DeKalb County, Indiana - Biographical sketches (1 of 2 so headed), 1914

First Explorers

After the discovery of America by Columbus in 1492, or, to be exact, when Columbus touched off the coast of Florida, more than one hundred and fifty years were to pass before the white explorers were to touch foot to the soil later embraced within the bounds of Indiana. Colonies were established in Florida. Virginia and Nova Scotia by the rival governments of Europe, but not until 1 670-2 did the first white travelers venture so far into the Northwest as Indiana or Lake Michigan. These explorers were Frenchmen by the names of Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon, who then visited what is now the eastern part of Wisconsin, the northeastern portion of Illinois and probably that portion of this state north of the Kankakee river. In the year following M. Joliet, an agent of the French colonial government, and James Marquette, a missionary stationed at JMackinaw, explored the country around Green liay, and along Fox and ^Visconsin rivers as far westward as the Mississippi, the banks of which they reached on June 17, 1673. They descended this river a short distance and returned by wa\- of the Illinois river. At a village among the Illinois Indians, Marquette and his followers were received with friendly hospitality, and made guests at a great feast of hominy, fish, dog meat and roast buffalo. In 1682 LaSalle explored the West, but it is not known for sure whether or not he entered the territory now embraced in Indiana. He took possession, however, of the whole Mississippi region, in the name of France, and he named it in honor nf the king, Louisiana. Spain at the same time claimed the region around the (hilt of Mexico. Consequently, the two nations clashed.

Early Indian Inhabitants

At this time the country of Indiana was held by the Miami confederacy of Indians, the Miamis proper, originally the Tvvightwees, being the eastern and most powerful tribe. Their villages were few and scattering. These Indian settlements were occasionally visited by Christian missionaries, fur traders and adventurers, but no permanent settlement was risked by the white men. The "Five Nations," farther to the east, comprised the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas. In 1677 the number of warriors in this confederation was two thousand one hundred and fifty. About lyii the Tuscaroras retired from Carolina and joined the Iroquois, and the organization then became known as the "Six Nations." In 1689 hostilities broke out between the Indian tribes and the French colonists of Canada, and the following series of wars served the purpose of checking the grasping policy of Louis XIV, and to retard the planting of French colonies in the Mississippi valley. Missionary efforts, however, continued with more failure than success, the Jesuits allying themselves with the Indians in habits and customs, even encouraging inter-marriage between them and their white followers.

National Policies

The English, who were envious of the French, resorted to every method to extend their territory westward. Both nations secured aid from various Indian tribes, and a bloody and merciless warfare continued for many years. France continued in her effort to connect the Canadian country with the Gulf of Mexico by a chain of trading posts and colonies, which further increased the jealousy of England and really laid the foundation for the French and Indian war, which terminated in the treaty of 1763, at Paris, and by which France ceded to Great Britain all of North America east of the Mississippi river, except New Orleans and the island on which it is situated. The British policy, after getting control of the Indian territory, was still unfavorable to its growth in population. In 1765 the number of French families within the limits of the Northwestern territory did not exceed six hundred. These were in settlements around Detroit, along the Wabash river, and in the neighborhood of Fort Chartres on the Mississippi river. Of these families eighty-five resided at Post Vincennes, fourteen at Fort Ouiatenon on the Wabash, and in the neighborhood of the confluence of the St. Mary and St. Joseph rivers. The colonial policy of the British government opposed anv measures which might strengthen the settlements in the interior of this country, lest they became self-supporting and independent of the mothercountry. Thomas Jefferson, the wise statesman and governor of Virginia, saw from the first that actual occupation of western lands was the only way to keep them out of the hands of foreigners and Indians.

Accordingly he engaged a corps of scientific men and sent them to the Mississippi river, to ascertain the point on that stream intersected by latitude 36 degrees thirty minutes, to the southern line of the state, and to measure its distance to the Ohio. He intrusted the military operations in that quarter to General Clark, with instructions to select a strong position near the named point, and erect a fort and garrison the same for protecting the settlers, and to extend his conquest toward the great lakes on the north. Conforming to his instructions, General Clark erected Fort Jefferson on the Mississippi, a few miles above the southern limit. The result of these operations was the addition to Virginia of the vast Northwest territory. The fact that a chain of forts was established by the Americans in this vast region convinced the British commissioners that we had entitled ourselves to the land. During this time the minor events were transpiring outside the territory in question which later promoted the settlement in what is now known as Indiana.

