoked out of their dens 
and killed during the winter months, in dressing them there 
was a large amount of pure oil found in the alimentary canaU 
sometimes as much as two gallons. There has been much 
•speculation as to how the oil came there. The most accepted 
theory is that nature has provided the animal with absorbent 
vessels which gather the oil from the fat of the body into the 
stomach for sustenance during the long sleep. 

They raised cubs each year, usually two. At first these 
cubs are not larger than small kittens and are quite helpless 
for some time. When ihey commence to grow they are the 
most playful of all animals. They remain with their mother 
until about one year old, when they commence to care for 
themselves. There is something in the formation of the 
bones or muscles of the bear different from any other animaU 
They will let go all hold and fall from the top of a tall tree 
to the ground all in a bundle and bound up two or three feet 
without doing them the least harm. Like the hog, they had 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 435 

a wallow in the mud and water where they resorted during^ 
the hot days of summer and spent much of their time there. 
When the first cornfields were planted, the bears made them- 
selves at home when the roasting ears were ready — in many 
cases destroying the entire field. Their skins were dressed on 
the fleshy side, leaving the hair on, and were used by many a 
mother for a pallet for her young children, and in many cases 
they were all the doors or shutters that many families had 
for some time, after building their first cabin. 

THE GREY AND FOX-SQUIRRELS. 

These squirrels are both natives of this country and have 
up to a few years past been very plentiful and filled a needed 
place in the bill of fare on every hunter's table. They be- 
came at times a very great pest in cornfields, and if not 
killed or the field guarded, would destroy a large amount of 
corn. In the early times the farmers organized hunting 
parties, with three or four on a side, and set a day to meet at 
a stated place and count the scalps of the squirrels which 
they had killed. The side having the most scalps was to en- 
joy a dinner or supper of good things prepared by the de- 
feated ones. In these round-ups they would have several 
hundred scalps each, representing a few days' hunting only. 
This may seem to have been cruel sport to the people of this 
date, but it had to be done or the cornfields would have been 
ruined. The squirrel is the most active and graceful of all 
the rodent family, and when in such numbers as they were in 
all parts of Indiana up to 1850. competent to do the corn crop 
more harm than all the other animals. The meat of these 
little animals, when properly prepared for food, is. most de- 
licious. These little rodents at times would migrate from 
one section to another. What the cause of this was, was 
hard to tell, but at such times the farmers would be very 
much alarmed for fear they would destroy their corn. When 
they started, nothing would change their course. They 
would climb over mountains and cross wide and deep rivers. 
When it was known that they were on the go, the hunters 
and farmers would kill thousands of them. The squirrel was 



436 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

a great tell-tale on other animals. The hunter has often lain 
in wait for the approaching bear or deer who he knew was 
coming toward him by the noise of the squirrels as they, up 
in the trees, could be heard chattering away back on the 
course the animal had come, and would begin to chatter as 
soon as it had passed the tree the}^ were on. 

RABBITS. 

The rabbit is a domestic animal and hardly worthy of 
mention in the game list. They were very few in Indiana in 
an early day. Whether the animals which would eat them 
kept the numbers down or whether they increased more as 
the country became settled up, is not known, but there are 
twenty here now where there was one in 1840. They are 
very poor meat in comparison with the squirrel, and people 
would not eat them when game was plentiful. 

ANTELOPE. 

This is a very beautifully formed anim?il and probably 
the swiftest of all the deer family. They are very shy and 
constantly on the watch for an enemy. After the Ameri<:ans 
came to Indiana, they were not often seen, as they inhabited 
the prairie sections around Terre Haute and in the north and 
northwestern part of the state. 

The soldiers on Indian campaigns tell of seeing the an- 
telope in small herds, which were always on the run. In the 
northwestern portion of the state the antelope was killed as 
late as 1840, but since that date there is no account of any 
having been seen in Indiana. The plains of the great west 
were roamed by thousands of herds of these animals as late 
as the middle of the '80s. There are yet many herds of them 
seen on the plains of North Dakota. 



GAME BIRDS. 

THE TURKEY. 

The turkey was the most important of the game birds, 
and furnished to many families the largest portions of their 
meat rations. When Indiana was first hunted over by the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 437 

white man, turke3^s were in such numbers that in one da3''s 
hunt there would be seen many flocks of these birds, number- 
ing from fifty to seventy-five in each flock. They were con- 
tinually roaming over the country for their food, and each 
day would travel many miles, usually in a circular form, at 
night returning to the same section for roosting in the tallest 
trees high up from the ground. They gathered all sorts of 
insects for their food, also the sassafras, dogwood and black- 
gum berries, which were their choicest foods. 

They hid their nests in a secluded spot and laid from 
twelve to sixteen eggs and were four weeks setting before 
they hatched. During this period of incubation the. old tur- 
key hen did not leave her nest but a very few times, hunting 
for food and water. When the young birds were hatched, the 
mother was very careful not to expose them to the wet until 
the downy stage had passed and they had feathers which 
would shed the water. This fine game bird was easily do- 
mesticated. The wild ones have almost been exterminated 
in this state. 

There is a good story told of how the turkey fooled the 
eagle to keep from being carried off. The eagle catches its 
prey on the wing, and as it would swoop down to catch the 
turkey, it would squat down on the ground and spread out its 
wings and turn its long tail up perpendicularly. The eagle 
would hit the tail and fail to strike the body. A hunter re- 
lated the story of having watched a pair of eagles trying to 
catch turkeys one evening until they wore themselves out, 
without succeeding. When hunting for a national emblem, 
Dr. Franklin expressed a wish that the turkey rather than 
the eagle should be taken for it. ' • 

In hunting for turkeys at certain seasons of the year, 
they were easily fooled. The hunter, during the molting 
season, would locate where an old gobbler was gobbling and 
go as near without being seen as he thought safe, and then 
would commence to *'cawk," using a bone taken from the tur- 
key's wing for that purpose, with which he could very closely 
imitate the calling noise made by the hen turkey. The old 
gobbler would go to the Sound, continuing to gobble, and 



438 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

when the hunter had thus lured the bird near enough, he 
would kill it. 

The turkey is a high-headed bird and formerly many of 
them were caught in pens. A trench was dug under the side 
of the pen and corn sprinkled in the trench. The turkeys 
would pick up the corn and thus enter the pen, and when he 
had eaten the corn would elevate its head and try to get out 
at the cracks between the logs, never thinking of stooping 
down and going out the way it came in. 

THE RUFFLED GROUSE OR PARTRIDGE. 

This bird, known to old people in Indiana as pheasant, is 
a beautiful bird sixteen or eighteen im:hes long, bulky and 
heavy to its looks. It is of a brownish color, very much re- 
sembling 'the dry leaves where it has its home. There is a 
small bunch of dark feathers on each side of its neck called 

the ruff and a dark band near the end of its broad tail. They 
» 

are a very shy bird and can easily hide so as not to be distin- 
guished from the general appearance of the surroundings. 
When disturbed and not finding a suitable hiding place, they 
will take wing and fly very fast, making a peculiar whirring 
sound that is so noticeable, that any one ever hearing it 
would recognize it again. 

This fine game bird has no superior when prepared for 
the table. Like all of its class of birds, one-third of it is 
breast or white meat. In the spring they make their nests 
very much the same as the common partridge or quail, as it 
is now called. When the young birds are hatched, in a very 
short time they follow the old birds wherever they go. In 
the springtime the male bird of this species drums on logs 
with his wings and makes a very loud noise that can be 
easily heard a mile away. They commence to drum very 
slowly at first, but soon drum so fast that it is hard to deter- 
mine if it is not a continuous sound. This noise has often 
been taken for thunder. There are several theories as to how 
this bird makes this noise. One is that the drumming noise 
is caused by the quick motion of the wings against the air. 
Another theory is that there is an accommodation of nature 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 439 

under its wings that it can inflate with wind at its pleasure 
and the drumming sound is caused by short and quick strokes 
with the wings against this inflated drum. To a '*Hoosier" 
who, when a boy, has seen this fine bird on old logs, drum- 
ming and thumping with its wings, either of the above theo- 
ries is hard to accept. 

PRAIRIE HEN. 

The prairie hen was quite common up to forty years ago 
in the prairie sections of the state and in the timbered regions 
for many miles around the prairies, but now there are very few 
to be seen. They are a very fine bird, about two-thirds the 
size of the domestic hen, and are of the pheasant family. 

THE QUAIL OR *'bOB WHITE." 

This bird, called in the central western states partridge, 
is the great game bird now in all sections of the middle west. 
While not easily domesticated, yet in most cases it makes its 
home in the grass and weeds on the farms. It supplies its 
own food from insects of all sorts and from the wild peas and- 
from pulse. When the fields are harvested it raises its fam- 
ily in them by gleaning the scattered grains and heads left 
on the ground. In winter it lives on the wild seeds of grass 
and weeds; also on the berry of different sorts of trees and 
bushes and in the cornfields, gathering up the scattered 
grain. It can make its own living unless the winter is too 
severe and the snow is deep. Then the covey will hover to- 
gether in a round circle with their heads outward, and unless 
the farmer scatter grain within their reach at such times, 
many of them will starve. 

These birds roost in a huddle under bunches of grass or 
under a log. They make their nests in grass and lay from 
ten to fifteen eggs. The young birds in a few minutes after 
they are out of the shell can run like the wind; in fact, when 
the nest has been disturbed in hatching, the little birds have 
i>een seen running with a part of the shell adhering to them. 

THE PIGEON. 

In an early day the wild pigeons were so plentiful in the 



440 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

fall of the year in all sections of this state as to be a menace 
to the safety of those traveling along" the narrow road or 
hunting in the woods. They were after the bitter mast that 
grew on the red or ridge oak. These trees were mostly of a 
shrubby growth and the wood was very brittle. At night 
these birds by countless thousands would roost in these trees. 
They would settle on their roost in such numbers as to break 
off large limbs, and sometimes the tree itself would break 
down. Hunters at times would be after them with torches, 
and when they would fire at a cluster, the pigeons would rise 
to fly from the surrounding timber, and "there would be a 
crash of limbs and falling tree-tops such as was never heard 
only in the most severe tornado. They were also found 
where there was beech timber, as they were very fond of the 
beechnut. They would remain in sections until most of the 
nuts and acorns were gathered and then fly away to other 
woods to gather food. In many places in Indiana there were 
what were known as '^Pigeon Roosts." where the pigeons, by 
countless thousands, would gather year after year, covering 
several miles of territory for their roosts. Two of the largest 
of these roosts were in Scott and eastern part of Marion 
Counties. In the fall of the year, as these birds were making 
their flight from the cold north to the warmer climate of the 
southland, they were seen in such immense numbers and cov- 
ered such a large territory in their flight, that the sun would 
be darkened for an hour at a time. Their meat is not re- 
garded as of much value. It is very dark and has a strong 
pigeon odor about it that injured its value for food. 

THE TURTLE DOVE. 

This innocent bird has been regarded as an emblem of 
constant and faithful attachment, expressing its affection by 
billing and cooing in the gentlest and most soothing accents. 
Wilse, the great naturalist, said: *'This is a favorite bird 
with all who love to wander among the woods and fields in 
the spring and listen to the varied harmony. They will hear 
many a sprightly performer but none so mournful as the 
dove. The hopeless woe of settled sorrow swelling the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 441 

heart of the female, innocence itself could not assume 
tones more sad. more tender and affecting." There 
is, however, nothing of real distress in all this. It is 
the voice of love for which the whole family of doves are 
celebrated. The}' are a very tame bird, found mostly near 
the farms or habitations of man. They have never been 
chairged with doing any harm to the crops or anything else, 
but they do destroy many insects, and are so constantly about 
the farm, winter and summer, that they are regarded as real 
friends. 

In making their nests, but little care is taken, as it is 
quite common to find them on top of a stump or on the end of 
projecting fence rails. The young birds have but little pro- 
tection from the elements or security from the hawk or 
prowling mink. They raise from two to three sets of young 
birds during the spring and summer months. Some people 
class these harmless birds with game birds. This certainly 
is wrong. Anyone who can find pleasure in murdering the 
innocent doves must have a heart seared with avarice or 
meanness. 



FEROCIOUS ANIMALS. 

THE PANTHER. 

The panther stands at the head of ferocious animals 
which inhabited Indiana. They were in such numbers in all 
the timbered sections that the Indians regarded them as very 
dangjerous. They would attack a man and did kill many 
Indians, as well as white persons. They were very destruc- 
tive to elk and deer and would attack the buffalo. Its usual 
height was about three feet, its length about six feet, ex- 
clusive of the tail, which was from two to two and a half feet 
long. This animal was equipped with a most formidable 
and sharp set of claws, that it could extend two inches from 
the end of its toes. Like all the cat tribe, it caught all of its 
prey by stealing on it unawares. These animals caught most 
of their food hiding in the trees near a saline lick, and as the 
elk, deer and buffalo would pass going from or to the lick, it 



\ 



442 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

would land on its back. The animal, unless it was a small 
deer, would run for a long distance with ihe panther on its 
back before bleeding to death from the lacerations made with 
its claws. In color it was tawny to a dark-brown on its back 
and sides and was of a pale yellow color on its under parts. 

They raised their kittens in a large hollow tree or in a 
cave, from three to six at a birth. It is disputed whether 
they have more than one set of kiitens during the year. 
DeLome says that he has seen the kittens in the early spring 
and late fall. After killing a deer or other animal and eating 
all they wanted, they would drag the carcass to a secluded 
place, cover it up with grass, brush and leaves and watch it. 
If any other animal attempted to interfere, it would fight for 
the carcass to the death. Their hides, when tanned, made 
good clothing and moccasins. 

The panther would not attack a human being as long as 
the face was toward it, but would stand near, turning its 
head from side to side as if trying to avoid the gaze, patting 
its tail cat-like, but the moment the back was turned it would 
spring upon its victim. When traveling, they went in a long 
leap as fast as a horse could run, and at short intervals made 
a whining cry, seemingly not loud, but which could be heard 
a mile away. 

In 1830 in Washington County, Indiana, a dagger trap 
was set for a small animal. Sometime during the night a 
panther was nosing around the trap trying to get the bait, 
when it sprung the trap and the dagger went through its 
ears into its socket in the trap. The next day the panther 
was killed about one mile from Sullivan, Indiana with the 
dagger still fast in its ear. 

The Puma of the country west of the Rocky mountains 
is a little longer in body and heavier than the panther which 
was known in the central west. The latter was of a darker 
color and if possible more ferocious and vicious. 

THE WOLF. 

The wolf is of the canine species and was regarded by 
the pioneers as a despicable, mean sneaking snarling animal. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 443 

They were very prolific and went in largfe packs, securing 
their food from the lesser animals which they could run 
•down. When a very large pack of wolves had been together, 
they have been known to surround a buffalo and worry it 
until almost exhausted by the continual rushes made by 
the pack from different parts of the circle, until they killed 
it. Notwithstanding this they were regarded as very cow- 
ardly and would only attack when in large numbers and had 
the decided advantage. The first settlers in this country 
who tried to raise sheep, found it a very difiicult proposition. 
They had to pen them every night or they would have been 
killed by the wolves which would congregate near the farms 
upon which the sheep had been placed in pens and keep up a 
continuous howl for hours at a time. 

The grey or timber wolf which was a native of the tim- 
ber sections of Indiana was about as large as a good sized 
dog, without possessing any of the redeeming qualities of his 
brother. On the prairie sections of the State were immense 
numbers of what were known as prairie wolves. These de- 
spicable creatures would set up such a noise as soon as night 
came on, that when near a camp, would drown out all other 
sounds. They had a kind of tremulo in their voices so that 
one could make a sound as if a dozen were howling. • When 
the soldiers on Indian campaigns were in the section of the 
state where these wolves lived, and in camp, the odor of the 
cooking would gather around their camp hundreds of these 
animals. 

General Scott, of Kentucky, at one time had a camp on 
one of our prairies. He had his horses picketed out and 
these wolves set up such a howl that his horses stampeded, 
pulling their stake pins and it was some time before all of 
them were found again. 

THE BOB CAT OR WILD CAT. 

This animal was very plentiful in all sections of Indiana 
and was not regarded as dangerous to man as it would not 
attack unless hemmed in; then it attacked with a fur_v that 
no other animal ever had. The wild cat has a body 



444 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

about three feet long and a little over two feet high with 
only a very short tail. The head is short and broad. Its 
mouth is armed with long and very sharp teeth. Its legs, 
long for its body, are thick and strong. It is armed wnth 
long and sharp claws. This animal has been known to 
defeat six dogs in a battle, killing two of them and scratch-* 
ing the eyes out of tw^o more of them. It secures food 
from smaller animals and birds and will cajry off small 
shoats and it is very destructive to all sorts of poultry, 
chickens, turkeys and geese. 



FUR BEARING ANIMALS. 

THE BEAVER 

The American beaver once dwelt in great numbers in all 
the rivers, lakes and creeks of North America and in no part 
of it more than along the many streams and lakes of Indiana. 
The mound builders in many parts of North America have 
left monuments to commemorate the beaver, which have 
stood the test of countless centuries. The Indians who in- 
habited all parts of the United States have some legend by 
which their association with this intelligent animal is noted. 
Bancroft, the historian, said in an article that in cleanliness, 
thrift and architectural skill the beaver was far superior to 
the Red Man. 

