Ogle County, Illinois - Chapter 4, 1859

We have keretofore followed the movements of the French, who were making bold advances and sustaining severe losses, while the English, although they were with the most jealous carefulness the operations of the French, were comparatively inactive. Previous to 1750, no English settlement had been made West of the Alleganies, although Great Britain claimed the territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on the ground that the right secured by the discovery of the coast was a title of ownership to the whole country; and she also claimed the interior by right of actual discovery and by her purchase of it from the Indian owners. Among the discoveries made by the English, we notice, first, that of John Howard, who, tradition says, left Virginia in 1742, crossed the Alleganies, and descended the Ohio in a canoe of buffalo skins to the Mississinpi, where he was taken prisoner by the French. This is the first well authenticated account we have of the English explorations of the Ohio and Mississippi. Six years after, Conrad Weiser was sent from Philadelphia to Logstown, an Indian village on the Ohio, to gain the friendship of the Western savages by presents and professions of good will toward them. There had doubtless, been English traders along the Ohio some time previous to this expedition of Weiser; indeed, we have reason to believe that they had penetrated so far, as early as 1725, although there is no evidence which fixes the earliest date with any «8itainty. The country west of the Alleganies had, for a long time, to a great extent, been under the pow^er of the Iroquois, a combination of six nations, who had by rirtue of war gained possession of what is now Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, some of British America, and even beyond the Mississippi. In 1684, at a treaty meeting held at Albany, this cor^federacy placed itself under the protection of the British government, and sold to the English a vast tract of country south and east of the Illinois River, and extending across Lak« Huron into Canada."* The six: nations, also, in 1726, signed a deed which placed their lands in the possession of the British, ''to be protected and defended by his Majesty to and for the use of their heirs."f France by the treaty of Utrecht had agreed not to invade the country of Britian's Indian allies, and she certainly was justified in expecting the French to respect their obligations, and in claiming her own even by force of arms. The question of the extent of the posseasioas of the Iroquois arises here, which, with the claim of prior discovery by the French, leaves it a matter of investigation, whether or not the claims of the English were right, which we purpose to leave to others more curious.

Some of the country in question is said to have actually been purchased by the British, which fact was also put forward to substantiate their claim. This purchase was made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at a council which commenced its session on the 22(1 of June, 1744, and lasted until the fourth of July. At this ConventieiR the Commissioners from Maryland paid 'for the land purchased £220, in Pennsylvania currency; and those from Virginia (paid £200 in gold and as much goods, promising more as settlements extended.* It was to fulfil this promise, as well as to " prospect" for settlements in the West, that Weiser made his expedition in 1748. France made every possible effort to drive back her rival without resorting to open war. In 1749, M. de Gallissoniere sent a party of soldiers under Louis Celeron, to place leaden plates, on which were inscribed at length the claims of France, in the mounds and at the mouths of the riversf in the disputed tterritories, which, with various other plans tto establish their claims, proved unavailing. Companies were formed to colonize the West, which met with British support without regard to French claims. In 1748, the " Ohio Company" presented their petition to the king for a grant of land beyond the mountains, in answer to which petition the Governor of Virginia was directed to grant to the company a half a million acres of land beyond the mountains, in the Virginia Province. We find in the list of the members of this company, the name of George Washington, then little knswn to fame. The

*The alleged purchase at Logstown was sturdily resisted by the Iroquois, as also the Lancagter treaty claim, as a fraud. It was never admitted by the tribes of the Six Nations. See » tract ottUed " Plain Thoughts."

Loyal Company received a grant of eight hundred thousand acres of land, on the 12th of June, 1749; and on the 29th of October, 1751, the Green Briar Company received a grant of one hundred thousand acres.