George Rogers Clark Expedition

George Rogers Clark, some time in the spring of 1776, a resident of Kentucky, but a native of Virginia, formulated a scheme of more rapid settlement in the great Northwest territory. That part of Kentucky was occupied by Henderson and Company, who pretended to own the land and set a high price on the same. Clark doubted the validity of their claim, and wished to make a test of it, and adjust the control of the country so that settlements might be fostered. He called a meeting of the citizens at Harrodstown, to assemble June 6, 1776, and consider the claims of the company, and consult with reference to the interests of the country.

This meeting was held on the day appointed and delegates elected to confer with the state of Virginia as to the propriety of attaching the new country as a county to that state. Many causes prevented a consummatinr of this object until the year 1778. Virginia was favorable to the enterprise, but would not take action as a state. Governor Henry and a few others, however, assisted Colonel Clark all they could. Clark organized an expedition and took in stores at Pittsburg and Wheeling, and proceeded down the Ohio to the falls, where he buih some light fortifications.

was a daring task for Colonel Clark with his small force of men to go up against it at Kaskaskia as he had planned. Some of his men, becoming alarmed at the critical situation, deserted him. He conducted himself so as to gain the sympathy of the French, and through them, the Indians to some extent, as both were very bitter against the English who had possession of the lake region. He took Kaskaskia first, and succeeded by kindness in winning them to his side. It was difficult, however, for him to induce the French to accept his paper, continental money, in payment for provisions. Colonel Vigo, a Frenchman, who had a trading establishment there, came to the rescue, and prevailed upon the people to accept this paper. Colonel Vigo sold cofifee at one dollar per pound and other goods in proportion.

The next post was Vincennes, defended by Fort Sackville, an important possession to gain. Father Gibault. of Kaskaskia, who also had charge of the church at Vincennes, being friendly to the Americans, used his influence with the people of the garrison, and won them to Clark's standard. They took the oath of allegiance to Virginia and became citizens of the United States. Clark had concluded treaties with several Indian tribes, and placed Captain Leonard Helm, an American, in command of Vincennes. On learning the .successful termination of Clark's expedition, the general assembly of Virginia declared all of the settlers west of the Ohio organized into a county of that state, to be known as Illinois county ; but before the provisions of the law could be made effective, Henry Hamilton, the British lieutenant governor of Detroit, collected an army of thirty regulars, fifty French volunteers, and four hundred Indians and moved upon and took Post Vincennes in December, T778. Captain Helm and a man named Henry were the only Americans at the fort, the only members of the garrison. Helm A\as taken prisoner and the French disarmed.

Upon hearing of the taking of Po.st Vincennes, Clark, who was still at Kaskaskia, determined to retake the place. He gathered together about one hundred and seventy men. and on February 5th started from Kaskaskia, crossing the stream of the same name. The weather was wet and the lowlands covered with water. He had to subsist on such game as he could kill en route. The men underwent great privations, wading through acres of water to their hips, and suffering intensely with the cold. However, Colonel Clark shared all of the hardships of the men and asked nothing of them which he would not undergo himself. They reached the little Wabash on the thirteenth, and two days were occupied in crossing the swollen stream. They found the roads no better, but marched down and reached the Big Wabash on the seventeenth of the month. The next two days were consumed in attempting to cross the angry stream. Finally canoes were constructed and the entire force crossed the main stream, and then found the lowlands entirely under water and ice which had formed recently. His men refused to proceed. All of Clark's persuasions had no effect upon the half starved men. In one company was a small drummer-boy and also a sergeant who stood six feet and two inches high. Clark ordered him, the sergeant, to mount the boy on his shoulders and plunge into the water. He did so, and the small drummer beat the charge from his position, while Clark, sword in hand, followed. This maneuver was electrical, and the men, with a cheer, followed their leader. On arriving within two miles of the fort Clark halted his men and sent in a letter demanding surrender, to which he received no reply. He next ordered Lieutenant Bayley, with fourteen men, to advance and fire on the fort, while the main body of men moved in another direction and took possession of the strongest portion of the town. Clark then demanded Hamilton's immediate surrender, on penalty of being treated as a murderer. Hamilton refused indignantly. Fighting began and continued for over an hour, when Hamilton proposed a three days' truce. Clark, characteristically, sent word that nothing but unconditional surrender was satisfactory. In less than an hour the surrender was dictated by General Clark. This was on February 24, 1779.