The beaver is an amphibious quadruped which cannot 
live more than a short period under water. It is asserted 
they can live without water all the time if occasionally pro- 
vided with a chance to bathe. The largest beaver is nearly 
four feet long and will weigh nearly sixty pounds. It has a 
round head like the otter only larger, small eyes and short 
ears. Its teeth are very long and so shaped in its mouth as 
to be best suited to cut down trees and for cutting the logs of 
proper length for building or repairing a dam. Its fore legs 
are not more than four or five inches long. The hind legs 
are longer. The tail of the beaver seems to have no relation 
to the rest of the body except the hind feet. The tail is cov- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 445 

ered with skin on which there are scales which resemble a 
fish and is from ten to twelve inches long and about four 
inches broad in the middle. 

The color of the beaver differs according to the climate 
in which it is found. Those to the far south are much 
lighter brown than the ones found in the north, which are 
almost black. The fur is of two distinct sorts all over the 
body. The longest is generall}^ about one inch; on the back 
sometimes it is more than two inches, diminishing in length 
toward the head and tail. This part of the fur is coarse a(nd 
of but little value. The und^r fur is very thick and is really 
a very fine down, about three-quarters of an inch in length. 
This is the fur that makes the beaver skin so valuable in 
market. 

The intelligence of this animal in building their dams 
and constructing their houses and providing: their food is 
wonderful. When they are to choose a place for a new dam, 
they assemble several hundred, apparently holding a conven- 
tion. After their deliberations are over, they repair to the 
place agreed on, always where there is plenty of such timber, 
needed for the construction of their house, dams, and for 
their provisions, usually poplar, cottonwood, willow, linden 
and catalpa, all of these being soft woods. Their houses are 
always in the water, and when they cannot find a lake or 
pond, the}' will supply the deficiency by damming a creek, 
sometimes good-sized rivers. In this way they raise the 
water, held by their strong dams to the required depth. They 
then commence to fell large trees. They cut the trees that 
grow above the place where they want to build, so they can 
float them down with the current. From three to five beavers 
will set about cutting the tree down with their strong, sharp 
teeth. They select such trees as will fall toward the lake or 
creek, so. as to lessen their labor. After the log is in the 
water, two or three beaver manage so that it floats to a 
point where they want to use it. To sink the log into the 
water, the beaver uses a large amount of mud, carrying it on 
their tails and piling it on the log until there is a sufficient 
amount to sink it. When they have it in place and the 



446 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

framework of the dam is completed, they will chinck the 
opening with rocks, if they can get them — if not, with small 
pieces of timber and limbs. Then they make a mortar by 
tramping it with their feet, then plastering the dam all over, 
using their tails for mortar carriers and trowels until it is 
strong and water-tight. 

In building their houses, after they have the dam com- 
pleted, they show evidence of great skill. Selecting a place 
in the water held by the dam, they first make a foundation 
on the bottom of the dam or lake with logs and poles. Upon 
this they build their houses^ which are circular in shape and 
oval at the top. There is always enough of the house which 
stands above any possible overflow of the stream, so that the 
beaver can have his home always dry and cozy. Each cabin 
is large enough to hold from six to ten beavers, and built so 
that they can have easy communication with each others*^ 
houses. There are usually quite a number of their houses at 
each dam. They are so constructed and held together with 
timber and brush, limbs and rocks, all of which is plastered 
inside and out as perfectly as the best masons could do it. 
The entrance to these houses is from below, which they swim 
to. When these houses are opened they are found to be 
models of neatness. The floor, which is made with a network 
of small limbs and twigs, intertwined together and nicely 
plastered over, is carpeied with dry grass and leaves. 

It is said that winter never overtook these intelligent 
animals unprepared, as their stock of provisions was always 
securely laid up in their store houses, consisting of small 
pieces of wood such as limbs and saplings of poplar, willow^ 
asp, and linden. These small pieces were cut an even length 
and piled so they would retain their moisture. The beaver 
eats the bark from these sticks and a small portion of the 
soft wood next to the bark and uses the balance of it for 
chincking and mending their dams and houses. Volumes 
could be written about these wonderful animals. 

In every part of Indiana where there was water and tim- 
ber, the beaver was in unusual numbers, and the places 
where they had dams can be easily traced. About twenty 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 44r 

years Rgo the author was having^ the spread of a creek, 
which the beavers had dammed, ditched so that the water 
would follow the channel, and found the entire distance from 
where the channel stopped to where it was found ag^ain, more 
than a quarter of a mile, to be a continuous set of beaver 
dams and houses, made of catalpa timbers which were per-^ 
fectly sound. The stumps they had cut the trees from were 
sound, showing the marks of their teeth. 

THE OTTER 

This animal is aquatic and secures its food from fish. Its 
body is about three feet in length, from the head to the tail. 
The tail is about eighteen or twenty inches long and flat- 
tened in shape, and is used in swimming. The otter fur is 
very valuable. It is a brown color, the under part being 
brighter. These animals are very playful and have slides 
wherever there is a long sloping bank. They go to the top, 
spread out their feet and slide head first into the water. 
When they come up they swim to the shore and are ready for 
another slide. They have been known to make regular to- 
boggan slides, selecting a place suitable for the slide at a 
sloping high bank on the river or lake in which they live if 
one is to be had; if not they select a suitable place as near 
their home as possible and make a regular toboggan slide of 
it. As many as four have been seen at a time coming down 
a long slope enjoying the fun as much as school boys with 
their sleds. The otter is easily domesticated and whei^made 
tame shows more real attachment for its master than a dog. 
The Indians living near the lakes had many tame otters and 
would take them where there was the best fishing ground 
and have the otter fish for them. It is said that a fish very 
seldom got away from them, havinjg: once been sighted. 

THE RACCOON. 

This valuable animal was in all sections of the state of 
Indiana in vast numbers. Their skins are covered with a 
heavy suit of fur of a gray color, much darker in the winter 
months than in the summer. The length of the body is- 



448 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

about twenty-four inches, with a long bush}' tail, alternating" 
black and white rings upon it. They are nocturnal in their 
habits and secure their food from many sources; various sorts 
of roots that they dig, small animals, frogs and birds, often 
robbing the nests. They are skillful chicken thieves, rob- 
bing the hen roost at night. The coon skin in an early day 
was a legal tender, and paid for many of the comforts of the 
home, ammunition and needed articles for the early settlers 
and also for many thousands of acres of land first entered 
in Indiana. 

They were hunted in two ways. One was to track them 
in the snow and find a tree in which they had a colony. The 
other, the one resorted to most often by our fathers, was to 
hunt for them at night with dogs trained for that purpose. 
The coon would take a tree as soon as the dogs on the trail 
got close to it. If there was a good moon and ammunition 
was not scarce, the hunter would locate the coon in the tree, 
and going to a point where its body was between him and 
the moon, he would shoot it. Most of the time the tree was 
cut down and the dog would catch the coon. Many stories 
can be told about coon hunting. A laughable one is told by 
Finley in his "Earl}- Footnotes" on a clerical friend of his 
who, when a young man, was out with a party coon hunting. 
The dog treed the coon, and as the embryo minister was 
known to be good at climbing trees, it was decided that he 
should climb the tree and shake the coon out. Accordingly 
he ascended the tree, carefully looking for the coon. Finally 
he located it high up on one of the topmost branches. Pro- 
ceeding cautiously, he succeeded in reaching the limb just 
below the one which the coon was on. Raising himself to a 
standing position, that he might reach the limb, the limb 
was heard to crack and began to give way. He was fully 
thirty feet from the ground, and realizing the danger he was 
in, he cried out to his companions below, '*! am falling." 
Knowing that it would most likely kill him, they called to 
him to pray. *'Pray!" said he, *'I haven't time." '*But you 
must pray — if you fall, )^ou will be killed." He commenced 
repeating the only prayer he knew, '*Now I lay me down to 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 449 

V 

sleep." He could get no further, but called out at the top of 
his voice, "Hold the dog^s, I'm coming." And he Jdid come 
with a crash that came near killing him. The dogs, thinking* 
it was the coon, could with difficulty be restrained^from at- 
tacking the coon hunter. 

THE OPOSSUM 

The opossum is a small animal about twenty inches long, 
with a long tail that is entirely bare and rough like the com- 
mon rat tail. It is very destructive to tame poultry. The 
females have a sack or pocket in which they carry their 
young before they are able to run about. If you strike at 
one he will lie down on his sid^ and appear as if dead; as 
soon as your back is turned, jumping up and hurrying away; 
hence the expression — **playing 'possum." Their tails are 
used to make their hold secure when they are climbing along 
the limbs of small trees. The Indians regarded the 'possum 
as making one of the best dishes they had. The white peo- 
ple have always used them for food. When dressed they 
look much like a young pig. When baked with a liberal 
supply of sweet potatoes it is a dish fit for an epicure. The 
skin is covered with a fur and long white hair. When the 
hair is removed it leaves a very nice soft fur, out of which 
many articles of wearing apparel are made. 

THE FOX. 

The grey and red fox were two varieties which were very 
plentiful in the history of early Indiana. There were other 
varieties on the northern borders of the United States. They 
are of the canine species arid are regarded as the shrewdest of 
all animals. They are not so tall in proportion to their 
length as the rest of the canine family. Their usual length 
is about thirty inches and they are about eighteen inches tall; 
having a slim, trim body, slender legs, small roundish head, 
with a sharp nose, short ears, eyes close together and a long, 
bushy tail. They burrow in the ground and are nocturnal in 
their habits. They live on small animals and are the worst 
of the poultry thieves, carrying off full-grown chickens and 
^eese. They can kill and carry away a twenty-pound pig. 



450 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

These animals have furnished much sport. They will 
run all day when pursued by a pack of fox hounds. It is 
known that a large red fox will give a pack of hounds a three 
days' run. When being pursued they resort to many tricks 
to lead the dogs from their trail — such as doubling back on 
their track, then springing upon the top of low bushes where 
grape vines are matted over them and running as far as the 
mat extends^ then jumping off and running at right angles to 
their former course. Another device was brought to the au- 
thor's notice. A red fox in the eastern part of Knox county 
was, during the hunt, a long way ahead of the dogs. It 
turned on its trail, ran back to a place that it bad chosen, 
jumped up a leaning log and climbed up for some distance, 
where it hid among a mat of vines until the dogs and hunters 
had passed. It then ran down and back on its own trail 
which the dogs had come over and escaped. 

When the water fowls were on the small lakes and ponds- 
which are so numerous in northern and northwestern Indiana, 
the fox would secure a bunch of large green leaves and vines- 
and so arrange them in its mouth that they would hide its- 
body; then it would slowly swim out to the fowls, letting its- 
body stay low in the water, and when very near them would 
let the leaves go and sink under the water, catching the duck 
or goose by the leg, then s^im with it to the shore. 

Lincoln has related a story, illustrating the fox's cun- 
ning, which is as follows: 

It seems that the lions, tigers and panthers were kill- 
ing* so many animals it was resolved to hold a convention of 
all species. In that convention it was agreed that the lions, 
tigers and panthers would abstain from killing all other ani- 
mals only when such animals were guilty of such crimes as 
lying, deceitfulness and slander. As the lion and other ani- 
mals lived by their expertness in catching such animals as. 
they used for food, the conditions of the convention were 
hard on them, and seemed to hit the lion worse than the 
others; so he resolved to see if he could not cause some of the 
animals to violate some of the conditions of the compact. 
Stationing himself near a watering place, he waited to see 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA, 451 

what animals would come. The first was the innocent, un- 
suspecting sheep. The lion said, '*Good morning:, Mr. 
Sheep." The sheep returned the salutation. The lion said, 
*'Mr. Sheep, I am afraid that I am going to be sick, and as a 
favor to me I wish you would smell my breath and see what 
you think ails me." The sheep, glad to accommodate his big 
neighbor, did so, and said, *'Mr. Lion, you are in a very bad 
way. I never sraelled so bad a breath and I think you will 
have to be very careful of yourself. The Lion said, *'I will 
kill you, Mr. Sheep^ for being a liar," which he did. He 
was soon hungry again and the next to come was a cow. The 
lion accosted her: '*Grood morning. Miss Cow, I am mighty 
glad to see you; I feel very bad and I thought I would ask if 
you could tell me what is the matter with me by smelling my 
breath." This she did and said, "Mr. Lion, you are certainly 
not very badly ailing, for I never in all my life smelled so 
sweet a breath." *'That is all right. Miss Cow, but I will 
kill you for being a flatterer." The lion was soon waiting 
again, and the next to come along was the fox. The lion put 
the same question to him as he had to the others and asked 
him to smell his breath. The fox replied, ''Brother Lion, I 
do feel greatly flattered by your showing me such distin- 
guished attention, and it would afford me the very greatest 
pleasure if I could in the smallest degree add to your comfort. 
But, Mr. Lion, the fact is I have been running about so much 
of late to secure food for my family that I have taken a 
dreadful cold and it is impossible for me to smell anything." 

The skins of the foxes are sold the furriers and are 
made into caps and other articles of wearing apparel. The 
fox is a very playful animal and very easily domesticated. 

THE MINK. 

The mink is a long, slender animal, with a long, bushy 
tail. It has a gland connected with its system where a sub- 
stance is secreted that has a very disagreeable odor. They 
secure their food from small animals, birds and all sorts. of 
fowls, to which they are very partial. Their skin is covered 
with a rich black fur, which makes a very shiny and glossy 



452 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

g'arment, and is very hig^h-priced. There are a number of 
persons eng^ag^ed in raising: them for the value of their fur. 
The mink is very prolific and the venture is proving: to be a 
valuable one. 

THB WBASBL. 

7his small animal is native to all parts of Indiana. It is 
covered with a rich brownish fur. It secures its food from 
mice, rats and birds. They can kill from twenty to thirty 
chickens in a n]g:ht, sucking the blood from them by making: 
a small wound just below the ear. Their one redeeming: 
quality is that they are very destructive to rats. 

THE GROUND-HOG. 

This animal that so many weather-wise persons have 
taken their cue from as to the condition of the weather in the 
eariy spring:, lives in the g:round by making: burrows in the 
side of a hill, always slanting: upward, that they may shed 
any water that may accumulate. The animal is from sixteen 
to eighteen inches long, of a dark greyish color above and a 
pale reddish color below. It has a thick, round body, a 
broad, flat head, with no neck apparently, short legs and 
bushy tail. It lives on vegetables and is especially fond of 
red clover. It spends the winter in its burrow in a lethargic 
state, and is said to be wide awake only a very few times from 
the beginning of the first cold weather in the fall until early 
spring. 

THE MUSK-RAT. 

The musk-rat is a nativ^e to all parts of Indiana, and is 
very destructive to any sort of vegetables that grow near its 
den in the bank of a creek or a pond. This is a very peculiar' 
animal and the only one of its kind. In shape it looks 
much like the field rat. Its head and body together are about 
sixteen inches long; its tail ten inches. It is covered with a 
dark-brown fur. In some of its characteristics it agrees very 
well with the beaver. It is an aquatic animal and seldom 
wanders far from the creeks, ponds or lakes. Its skin is in 
great demand in the European market, and countless thou- 
sands of them are exported each 3'ear from the United States. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 453 

It burrows in the bank for a home near where there is plenty 
o*f water and it builds itself a sort of house, lining: it with 
grass and making: room in each house for two or three musk- 
rats. 

THE SKUNK. 

This animal is of the weasel family, but larger than 
either the mink or the weasel, and in size about the same as a 
house cat, but of a much more compact build. In color it is 
black or brown; with white stripes or streaks along its sides. 
It has a long, bushy tail, which in traveling is extended the 
full length, straight up. This animal, like the mink, has an 
offensive odor about it, many times stronger than any other 
animal. It has a sack near the root of its tail which con- 
tains a fluid. When assailed, it will discharge this fluid with 
great precision at its adversaries, and woe be to a man or dog 
. who receives the full force of the discharge, for the odor is so 
intolerable it will make one deathly sick. Itxis a very tame 
animal, owing to its power of defense. The skins are used 
by furriers for making many articles of dress. 



BIRDS OF PREY, NATIVE TO INDIANA. 

THE EAGLE. 

The eagle is not only the largest bird native to Indiana, 
but is the most powerful and courageous of all birds of prey. 
It has a very strong beak, which is of considerable length, 
being straight most of th€ length and curved near the end, 
making it the weapon for tearing the flesh on which they 
live. Their legs are strong and covered with feathers to 
their toes, which have a strong, crooked claw. The bald 
eagle, the most common in Indiana, the male bird is three 
feet long and the female three and a half feet. When the 
wings are outstretched it measures about eight feet across* 
The female is not only larger, but possesses more courage, if 
that is possible. 