Thus the clouds were gathering for the storm, the conflicting elements in which were none other than the two proudest nations of the Old World, whose stage of action was this whole broad continent. The French fanned the flame already kindled in the breasts of the red men against their eastern invaders, while the English showed that stern determination which only is attended with success. The French in 1759 began to strengthen certain points on the Upper Ohio, from which the lower posts might be easily attacked, and opened a line of communication from Erie to the Allegany, on which road, at the head of Frencix Creek, they built a fort. Early in 1752, the French demanded of friendly to the English, the surrender of some traders who were established on the Miami, in the Twigtwees' country. These Indians could not thus easily be frightened to deliver their friends into the hands of their enemies, and consequently an attack ensued. Assisted by the Ottawas and Chippewas, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives were killed and many more wounded, the French captured the post and carried the traders to Canada as prisoners.* settlement west of the ruountaias. Blood ; had been shed; the French grew more I zealous to blockade every avenue of approach, and the British, with a more fixed determination, prepared for the coming contest. Crown Point, Niagara, Bivuere de Boeuf and the junction of the Mo:nongahela and Allegany Bivers immediately became the sites upon which were located French forts, which were speedily garrisoned, and the Governors of the American provinces were commanded to drive away the French intruders from these posts by force of arms. In the same year, 1754, Washington, with four hundred men, was sent from Virginia to establish military works on the Lanks of the Oliio. Every American history has enlarged upon the achievements if this period, and it is scarcely necessary for us toxepeat them. General Braddock soon arrived with a large force, and the seven years' war was fairly commenced. Speaking in this connection. Hart, in his "History of the Valley of the Mississippi," «ays :

"This vfixr vcas ostensibly begun to assert the rights ©f each nation to the territory icest of the mountains, but it was, in fact, a contest i'9i- supremacy throughout all the Nortli Ameri- /4.aJ|;;clomiuiQns. It began amidst the wi.ountainjj!f.sses of the Alleganies; it ended on the Plains 'of ;Vbvaliam. The struggle was not of long %-.ration, but it was effectual, and afibrded a 'ionviiicing proof of the valor and prowess of "TittjiEiT^lish soldiers, and their superiority over iheir Frevoh opponents. Nor in this trial of _.!Y;iAS.a|;8,iyp to obliterate the i»cmory of the services wiiich the old English colonists of America rendered to tlieir ancestors' in their endeavors to destroy French domination in .i.Uis CO mtry. How far they were repaid fer their services, history has not failed to mention; and while the memory of their achievements will forever be fixed in the minds of their countrymen, it will be accompanied by the melancholy reflection that they afterwards met with nothing but contumely and insult from that very power on whose behalf they were enlisted. The course of time and the progi-ess of events have wiped away many of those asperities which formerly existed between the people. of America and the mother country; and neither the one nor the other can ever obliterate from the hearts of Americans tho memory of those unrequited services, which their gallant ancestors rendered in behalf of England in the wild solitudei of the West.

"It was neither the 'Stamp Act' nor the *Tea Duty' which aroused the sense of wrong at the hands of England among the American people. These may have been the proximate cause, but there were others more remote which served to increase that feeling of indignation at the evils they had endured from their hard taskmasti^rs. The Colonists contracted a debt of ten millions to assist England in the war of 1754, and, if we may judge from the remonstrances of our ancestors, whose memorials were sent home to the British Parliament, they felt the ingratitude of England in witliholding payment of this debt, and the recognition of more brilliant exploits they liad performed during the memorable period."

We have said that the " seven years' war" was fairly commenced, and indeed, it was, although not formally declared until the following year, 1766. The story of the arrival of Braddock, his assuuiing command cf all the British forces, including those of the colonies, his unskilful management and unhappy defeat, his barial in the road, although it forms aa important link in our history as occurring the year previous to the Declaration of War, is too familiar to need delineation.

The destruction of life now became the employment of the living, and conspicuous among the annals of this 'period are the records of the gallant deeds of Wolfe and his brave companions, the destruction of Fort Duquesne, Washington's march through the Chestnut Ridge and tlie hazardous defence of Lewis and Bullitt, the fall of Montcalm, one of the bravest and noblest Frenchman of the age, before British bayonets at Quebec, the surrender of Montreal and the massacre of Michilimackinac, the details of which, time and, space forbid our repeating.

On the IGth of February, 1762, a treaty was ratified at Paris by virtue of which England became possessor, not only of tbe colonies on the Atlantic, but the Canadas and that part of Louisiana lying east of the Mississippi, excepting the town of New-Orleans and the adjacent territory. In consideration of Havana and a greater part of Cuba, which the British had conquered, they, by the same treaty, acquired the Floridas from Spain. By a secret treaty of the same date, the country lying West of the ^lississippi, and which was designated by the general appellation of Louisiana, was ceded by France to Spain.*

It will be seen that this treaty, vague and ambiguous in its terms, gave rise to constant collisions between the subjects of the Europeaa governments, and was the source of almost endless discussions

*The terms of this secret treaty have n-ever been rtiade known. On the third day of the preceding November, France ceded to Spain all her territories on the west side of the river, including the island and town of New-Orleans, which cession was accepted by the latter power OE the 13th of the same month. - Hart's History.

between the authorities of our own government and Spain; for, by the treaty of 1762, Great Britain ceded East Florida, and guaranteed West Florida to the crown of Spain.