Of this expedition, of its results, of its importance, as well as of the skill and bravery of those engaged, a volume could well be written. The expedition has never been surpassed in modern warfare, when we consider that by it the whole territory now included in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan was added to the Union, and so admitted by the British commissioners in the treaty of peace in 1783. But for the result of this expedition our western boundary would have been the Ohio instead of the Mississippi. Clark reinstated Captain Helm in command at Vincennes, with instructions to subdue the marauding Indians, which he did, and soon comparative quiet prevailed on Indiana soil. The whole credit of this conquest belongs to Colonel Clark and Francis Vigo.

Northwest Government

By the conquest of Colonel Clark, Indiana came within the territory belonging to Virginia. In January. 1783, the General Assembly of the Old Dominion resolved to cede this territory to the general government of the United States. The proposition made by Virginia was accepted by the government and the transfer made early in 1784. The terms were that Virginia was to be reimbursed for all expenses incurred in exploring and protecting settlers in the territory; also that one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land should be granted to the soldiers who, with Colonel Clark, had made the famous expedition. After all these matters had been attended to, in the spring of 1784, the matter of governing this section of the west was referred to a committee of Messrs. Jefferson, of Virginia, Chase, of Maryland, and Howell, of Rhode Island, which committee, among other things, reported an ordinance prohibiting slavery in the territory after 1800. but this article of the ordinance was rejected. The Ordinance of 1787 has an interesting history. Much controversy has been indulged in as to who is really entitled to the credit of framing it. This undoubtedly belongs to Nathan Dane ; and to Rufus King and Timothy Pickering belongs the credit of having inserted the anti-slavery clause which it contained. Mr. Jefferson had vainly tried to secure a system of government for the Northwest territory excluding slavery therefrom. The South, however, invariably voted him down.

In July 1787, an organizing act without the slavery clause was pending, which was supposed to secure its passage. Congress went into session in New York City. July 5th, Rev. Manasseh Cutler, of Massachusetts, came to Niew York in the interests of some land or speculators in the Northwest territory. He was a courtly gentleman of the old school type and had gotten into the confidence of the Southern leaders. He wished to purchase five million, five hundred thousand acres of land in the new territory. Jefferson and his administration desired to make a record on the reduction of the public debt, and this was a rare opportunity. Massachusetts' representatives could not vote against Cutler's scheme, as many of their constituents were interested in the measure personally; Southern members were almost committed. Thus. Cutler held the key to the situation, and dictated tenns, which were as follows :

3. Be it forever remembered that this compact declares that religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always be encouraged.

Dr. Cutler planted himself on this platfrom and would not yield, stating that unless they could procure these lands under desirable conditions and surroundings, that they did not care to purchase. July 13, 1787, the bill became a law. Thus the great states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were consecrated to freedom, intelligence and morality. October 5, 1787, Congress elected General Arthur St. Clair governor of the North- west territory. He assumed his official duties at Marietta and at once proceeded to treat with the Indians and organize a territorial government. He first organized a court at Marietta, consisting of three judges, himself being president of the court.

The governor, with his judges, then visited Kaskaskia for the purpose of organizing a civil government, having previously instructed Major Hamtramck at Vincennes to present the policy of the new administration to the several Indian tribes and learn their feelings. They received the messenger with a cool indifference, which, when reported to the governor, convinced him that nothing short of military force would command compliance with the civil government. He at once proceeded to Fort Washington to consult with General Harmer as to future action. In the meantime he intrusted to the secretary of the territory, Winthrop Sargent, the settlement of the disputed land claims, who found it a hard task, and in his reports states that he found the records so falsified, vouchers destroyed, and other crookedness as to make it impossible to get at a just settlement, whicli but again proves that the "graft" of the twentieth century existed decades before this word had been coined.