The eagle will soar to great heights. Their enormous 
strength enables them to withstand the severest storm of 



454 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

wind. This g^reat bird, with its bold and defiant g^lance, 
proud aerial flights and strength of limb, combines so many 
of the qualities which are esteemed noble that it was called 
by the ancients "The Celestial Bird," and in their mythology 
was the messenger of Jupiter and the bearer of his thunder- 
bolts. Its figure in gold or silver upon the ends of spears was 
the military ensign of the Romans and Persians. Young 
America followed their example and the figure of the eagle 
was accepted as an emblem of power. It is not a common 
bird, but it has its home in all parts of the world, building its 
nest on high rocky craigs, where it is almost impossible to 
reach them. It makes a very crude nest out of long sticks 
and limbs covered over with long grass and m6ss. The mother 
bird lays two eggs, sometimes three. The young birds are 
fed on the flesh of rabbits, birds, lambs, fish and all sorts of 
animals. The young birds remain near their nesting place 
and are cared for by the parent bird until the next nesting 
season comes around. Then they look out for their own food 
and it is three years before they obtain their full growth. 
The eagle has one redeeming trait which is not followed by 
the bird family generally; that is, they choose their mates 
for life. 

THE HAWK. 

There are a great number of the hawk family that are 
native to Indiana, but only three varieties that are the most 
conspicuous of that great family are here given. The largest 
of the hawks are what is known as the hen hawk. This bird 
is of a grey color, with a red tinge about its wings and tail. 
Its breast is of a red brick color; the under part of the body 
is of a lighter color, with dark spots over it. These large 
hawks are very common in all parts of our state. They 
make their nests in trees, using brush and sticks for that 
purpose. The young birds are fed on the flesh of birds and 
small animals. The young rabbit is their most common 
food. These hawks will carry a full-grown chicken away with 
perfect ease. The 7 will catch a rabbit and carry it to the nest. 
If the young are large enough they will hold the live rabbits 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 455 

and have the little hawks practice learning: how to kill their 
prey. 

A man who raised a variety of rabbits had among: them 
3. g^reat many small white rabbits. The hawks beg^an to 
prey upon them, catching- one of his favorite ones every day. 
He tried in many ways to kill the hawk, but without success. 
He finally adopted the following plan: He secured several 
white cats and put them in place of the rabbits. The 
hawk made its usual trip. Catching one of the white cats in 
its talons, it started to fly away. All went well for awhile, 
but presently there was seen a commotion in the air. Hawk 
feathers were flying in every direction. Finally hawk and 
cat fell to the earth, the hawk with its throat cut. 

THE CHICKEN HAWK. 

The chigken hawk was so named because it was so won- 
•derfully adept at catching chickens. These hawks are about 
half the size of the common large hen hawk, of dark color on 
.their back and wings, and of a liglit mottled color on their 
•bodies. These hawks can fly very fast and are very brave 
and determined in their attacks upon chickens and young tur- 
keys. In their attempt to catch young birds, the mother 
•chicken and. turkeys have many a battle with them. They 
knock them down, flop them with their wings and feet, but 
the hawk seldom fails to secure the young fowl. These 
birds live on all sorts of small animals and birds and make 
their nests in the tree tops, living through the winter months 
sheltered in the timber. 

THE SPARROW HAWK. 

This bird is of a slate color except on its back, which is 
a chestnut color. The lower part of its body and under its 
wings are of a beautiful light-grey color. It can fly very 
4swiftly and lives on field mice and small birds. It 
will catch any sort of young fowl. As the country grows 
older they become more plentiful; as they are so small they 
are hard to hit with target rifles. 

THE HORNED OWL. 

The great horned owls have large grey eyes, long feathery 



456 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ears, and arc very pretty mottled birds of brown color. The 
under part of the bird is white, barred with black stripes. 
The eyes are large, as are those of all owls, and are so con- 
structed that they cannot see in the daytime, but can see at 
nig^ht. 

The home of these birds is in the dense forest. From 
there it visits the farms in the neig^hborhoqd around its home 
and is regarded as a great poultry thief. This bird catches 
its prey on the wing, and when visiting the old-fashioned hen 
roost where the chickens roost in the apple, peach and plum 
trees, it could not strike the chicken while flying on account 
of the limbs, but would light in the tree and sidle up to a hen 
and crowd her off the limb and as she fell or flew would catch 
her. These large birds build their nests in the hollow trees 
and in the daytime remain in these warm homes. This bird's 
note of challenge is Who! who! who! — sounded at short in- 
tervals. Aside from this noise it can scream very loudly. 

THE who! who! wah! owl. 

This bird inhabited all sections of Indiana in the or- 
chards and woods and at times would get into the barn^lofts. 
They would commence their notes with a screaming sound 
something like Yi! yi! yah! who! who! wah! These birds are 
not so large as the horned owl. They catch all sorts of birds 
and prey at night, the field mice and rabbits. They will 
light in a tree near a chicken roost and set up that screaming 
noise, which sounds very fierce. They are not large enough 
to carry away a full-grown hen, but can easily carry off a 
half-grown chicken. They have been known to light among 
the chickens and kill a hen, eating what they wanted of 
her and then flying away to their nest in the valley. They 
make their nests in hollow trees, the same as the horned owl, 
and remain in them during the day, only in vei^ dark for- 
ests — they hide in the thick foliage of trees and come out at 
night. 

THE SCREECH OWL. 

This is a very common night bird of a red hue. It flies 
at all hours of the night, but remains in its den in some hoi- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 457 

low tree during: the day. These little birds have tufts of 
feathers which look like small ears on the side of their head,, 
which, with their big: round eyes, g^ive them a very comical 
look. They sound a whistling: note, and if their nests are 
approached at nig^ht, will fight to the last. They catch all 
sorts of insects, mice and small birds, but are reg^arded as 
harmless and are encourag^ed to nest in bams. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



SCHOOLS OF EARLY INDIANA. 



Houses — Books — Dangbk From Wild Animals — Opposi- 
tion TO Free Schools. 



The Legrislature of 1821, both houses concurring, raised 
the following committee — John Badollet and David Hart of 
Knox County, William W. Martin of Washington County^ 
James Welch of Switzerland County, Daniel I. Casswell of 
Franklin County, Thomas C. Screal of JeflFerson County, and 
John Todd of Clark County, for the purpose of drafting a bill 
to be reported to the next Legislature of Indiana, providing 
for a general system of education. They were particularly 
instructed to guard well against any distinction between the 
rich and the poor. The report of this committee was incor- 
porated in the first general school law of Indiana which is a 
part of the statute of 1824. 

There has been a deep interest in the people of the state 
from its very first organization for the education of rising 
generations. In one form and another this educational ques- 
tion was before every legislature from the first in territorial 
days, either asking aid to establish schools or in carrying out 
the provisions of the incorporated acts by the National Con- 
gress for the government of the Northwest Territory or for 
special privileges to build academies and seminaries in many 
parts of the state. 

Education was a favorite theme with all our legislatures 
and always commanded attention in both houses of our Gen- 
eral Assembly. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 459 

The following descriptiofl of the schools, school-houses, 
and the school teachers is probably as nearly correct as could 
be given at this later period. The incidents connected with 
this chapter were gathered from the personal experience of 
the author and from incidents which he well knows to be 
true. 

The first schools taught in Indiana Territory from 180S 
up to 1815 were very primitive. The country was sparsely 
settled, in fact in only a few places were there any people. 
A half dozen settlers located two or three miles apart were 
<:onsidered at that time quite a settlement. In that number 
of families there was usually some one qualified to give in- 
struction to the children in the first principles of reading and 
spelling and sometimes could teach writing and the four sim- 
ple rudiments of arithmetic, addition, subtraction, multipli- 
•cation and division. 

The first few years of this period the teacher was em- 
ployed to go to the houses and spend about one-third of the 
day with the family instructing the children. In this way 
with six families he could give three lessons each week to all 
the children. These circulating teachers as they were called 
did a good work. 

When it became less dangerous from the Indians and wild 
animals the children would congregate at the home of the 
family most centrally located in the neighborhood, in a lean- 
to built at the side or end of the pioneer cabin. 

Late in the twenties many neighborhoods became strong 
•enough to support a subscription school of two or three 
months in the year. The patrons of the proposed school 
would meet at a site which had been selected if possible near 
a good spring of water and as convenient to all as possible, 
and build a school house. These first school houses were very 
simple and easily built structures and at this date would be a 
curiosity, but they were up to the times in which they were 
built. 

Round logs were cut and hauled to the site and a rectan- 
gular pen usually sixteen by eighteen feet and about eight 
feet high was raised and covered with four foot boards held in 



460 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

• 

place by weight 'poles tied to the ridge poles with strong- 
hickory withes. The only opening was the door and about 
two-thirds of the length of a log cut out of one end of the 
building for a window. Cross slats were put in that opening 
and greased paper was pasted on the slats. This kept out 
the wind and gave light to the room. 

A puncheon was hewed out as thin as needed to fit in the 
window opening. This puncheon rested on pins which were 
put into the log below the one cut out, and slanting, thus 
making a good rest to write on, but was usually covered with 
baskets and reticules in which the scholars had brought their 
dinners. This puncheon or shelf was made so that it could 
be fitted into the window opening and when pinned there 
nothing could get in at it. If the school ran into the late fall 
or winter months, the openings between the logs were chinked 
with the hearts of the board cuts and then daubed with clay 
mortar. 

In the other end of the room a very large fireplace was 
made. In building the house, when the wall at that end was 
about five feet high a log was put across about three feet 
from the end wall and short logs were put from this log to 
the end wall and carried on up to the comb of the house* 
These short logs were about eight feet apart, making the 
throat of the chimney, which was drawn in as it was raised 
higher, so that at the top it was about four feet. Along the 
end wall under the opening made for the chimney, a back 
wall of clay was made up about four feet high, then the 
cracks in the chimney and wall were chinked and daubed. 
For a floor, sometimes split puncheons were used, but of tener 
it was made out of mother earth. 

The dirt was put inside the room until it was up to the 
middle of the first side logs that lay on the ground. The 
dirt was pounded with a mall until it was well packed. For 
the last two or three inches, clay was made into a thick mor- 
tar, then put over the floor and evenly smoothed down. This 
soon dried and made a good, substantial floor. For seats, a 
log ten or twelve inches through at the top end and about 
twelve feet long was split in the middle and the split sides 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 461 

were hewn so as to take the splinters off. Then two auger 
holes were bored at each end on the round side of the slab 
and solid hickory pins for legs were driven into the holes, 
thus making: a sut>stantial bench. 

I can yet remember that some of the hewing to take the 
splinters from the top of these benches was not perfectly 
done, as the seat of many a l>oy's pantaloons gave unmistak- 
able evidence. The door shutter was made out of split pieces 
of white oak fastened on hinge buttons. 

The teachers were often men of families that had im- 
pi^)ved the opportunity for an education in the older settled 
sections before coming to the wilderness of Indiana. Some 
were young men. The teacher, unless he had a home in the 
neighborhood, would board around among the scholars, stay- 
ing a week at a time at one place. 

The subscription school was the only kind then taught. . 
Each family would subscribe as many scholars as they 
thought they could send during the three months that the 
school was in session. The time that each scholar attended 
was kept, as some families, having subscribed two scholars, 
would, part of the time, send three. If, at the end of the 
term, they had sent more than they had subscribed, the extra 
time was paid for. 

The usual price per scholar, if the teacher txiarded 
around among his patrons, was one dollar and seventy-five 
cents a term. If the teacher l>oarded himself, he got two 
dollars and fifty cents. 

The school teachers of that early period desei*ve more 
than a passing notice. Many who write about the pioneer 
schools and their teachers, indulge in unwarranted criticism, 
asserting they were unqualified and cruel monsters. No 
doubt, there were exceptional cases, but as a class, these old 
teachers were a blessing to that generation, and they did the 
best they could with the very limited advantages it was pos- 
sible for them to have. They left their impress on the chil- 
dren of the early pioneer who transmitted life to a generation 
now passing away which has done so much for the betterment 
of the country in which they have lived and for the advance- 



462 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

ment in every way of the g^eneration they leave in charg^e. 

The first several years after schools were taug^ht in 
school houses, books were very scarce, hig^h-priced and hard 
to get. In many cases where there were several members of 
the same family who went to school, some of them did not 
know their letters, others were commencing to spell in one 
and^two syllables, and still others were farther advanced. 
The parents would take Webster's spelling book and, cutting 
the leaves out of the first part of it, paste the letters on a 
board made for that purpose and the words of one and two- 
syllables on another board for the younger members of the 
family, and then give the balance of the book to those further 
advanced. In this way many children were taught the first 
principles of an education. 

Many sorts of books were used for readers — the New 
Testament, the Bible, the English Reader (the hardest ta 
read of all), Grimshaw's History of England, Flint's Natural 
History, and Emma Willard's History of the United States. 

When any of the scholars were far enough advanced and 
the teacher could teach it, Kirkham's grammar was used. 
Smiley's Arithmetic was used, but the complicated rules in 
that work were very hard for a beginner in that science. 

Lessons in penmanship were given by the teacher setting 
a copy at the head of a sheet of fools-cap paper. For this 
purpose he used a goose quill pen, as they had no other. The 
ink then used was made from the ooze of different kinds of 
bark that in that day were used to color thread and cloth 
black. The ooze from the maple bark was the most used. 

In that day every scholar was in a class by himself. If 
there were twenty-five scholars, there were twenty-five 
classes, from A, B, C, to those studying Kirkham's wonderful 
grammar. When one pupil had recited, the teacher called 
the next, and so on until the entire school had recited. It 
never seemed to dawn on the teacher's mind that he could 
group his pupils and that several could learn the same thing 
at the same time and learn it better by being in a class and 
hearing each other's recitation. 

The spelling lesson in the latter part of the afternoon 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 463 

was eng^aged in by all the pupils who could spell. Sometimes 
they had a larg^e and a small class. In studying: the spelling- 
lesson the scholars were permitted to '*study aloud." At 
times when this lesson was being learned the noise was so 
great that nothing outside the school house could be heard. 

I here submit a contribution from a friend. With the ex- 
ception of th^ Christmas treat, the crazy teacher and the fam- 
ily quarrel, gives a very good description of the schools as 
they were in the early forties: 

**The door was usually on the south side of the building, 
so as to have the advantage of the sun^s heat when the door 
was open, and that was most of the* time, A very large fire- 
place was in one end of the house. There was a detail of 
pupils made each day by the teacher to cut and carry wood 
for the fire when it was cold weather. Wood was very plen- 
tiful near the school house. Those detailed were the larger 
boys, and they looked forward to this recreation with pleas- 
ure, glad of a little time away from their arduous studies. 

**I will not attempt to describe the school house, but will 
give some details of the way the first two or three schools 
which I attended were conducted. They were all what was 
termed 'loud schools,' the scholars studying their lessons out 
loud, making a singing sound all over the house — so loud one 
could scarcely hear one's own voice, especially when it came 
time to prepare our spelling lessons. 

**One Christmas morning our teacher brought a jug of 
whisky, to which he added some eggs and sugar; he then 
shook it up and called it *egg-nog." When noon came he 
made us a little speech and said that the egg-nog was his 
treat to us; that we must not drink too much of it and must 
be good children while he went home to take dinner with his 
wife and some invited friends. We were good, but we did 
not leave any of the egg-nog for the teacher and his friends 
who came to the school with him in the afternoon. 

**There were sometimes family feuds which grew out of 
some things that took place at school. I remember of two 
families meeting at a school house in front of the door when 
the school was in session and hearing one of the most terrible 



464 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

-quarrels I ever heard. There were several members of each 
family and they all took part in the fig:ht. 

'*At another school house another boy and myself were 
sent for a bucket of water, which we had to carry from a 
creek a half-mile away. We overstayed the time the teacher 
allotted us, He was very angary and when we got back gave 
us a terrible whipping, raising welts on my back as large as 
my finger. I thought he was' very cruel. The' teacher was a 
seceder preacher, who was crazy at that time and afterwards 
became very violent, burning up several of the scholars' hats." 

Mrs. Nancy Gullick related to the author the following 
incide;it, showing the danger from wild animals: 

In the Major David Robb settlement near where the town 
of Hazelton now stands, they had built a school house not far 
from White river and school was being held there. One of 
the patrons of the school had started out hunting and gone 
by the school to see one of his boys at the time of noon re- 
cess. While there the hunter's dogs treed a young panthei;, 
not far from the school house. The children went out to see 
what the dog was barking at, and the hunter, on coming up, 
saw it was a panther kitten about one-third grown. He shot 
it out of the tree and told his boy to drag it near the school 
liouse and when school was out in the evening to take it 
home and save the hide. 

A short time after * 'books were taken up" the teacher 
and pupils were startled by the awful scream of the old 
mother panther, as she came bounding along the way the 
young one had been dragged. They had forethought enough 
to close the door and put the window bench in place and 
fasten it there. The furious animal rushed up to the carcass 
or her kitten and when she found it was dead she broke forth 
in terrible screams and howls of lamentation. Looking 
around for something on which to avenge its death, she made 
a rush for the school house, ran two or three times around it 
and then leaped on top of and commenced tearing across 
the roof from side to side as if hunting some place where she 
could get in to the imprisoned teacher and scholars. After a 
while she gave three or four most terrible screams; presently 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 465 

the answering screams of another panther were heard some 
distance off. It was but a short time until her mate came 
rushing: up and the two went to the dead, kitten and seemed 
to be examining it. They then gave several screams, one 
after another, and made a rush for the building, bounded on 
top of it and for the next half hour kept up a screaming such 
as the helpless scholars and frightened teacher had never 
heard before. 

