Bartholomew County, Indiana - Chapter 4, 1888

Chapter 4

^^^^ ARTHOLOMEW COUNTY is so situated that m ^pearl}- times the Indians found but little encouran-ement to p^ make it their permanent home. The most of it is low and level and is traversed by sluggish streams that then for a large portion of the 3-ear, overflowed their banks, rendering the adjacent countr)- uninhabitable. These very streams, however, were the highway's traversed b}^ the red man in his light canoe in going from one portion of the country to another. That part of Indiana lying between the White and Ohio rivers and comprising nearly all the eastern and central portion of the State, was occupied b}?- what are known as the Delaware Indians at the time the earliest permanent white settlements were made here. A few other tribes ^vere, however, located within this tract, the most noted of which was, perhaps, the Shawnee. It was to this latter tribe that those two famous Indians, Tecumseh and the Sliawnee Prophet, belonged. A remnant of this tribe occupied that portion of Indiana, lying to the southeast of Bartholomew Count}^, while the Delawares were situated farther to the north. Thus it will be seen that Bartholomew was rather neutral ground on the border between two tribes and was probabl}' visited more often when the impetus of the chase carried the red man beyond his usual boundaries, than through an}' other motive.

The title to the land was, at the period of the settlement in southern Indiana, vested in the Delaware Indians, who had moved to this State in the latter part of the eighteenth centur}', from the eastern part of Ohio. This tribe was at one time one of the most powerful that inhabited the New World, and its fate has been more sorrowful and calculated to excite more sympathy than almost any

Other ill the history of American Indians. Their original h.ome was upon the banks of tlic Dehiware and Sus(|ueliani'ia rivers, from ^which tlie pacific aggression, if so it may be termed, of William Penn and his followers, soon excluded them. In the early jxirt of the^ eighteenth century, they endeavored to abandon the haunts of white men and they took up that westward march which tlie \an of civilization has compelled them to continue to their graves. Their first halt was in Ohio on the banks of the Muskingum and Mahoning rivers, but scarcely had the}- f.imiliarized themselves with the forests of their new tenting ground ere they were again obliged to take up their journey. This last was about the close of the Revolution, at which time they located in Indiana along the White River and Its tributaries. In this region they were at first only tenants by. permission of the Miami Indians, but after a few years' occupation they were acknowledged to be the ostensible owners of the soil. In fact all the tribes that occupied Indiana, excepting the Miamis, were what were known as "permitted" tribes, though in a few years after coming here it was deemed necessary in all treaties pertaining to the ownership, or title of the land, to have the assent and signature of these " permitted " tribes.

The original name of the Delaware tribe of Indians was Lenni- Lennepe, which was substituted for the name by which they are more generally kno\\'n. As a tribe they were more friendly to the whites than many that surrounded them, although they were often found in arms against the early settlers. Their cause for hostility had much more of justice than injustice in most cases, for they were being pushed almost from the face of the earth in order to give room for a more aggressive and enlightened race.

There seems to have been some sort of agreement or understanding between the Delawares and Miamis as to the exchange of territory, for not long after the pioneer had come to Indiana the Miamis abandoned the whole White River country and the lower Wabash Valley, and moved to Ohio, whence the Delawares had come. It is probable that this was done in order to allow the Miamis to reside nearer the British in Canada, whose allies they had been in "the War of the Revolution. In the State history in the forepart of this volume, there can be found much interestinrr

Ixdiax Iiistokv

As stated at the outset of this chapter, Bartliolomew County occupied a rather neutral position, and the surface features Avere such as to render its occupation by a savage race undesirable if not precarious. For these reasons there seems to be but little liistorv that is pureh' local relating to this county. Tlie principal cause for this is, of course, to be found in the fact that comparatively few white people settled in the boundaries of Bartliolomew County prior to the time when the battle of Tippecanoe, together with the termination of the War of 181 2, brought a cessation of open hostilities throughout most of the northwest territor}-. To be sure there were occasional depredations committed by some of the lawless Indians as well as by some of the whites. But nothing of that character seems ever to have occurred in this county of sufficient importance either to excite tradition or to attract the attention of the historian.