"In the phraseology of diplomatists, uoth ing could have been more uncertain than the limits assigned by the treaty of 1103. The right of navigating the Mississippi was for a long time a disputed point between England and Spain, and the space of twelve years was consumed in negotiating upon that and other subjects of boundary. It appears strange, that in the furthest recesses of the forest^ where settlements originated out of that spirit of enterprise and industry which animated the bosoms of the early pioneers, their interests should have been so seriously affected by the wily intrigues of skilful diplomatists, but so it was ; and we have seen that even the case of Langlade,* the English government had to

*Etherington, a British major, who was in possession of Fort Mackinac, April, 1 763, gave authority to the Langlade family, of French descent, to make their permanent residence at Green Bay. Lieutenant Governor Sinclair repeated this permission in I7S2. Founded under the auspices of the French government, encoui-aced and sanctioned by the rigorous and arbitrary power of the Britisli crown, this, an infants settlement of the now populous State of Wisconsin, became so fli-mly rooted that to this day the descendants of Sieur Augustin de Langlade, who became the principal proprietor of the po:.t of Green Bay m 1750, are living there ; and thesucc>?eding generations have preserved uncorrupted the polished manners and pure idiom of their native tongue, brought hither ft-om the French court by their educated and highminded ancestor.

AVe mention in this connection the settlement of Prairie du Chien, which, with that of Green Bay, dates its rise from the middle of the eighteenth century, and the other settlements of Wisconsin which we have incidentally or otherwise referred to, all of which increased in wealth and population, aiid nsw some of these are the most prominent locations in the State. Minnesota, too, the youngest member of our Confederacy, was the wonted field of the pale-face, who wandered over its fertile plains in quest of the prey which had long been that of the red man, and her earliest settlements date as far back as 1750, a few years previous to which time her soil was fh-st. broken by L'Huiller on the banks of theMankato, who with the pickaxe and spade undertook to find vast beds of copper which he imagined were lying under her surface. Captain Jona-

; grant permission t* tlie subject of a foreign -government to take up his abode on tlic shores -of Lake Superior. The right of occupation, acquired after long years of toil and hardship, Tvas "hy them considered subordinate to that had been gained in war and on the battle field.

"Have we not reason to be thankful for the enlightened spirit and policy of our own free institaiioQS which guaranteed to the stranger as well as 'to the native the protection of our laws a-ad governmenf? Yet such was the poli- pursued by the European government in many periods of their political existence, that alieae^were not allowed to abide in the country without thie special permission of the crown. Sudh, however, does not seem to have been the «ase under the cession of Louisiana to Spain. It be ueimembered that this secret treaty was mot the 'result of any wai-like operations between tfce two governments, and thus the Catholics inh&Vitants «f Louisiana seemed to be the -objects of the -special care and solicitude of the French monan-ch.

"In a letter signed by the French King, dated April 21st 1764, addressed to M. D'Ab- "badie, Director-GeHeral and Commandant of Louisiana, he informs him of the treaty of ces- -sion, and directs hiia .to give up to the officers -of Spain the country and colony of Louisiana, together with the city of New-Orleans' and all the military posts. He expressed a desire for the prosperity and peace of the inhabitants of the Colony and his confidence in the affection and friendship of the king of Spain, He at the same time declared his expectation that t,he ecclesiastical and religious bodies, who had the care of the parishes and missions, would .continue to exercise their functions; that the Superior Council and ordinary Judges would continue to administer according to the laws,

Can-er also explored this country in I7G6, and claimed a settlement from a gift «-hich he pretends to have received jfrom the Indians ; and among those of ths present century whom we are to regard as pioneers in promoting the early .and rapid settlement, and who are prominent among the explorers of this territory, stand ^i»> names of Cass and NIcoIet, Fremont and Long, forms and usages of the Colony; that the inhabitants would be maintained and preserved in' tlieir estates, which had been granted to them by the Governors and Directors of the Colony, andthat finally, all these grants, though not confirmed by the French authorities, would becon^' firmed by his Catholic Majesty.