Major Robb had several men working for him at that 
time. They heard the fearful noise, and by the direction 
were sure that it came from near the school house. Three 
men took their rifles and hurried to the rescue. Several dogs 
had followed the men and they set up a loud barking and 
•lushed at the school house. A panther could easily kill 
the largest dog with one stroke of its terrible claws, but for 
some reason they are dreadfully afraid of a dog and could be 
easily treed by a small feiste. The panthers jumped to the 
ground and ran up a large tree which stood near the school 
house and were soon shot tp death by the hunters. 

The teacher was a full-blooded Irishman, but a short 
time from Ireland. He had wandered out into the wilds of 
Indiana. Coming into that neighborhood and learning that 
Major Robb was from Ireland, he had been staying at his 
house for some time. Having the necessary qualifications, 
he was employed to teach the school. After the panthers 
were killed he dismissed the school and went back to the 
Major's, but refused to teach any longer. He said he would 
not live in a country that was on the frontier of **hades" and 
was inhabited by such pesky, screaming, screeching varmints 
as this country possessed^ ^ 

In 1825 a young man by the name of Joseph Breeding, 
from the city of Philadelphia, came to Indiana, hoping to re- 
gain his health. He had been rambling over the wild coun- 
try hunting and trapping for a livelihood. He made his 
home at Henry Hopkins' for a time. While there he was 
employed to teach school in the neighborhood two or three 
miles southwest of '^here Lynnville, in Warrick County, now 
stands. 



466 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

The school house was not quite finished when Breeding: 
commenced to teach. It had a puncheon floor. One nig^ht 
an old bear and two young: cubs were hunting around the 
house for scraps of food left by the school children. The 
little bears got under the house and in hunting around 
smelled some meat scraps which had been thrown down by 
the children in the house. One of the cubs pushed a 
puncheon up far enough to get inside, when the puncheon 
fell back into its place, thus imprisoning the cub. The next 
morning ^hen Breeding came near the school house he heard 
a noise in the building. Slipping up, he could see the little 
bear through a crack. About that time he discovered the old 
mother bear coming for him in a hurry, and he had only time 
to climb a small tree a little way from the house. Fortun- 
ately the tree was too small for the bear to climb. The 
teacher kept a good lookout for the children, and when he 
could see or hear any of them he would call to them, telling 
them of the danger. Finally one of the large scholars came 
with his gun and killed the old bear. The cub in the house 
was killed, as was its mate. 

. At the county seats, towns, and wherever the country 
was more thickly settled, there were usually better schools 
than those I have described, but as a rule I h^ve given a true 
description of them as they were. 

I feel warranted in asserting that our schools have kept 
well to the forefront as our state has made rapid marches to 
its present greatness. From these primitive schools have 
come some of the greatest men this nation has produced. 

From the organization of the Territorial Legislature up 
to 1850 every assembly had a message from the Governor ask- 
ing that the interest of the people should be well looked after 
and ample provision made for the education of the children. 
By the wise provision of the ordinance of 1787 and the laws 
passed afterwards by the Territorial and State Legislature, 
the foundation for our large and ever-increasing school fund. 
The common school fund in 182S consisted of 680,207 acres of 
land, estimated at two dollars per acre, making $1,360,414.00. 

There are always those to be found who are against any 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 467 

public policy, and this was true when free schools were first 
advocated by our law-makers. When it was submitted to a 
vote in 1852 whether we should have free schools or not, 
there was a strong minority opposed to it. They had many 
objections to its becoming a law. One was that it would 
largely increase the taxes to keep up the schools, and another 
was that it imposed a heavy burden on persons who had used 
economy and had accumulated property to pay taxes to edu- 
cate the children of those who were poor, in many cases by 
their own vicious habits and a want of industry. Those ob- 
jecting lost sight of the great blessing which would come to 
all the people by having an opportunity to educate the rising 
generation. Fortunately, the majority of Indiana's voters 
were not so narrowly constructed, and the law that placed 
Indiana in the front rank in educational matters was passed. 

Notwithstanding the interest manifested by our law- 
makers, education in most sections of the state in 1850 was at 
a low standard. The schools were all subscription or private 
ones. 

After the free school system came into operation in 
April, 1853, by- the election of trustees for each township, 
which committed into their charge the educational interests 
of their respective township, the trustees had to organize 
school districts and then to provide houses to teach in. 

In many townships in Indiana there was not a single 
house of any sort to teach in. Most of the houses used were 
found to be old, dilapidated buildings that a farmer of this 
date would not house his sheep in. It took a good while to 
make all these necessary arrangements, but after a while 
things began to run smoothly and the townships were toler- 
ably well provided with school houses. 

Another serious difl&culty was the lack of efficient school 
teachers. This want was cured by a new law authorizing^ the 
appointment of deputy superintendents in each county to ex- 
amine applicants for license to teach; the deputies by lower- 
ing the standard were enabled to secure teachers for most of 
the schools. The Legislature in 1853 enacted a law that 
made a standard of qualification and authorized the county 



468 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

commissioners to license teachers, that all schools mi^fht be 
supplied with a teacher,, for fear there mig^ht not be a suf- 
ficiency of properly qualified teachers. 

County commissioners were authorized to give temporary 
licenses to those takingr charge of schools that did not require 
a hifi^h grade of teaching. It would seem a reasonable con- 
clusion that all parents would be glad to avail themselves of 
the opportunity of giving their children an education, since 
it was free, but such was not the case then any, more than it 
is now. 

In 1854 our common school fund was $2,460,600. This 
amount has been increased from many sources, until now we 
have a magnificent fund of more than ten million dollars and 
an average school year of six months. All can be educated, 
if they will, and be sufficiently advanced, free of charge, to 
enter any college. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



The Noble Act of Returning Soldiers of the Battle of 
Tippecanoe — Aaron Burr's Conspiracy and the Mis- 
fortunes Attending It — Difficulty of Procuring 
Salt and Desperate Battle with Two Bears — Inci- 
dents OF Burr's Conspiracy — Governor Jennings' Tem- 
perance Lecture — Battle Between Two Bears and 
Two Panthers — Panthers Killing Indians — A Her- 
mit — Panthers Kill a Man and Boy — Early Days 
Near Petersburg, Indiana — Panthers Killing One 
AND Desperately Wounding Another Man of a Sur- 
veying Party — Wild Hogs — Shooting Matches — 
Early Days in Dubois County, Indiana — Killing of 
Eight Indians — Hunting — Early Days Near Sprin- 

KLKSBURG, Now NeWBURG, WaRRICK CoUNTY, INDIANA — 

A Young Woman Killed by Panthers — Hunting 
Wolves — Hunting Deer — An Amusing Incident of 
AN Irishman and the Hornet's Nest. 



As hunting was the only means of obtaining a liveli- 
hood, for there was no money to pay for anything that was 
to sell and nothing to' barter but the venison hams, skins and 
furs, these were exchanged for a few indispensable articles 
such as powder, lead, flints and salt, that were bought at a 
trading post far away. 

Later on when more people were here and there was less 
danger from the Indians, this produce was bought up in 
large quantities and carried to market at New Orleans in 
flatboats, where it was sold for Spanish coin. When these 
traders returned, probably six or eight months after starting, 
they would pay out the coin for the produce they had bought 



470 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

on credit, thus enabling all who were industrious to have 
some of the money coming to them. 

The hunters would kill many deer, salt their hams and 
smoke them, thus having them ready when the time came for 
the produce men to again receive them. They also saved the 
deer hides, bear skins, and nearly every night went hunt- 
ing for coons and other fur-bearing animals. By the time 
the dealers in produce were ready to load their boats, they 
would find an immense quantity of produce that had been se- 
cured by the chase to load their boats at many points; some- 
times two or three boats would be laden down. On the return 
of these produce merchants, they would pay out a large 
amount of money to their creditors. Many men in each 
neighborhood would have money to enter forty acres of land; 
others would have half enough and would commence to pre- 
pare produce for the next winter. The greater portion of all 
the land entered in the settled sections of Indiana from 1815 
to 1835 was paid for by money that came from the chase. 

After the bear became less numerous, farmers commenced 
to raise hogs and fatten them on the abundant mast which 
was everywhere. 

They would make the pork into bacon or sell it to be salted 
the boats in bulk by the produce dealers. After the people in 
commenced to raise hogs, for several years they had to keep 
them in close pens at night, as if they were allowed to run at 
will they would nearly all be killed by bears. The price they 
received for a hundred pounds of pork was one dollar and 
fifty cents, net. 

When the game in the older sections became thinned out, 
the men would organize themselves into a party of eight or 
ten, go to some place where it was known there was an 
abundance of game and make themselves a faced camp, and 
have a man to take care of it and cook for the party. Then 
they commenced in a systematic way to hunt over the sur- 
rounding country. Before these men would break camp they 
would kill several hundred deer and probably fifteen or twenty 
bears. 

Captain Spier Spencer's company at the battle of Tippe- 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 471 

canoe was in the thick of the fig^ht. The Captain and a num- 
ber of the men were killed and wounded. Among the num- 
ber was a man named Davis, who had moved from one of the 
older states only a few weeks before the call was made for 
volunteers. Leaving his family in one of the settlements, he 
enlisted and was killed at the battle of Tippecanoe. 

After the remnant of the company got home, those who 
were neighbors of the widow of their dead comrade held a 
meeting and resolved to assist her. They therefore organized 
a hunting party and sold the results of their hunt for enough 
to enter forty acres of land, and as they entered land for 
themselves, kept the widow provided for until her sons were 
old enough to take their part in the chase and in clearing up 
the farm. 

AARON burr's CONSPIRACY AND THE MISFORTUNE ATTENDING IT. 

In the fall of 1806 a conspiracy was discovered, in which 
Colonel Aaron Burr was the chief actor, for revolutionizing 
the territory west of the Alleghany mountains and the estab- 
lishment of an independent empire, with New Orleans for its 
capital and himself for its chief ruler. 

To this end (it having been contemplated for some time) 
all the skillful cunning of which Burr possessed so much, was 
directed. If this project should fail, he planned the conquest . 
of Mexico and the establishment of an empire there. The 
third project was the settlement of the Washita country 
which Baron Bastrop claimed. This last was to serve as a 
pretext for Burr's preparation and allurement, for his mis- 
guided followers really wished to secure land for homes. If 
he should be defeated in his first two projects, he could claim 
the last as his real object. He and his agents influencedimany of 
the restless and dissatisfied elements which were then on the 
borders of the settled portions of the United States and of those 
who were always hunting for adventure, to join his force. Col. 
Burr, by assuring many well meaning, loyal persons that he 
had the secret influence of the Government back of him, in- 
duced them to leave their homes and follow hisjstandard. 

Not alone was Herman Blennerhassett (who {possessed 



472 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

himself of a beautiful island in the upper Ohio on which he 
had builded a palatial home and surrounded himself with alt 
comforts, conveniences and adornments which money could 
purchase at that day), ruined by listening to the seductive 
and fascinating address of that arch traitor and the Paradise 
with which he and his beautiful and accomplished wife had 
surrounded themselves was turned into a very hell and they 
fugitives from justice, but hundreds of others were influenced 
to forsake good homes and follow after this traitor, all of 
them becoming fugitives, hunted down by ofl&cers of the Gov- 
ernment. 

These people, while floating down the Ohio in boats, 
learning that they were being hunted as traitors to their 
country and that the lower Ohio was patrolled by soldiers to 
apprehend them, left their boats and scattered over the 
wilderness of southern Indiana. William Henry Harrison, 
then Governor, had these injured people hunted up and as- 
sured them that they were in no danger of arrest, but that 
they must prepare forts, into which they could repair when in 
danger from the Indians. 

In many portions of southern Indiana these refugees 
formed the first nucleus around which early settlements were 
made. They raised families, improved the country, and ever 
since have added their full portion to the prosperity of the 
state. 

There was a family of five persons connected with the 
Burr expedition who located in what is now Perry County, 
Indiana, five or six miles north of Flint Island, in 1806. It 
consisted of two large boys, a grown daughter, the mother 
and father. Through the misrepresentations of Aaron Burr 
and his aides, these people had been induced to leave a good 
home in Virginia and go on the ill-fated expedition with the 
assurance that great wealth and fame would accrue to them 
for their portion of the gains. These people had come down 
the Ohio in a boat. When they arrived at Louisville, Ky., 
they learned that Burr and his followers were being hunted 
by the Government as traitors to their country. They 
floated on down the Ohio until they came to the mouth of Oil 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 473 

creek, then ran as far up the creek as they could and sunk 
their boat. Then taking their plunder, they went some dis- 
tance farther* into the wilderness, where they selected a place 
which suited their fancy and built their cabins, with a brave 
determination to start the battle of life over again. Joseph 
Bowers, who was the head of this family, and his eldest son, 
James, hunted most of their time, killing much game. They 
had located at a point which was some distance from any of 
the traveled traces which the Indians used, and began to feel 
hopeful they would have no trouble from them. 

On one ol their hunting excursions the two men had lo« 
cated a patch of hazel brush which was covered over with a 
thick matting of grape vines loaded with very fine large 
grapes. The daughter and younger brother accompanied the 
two hunters, intending to gather the fruit, and in the evening 
when the hunters returned they would carry it home. They 
had not been long gathering grapes before they saw a large 
animal slipping through the brush, coming towards them* 
The young boy, sixteen years old, had armed himself with an 
Indian tomahawk. They tried to slip away in the direction 
of their homes, but got only a short distance when they heard 
the awful scream of the vicious animal as it came bounding 
after them. Mary Bowers had heard that a panther would 
not attack a human as long as they faced it and kept their 
eyes on the panther's eyes. This she attempted to do, at the 
same time walking backwards, with the animal slowly follow- 
ing her, patting its tail on the ground at each step. In her 
excitement she was not cautious of her steps and was tripped 
by a vine, when the vicious animal bounded onto her pros* 
trate body and tore her into pieces with its terrible claws. 
The young boy rushed at the beast with his tomahawk and 
sank the blade into its head, but was unable to pull it out of 
its skull. The panther caught both of his arms with his 
fore claws and in its dying agony tore the flesh from his legs 
with its hind claws. Mr. Bowers and his son were a mile 
away when they heard the scream of the panther. They ran 
as fast as they could to the point the children had been left, 
where they found Mary dead and the arms of Joseph still in 



474 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

the clutches of the dead panther, and it was man}" months 
before he was able to walk again. 

DIFFICULTY IN PROCURING SALT AND A DESPERATE BATTLE 

WITH BEARS. 

The early settlers in Indiana from 1800 up to 1820 experi- 
enced great difficulty in procuring a sufficiency of salt for 
their culinary purposes and to save their meats. It was high- 
priced and hard to get, usually selling for twelve to twenty 
cents a pound in skin currency or backwoods currency, which 
was all they had to pay with. 

A good late fall or early winter bear skin was worth fifty 
cents, a deer skin twenty cents, and a coon skin from fifteen 
to twenty cents, in salt. They often made these skins up in 
packs of seventy-five to a hundred pounds and would carry 
them from twenty-five to thirty miles to find a sale for them. 

They made large meat troughs out of poplar trees. The 
meat was placed in the trough and salted. After all the salt 
had gone into the meat that was required, the rest would 
melt and become brine in the bottom of the trough. After 
the meat was hung to smoke, every portion of the surplus salt 
was saved to use again. 

Captain Alfred Miler, of Grandview, Spencer county, 
during the war of the sixties, related to me some early experi- 
ences of his people. He said the greatest difficulty they had 
to contend with was to have salt for their food. They had 
several boys in the family and they would time about getting 
all the bear, deer and coon skins ready and going to Louis- 
ville — sometimes to Vincennes — and selling them for salt. 
Sometimes it was too dangerous, on account of Indians, to go 
to either place, and they would have to resort to many ex- 
pedients to have salt for their fresh meat. 

There was a large deer lick not far from their home. 
They would gather a large amount of saline dirt from the 
lick, put in an old-fashioned ash hopper, put water on the 
dirt and after it had leached through the dirt the salty water 
was caught in a trough at the bottom of the hopper. Often a 
quantity of hickory ashes would be put in with the dirt. In 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 475 

this way the substance, after it was boiled down, would ^- 
come very strong and penetrating. 

When there was less danger from the Indians, the people 
who lived in the southwestern part of the state would go to 
the saline section of southern Illinois and make salt, but not 
until after the war of 1812 was over was it safe to make such 
venture unless in large parties. 

In the early winter the turkeys were very fat. Many 
persons would kill them in large numbers, clean them and 
split them in halves and salt in a trough. When they were 
suflBciently salted they were taken out, washed clean and 
hung up and cured with smoke. 

At such times as the hunters were busy the turkey 
-would be cooked with bear bacon, and was rich, wholesome 
food. For several years after there were no buffaloes in the 
older section of the state they were seen on prairie lands of 
northwestern Indiana. Up to 1825 buffalo were found feed- 
ing on the rich prairie grasses bordering on the Kankakee 
swamps. The deer were never so plentiful in that section of 
the state as they were in the country where the timber and 
underbrush grew. The prairie wolves were in such numbers 
in the open country that most of the young fawns were killed 
by them before they could run fast enough to keep out of the 
way. The black bear was at home in all parts of the state. 
The last that were killed in Indiana, in numbers, were near 
where the city of Hammond is now located. 