The general court in 1790 passed stringent laws against the sale of intoxicating liquors to Indians and also to soldiers within ten miles of any military post; also prohibiting any games of chance within the territory.

The consultation between St. Clair and General Harmar ended by a decision to raise a large military force and thoroughly chastise the Indians about the head of the Wabash river. Accordingly. Virginia and Pennsylvania were called upon to muster eighteen hundred men at Fort Steuben, and, with the garrison of that fort, join the forces at Vincennes under Major Hamtramck, who proceeded up the Wabash as far as the Vermillion river, destroying villages, but without finding an enemy to oppose him. General Harmar, with one thousand four hundred and fifty men, marched from Fort Washington to the Maumee, and began punishing the Indians, but with little success. The expedition left Fort Washington September 30th, and returned to that place November 4th. having lost during that period one hundred and eighty-three men killed and thirty-one wounded. General Harmar's defeat alarmed as well as aroused the citizens in the frontier counties of \'irginia. thinking the Indians might invade that state.

The governor of Virginia called out the militia along the upper borders of that state; at the same time Charles Scott was appointed brigadier-general of the Kentucky militia now preparing to defend the frontiers of that state. This excited Congress and a war hoard was appointed, consisting of five members. March 9, 1791, General Knox, secretary of war, wrote to General Scott recommending an expedition against the Indians on the Wabash. March 3, 1791, congress invested Governor St. Clair with the command of three thousand troops, and he was instructed by the secretary of war to march to the Miami village and establish a strong and permanent military post. After that was accomplished he was to seek the enemy with all his available forces and make them feel the effect of the superiority of the whites.

St. Clair And Wayne Expeditions

Although seriously damaged, the Indians were far from subdued. The Canadians and English along the border gave them much encouragement. In September, 1791, St. Clair moved from Fort Washington with a force of two thousand men and a number of pieces of artillery. November 3d, he reached the headwaters of the Wabash, where Fort Recovery was later built, and here the army camped, consisting of one thousand four hundred effective men. The following morning the army advanced and engaged a force of twelve hundred Indians. Here the American army was disastrously defeated, having thirty-nine officers and five hundred and thirty-nine men killed and missing, twenty-two officers and two hundred and thirty-two men wounded. Several pieces of artillery and all their provisions were taken from them. The property loss was estimated at thirty-two thousand dollars. There has always been some disposition to blame General St. Clair for this awful defeat, but his recent biographer, John Newton Boucher, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, proves conclusively that he was not to blame. Be that as it may, he resigned his commission after that battle and the work was taken up by General Anthony Wayne, of Revolutionary fame, who organized his forces at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and in October, 1793, moved westward at the head of an army of three thousand six hundred men. He proposed an offensive campaign. The Indians still held that the Ohio river .should be the boundary line between the United States and their lands.

Major-General Scott, with about sixteen hundred volunteers from Kentucky, joined the regular troops under General Wayne on July 26. 1794, and on the 28th the united force began their march for the Indian towns on the Maumee river. Arriving at the mouth of the Auglaize, they erected Fort Defiance and on .\ugust 15th the army advanced toward the British fort at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, where on the 20th, almost within reach of the British, the American army gained a decisive victory over the combined forces of the hostile Indians and a considerable number of Detroit militia. The number of the enemy was estimated at two thousand, against about nine hundred American troops actually engaged. As soon as the action began this horde of savages abandoned themselves to flight and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving Wayne's victorious army in full possession of the field. The Americans lost thirty-three killed and one hundred wounded ; the loss of the enemy more than doubled this number.

The army remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and corn fields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol shot of the British garrison, who were compelled to remain idle spectators to this general devastation and conflagration, among vi^hich were the houses, stores and property of Colonel McKee, the British Indian agent, and general stimulator of the war then existing between the United States and the savages. On the return march to Fort Defiance the villages and corn fields for about fifty miles on each side of the Maumee were destroyed as well as those for a considerable distance around that post.