"Although this letter was dated April, 1764',. it was not until the year 1768 that Spain exercised any permanent jurisdiction over the territory thus acquired by hex-.

"In the year 1766, Don Ulloa arived with s detachment of Spanish troops, and demanded possession of M. Aubey,the succeessor of D'Abbadie, who was deceased. ThJs functionary, aided by the people, opposed the design of Spain. They complained that a transfer without their consent was unjust, and, in a moment of irritation, resorted to their arms, and obliged the Spaniards to measure their steps to Havana."

On the 17th of August, O'Reilly arirved froTi the East and took potsession of the Colony without a show of resistahce. By his authority six of the malcont3nt8, had been prominent in the measures of 1766, were immediately hung, and six more were doomed to the dungeons of Cuba.

The French established their eettlements in Upper Louisiana, on the west branch of the Mississippi in 1766, one of which was the foundation of the present city of St. Louis; these were subjected to Spanish rule in 1770.

For years succeeding the signing of the secret treaty, the government of Spain in the Southwest presents a series of panoramic changes, interesting but painful to contemplate, and which fall just beyond the scope of our present undertaking.

Balanced, as it were, between the two great powers of Europe in the West, the Indian tribes of tliis country had been flattered and coaxed, hired and befriended hj both parties, each in the hope of gaining » predominance of power by inducing them to become its allies; and when, for a passing period, either had been more successful, it was not slow to ,place in their hands European implements of warfare, and to instruct them in European arts '©f destruction. When, therefore. Great Britain was the only power to be met in the defence of their sacred hunting grounds, and when they could .clearly perceive that, should that power .consult its own best interests, the fiaal <exterminatioR of their race must be inevitable, they were prepared to strike with the blow, which, should it be successfal, would leave to them tho boundless fields which the G-reat Spirit had gi\en them. Illy did they count the cost of measuring arms with the British Lion.

Pontiac, an Indian Chief, whose name will ever stand among those of Logan, Blackhawk, Tecumseh, Philip and the like, in the archives of American history^ sueeeeded, after the peace of 1763, in banding against the common foe, the Hurons, the Ottawas, the Chippewas and the Pottawatomies of the North, and the Shawnees, the Sakies, the Cherokees and several other prominent nations of the South, to extirpate from the land, whether by fair or foul means, these their enemies who had made such startling in. roads upon t'le interior.

in the North. crying, "Why,saystheGreat Spirit, do you suffer tliese dogs in red clothing to enter your country and take the land I have giyen you? Drive them from it; drive them. Wlien you are in distress, I will help you." That voice was heard, but not by the whites. The unsuspocting; traders jom-neyed from village, the soldiers in the forts shrunk from the from the san of early summer, and dozed away thedays; thefrontiersettler, singing in fancied security, sowed his crop, or, watching the sunset through the girdled trees, mused upon one^ more peaceful harvest, and told his childrea of the horrors of the ten years' war, now,, thank God I over. From the Alleganies to. the Mississippi the trees had leaved, and all was calm life and joy. But through that country, even then, bands of sullen red men were journeying from the central valleys to the lakes and the eastern hills. Bands of Chippewas gathered about Michilimackinac. Ottawas iilled the woods near Detroit. The Maumee post, Presqueisle, Niagara, Pitt, Ligednier, and every English fort was hemmed in by mingled tribes, who felt that the great battle drew nigh which was to determine their fate, and the possession of their noble lands. At last the day came. The traders everywhere were seized, their goods taken from them, and more than one hundred of them put to death. Nine British forts yielded instantly, and th« savages drank, 'scooped up in the hollow of their hands,' tht blood of many a Briton, The border streams of Pennsylvania and Vir-. giniaran red again. 'Wehear,' says aletterfrom Fort Pitt, 'of scalping every hour.' In Western Virginia, twenty thousand people were driven from their homes."