At a point not far from English lake two young men, 
named John Miller and Jean Vought (in the employ, of 
Alexis Coquillard, the manager of John Jacob Astor's fur 
company in the country about the Great Lakes), had a camp 
and had spent several months at the place. One evening in 
the latter part of March, 1832, as these hunters were round- 
ing out their very successful winter's hunt, they yet had a 
large tree which they intended to cut that was in a small 
strip of timber nqt far from their cabin and near the border 
of what is now Starke county, in which they thought a col- 
ony of raccoons made their home. They had laid their guns 
rto one side .and commenced to chop on the tree, when two 



476 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

large bears came rushing at them. They had no time to se« 
cure their guns before the bears were on them. They tried ta 
defend themselves with their axes. At the first pass Miller's 
ax was knocked out of his haads and beyond his reach. Be- 
fore he could get away he was caught and came near having 
the life squeezed out of him by the vise-like hug the bear 
gave him. 

Vought had been more successful in his battle and had 
crippled his bear so that it was disabled. He ran to Miller's 
aid and stuck the blade of an axe into the bear's head, when 
it fell dead, but carried Miller with it, still holding the death- 
like grip on him, and he could not be released until Vought 
had chopped off one of the bears' arms. Miller was carried 
back to their cabin and it was many weeks before he could 
travel. They found that the tree, instead of being the home 
of coons, had two large openings in it, one above the other, 
and the two bears had occupied it for winter quarters, and 
probably the first time they had been down during the winter 
was the evening of the battle. The tree was cut down and 
two small cubs were found. Miller and Vought were old 
trappers and were well acquainted with the people in the 
neighborhood of the White river, as they trapped for years on 
that river and its tributaries before going north. In the fall 
of 1812 they had a camp about one mile east of White Oak 
Spring, now Petersburg, Pike County, and had traps set at 
many places. 

Late one evening/ while engaged in setting some traps 
above and between the forks of White river, they heard the 
chattering of squirrels some distance to the east, which con- 
tinued to come closer. Soon the squirrels, but a short dis- 
tance away, set up a terrible chattering. The hunters, think- 
ing it was a bear or a panther that was causing the excite- 
ment among the squirrels, placed themselves in hiding to see 
what was coming. Soon two Indians came out on the bank 
of the river, one of them on horseback. 

The hunters, knowing the Indians were not there for any 
good purpose, held a whispered council and determined ta 
kill them. Miller killed the one on foot. Vought's gun 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 477 

flashed in the pan and his Indian turned his horse and ran 
away. 

The dead Indian had a scalp in a leather pouch hanging- 
to his girdle; the hair of a beautiful light color, which, un- 
wound, was over four feet in length. They also found a 
notched stick on him that had several peculiar engravings on 
it as well as notches, which a friendly Indian afterwards told 
them meant that he had killed six white persons and four In- 
dian enemies. 

AN INCIDENT OF AARON BURR'S CONSPIRACY. 

The Indian that Miller killed was very fantastically 
dressed and carried a heavy silver-mounted rifle which had a 
large silver plate on the side of the breech with this engrav- 
ing on it: 

**This rifle is presented to James Jones as a 
small token of my great appreciation of his brav- 
ery and for personally risking his life to save mine 
in a battle with the Indians north of the Ohio 
river. Louisville, Kentucky, December 12, 1805. 

John Caldwell." 

The night after the killing of the Indian at the forks of 
White river. Miller and Vought were in Hargrove's camp 
showing their trophies. Sergeant Bailey, who was in camp 
not far from White Oak Springs with Colonel Hargrove, 
looked at the gun and became greatly excited. When shown 
the scalp above referred to, his grief was almost heart- 
breaking, exclaiming: "Mary, Mary, my beautiful twin sis- 
ter, how I loved you — and when I think of the awful, cruel 
fate which befell you, it is almost more than I can bear." 

Afterwards Bailey, relating this strange story, said 
James Jones was a. brave, fearless soldier, and had been in 
many engagements with the Indians. In the one referred to 
by the plate on the rifle, the Indians had cut Jones and Cald- 
well off from the main army while they were dressing a deer. 
In the running battle that followed Caldwell's leg was broken 
by a ball and he could retreat no farther. Jones carried him 
to a secure position between two large logs and they both 
used the logs for a breastwork. In this way they killed sev- 
eral Indians and held the others in check until a troop of 



478 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

their company, hearing the firing, came to their relief. Ini 
In 1805 Jones was married to his twin sister, Mary, a beauti- 
ful woman with a most wonderful suit of light hair, so long 
that when let down it would veil her person to within a few 
inches of the floor. An agent of Aaron Burr's had come 
to their peaceful home on the Monongahela river and per- 
suaded them to go with the ill-fated expedition. In 1806^ 
President Jefferson issued a proclamation against many per- 
sons who had attached themselves to Burr's chimerical con- 
spiracy and they fled in many directions. Jones, Bailey and 
others from that section started down the Monongahela and 
into the Ohio river. 

They had gone one hundred miles west of the falls of the 
Ohio, when their boat struck a snag and was sunk, settling 
in deep water. The occupants were landed by the aid of a. 
canoe on the Indiana side about forty miles west of the mouth 
of Blue river. They went back north into the country about 
fifteen miles, where they built their cabin. The cabin was 
about ten miles east of the old Indian trace running north 
from Yellow Banks, Rockport, Spencer County, Indiana, to- 
White river. After staying there during the winter of 
1806-07, Jones and Bailey's sister determined to go back by 
the Ohio river to Louisville, Kentucky, where they hoped to 
make them a home. Bailey, a few days before they were to 
start, went to another band of these refugees where two 
hunting companions of his were living. He and his two 
friends were on the first hunting trip when they were found 
by Captain Hargrove's scouts and went with him to Vin- 
cennes and enlisted in the United States army. Bailey re- 
mained in the service until after the battle of Tippecanoe. 
Bailey sent several letters to Louisville, but never received 
any answer to them, and this was the first time that he had 
any idea of what became of Jones and his sister. The two 
hunters offered to give the gun and scalp to Bailey, The 
scalp he accepted as a precious gift, but said that Miller 
should keep the gun and he wished he were able to give him 
a thousand times its value for killing the hated savage who 
murdered his sister. 



PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 479* 

GOVERNOR JENNINGS AND TOM OGLESBY. 

Governor Jennings used to tell a story of his early elec- 
tioneering days in which he said that panthers were good 
temperance lecturers. Once while he was traveling over the 
thinly settled hills of Dearborn county electioneering for 
congress, he met a man he was well acquainted with, Tom 
Oglesby, who was just getting over a protracted drunk. Jen- 
nings was up to his work and commenced to electioneer with 
Tom for his vote. The half sober fellow looked at him and 
said — "Jen, don't you think that a man just out of a panther 
fight and getting sobered up for the first time in twelve 
months ought to be electioneered in a more royal style than 
this? I am just from the grave. I was awakened a little 
while ago by a panther putting leaves and grass over me. It 
kept this up until I was entirely covered. I lay still for a 
while and then raised up and found the panther gone. I 
knew I was not safe there so I took my gun and climbed inta 
a tree to see what the panther intended to do. In a short 
time I heard her coming and she had he;* kittens with her. 
Every few steps she would jiynp a^ is catching something 
and the little ones would go through the same maneuvers.^ 
She was teaching them how to attack their prey. She kept 
this up until she got near to the bed of leaves that I had 
been covered with. She made a spring on the pile and then 
looked just as I felt when I found I was covered up for dead. 
She made a mewing noise and the little panthers scampered 
back the way they had come. She then started in to investi- 
gate the cause of my disappearance and before she located 
me I shot her." Jennings after hearing this said: *'Well, 
Tom, I do believe I should treat you as one from the dead, 
and since, Tom, we were school boys together in old Pennsyl- 
vania and you are a finished civil engineer and very well ed- 
ucated, if you will quit drinking I will see that you have a 
good place on the surveying corps" Tom Oglesby did quit 
drinking, Jennings was elected and put his old school mate 
in a good place in the engineerig department and he became 
one of the greatest engineers in the United States. 



480 PIONEER HISTORY OP INDIANA. 

P\NTHERS, BEARS AND A DEER IN BATTLE. 

In the fall of 1823 David Johnson shot a large deer with 
a heavy pair of many pointed horns and had followed on its 
trail for some distance, hoping: to get another shot. The 
deer was not dangerously wounded, but just enough to put it 
in good fighting humor. 

He had followed the deer for some time over the hills in 
Washington township, Gibson County. The deer had left 
many signs of its anger by tearing small bushes and saplings 
to pieces with its horns in the route that he had traveled. 
Coming to the top of a hill, Johnson heard a loud noise down 
in the hollow at the foot of the hill that sounded as if many 
angry animals were in a terrible combat. 

Slipping up so he could see what was making such a 
racket, when within about eighty yards he could see several 
animals in a regular free-for-all fight. Two black bears (one 
of them a very large one), two panthers, and a little to one 
side, his wounded buck. The two bears were standing on 
their hind feet, dealing blows with their arms, right and 
left, when the pantliers would get in reach of them. The 
panthers were much more active than the bears, but were 
<:areful to keep out of reach of the bears' arms. Every little 
while they would jump clear over the bears, as if trying to 
attack them at their back, but Mr. Bruin would turn around 
as if on a pivot. The deer was standing some little distance 
away looking at the combatants as if he would like to take 
part in the fray, but there was so much of it he did not know 
how to commence. In one of the rushes made by the 
panthers, in jumping over the bear, one of them attempted 
to land on the buck's back, but the deer was too quick for it 
and it fell on the sharp points of the deer's horns, and was 
evidently injured in the tussle which followed. After the 
panther got oflf the horns it ran up a tree which stood near. 

Mr. Johnson said the fight was so furious and the noise 
so terrible that he never was so thoroughly scared in his life 
before, and did not know what to do. There were so many 
animals that he could not kill all of them. He was at a loss 
as to what was the best plan to pursue, but as soon as the 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 481 

panther run up the tree he determined to shoot it. It fell to the 
ground, not dead, but so disabled that it could not stand on 
its feet, but tore the ground and growled and snarled. The 
other animals did not seem to hear the shot. If they did, 
the}' paid no attention to it, but kept up the fight. The other 
panther would ever}^ little while spring over the bears, high 
above their heads. The deer didn't seem to paj'^ any attention 
to the bears, but followed the movements and kept his horns 
between his body and the panther. The panther, in avoiding 
a blow aimed at his head by the smaller bear, got in reach of 
the big one and received a blow that sent it ten feet away. It 
was more careful to keep out of reach after this and soon 
climbed up a tree for thirty feet and lay stretched out on a 
large limb. Johnson made up his mind that it was more 
dangerous than all three of the others and shot at it. Instead 
of tailing, it jumped twenty or thirty feet into a thick clump 
of brush and ran off^ The bear and deer stood their ground 
as if uncertain what to do, but before Johnson could load his 
gun again they all ran off down the hollow. 

He found that the cause of the trouble was that the 
panthers had killed a small deer, and no doubt the bears com- 
ing up at this time determined to take it away from them. 

After killing the wounded panther, he then went to 
where the other had alighted when it jumped out of the tree 
and found a little blood, but thought the animal was not seri- 
ously hurt. He said he could have killed the deer or either 
of the l?ears. but was afraid to leave the panthers, as they 
would have attacked him. 

A WOUNDED DEER HORNING OXENS AND A HORSE. 

Following is a little story showing the fury of a wounded 
buck: Major John Sprinkels, who settled Sprinklesburg (now 
Newburg), was out hunting and wounded a large five point 
buck and had been following it for some time. Finally the 
deer came to a cornfield, jumped the fence and was passing 
through it when it came to an ox team hitched to a wagon 
with an old North Carolina schooner bed on it. Three men 
were with the wagon gathering corn. The first they knew 



482 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

of the deer the oxen commenced to run. They found the 
deer was goring one of the oxen with its sharp horns. In 
running, the wagon became fast on a stump. The men ran 
to the oxen, thinking to scare the deer away, but it attacked 
them and seriously hurt one of the men, who saved his life by 
rolling under the wagon.' The other two got up into the 
schooner bed. The deer, after trying to get at the man un- 
der the wagon, went around and attacked the other ox, 
goring it fearfully. Major Sprinkles, hearing the bellowing 
of the oxen and the halooing of the men, went to find out 
what was the matter and succeeded in killng the deer. 

In 1827 Andrew McFaddin, of Posey County, went hunt- 
ing on horseback. There was a heavy wet snow on the 
ground and he found that his horse balled so badly he had to 
leave it, and after securely tying it, he went on hunting. 

He shot a large buck, severely wounding it, but it ran 
away. McFaddin followed it for several miles. The deer 
commenced to circle around and come back to the neighbor- 
hood where it had been wounded. After nearing the place 
where he had hitched his horse, he heard the horse making a 
terrible noise as if in distress. Thinking that a panther had 
attacked^ his horse, he ran in that direction and found the 
deer goring it with its sharp horns. McFaddin killed the 
deer, but found that his horse wes ruined. 

PANTHERS KILLING INDIANS. 

While three young men from Kentucky, southwest of 
Louisville, were traveling over the old trace from Clarkesville 
to Vincennes in 1800, where they intended to enlist in the 
army, they reached a place in the neighborhood of where 
French Lick Springs is now located and were ambushed and 
attacked by seven Indians, two of the young men being killed 
at the first fire. The other one, named George Davis, was 
grazed by a ball along his temple and fell to the ground. He 
was up quickly and attempted to run to cover, but ran into 
the hands of the Indians and was captured. They took him 
with them, going in the direction of the head waters of the 
White river, and reached a country where there were many 
Indians and Indian towns. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 483 

One night as they were lying in camp asleep, young- 
Davis managed to slip his arms out of the buckskin thongs 
with which they were tied. Waiting until he felt sure they 
were all asleep, he selected his own gun which was standing 
with others against a tree near the fire and slipped away. 

He started east, feeling sure that the Indians would go 
southwest on their back trail to hunt for him. The moon 
was very bright and he made good use of his time before 
daylight. 

About daylight he found a leaning tree lodged against 
another very large tree which had a hole in it just above 
where the leaning tree lodged. Going up the leaning one, he 
found the hole large enough for him to hide in. It no doubt 
was the winter home of a bear. 

Resting and sleeping all that day, as soon as night came 
on he was down. Shaping his course so as to have the North 
star at his back, he traveled all night. Being very hungry, 
he fortunately found a large fat opossum, killed it and carried 
it with him. 

Just before day he found a cliff which had a shallow cave 
running back twenty feet from the entrance. Securing wood, 
he went into the cavern. He was at his wits' ends how to 
get any fire, as he had only the one charge of powder, which 
was in his gun. He was a backwoodsman and knew a good 
deal of their craft. Securing two sound, dry sticks, he com- 
menced to rub them together until he brought fire from one 
of them. Preparing his opossum, he baked it to a nicety and 
ate it with a relish without salt or condiments. 

As soon as night had come again he started and had 
been traveling two or three hours, when he heard a slight 
noise behind him as of some small animal running. Stepping 
out of his course a short distance and into a clump of bushes, 
he stopped to see the cause of this. He had been in his place 
only a few moments when he discovered three Indians follow- 
ing his trail. They passed, missing his track, and were run- 
ning around trying to find it, when a most terrible scream 
was heard from one of them. 

Two panthers were in a tree, and the Indians getting un- 



484 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

der them, the animals pounced onto them, knocking two of 
them down and terribly lacerating them. The third Indian 
killed one of the panthers, when a shot from the other side 
killed the Indian, and in a short time another shot from the 
same direction killed the other panther. 

In a short time a man with long white hair and beard 
and dressed in skins came to where the combat had taken 
place, calling to Davis, whom he had seen slipping into hid- 
ing, to come out. 

The combat had taken place near a large deer-lick and 
the panthers had been in the tree waiting for some unfortun- 
ate deer. The old man was there for the same purpose and 
did not know that the panthers were in the tree. He had 
seen Davis when he stopped and saw him slip into the clump 
of bushes and saw the Indians coming on his trail. By this 
he felt sure that he was a white man. 

The Indians' guns and other things of value were taken. 
Young Davis was supplied with ammunition, hunting knife 
and tomahawk. The Indians lacerated by the panthers soon 
bled to death. They were dragged to a deep place in a 
nearby hollow or branch and put into it. Brush was piled 
over them. 

The old man told Davis to follow him and he would have 
something prepared for him to eat, and after they had gone 
for about a mile the old man told him to sit down and rest, as 
they were in no further danger from the Indians. In an hour 
he returned with plenty of dried venison and fresh bear's 
meat, which was broiled. After eating all they wanted, they 
prepared a camp and stayed there for two days. During this 
period the old man was gone several times for an hour at a 
time. He would not talk of himself or of what he was doing 
there. Their camp was near a very large spring of gushing 
water not far from the Blue river (no doubt the large spring 
a few miles west of Corydon, Ind.) 

After preparing plenty of provisions for the trip, Davis 
bade his benefactor good-bye and started for the mouth of the 
Blue river, as directed by the old patriarch, and finally got 
back to Kentucky. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 485 

DeLome, in his interesting narrative of his capture and 
his life among the Indians, relates the killing of the two men 
on the old trace and the capture of Davis. He says he was 
adopted into the family of an Indian, and that one of the 
men who went back for Davis was his adopted brother. 
He says the four Indians reached home, but that the three 
wha w^ent after Davis were never heard of afterward. He 
tells of the old patriarch having a home in a cave not far 
from the big spring; that no one knew who he was, where he 
came from or what became of him; but it was believed, from 
the little information obtained by Davis, that he was a po- 
litical exile from some foreign country and that he had gone 
into seclusion in the wilds of Harrison County, Indiana. 