Origin Of Fort Wayne

September 14, 1794, the army under General Wayne commenced its march toward the deserted Miami villages at the confluence of St. Joseph and St. Mary's rivers, arriving October 17th, and on the following day the site of Fort Wayne was selected. The fort was completed November 22d and garrisoned by a strong detachment of infantry and artillery under the command of Colonel John F. Hamtramck, who gave to the new fort the name of "Fort Wayne." In 1814 a new fort was built on the site of this structure. The Kentucky volunteers returned to Fort Washington, and were mustered out of service. General Wayne, with the federal troops, marched to Greenville and took up his headquarters during the winter. Here, in August,

1795, after several months of active negotiation, this gallant officer succeeded in concluding a general treaty of peace with all the hostile tribes of the Northwestern territory. This treaty opened the way for the flood of immigration for many years, and ultimately made the states and territories now constituting the mighty Northwest.

Up to the organization of the Indiana territory there is but little history to record aside from those events connected with military affairs. In July,

1796, after a treaty was concluded between the United States and Spain, the British garrison, with their arms, artillery and stores, were withdrawn from the posts within the boundaries of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, and the detachment of American troops consisting of sixty-five men under the command of Captain Moses Porter took possession of the evacuated post of Detroit in the same month.

In the latter part of 1796 Winthrop Sargent went to Detroit and organized the county of Wayne, forming a part of the Indian territory until its division in 1805, when the territon,^ of ]\Iichigan was organized.

Organization Of Indiana Territory

On the final victory of the American amiy in 1796 the principal town within what is now the state of Indiana was \^incennes, which comprised only fifty houses, but presented a thrifty appearance. There was also a small settlement where now stands Lawrenceburg, and several smaller settlements around trading posts, and the total number of civilized inhabitants in the territory was estimated at four thousand eight hundred seventy-five.

Indiana territory was organized by act of Congress May 7, 1800, the material features of the ordinance of 1787 remaining in force and the people were invested with all the rights and advantages granted and secured by that ordinance.

The seat of government was fixed at Vincennes. May 13, 1800, William Henry Harrison, a native of Virginia, was appointed governor. John Gibson, of Pennsylvania, was made secretary of the territory. General Harrison called together the first territorial legislature or council March 3, 1801. From this time to 1810 the chief questions under discussion were land speculators, African slavery and the hostile views of the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, and his brother, the wily Prophet.

Up to this time the sixth article of the Ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery, had been somewhat neglected and many French settlers held slaves ; many slaves had been removed to slave-holding states. A session of delegates elected by popular vote in the new territory, petitioned Congress to revoke the sixth article of the old ordinance. Congress failed to grant this as well as many other similar petitions. When it appeared from a popular vote in the territory that a majority of one hundred and thirty-eight were in favor of organizing a General Assembly, Governor Harrison, on September II, 1804, issued a proclamation, and called for an election to be held in the several counties of the territorv' January 3, 1805, to choose members of the House of Representatives, who should meet at Vincennes, February ist. The delegates were duly elected and assembled as ordered, and they perfected plans for territorial organization and selected five men who should constitute the legislative council of the territory. The first General Assembly or Legislature of the territory met at Vincennes July 29, 1805.

July 30th the governor delivered his first message to the council and House of Representatives. Benjamin Park, who came from New Jersey in 1 80 1, was the first delegate elected to Congress.

The first newspaper published within the territory of Indiana was the Western Sun, first issued at Vincennes in 1803, by Elihu Stout, of Kentucky, and first named the Indiana Gasette, but changed to the Sun July 4, 1804.

In 1810 the total population of Indiana was 24,520. There were then reported 33 grist mills, 14 saw mills, 3 horse mills, 18 tanneries, 28 distilleries, 3 powder mills, 1,256 looms, 1,300 spinning wheels; value of woolen, cotton, hemp and flax cloth, $150,059; of nails, 30,000 pounds; of wine from grapes, 96 barrels, and 50,000 pounds of maple sugar.

The territory of Indiana was divided in 1809, when the territory of Illinois was erected to comprise all that part of Indiana territory west of the Wabash river and a direct line drawn from that river and Vincennes due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada. For the first half century after the settlement Vincennes grew slowly.