As speedily as possible, a force was sent to the West under Maj. George R. Clark, and with him Pontiac signed a treaty of peace, which, however, on his part, was only an act of deception. Despite his tricks and traps, the three most prominent forts of the West wore uncanquereil in the fall of 1763 ; old animosities among the Indians revived ; gradually their ranlks became disjointed and broken, and Pontiac, with a few followers, was incapable of completing the task so courageously began. The British government, having taken conciliatory steps towards those whom she acknowledged, had, in many cases been defrauded of their rights, a treaty of peace was concluded at Detroit, on the 21st of August, 1764, when more than twenty tribes were present, all of whom sued for peace. Subsequently very little of importance was effected by hostile Indians under the great Chief, while treaties were being made through the whole Northwest by which peace was being secured.

Pontiac was killed by a Kaskaskian Indian while in the act of rallying his dismembered army at a ''Great Council." At the beginning of the difficulties between the Colonies and the mother country, Shegenaba, the sou of Pontiac, ^Yho in his youth had saved the life of a young Virginian who had wandered in the woods, and had lost his way, notwithstanding the endeavors of Hamilton, the Governor of Detroit, to frighten him from his purpose by telling him that only assassination would await him, appeared before the Virginia deputies, where, after reciving many presents and warm proifessions of friendship, he addresssed them as follows :

"Fathers, after the insinuations of the Com. mandent of Detroit, I accepted your invitation Tvith distrust, and measured my route with -trembling feet towards this 'Council of Fire.'* ' *A Council where he had come to light the calumet of

Your reception proves his falsehood, and that my fears were groundless. Truth and him have been a long time enemies. My father and many of my chiefs have lately tasted the bitterness of death.

The memory of this misfortune almost destroys my quality of man in filling my eyes with tears. Your sensible compassion has relieved my heart of this heavy burden, and the remembrance will be transmitted' to the remotest posterity. Fathers, I rejoice at what I have just now heard, and I shall faithfully relate it to my nation. If for the future you wish to speak with me, I shall ret^urn with pleasure, and I thank you for my present invitation. The particular friendship which yDu expressed toward me, and the gun which you liave given me for the care I took of your young friend Field, exact my most heartfelt gratitude. I feel that I did nothing but my duty. He who simply does his duty merits no praise. If any one of your nation should visit mine, either from curiosity or on business, or should be involuntarily thrust among us by the strong hand of the conqueror, he will ever meet the same reception which your brother received. Y'ou have assured me that if my nation should visit yours, they will be welcome. My fears have ceased. I have no longer any doubts. I will recommend our young men to visit yours and make their acquaintance. Fathers, what has passed this day is too profoundly engraved on my heart for time over to efface it. I predict that the sun's rays of this day of peace will warm the children of our children, and will protect them against the the tempests of misfortune. As a guarantee of what I say, I present you my right hand - this hand, which has never been given without the heart consented, which has never shed human blood in peace, nor spared an enemy in war; and I assure you of my friendship with a tongue which has never jested with truth, since I have been of that age to know that falsehood is a crime."

With tliat spirit of progress wliich has ever characterized the English pioneers of early history, bold men were contiuuaily pressing forward to the Ohio and Mississippi, and making practical discoveries in the West. Among the earlier of these are the names of Geo. Croghan, whose expedition terminated in 1785, Ebenezer, Silas and John Zaues of 1769, and somewhat later, of Boone, Henderson, Lowther, Fiuley, Bullitt and McAfees; while, notwithstanding the nany treaties of peace, single and combined tribes of Indians were holding in terror of the toauihawk, the whole power of advancing civilization. Drops of ink on parchment and paper might conciliate the executive of governments, but cuuld not heal the sores that were made at Qnebec and Pittsburg, or render an equivalent for the wounded pride of the French inhabitants from the ''seven years' war." These were continually instigating the natives against the pioneers, and many a life was taken to satisfy their malice. It was not, however, French instigation that led to the memorable battle at the juncture uf the Kanawha with the Ohio,so much as injustice 0:1 the part of the colonists toward those Indians with whom they were in a state of professed peace. In this battle, which took place on the 10th of October, 1774, there were no less than 215 killed and wounded of the colonial army, including among the killed three Colonels, five Captains, three Lieutenants and several subalterns. The loss of the Indians could not be estimated, as the bodies of their dead were immediately thrown into the Ohio. It must, at all events, have been much greater than that of the whites, as they were at length compelled to seek safety in flight, which they would have been the last ta do, had not their numbers been reduced to a hopeless extremity.

Peace was effected by Ix)rd Dunmore,, the traitor governor of Virginia, who was smoothing the way, that he might succeed in the plot of uniting the Indians, with Great Britain against the Colonies-