EARLY DAYS NEAR PETERSBURG, INDIANA. 

In 1807 or '08, James Gurney left Jefferson County, Ken- 
tucky, and came to Indiana Territory, He had a wife and 
two children. They put all their possessions in a large bag 
made of hemp or flax and fastened it to the back of the horse. 
The mother and smaller child rode on its back — the father, 
with his gun, keeping a lookout for Indians. The older boy, 
twelve years old, led the horse. 

Crossing the river at Louisville, they started west on the 
old Indian trace, which was a regular traveled way from 
Louisville to Vincennes, most of the way being a good road. 
When they had traveled some thirty miles they found the 
road was patroled by rangers under young John Tipton. He 
furnished an escort as far as his boundary reached, only a 
little west of the Blue river. They were compelled to remain 
at that point until the rangers on the western division should 
come on their regular trip, which was only a day or two. 
The men on the western division were commanded by Captain 
Wm. Hargrove. The Gurney family accompanied them on 
their return trip to White Oak Springs, where Woolsey Pride 
had a fort. They were in^iiructed by W. H. Harrison to re- 
main in a blockhouse built inside the heavy stockade Pride 
had built around his fort, until late in the fall. He could 
then build a house after the Indian raids were over. 



486 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Gurney was of a restless, roving- disposition, and had but 
little regard for Governor Harrison's orders. He would not 
follow the advice of the old hunters at the fort, but left, say- 
ing that he was going back to the mud holes, which were 
near where Portersville, in Dubois County, was afterward lo- 
cated, and they heard nothing more of him for some time. 

The winter had gone and warm weather had come again. 
One day a woman, carrying a small bundle and a little girl, 
were found by the two McDonalds — John and William — who 
were early settlers in the mud-hole region. They had been 
wandering around in the woods. The}^ took them to their 
home. These two persons were Mrs. Gurney and her little 
daughter. She said that the fall before, with her husband 
and two children, she had left the White Oak Springs fort 
and had gone in a southeasterly direction ten or fifteen miles, 
when they came upon a place which suited their fancy. Here 
they built a little cabin and spent the winter in comfort. 
There was all sorts of game in abundance, and with hickory 
and beech nuts and white oak acorns, of which they made 
pones and baked, they managed to live in comfort and were 
in perfect health. With the coming of spring they com- 
menced to prepare a small patch for corn and vegetables and 
had a little field brushed off. The horse was kept at night in 
a pen covered over with bark and brush. During the day he 
ran out and fed as he could from the range. One morning, 
along the first of May, Mr. Gurney had started out with his rifle 
to kill a turkey, and had not gone more than a hundred yards 
when his wife heard him calling aloud. His wife ran in the 
direction he had gone, and when she got within sight of his 
body, which was lying in the edg^e of the clearing, she saw a 
large panther spring onto a limb of a tree which stood near 
him. She did not know what to do, and thinking that the 
horse would scare the animal away, they led the horse out of 
the stable and turned him loose, driving him toward the place 
where the body of Mr. Gurney lay. When the horse saw the 
body it became scared and ran near the tree the panther was 
in, whereupon the latter sprang from the tree to the horse's 
back and that was the last ever seen of the horse. 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 487 

They buried Mr. Gurnej' near the cabin and after this 
the)^ had a very hard time. They could not do anything^ 
with the corn patch, as the horse was g^one, but they could 
kill game, as the little boy and his mother could both use 
a g^un. 

The springy from which they obtained their water was 
sevent)'^ or eighty yards from the cabin. The boy was carry- 
ing water from it early one morning when he was killed by a 
panther. The mother, hearing his scream, took the gun and 
shot the animal as it was preparing to spring on her. She 
buried her boy and then determined to try to find her way 
back to the road and to Kentucky. She had been wandering 
around over the woods for more than a week when found by 
the two men who had killed a bear. 

» Mrs. Gurney went back to her people in Kentucky. This 
experience was told to me more than fifty years ago by 
Elijah Malott, who lived in the same neighborhood as did 
Mrs. Gurney's people, and he often heard her tell of her 
awful experience. He said he had been preparing to come to 
southern Indiana to the neighborhood of White Oak Springs, 
but after hearing of the terrible experience above related, he 
had many misgivings. He said it was never known exactly 
where Mr. Gurney had made his cabin, but eight or ten years 
after he was killed some hunters found a small floorless cabin 
near where the White Sulphur Springs are now, near where 
Velpen, Pike County, Indiana, now stands. 

Elijah Malott moved to the neighborhood of Petersburg, 
Indiana, in 1817. This same Mr. Malott in his younger days 
was very fond of playing pranks. One evening while hunt- 
ing he found a latge buck which had been killed the day 
before and was frozen hard. He dragged it up to a sapling, 
raised it up to a standing position and tied it there. That 
night he went to see his nearest neighbor, Mr. Jesse Alexan- 
der, and invited him to go hunting with him the next morn- 
ing. They started out and the route Mr. Alexander took 
brought him in plain view of the dead buck with the large 
pair of horns. In a short time Mr. Malott heard Alexander 
commence shooting and he took seven shots in all at the 



488 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

deer. After this he concluded to investigate and found that 
he had put seven balls into the deer. 

In 1850 one df >Ir. Alexander's daughters was married. 
Before the wedding something was said about a charivari. 
Mr. Alexander said if they attempted it, his two big bulldogs 
would eat them up. The night of the wedding Hiram 
Malott, Resin Malott, Captain James E. Chappell and many 
others, carrying with them three dumb-bulls, as many hick- 
ory rattles and many noisy things, and beginning the most 
hideous noise ever heard, went three or four times around the 
house, when they were invited in. Mr. Alexander the next 
morning found his dogs a mile away, at Stanton Lamb's. 

PANTHERS KILLING ONE MAN AND SERIOUSLY WOUNDING AN- 

ANOTHER OF A SURVEYING PARTY. 

In 1805 the surveyors were doing some work in town one 
north, range nine west, in what is now Clay township, Pike 
County, Indiana, that had been left from the survey in the 
fall and winter of 1804 owing to water being in the way. 
The camp was located on section 18, town one north, range 9 
west, a little way from Harvey creek and near a pond or 
bayou that is now owned by Hon. Jasper N. Davidson. They 
had been in that section for several weeks. 

Two young men were camp-keepers, one of them keeping 
the camp supplied with game. Their names were George 
Tate and Thomas Shay and they had for some years before 
this made their home in Clark's Grant, near Jeffersonville, 
Indiana. The surveying crew had come into camp at noon 
on Saturday so they could make their field notes and were not 
intending to go out again until the following Monday. 

The two young camp-keepers availed themselves of this 
opportunity to go to a bluff bank not far away and to en- 
deavor to kill a bear, which, they thought, had its den in the 
bluff. Just before reaching the den they saw two young ani- 
mals that were gamboling around over logs and running up an 
old stump six or eight feet high and jumping off. The)^ were 
having a lively play and did not see the hunters, who got up 
as close as they could, and hiding behind trees, they watched 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 48^ 

their antics for some time. Slipping up still closer, they in- 
tended to scare the animals, to see them run, and so rushed at 
them, making a great noise. The old mother panther was 
lying asleep only a little way from where the kittens were 
playing and she at once rushed at the hunters, striking Shay 
down before he could use his gun and almost severed his head 
with hei" terrible claws. Tate, not knowing Shay was dead, 
would not shoot for fear of hitting him, as the panther was 
biting and scratching him. He rushed upon the animal and 
felled it with his gun and then one of the very bloodiest 
fights ever recorded of this nature took place. The panther, 
regaining her feet, rushed at Tate, who was trjung to shoot, 
but found that the priming had fallen out of the pan of his 
flintlock gun when he knocked the panther down. As she 
came at him he thrust the muzzle of the gun into her mouth 
and thus held her at bay for a little while. She tore the gun out 
of her mouth with her claws and again rushed at Tate. He 
clubbed his gun and broke one of her fore legs, but she caught 
one of his arms in her mouth and they both fell to the ground. 
The hunter as yet was but little hurt, and drawing his hunting 
knife, he plunged it in the panther's side time after time, but 
not before she had torn the flesh off his legs in a terrible 
manner with her hind claws. The men at the camp heard the 
noise that the panther made as she was rushing at the hunter, 
and three men, with two dogs, hurried in that direction. 
They had not gone far before the dogs set up a terrible bark- 
ing and a large panther sprang into a tree not far off. They 
shot it to death. Thomas Shay was quite dead and Tate 
was almost dead from loss of blood. The carcass of the 
panther that he had stabbed to death was lying on him and 
the two little kitten panthers were nestled down by the side 
of their dead mother. The panther the rescuing party had 
killed was not in the battle, but came in answer to the scream 
of its mate. It had nearly covered the body of Shay with 
leaves, as is their habit when killing game. When they have 
eaten all they want, they cover the remainder until they are 
hungry again. 

They carried Tate to the camp and dressed his wounds as 



490 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

best they could, but it was several months before he was able 
to g^o about. 

Shay was buried near the place where he was killed and 
a history of his death was cut by the surveyors with their 
tools on a beech tree near his g^rave. The surveyors sent for 
David Johnson, who had been with them the year before, to 
hunt for their camp again. While there he had an adven- 
ture near where the old Indian road crosses White river. He 
had shot a small deer and dressed and prepared it so he could 
carry it shot-pouch fashion to the camp, when he heard a 
noise of something which was in a tree not far off. Bending 
down a sapling and cutting off a limb he hung his deer on it 
and when the sapling straightened up, it went out of the 
reach of any animal. Slipping up to the point where he 
heard the noise, he saw a bear cub which would weigh about 
one hundred pounds. He shot and broke its shoulder. It set 
up a terrible noise and in a moment out came the old bear 
from a tree all in a pile. She jumped up and ran to the cub 
and was trying to get it away by going off and expecting it 
to follow, but the little fellow could not walk and kept up 
the squealing noise. Johnson was trying to load his gun but 
in the hurry, as he was pulling his gun stick out, it went out 
^f his hand and some distance to one side. In stepping from 
behind the tree to get it, the old bear saw him and came at 
him full drive. There was a large tree standing but a Jittle 
way from him. He ran to this and got behind it, intending 
to finish loading his gun but the bear was after him and he 
ran around that tree many times, the bear in close pursuit. 
The little bear commenced to make a very loud noise and the 
old bear ran to the place where it was, when Johnson finished 
loading his gun and shot the old bear. 

In 1854 when Mr. Johnson told me this story he said that 
sometime in the early twenties he, with a hunting party, had 
a camp near the place where the panther fight took place and 
that while the beech tree had been blown down. Shay's grave 
was yet to be seen. 

WILD HOGS. 

When it became so that the people could turn their hogs 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 491 

on the range all the time, some of them ^would stray off and 
become so wild, they would run from a man. They were very 
prolific. A sow would usually raise two litters of from six to 
€ight pigs each year. In a short time the surrounding wood 
was full of wild hogs. The pigs which were raised in the 
woods were as wild as other animals and equally as hard to 
domesticate. An old saying among the early people was, '*A 
wild hog once, a wild hog all the time." The country was 
•covered over with a heavy growth of timber and a large por- 
tion of it was nut-bearing and acorn trees. In the more open 
or barren wood there were immense thickets of hazel bushes 
and on these bushes a large quantity of hazel nuts were pro- 
duced each year. In the fall and winter the ground was cov- 
ered with the different sorts of nuts and acorns. Not one- 
half of it could be eaten by the animals. All winter, except 
when there was a deep snow, there was an abundance of food 
for everything that would eat mast. The hogs would at all 
times keep in good living order, and in the fall and winter 
would get very fat. The farmers in early times marked 
their stock by cutting ^heir ears in many shapes, such as an 
upper bit in the right ear, and a crop off the left ear; an un- 
der bit in both ears, a crop and a split in the right ear, and 
so on. 

These marks were recorded in a book kept by the County 
Recorder for such records. The law protected them against 
an infringement on these marks as much as the trade-marks 
of manufacturers are protected now. There was a sacred re- 
gard for the marks of each other's stock by the old settlers. 
Some of the sows that were marked would stray away and 
raise a litter of pigs and stay away with them. The owner 
and others would see them once in a while, and the range she 
staid in was noted by the hunters, and the hogs in that range 
of woods were called after the man who owned the marked 
sow. Nearly all the farmers would have some hogs which 
became wild, and their claim on the hogs that came from the 
marked sow was respected. 

The old hunter who first settled in this country regarded 
the meat of the bear as very much superior to that of the 



i 



492 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

hog. It was more, easily kept and required less salt and when 
made into bacon was regarded by him as superior to the best 
cornfed pork made into bacon. The oil of the bear was much 
richer, more penetrating and better flavored than hog lard. 
The time soon came, however, when there were but few bears in 
the country, then the hog was brought into general use for 
bacon. When a tracking snow would fall, the farmer would 
take his boj^s and some of his hunting companions and go to 
the range where his wild hogs ran, taking two or three good 
dogs with them who understood how to guard against the 
terrible tusks of the old male hogs. When the hogs were 
found, a regular battle was on, and all that would do for 
meat were killed. Sometimes the fights between the old 
male hogs and the men and dogs were terrible. There never 
was a more vicious animal on this continent than these old 
hogs. When once attacked, they fought to a finish. They 
had tusks which were often four inches long sticking out 
three inches on each side of their mouths and as sharp as a 
knife. With one stroke of their tusks the}' could kill a dog, 
cut a man's legs half off or ruin a horse. Wild hogs have 
been known to give battle to a dozen wolves and put them to 
flight. One evening two hunters who had their homes in 
southern Davis County, not far from White river, had been 
out hunting and were returning to their homes loaded down 
with turkeys just a little while before sundown. They found 
themselves near a large thicket in which hazel bushes were 
the principal growth. They heard a pig commence to squeal 
not far from where they were and soon heard hogs making a 
terrible noise as if they were attacking some animal or were 
holding one at bay. The hunters, thinking it was a panther 
or wildcat which had caught the pig, slipped up, intending to 
shoot it, and they advanced as far as they felt it was safe to 
go. Owing to the thickness of the brush, they could not see 
what it was the hogs were fighting, but they could tell there 
was a desperate fight of some sort on. Not far to one side a 
dead tree had fallen and lodged in the fork of another tree. 
They climbed up the log to where it was ten or twelve feet 
from the ground and saw a large black bear backed up 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 4^3 

against a log. He was using both arms, boxing right and 
left, as he -was being held at bay by twenty or twenty-five 
hogs. The hunters said they had never seen such a furious 
fight and they watched it to a finish. There were several 
large male hogs with terrible tusks and thej' would charge in 
pairs, intending to tusk him in each side, but the bear was on 
the defensive and would knock them right and left. After a 
long fight the hogs changed their mode of attack and rushed 
at the bear four and five at a time. In this way they soon 
got in their work. They literally tore the bear to pieces and 
were eating it up when the two hunters were glad to slip 
away without attracting attention. 

SHOOTING MARCHES. 

In an early daj' the rifle was indispensable. It was 
necessary to carrj' a gun everywhere. The rifles were very 
high-priced and it was often very difficult to secure them, and 
it was many years after this country commenced to settle be- 
fore any were manufactured in this territory. The guns with 
which the settlers drove the Indians away were made in Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina. Some were made in Kentucky. 
The rifle was naturally regarded as a^ princely treasure. 
They became very proficient in repairing their rifles. When 
they did not shoot correctly, the)' moved the sights until they 
were correct. 

The men who in this day have high-priced guns and use 
them only a few weeks in the hunting season can form no 
idea how the old pioneer hunters regarded their guns, keep- 
ing them at all times in perfect order and ready for use at 
any moment. When in the calkins the guns were hung in a 
crotch over the door or on the side of a joist, with the point 
of a deer's horn for a rack. They did not have the percussion 
caps at that time to fire the powder, but had a gun flint which 
was fitted between two plates in the end of the hammer of the 
gun-lock and securely fastened there. When the trigger that 
threw the hammer was touched, the hammer or flint, in com- 
ing down, struck against an upright piece of hardened steel 
which was fastened to the lid of the pan which covered the 



494 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

powder and threw the pan open. The sparks made by the 
flint coming in contact with the hardened steel fell in the 
powder which was in the pan, which was connected with the 
powder in the gun barrel through a touch hole, and fired the 
gun. In damp weather the powder in the pan would become 
a little damp and the gun would make long fire, as it was 
termed, so the old hunters became adepts at holding their 
guns very steady, always prepared for the long fire. 

The pioneers learned to shoot with great accuracy with 
these old flint-lock guns. Eight times put of ten they would 
shoot a panther's eye out sixty and eighty yards away. 
When powder and lead became more plentiful the hunters 
would practice shooting at a mark, both with a rest which 
was lying down and resting the gun on a log or chunk or 
standing up and shooting off-hand. They made a target by 
taking a board and blackening a spot on it with wet powder; 
then two marks were made with a knife that crossed each 
other in the black spot. Then taking a small piece of paper 
about two inches square, cutting a square out of the center 
about one-half inch in size, tacked it on the board so that the 
cross would be in the center of the small square. It was not 
considered a very difficult feat for a marksman to shoot the 
center out five times out of ten, sixty yards off-hand or one 
hundred with the rest. 