The commandants and priests governed with almost absolute power; the whites lived in peace with the Indians. The necessaries of life were easily procured ; there was nothing to stimulate energy or progress. In such a state of society there was no demand for learning and. science. Few could read and fewer still could write their own names ; they were void of public spirit, enterprise or ingenuity. Not until the close of the war of 1812 and 1814 did Indiana take on her vigorous growth, and since then she has kept pace with her sister states. In 181 5 the total white population was sixty-three thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven. February 13, 1813, the Legislature in session at Vincennes changed the seat of government to Corydon. The same year Governor Posev was appointed to take Governor Harrison's place, for he was engaged in subduing the enemies of this country.

Up to 1811 a man must own at least fifty acres of land before he was entitled to cast his vote. To become a member of the council he must possess five hundred acres of land, and each member of the Legislature must needs own two hundred acres.

In 1814 the territorv was divided into three judicial districts. The governor appointed the judges and the compensation was fixed at seven hundred dollars per annum. The same year two banks were authorized.; the

Mechanics Bank of Madison, with seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the Bank of Vincennes, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars.

State Organization 1816

The last territorial Legislature convened at Corydon in December, 1815, and petitioned Congress for authority to adopt a state constitution and maintain a state government. The President approved the bill, and Indiana was made a state. The following ]\Iay an election was held for the selection of delegates to a constitutional convention. That body met at Corydon. June 15th to 29th, John Jennings presiding, and William Hendricks acting as secretary.

The representatives in the constitutional convention were able men. The constitution they there formed for Indiana in 1816 was in no wise inferior to that of any other commonwealth in the Union to that date.

The first state election was held the first Monday in August, 1816, and Jonathan Jennings was elected governor, Christopher Harrison, lieutenant governor, and William Hendricks, representative to Congress.

The close of the war of 1812 and 1814 was followed by a great rush of immigrants to the new state, and in 1820 the state had more than doubled its population, having at this time one hundred forty-seven thousand one hundred and seventy-eight. From 1825 to 1830 was one of prosperity in Indiana. Immigration continued to come in rapidly, the crops were excellent, and the hopes of the people raised higher than ever before.

The Last Of The Indians

In 1830 there still remained on Indiana soil two tribes of Indians, the Miamis and Pottawatomies. These were much opposed to moving to territory farther west. This condition of unrest was used by the celebrated warrior. Black Hawk, who, hoping to receive aid from the discontented tribes, invaded the frontier and slaughtered the settlers. Others fled from their homes and a vast amount of property was destroyed. This was in 1832 and was known as the Black Hawk war. The invaders were driven away with severe punishment and when those who had abandoned their homes were assured that the Miamis and Pottawatomies did not contemplate joining the invaders, they returned and again took up their peaceful vocations. In 1837-8 the Indians were all removed to a country west of the Alississippi, and very soon land speculations assumed large proportions.

Internal Improvements

The matter of making public improvements in Indiana began to be freely talked of as early as 1818, and continued in favor until 1830, when the people became much excited over the question of railroads.

In 1832 work on public roads and canals was really commenced, the Wabash and Erie canal being the greatest of such undertakings. Thirty-two miles of this canal were completed during that year.

During 1836 many other projected works were started, and in 1837, when the governor took the executive chair, he found a reaction among the people in regard to the gigantic plans for public improvements. The fear that a state debt was being settled on their shoulders took hold of the people from which they could never free themselves. The state had borrowed $3,820,000 for internal works, of which $1,300,000 was for the construction of the \\'abash and Erie canal, the state to pay annually $200,000 interest on her public debt, and the revenue derived which could be thus be applied amounted to only $45,000 in 1838.

In 1839 all work ceased on these improvements with one or two e.xceptions, and the contract surrendered to the state in consequence of the act of the Legislature providing for the compensation of contractors by the issue of treasury notes.

In 1840 the system of improvements embraced ten different works, the most important of which was the Wabash and Erie canal. The aggregate length of this system was one thousand two hundred and eighty-nine miles. Of this only one hundred and forty were completed. In 1840 the state debt amounted to eighteen and one-half million dollars. In 1850 the state, having abandoned public improvement, private capital and enterprise pushed forward public work, and although the canal served its day and age, it was finally superseded by the railroads, which now form a network over the state. When water transportation was in vogue Indiana had one of the most extensive and complete systems in the Union.