One of the outrages of this character, nearest to what is now Bartholomew County, was the " Pigeon Roost " massacre, which occurred September 3, 181 2, within what is now Scott Count3^ There were three men, five women and sixteen children killed at that time, and it spread more terror and alarm throughout the settlements of southern Indiana than all other events that happened during the early history of the State. This bloody tragedy was committed b}' a band of some ten or twelve warriors, most of whom were Shawnees. Dillon, in his " History of Indiana," gives the following: " On the afternoon of the 4th of September, about 150 mounted riflemen, under the command of Major John McCoy, followed the trail of the Indians about twenty miles, when ' the darkness of the night ' compelled them to give up the pursuit. A small scouting part}', under the command of Captain Devault, discovered and made an attack on the retreating, who, after kilHng one of Captain Devault's men, continued their flight through the woods and eluded the pursuit of the scouting party." In order to give some idea of the state of the constant excitement and alarm which attended the early settlers in this vicinit}' about that time, the following account of Mr. Zebulun Collings, who lived but a few miles from "Pij^'con l^oost,'' is <^ivcn: -' The manner in whicli I used to work in those perilous times was as follows: On all occasions I my rifle, toiuahawk and butcher knife, with a loaded pistol, in mv belt. When I went to plow, 1 laid my o-un on the pl:)wed ground and stuck up a stick by it for a murk so that I could i;et it quick in case it was wanted. I had two good dogs. I took one into the house, leax'ing the other out. The one out was expected to gi\e the alarm which would cause the one inside to bark, by which I would be awakened, having my arms alwa\'S loaded. I kept my horses in a stable close to tiie house, having a port hole so that I could shoot to the stable door. During two years I never went from home with any certainty of returning - not knowing the minute I might receive a ball from an unknown hand; but in the midst of all these dangers, that God who never sleeps nor slumbers has kept me." Such were the hazzards of pioneer life in southern Indiana.

In March, 1S13, one man was killed near Vallonia and three wounded. Major John Tipton was then commanding the militia in this part of the State, and in his report to Governor Gibeon he says : " At that time I was not here. On my arrival I took twent}'- nine men and went up Driftwood River, twent3'-five miles. I met a party of Indians on an island in the river. A small skirmish took place and in twenty minutes defeated them, killing one dead on the ground and saw some sink in the river, and I believe all that made their escape by swimming the river, if any did so, lost their guns." This skirmish took place on a small island in the river just south of the Bartholomew Count}' line in what is now Jackson County. It has ever since been known as Tipton's Island.

The treaty b}'^ which the Delawares relinquished all claim to their lands in Indiana was concluded at St. Marys, October 3, 181S. Nearl}' all of it is here given :

Articles of a treat}' with the Delawares at St. Marys, in the State of Ohio, between Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass and Benjamin Parke, Commissioners of the United States, and the Delaware Indians.

Article 2. In considcralionof tlie aforcsaidccs.sion, the United States ai^ree to provide for the Uelawares a country to reside in upon theswest side of the r\Iississippi, and to guarantee to them tlie peaceable possession of tlie same.

Articlk 3. The United States also agree to pay to the Dela- the full value of their improvements in the country hereby ceded, whicli \alualiou shall be made by persons to be ap]iointed for that purpose by the President of the United States, and to furnish the l^ehuvarcs with 120 horses not to exceed in value $40 each, and a suflicient of pirogues to aid in transporting them to the west side of the Mississippi, and a quantity of provisions proportioned to their numbers, and the extent of their journey.

Article 4. The Delawares shall be allowed the use and occupation of their improvements for the term of three 3'ears from the date of this treaty if they so long require it.

Article 5. The United States agree to pay to the Delawares a p'erpetual annuit}' of $4,000, which, together with all annuities which the United States by former treaty agreed to pay them, shall be paid in silver at any place to which the Delawares ma}^ remove.

Article 6. ^ The United States agree to provide and support a blacksmith for the Delawares, after their removal to the west side of the Mississippi.

Article 8. A sum not exceeding $13,312.25, shall be paid b}'- the United States, to satisfy certain claims against the Delaware Nation. * * *

In testimon}' the said Jonathan Jennings, Lewis Cass and Benjamin Parke aforesaid, and the chiefs and warriors of the Delaware Nation of Indians, have hereunto set their hands at St. Marys, in the State of Ohio, this 23d day of October, 181 8.

In accordance with this treaty the Indians were allowed the term of three years in which to prepare for departure, but they did not avail themselves of the full time. The whites began com- ing in rapidly after lliis aiul there was much rivah-v among them in trying to obtain the choice of lands. Ere the three vears had expired, all .that remained of the once powerful, proud and brave Delaware Nation, resumed its journev toward the setting sun. Even beyond the mighty Fatlicr of Waters they ha\e found no permanent resting place. The resisdess tide of American progress has still pursued them. The comniand to further west has again and again sounded in their ears, and the last lone warrior of the Delawares will probabl}' sing his death-song to the wild music of the winds and waves of the Pacilic Ocean. It is sad to contemplate the extinction of a brave though savage and untutored race, but that result is sure and inevitable when it stands in the way of a highly civilized people. Nor can we reall}' regret it when we consider how vastly the amount of happiness in the world is increased. An Indian requires thousands of acres to support his family; on the same territory a hundred happy families of the Caucasian race will find their homes.

From the time when the white men of Europe first landed on the soil of the Western Hemisphere, there has been but little variety in the fate of the Red men. Being an inferior race they have but followed that inevitable law of nature, the survival of the fittest. In the conflict with a foeman race they have succumbed to a civilization they could not attain and to a progress the}"- could not resist.