The rifle shooting was one of the main sources of amuse- 
ment that the old hunters had. Shooting matches were very 
common in all parts of settled Indiana up to the last of the 
forties. 

A shooting match was usually arranged for Saturday. 
Some one who owned a ste^r or heifer that was good beef 
would send out word that on a certain day there would be a 
shooting match at his place. Everyone who cared to, at- 
tended, and there was usually a large number in attendance. 
The beef was seen and valued at what was considered a fair 
price. If it were worth twelve dollars, it would be divided 
into one hundred and twenty chances at ten cents each. The 
men wanting to engage in the contest could take as many 
chances as they wanted, so long as it was not more than one- 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 49S 

fifth of the whole number. When all had taken and paid for 
their chances, the next thing to do was to select two men to- 
act as judges who prepared the boards for targets and cut the 
name of each man who was to shoot on his board. Some 
times the chances would not all be taken — then the owner of 
the beef could take the remaining chances if there were not 
more than one-fifth of them and shoot out his chances, or he 
could select some one to shoot them out for him. Often some 
one who had chances of his own would be selected to shoot 
out the owner's chance. Some times when the owner had 
one-fifth of the chances and a good shot selected to shoot for 
him, the whole beef would be won. The judges had charge 
of the boards and they were placed against the tree that the 
lead was to lodge in, and when the chances had all been shot 
out, the judges took each board and made a correct record of 
the shooting in this manner: 

First — So many plumb-centers which were determined by 
holding two strings over each mark. In this way they could 
determine if the middle of the ball hit the center. Second — 
So many centers cut out. Third — So many centers lead^ 
which meant that the ball jnst grazed the center, but did not 
cut it quite out. Then a record of the distance of the balls 
which did not hit the center was made by measurement. 
When the records had been made up, the awards were made 
by first, second, third, fourth and fifth choices, which us- 
ually meant the hide tallow and lead which had been shot 
into the tree was the first choice; the second choice, one of 
the hind quarters; third choice, the other hind quarter; the 
fourth choice, one of the fore quarters; the fifth choice, the 
other fore quarter. If it were not too late in the day, the in- 
terested parties would butcher the beef, hanging up the meat 
to cool and the next morning send for it. 

This gathering of woodsmen was a day of recreation and 
pleasure, spent in talking over the old hunting experiences 
they had had together. There was alwaj^s the most scrupu- 
lous exactness by all in determining distances and shooting 
not to show a semblance of cheating. These men, though 



4% PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

» 

rough and uncouth in manner and dress, were the souls of 
honor. 

EARLY TIMES IN WHAT IS NOW DUBOIS COUNTY, INDIANA. 

John and William McDonald were the first permanent 
settlers in Dubois Count}', Indiana. Thej^ moved from 
Clark's Grant in 1802 and settled near what was then called 
the Mud Holes, where Porters ville was afterwards located 
and became the first seat of justice for the county. The two 
McDonalds builded cabins and cleared each a small farm or. 
field. During the summer of 1804 the Indians became so 
threatening- thej^ took their families back to Clark's Grant, 
now Jeffersonville, Indiana. The two men returned, and 
while one of them, with his gun, was secreted in a place 
where he could have a good view of the surroundings, watch- 
ing for the Indians, the brother cultivated their small fields. 
The)' had no feed ,for their horses, but turned them out at 
night to graze on the range, hunting them up in the morning 
to plow. 

In the last of the summer, one of their horses took the 
tires and died; the remaining one was still turned on the 
range at night. One morning the}' failed to hear the bell, 
when William McDonald started to hunt for the horse. Af- 
ter hunting for some time, he found the horse's track and 
found that it had gone in a southeasterly direction. Follow- 
ing along the track for several miles, the horse having gone 
in a straight course, McDonald decided some one had stolen 
the animal. He continued on the trail, coming near the big 
bend in the Patoka river a few miles west of where Knox- 
ville, Dubois County, now stands. When he got near the 
bank of the river he could see a smoke across the end of the 
bend. Creeping up through the underbrush he came in 
sight of a camp and saw three Indians moving around, and a 
little to one side his horse tied to a sapling. Secreting him- 
self in the thick brush, intending to watch awhile and see 
what the Indians were doing there, he had not long been in 
hiding when he heard the voice of a woman crying and 
pleading with some one not to kill her child. Getting in a 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 497 

position to see the camp ag^ain, he saw a burly Indian holding 
a little child two or three years old by the hair with one hand 
and a club drawn back in the other as if to strike it and mak- 
ing pretended blows as if intending to kill the child, the poor 
mother all the time pleading for its life. Another Indian 
came to them and said something in the Indian tongue, when 
the little child was restored to its mother. There seemed to 
be several persons around a bark shed or camp, but McDonald 
did not dare expose himself so he could get a good view of 
them. He quietly slipped back the way he had come until he 
was out of sight of the smoke and then hurried back to his 
cabin. When he arrived there he found eight men eating 
their meal around a fire built a little way to one side of the 
cabin. McDonald hurriedly told his brother of his discovery. 
When the other men were informed of it they became greatly 
excited and asked William McDonald to pilot them to the 
place where he had seen the Indians. They started, taking 
the trail made by the horse and followed it to about one- 
fourth of a mile of the place at which McDonald had left 
them three hours before. It was then about one o'clock in the af- 
ternoon. They held a consultation, agreeing that McDonald 
should pilot them to a point as near the Indians as it was safe 
to go, if they were still there, which he did. They were still 
in camp and the horse was tied to the sapling. Several per- 
sons were seen, some of them walking around, others lying on 
the ground. 

The Kentuckians said there ;^ere seven Indians and that 
the leader or chief was very large, nearly twice the size of an 
ordinary man, and that they had two women and two chil- 
dren prisoners whom they had captured six days before about 
thirty miles south of the Ohio river, crossing the river at 
Yellow Banks, now Rockport, Indiana, and they had followed 
their trail about twenty-five miles north on the trace which 
led to the old Delaware town at the forks of White river. 
Two nights before they had traveled all night on that trace 
and had lost the trail of the Indians. They had been to 
White river and up and down it, but failed to find any trace 
of them. The Kentuckians held a final consultation and it 



498 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

was ag^reed they would circle around the camp, which was 
near the bank of Patoka river, leaving the men so there 
would be a space of about seventy-five yards between them. 
The leader, Captain John Enloe, when he should g^et into a 
position near the river on the opposite side of the camp so he 
could keep the Indians from passing: between him and the 
river, wa« to imitate the scream of a panther, which he could 
do to perfection. This would brings the Indians to their feet. 
Then they were to shoot at every Indian in sig^ht. They were 
about a half an hour g^etting^ around the camp and slipping^ up to 
it before the terrible scream was heard. The Indians rushed 
for their g^uns and started to find the animal, when the rifles 
of the Kentuckians commenced to crack. There were four 
Indians in sight with guns. Three of them were killed and 
the fourth ran down the bank of the river, when young John 
Risley rushed up to the bank of the river to keep the Indian 
in sight until he could load his gun, but he was shot through 
the thigh and badly disabled. Captain Enloe ran up and 
killed the Indian before he could get out of the water; After 
the battle was over the men cautiously advanced on the bark 
tepee. One of the white women came running to where the men 
were and told them that three Indians were in the bark hut;^ 
that an Indian doctor was giving them a sweat bath; that the 
three men were desperately wounded, but the doctor was un- 
hurt. The men surrounded the hut and tore it down. They 
found the Indian doctor dressed in the most outlandish ap- 
parel they had ever seen and the three wounded men, one of 
whom was the big chief. The woman said that two nights 
before they had camped in a rough place where there were 
many deep gorges and that during the night several panthers 
had attacked the party while they were asleep, terribly 
lacerating three of the men before they could beat them oif . 
They had carried the three wounded Indians some distance to- 
that place, made a camp and sent a runner for an Indian doc- 
tor, who had arrived that morning riding McDonald's horse^ 
There were two brothers of the women prisoners in the res- 
cuing party and they were determined to kill the Indian doc- 
tor and wounded Indians, which they did. The eight dead 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 499 

Indians were thrown into a gulch that ran into the Patoka 
river and covered with rocks, logs and brush. The rescuing 
party then went back to McDonald's cabin and remained over 
night. Young Risley rode McDonald's horse and it was sev- 
eral months before he was able to walk again. During the 
night the shoe pacs of the women and the moccasins of the 
men were mended and put in good shape, and next morning 
they took their departure for their Kentucky homes. The 
two women were widows, living together, their husbands 
having been killed the year before in a battle with the In- 
dians. There was a young lady friend visiting the widows 
who was not in the house when the Indians came. She hid 
in a thicket until the Indians were gone, then hurried to the 
nearest neighborhood and gave the alarm. It was a day be- 
fore a sufficient number of men could be gotten together to 
follow so large a number of Indians. 

HUNTING WOLVES. 

The sneaking, snarling wolves were the most despised of 
all animals by the old hunters. They were treacherous and 
cowardly and never could be seen unless they were in such 
numbers as to have a decided advantage. They seldom at- 
tacked a larger animal than a deer or a calf, but when hun- 
gry, they would attack a cow and kill her. 

A farmer who lived on the head waters of Pigeon creek, 
in Warrick County, Indiana, turned his horse out to graze at 
night. The next morning he found the bones only a little 
way from his stable. 

Often when following a wounded deer the hunter would 
find a dozen wolves had cut in on the trail ahead of him. 
They were such a menace that the hunters induced the 
county commissioners to offer a reward for each scalp, big or 
little. This soon thinned them out and provided a source of 
revenue to the hunters. Manv of them would have ten or 
fifteen scalps at a time. Early in the forties Jacob W. Har- 
grove found a wolf den in the hollow of a large tree in west- 
ern Pike County near the Patoka river. There were six pup- 
pies in the den. He had watched several days for a chance 



SOO PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

to kill the old ones, but could never see them. He went to the 
bed one evening and marked the puppies' ears with his mark. 
That night the old wolves moved them and the next day the 
two old ones were killed on Smith's Fork of Pigeon Creek, at 
least ten miles as the bird flies from their den on the Patoka 
river. They were killed by Jacob Skelton and his son John. 
They found the puppies, scalped them and took the eight 
scalps to Princeton, where they received eight dollars for 
them. Then they went to the Recorder's office, found the 
marks of Mr. Hargrove recorded, took out one dollar for their 
trouble and sent five dollars to him for the scalps of the six 
puppies which he had marked. 

David Bilderback and Peter Ferguson, who lived in 
Monroe township. Pike county, went to a wolf's den they 
knew of, intending to kill the puppies and get the reward 
then paid for them. Bilderback stationed himself beside a 
tree at the entrance of the den, to shoot any old wolves 
should they be attracted by the cries of their puppies. Fer- 
guson entered the den and began the work of killing the pup- 
pies and cutting oflF their ears. The old wolves came at him 
in a terrible fury, having heard the puppies' cries, but no shot 
was heard, and Ferguson barely escaped with his life. He 
rushed for his gun, standing against a tree, and saw Bilder- 
back up a sapling calling to the wolves, *'Be gone! Be gone!" 
They drove the old wolves away without succeeding in kill- 
ing any of them. Ferguson finished scalping the puppies 
and received the reward. 

Along in the ^'forties" there was a class of hunters who 
took to the sporting side of the chase. In every neighbor- 
hood solneone would own a pack of long-eared fox hounds. In 
hunting with them a large number of men and sometimes 
women, too, would follow the hounds, imitating the old 
English fox hunt. On the trail of the red and grey fox the 
dogs would continuously give ven,t to the old hound *'balloo!" 
which could be heard for miles. Many of these hunts would 
take in a large territory. The dogs would run thirty or forty 
miles in a zig-zag direction across the country. These dogs 
were used for coon-hunting in the night and the woods were 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. . 501 

in an uproar almost every night. The dogs would often go 
out of their own accord and chase deer, foxes and other ani^ 
mals for hours at a time. It was not long after these dogs 
became common in this country until the deer were all gone 
or nearly so. The incessant noise in the woods drove the 
deer back to the wilder sections of the country. The hounds 
thinned out the foxes, to the great advantage of those raising 
chickens and geese, which was a very difficult proposition at 
that time. People did not house their chickens at night, as 
they do now, but let them roost on the fence, in the apple 
trees and other places, as they chose. 

At this time geese were raised. Nearly every family itt 
the country would have from twenty to fifty head, and unless 
they were penned up every night, the foxes and wildcats 
would carry them oif . At that date they were very valuable 
property in several ways. Their feathers were in large de- 
mand and they yielded a large amount each year. Every six 
weeks they were ready for plucking, and many a woman car- 
ried black and blue marks on her arm from one plucking to 
the next, pinched there by the goose as he was being robbed 
of his downy coat. The feathers brought a good price at the 
trading places. In remote sections the peddlers carried their 
wares around in wagons and exchanged their goods for 
feathers. Many families purchased the greater portion of 
their needed supplies with them. Transition from the leaf, 
brush, straw and skin-covered couches to the soft featherbed, 
the most luxurious couch man ever lay on, was a great ad- 
vancement in the comforts of life. At an earlier date there 
were a great many of these people who resorted to many ex- 
pedients to have a better bed than was in general use, and in. 
some cases they succeeded very well. ^ 

Mrs. Nancy Davis, who lived to be more than a hundred 
years old and resided in Pike County, Indiana, tells how she 
obtained a good bed in the early days. After she moved to- 
the section where she raised her large family, they had 
nothing but brush and skin beds. There were five boys in. 
the family, who spent most of their time during the fall and 
winter in hunting, and each day, by agreement with their 



502 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

mother, would brings home one or more turkeys. The mother 
picked the fine feathers off and in a short time had several 
gfood beds for her family. In after years, when they could 
raise g^eese, she had as many as two hundred at a time, and 
with the money she received from the sale of the feathers, en- 
tered three forty-acre tracts of land. 

EARLY DAYS AROUND SPRINKLESBURG, NOW NEWBURG, INDIANA. 

Major John Sprinkles made the first settlement in south- 
western Warrick County in 1803. At that time there was a 
settlement at Redbanks, now Henderson, Kentucky, and a 
few people scattered along the south bank of the Ohio river 
in Kentucky. A little above where the Major settled was a 
Shawnee Indian town which was scattered for several miles 
up and back from the river. This band of Shawnees was un- 
der the control of Chief Seeteedown, who, for an Indian, was 
very well-to-do, having large droves of horses and cattle. 
These Indians at that time were very peaceable with the few 
white persons who lived in that section. During the year 
1807 two young cousins of the Major's came down the Ohio 
river in a boat, intending to make a visit' and then go on to 
the Illinois country. The two young men were there for 
some time with the Major, roaming through the woods. 
They had come from the old settled section of Pennsylvania 
and everything seemed new and strange to them. 

In the fall, when the deer were at their best and the bear 
fat upon the mast, the Major and his two kinsmen weilt a 
little way back from the river and. made a camp, intending to 
have a week's hunting. They had been hunting two or three 
days when the two boys had an experience, the marks of 
which they carried to the end of their lives. They had been 
following a drove of deer for some time, when they came 
upon an old bear and two cubs eating acorns under a white 
oak tree. One of the boys shot one of the small bears, knock- 
ing it down. The old mother and the other little one ran off. 
It seemed that the little bear was only stunned and was not 
fatally injured and was soon up, staggering around. The 
young men ran up to it, intending to finish it with their 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 503 

"hunting knives. They laid their guns down, but had not 
quite reached the place where the young bear was until the 
old mother came at them savagely. 

They attempted to get their guns, but before they suc- 
ceeded, the old bear knocked one of them down. The other 
got his gUTl, but it was empty, and rushing at the bear that 
was fighting his brother, he struck it on the head with the 
gun barrel. The bear knocked the gun out of his hands with 
such force that it broke his arm. The other brother, though 
l)adly wounded, got his gun and attempted to shoot the bear 
in the head as it was biting his brother, but his aim was so 
bad that he only slightly wounded it, and it then turned on 
him and knocked him down, biting his legs in a fearful man- 
ner. The boy with the broken arm stabbed the bear many 
times with his hunting knife and finally hurt it fatally. It 
started, however, to follow its two cubs, but had gone only 
about a hundred yards when it laid down and died. The 
young men were found by the Major and taken to camp and 
then to his cabin, where they were for several months before 
they were able to be out. This experience satisfied them and 
cured their roving dispositions and they returned to their 
Pennsylvania homes. 

In 1812 the Indians were very bad and everybody had to 
live in forts. The one which was in the neighborhood where 
Major Sprinkles lived had a number of families in it, consisting 
of the Hayes, Lynns, Sprinkles, Alexanders, Darbys, Frames, 
Wests and Roberts — in all, more than thirty-five persons. It 
was not regarded as safe for any to live outside of the forts 
during that year from the first of June to the last of No- 
vember. 

There was a young girl who lived with one of these 
families who was expecting a sister from central Tennessee. 
She was very uneasy about her, fearing she had been cap- 
tured by the Indians. Late one evening, just before dusk, a 
whining, piteous cry was heard, which did not seem like the 
scream of the panther, as it was continuous. This girl 
heard the noise and declared it was the cry of her sister, and 
nothing could stop her from going out to it. Before the men 



504 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

in the fort realized her intentions, she was running in the di- 
rection of the noise. Three of the men got their rifles and 
hurried after her. They were uncertain what it was, think- 
ing it might be the ruse of the Indians trying* to imitate the 
cry of a woman or child to draw some of the people into an 
ambush. The men had gone nearly a quarter of a mile 
when they heard the most terrible scream of a panther 
mingled with the outcry of the unfortunate girl. Hurrying 
as fast as they could, when they located the scream, they 
were very cautious in their advance. Coming to an open 
space, they saw several animals which were biting and 
scratching at the body of the girl they had killed. The men 
killed the old panther and two of the young ones that she, no 
doubt, was trying to teach to scream, which was the cause of 
the peculiar noise they heard. After she had killed the girl, 
she was teaching the young ones how to attack their prey, 
and she would bound onto the prostrate form and bite and 
scratch it. The kittens would go through the same motions, 
and thus had torn her to pieces. 

In 1816 Major Sprinkles laid out the town of Sprinkles- 
burg, which is now known as Newburg, Warrick County, 
Indiana. 

HUNTING DEER. 

The deer were so plentiful that they were to be seen 
every little distance in passing through the forest, sometimes 
in large droves. The reason they were not exterminated 
sooner by the hunters in the rush to secure their hams and 
hides, as were the buifaloes on the open plains of the north- 
west, was that the greater portion of Indiana was a dense 
wilderness, having many thickets of underbrush "So dense 
that they could safely hide in them. There was great skill in 
hunting them. Some would* kill three deer to his neighbor's 
one, who hunted equally as faithfully. 

Early in the twenties Andrew McGregory moved to the 
neighborhood of what is now Somerville, Indiana. The next 
year the two oldest boys, CJeorge and John, put in all their 
time hunting. Thart winter they sold enough venison hams 
to come to $75.00. The. hams at that time were worth only 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. SOS 

twenty-five cents a pair. They entered forty acres of land 
and had enough to purchase their ammunition, salt and other 
indispensable supplies for the family. 

The next year Georg^e, the oldest son, killed deer, caught 
coons and paid for eighty acres of land, for which he was 
nicknamed '*George, the Deer Killer." The father of these 
boys was from Ireland, coming to this country after he was 
sixty years old. The old gentleman could never become used 
to the many strange things he found on every hand. 

After his son John had a family, the father, who lived to* 
be nearly a hundred years, old, made his home there. He was 
a very industrious man and wanted to be at work all the time^ 
When there was nothing else to do he would wander through 
the surrounding forest looking at the many strange things so 
different from his old home in the north of Ireland. In his- 
wanderings one day he saw a hornets' nest hanging to the 
under side of an elm limb some twenty feet from the ground. 
The old man thought it was a jug and made up his mind 
that he would have it. Relating the experience himself, he 
said: '*Now, just look there — see what strange kind of peo- 
ple we have in this country, go and hang a jug way up in a 
tree. Maybe it has a nip of the creature in it; I will see."^ 
Pulling oif his shoes, he climbed the tree like a squirrel, and 
when he got out on the limb over the nest and was reaching 
under to get the jug, the hornets swarmed out and stung him 
fearfully. The old man let all holds go and fell to the 
ground, which came near killing him. Dinner time came 
and the old man had not yet returned. His son, becoming 
uneasy at his absence, started out to find him. After a long 
hunt he found him near where he had fallen, sitting against 
a log with his shoes off and badly battered. His son, on 
coming up, said, "Father, what in the world is the matter?"^ 
The father said, *'John, this is a fine country. Just see that 
fine jug hanging up there! John, I saw it and I thought it 
such a pretty jug and that it might have a wee drop in it, I 
climbed up to get it, and while reaching under the limb I 
pulled the cork out and a lot of nasty little varmints bit me 
all over my hands and face and knocked me off the limb. 



506 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

Here, John, is your old dad, all battered and bruised. Just 
think what a mean country this is — some joking^ fellow to 
play such an impish trick on a poor old Irishman!" 

All hunters at this time had dog^s, usually of the cur 
breed. When on hunting trips the dogs would go with their 
masters and were used to slow-track the game, but never 
made any outcry and would only go as fast as the hunter when 
slow-tracking. In this way they were very useful, and often, 
in a bear fight, indispensable. 

About eighty years ago a man named Grigsby was re- 
turning from a hunt to his home in the northeast part of 
Spencer County. The pigeons were settling on their roosts on 
the low scrubby ridge oak timber, the acorns of which was 
their food. As he was passing along he heard, a little way 
oif, pigeons, rising and flying and the timber crashing, their 
weight causing large limbs to break off, and sometimes tree 
tops. As Grigsby got nearer the noise, he heard the whining 
cry of some animal. Gk)ing quietly up, he saw an old bear 
and a cub which seemed to be trying to move a heavy limb 
that had fallen. He shot at the bear, but only hit her in the 
top of the shoulder, not disabling her. Before he could re- 
load, she came rushing at him. His dog caught the bear by 
the hind leg, but only stopped her for a moment, and then 
she came at the hunter with all the fury that a wounded bear 
could. The hunter clubbed his gun and there was a battle 
royal for some time, the dog doing his best to help his master 
in the fight. 

Finally the bear knocked the dog down and attempted to 
catch him by ihe throat with her mouth, when the hunter 
thrust his hunting knife into her heart. 

Jacob Zenor, an early settler in Harrison County, went to 
watch a lick for a deer in the early part of the night, leaving 
his two large cur dogs at home. Selecting a location in a thick 
cluster of saplings a short distance from a bushy beech tree, 
he took his stand to watch. He had been there but a short 
time when a panther sprang from the place where it was 
watching the lick in the beech, intending to light on the 
hunter, but the saplings were so thick that its body was 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 507 

stopped before reaching the hunter. At that instant his two 
^ogs came up, having^ followed his tracks. The}' rushed at 
the panther, which sprang back into the beech tree, and was 
killed by Mr. Zenor. Had it not been for his two faithful 
-dog^, the hunter would have been torn to pieces. 



CHAPTER XX. 



FLAT-BOATING. 



After produce of any amount was raised in this country 
it was sold to produce merchants, who took it to New Orleans 
on flat-boats. 

To make one of these boats was quite an undertaking^. 
The first things to do was to procure two g^unwales. They 
were usually made out of large poplar trees and were from 
sixty to eig:hty feet in length. A fine large, straight tree 
was selected, and after it was cut down, two faces of it were 
hewn, leaving it about twenty-four inches thick. Then it 
was turned down on large logs and split in halves, hewn 
down to from twelve to fifteen inches in thickness, thus making 
both the gunwales out of one tree. The two ends were 
sloped from six to eight feet, so that when the bottom was 
on, it had a boat shape, that would run much faster in the 
water. The gunwales were then hauled to the .boatyard and 
placed on rollers. The distance apart which was wanted for 
the width of the boat was usually from fourteen to sixteen 
feet. Strong sills or girders were framed into the gunwales, 
every eight or ten feet and securely fastened there by strongs 
pins. Small girders or sleepers, to receive the bottom of the 
boat, were pinned into the cross sills or girders every eighteen 
inches and even with the bottom of the gunwales. The bot- 
tom was made of one and a half inch lumber, the length ta 
reach from outside to outside of the gunwales, where it was 
securely nailed and then calked. The old Indiana flat-boat 
builders used hemp for calking, driving it into the cracks be- 
tween the edges of the planks with a calking chisel made for 
the purpose. When this was done, another bottom of inch 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 509 

lumber was made over this that held the calking: in place and 
made the bottom stronger. When the bottom was finished, 
it was ready for launching. This was done by having large 
auger holes in the round logs the bottom rested on and turn- 
ing them with handspikes. The ground was always sloping 
toward the river and it did not require much turning until the 
logs would roll down the slope and carry the boat into the 
water. The boat, having been made bottom-upward, had to 
be turned. A large amount of mud and dirt was piled on the 
edge of the bottom, which was intended to sink it. Then a 
check line was fastened to the farthest edge and near the 
middle the line was carried over a large limb or the fork of a 
tree and two or three yoke of oxen hitched to it. When 
everything was ready, the boat was turned right side up. It 
was then full of water, which had to be baled out. The up- 
per framework for the body of the boat was made very se- 
curely and well braced and the siding was nailed on. Strong 
joist* were put on top of the framework from side to side to 
hold the decking. A center girder ran lengthwise of the 
boat and this rested on a post every six or eight feet. This 
girder was a little higher than the outer walls, so that the 
water would run oif the deck. A strong post was fastened in 
a framework made on the false bottom which came up 
through the decking about three feet near each end of the 
boat. Holes were bored in these check posts, so that it Could 
be turned around with long wooden spikes. The check rope 
was securely fastened to these posts and one end of it was 
carried to the bank and fastened. By using the spikes the 
check post would take up the slack and the boat could be se- 
curely landed as near the bank as wanted. There were three 
long oars, the steering oar had a wide blade on the end and 
was fastened to a post near the back of the boat. This oar 
was used as a rudder in guiding the direction of the boat. 
The other two oars were used as sweeps to propel the boat 
and to pull her out of eddies. This crudely fashioned boat 
would carry a large amount of produce. The pork was us- 
ually packed in the boat in bulk; flour, wheat and corn were 
stored on raised floors so as to keep them dry. On small 



SIO PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

rivers when the water was at floodtide, two hundred thou- 
sand pounds of pork, one thousand bushels of corn and many 
other articles of produce would be carried. 

The pioneers made their location where there was plenty 
of g^ood spring water, but at a later date they had two ob- 
jects in selecting their homes: First, to be near a mill or a 
place where there was a good mill-site; second, to be not far 
from a river where a flat-boat could be loaded with produce. 
The money paid for the produce to load the boats brought 
great prosperity to the country. On the lower Mississippi, 
where the great sugar plantations were, there was a great 
demand for this provision. A boat would tie' to the bank 
near one of these immense plantations and would sell the 
owner a half boat-load of meat, corn and flour. 

It took one of these boats a month to run out of the 
Wabash down to New Orleans. They would sell their load of 
produce and then sell the boat. These old boatmen were a 
jolly, generous, light-hearted set of men, and would often 
lash their boats together and float for several days and nights 
in that way on the lower Mississippi. 

This description does not apply to the Pittsburg flat-boat 
men or those from the upper Ohio, running coal barges down 
the river. These were, in many instances, a lot of despera- 
does. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



General Joseph Lane — A Short Biography — Letters. 



General Lane contributed his full share to the military 
gflory which has been won by Indiana soldiers. He was born 
in North Carolina in 1801 and removed with his father to 
Henderson, Kentucky, when he was six years old. Here he 
remained for several years, helping his father. In. 1818 he, 
with his father, moved to Vanderburg: County, Indiana. 
They settled on a farm up the Ohio river not far from the 
town of Newburg. Young Joseph was hired by Judge Glass 
to take charge of a store for him at Rockport, Indiana. He 
was a very popular young man and made friends with every 
one. He had a very kind, genial disposition, and understood 
the rules of business very well for that day. After remaining 
there for a while he purchased a keel-boat and cut cordwood, 
which he loaded into the boat and sold to steamboats. The 
passing boat would take his keel-boat in tow and haul it up 
dr down the river until all the wood that was wanted was 
taken oif and then the boat was cast loose and rowed to 
where he wanted it anchored. 

He engaged extensively in farming, stock raising and 
stock buying. His produce he sold in lower Mississippi and in 
New Orleans, carrying it there by flat-boats, of which he ran 
a great many out of the Ohio river. He carried on farming 
and stock dealing until the Mexican war. He, with others, 
raised the Second Indiana Regiment. The regiment was 
placed in a division commanded by General Zachary Taylor 
and went with that division to Mexico and was there engaged 
in several battles of the Mexican war. 

For gallantry and meritorious conduct he was made a. 



512 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

brigadier-general. After the war he was appointed Governor 
of Oregon. From that state he was elected United States 
Senator. He was also a candidate for the Vice-Presidency on 
the Breckinridge ticket in 1860. He died at Roseburg, Ore- 
j^on, in 1881. 

Three letters are here introduced from General Lane 
i«rhich will be of interest, it is thought: 

Roseburg, Oregon, 

May 15, 1878. 
Col. W. M. Cqckrum, 

Oakland City, Ind. 

Dear Sir: I don't remember of ever having 
seen you, as you must have been a very small boy 
the last of the thirties and up to 1842, the last time 
I visited your father at his Eastern Gibson County • 
home. 

After the war with Mexico I was never in 
Indiana except short periods at a time. As I read 
the Indiana papers, I know of you and that you 
won an honorable title in the war of 1861 and '65. 
Your father and I were friends — yes, real chums. 
I recall so many things of his life and worth that 
it affords, me real pleasure to thus bear testimony 
to his noble manhood and integrity. Many times 
we have run side by side with our flat-boats lashed 
together, in the lower Mississippi, for days at a 
time, having a real, old-fashioned social visit. We 
were not of the same political faith, but I don't 
know that politics were ever mentioned when we 
were together. I was on the boat at the time you 
ask about. The cause of the contention was about 
a bill due the boat for freight from New Orleans 
• for the Davis plantation. As I now recall, it was 
owned by two brothers, Joseph and the Hohorable 
Jefferson Davis. The man who caused all the 
trouble was a hot-headed manager of the planta- 
tion for the Davis brothers. 

There was a wood-yard on the plantation and 
your father's boat, the Otsego, had taken on wood, 
and when the bill was presented the clerk for pay- 
ment, the freight bill was given in part payment. 
This manager was a very important fellow. He 
raved like a maniac, saying that it was an insult to 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 513 

thus force collection for any of their bills and he 
intended to see that the boat did not loose her 
cable or raise her stag^e until the bill was paid in 
full and the}- would paj- the freight bill at their 
pleasure. 

About this time your father, who was captain 
of the boat, ordered the mate to loose the cable and 
raise the stage. The fool manager was rushing up 
and down along the side of the boat and on the 
stage with a Daringer pistol in his hand, ordering 
his wood-yard slaves not to allow the men to loose 
the cable. The Colonel came running down to the 
lower deck with a monstrous gun in his hand, 
and leveling it at the threatening fellow, ordered 
him to put up his weapon and leave the gangway, 
which, after looking into that gun, he concluded to 
do. All the history of myself that would be of 
importance to the general public is easily secured 
b)' )'ou and you can use such of it as will be in line 
with your work. The other questions you asked 
about, I will answer in the near future. 

Very truly yours, 

Joseph Lane. 



RosEBURG, Oregon, 

June 21, 1878. 
Col. W. M. Cockrum, 

Oakland City, Ind. 

Dear Sir: The first time I was ever on the 
site of where the city of Evansville now stands, 
was in 1815. Col. Hugh McGary lived there in 
what was called a faced camp. Soon after this he 
built a hewed log house, which was a very good 
one for that day. The Colonel was a very gen- 
erous man and his latch-string hung on the outside 
at all times for everybody. 

I spent hours going over with him what he 
was pleased to call a fine town-site. At that time 
the evidence of there having been a large Indian 
town at that place was very plain. The ground on 
which the tepees stood was plainly marked. At 
Sprinklesburg, now known as Newburg, there had 
been another Indian town. The Shawnee Indians, 
who were under Chief Seeteedown, had a scattering 
town farther up the river. The western end was 



S14 PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 

just above the Newcome coal mines and there were 
wigfwams over a considerable territory up and back 
from the river. 

There was no cause, except treachery, which 
all Indians were full of, for the Shawnee Indians 
murdering Althea Meeks. He was a very harm- 
less man. It was always believed by those in a po- 
sition to know that the murder was done by a few 
discontented members of that band, aiming" to re- 
move all trace of that family. At the time Chief 
Seeteedown heard of the murder he had a large 
herd of cattle and horses on the range about where 
Boonville now stands, which were all left in their 
hurry to get away. 

A runner was sent up the river to a keel-boat 
crew for help and they volunteered to a man. 
Bailey Anderson organized a posse and Ratclifife 
Boone was put in command of both detachments. 
The Indians were encumbered with their women 
and children and could not make the speed the 
well-mounted soldiers could, and it was generally 
believed that but few of them ever lived to cross 
White river. There was always an undertalk 
that Boone did a good deed and the country was 
well rid of the lazy vagrants. For months after 
the hasty retreat of the Indians, horses and cattle 
were found near old Seeteedown's home. On the 
return of the soldiers all the cattle and horses that 
they could round up were gathered and thirty-five 
head of cattle and ten ponies were given to the 
widow of Althea Meeks. 

Very truly yours, 

Joseph Lane. 

RosEBURG, Oregon, 

June 27, 1878. 
Col. W. M. Cockrum, 

Oakland City, Ind. 

Dear Sir: The adventure you asked me about 
that had been told you by your father was one of 
many which I told him, and I yet remember many 
of a like character which he related to me during 
our long acquaintance. 

At an early day — I think it was in 1817 — I, 
with several other young men, took a contract to 



PIONEER HISTORY OF INDIANA. 515 

raft several hundred logs down the Ohio to Mr. 
Audubon, who afterward became the great ornith- 
ologist. He had a steam sawmill at Henderson, 
Kentucky.