Elkhart County, Indiana - Chapter 3: Lords of the Soil Expelled, 1916

Algonquins and Iroquois Traditional Enemies - Miami Confederation IN Indiana - The Pottawattamies - Miamis, Most Powerful Western Indian Nation - French Missionaries Among the Indiana Miamis - ^The Fur Traders - Enter the English - Harrison, Great Indian Treaty Maker - Final Treaties - Along the Primitive Highways - Great Indian Trails - The Old Chicago Trail - The Pottawattamies OF THE St. Joseph Valley - In the '30s - Still Clinging to St. Joseph Valley - Last Band Leaves in 1840 - Two Famous Pottawattamie Chiefs.

Northern Indiana was never subjected to Indian ravages directed against the whites, as that section of the state was mainly occupied by the Miamis, especially the Pottawattamies. The Jesuit missionaries established some of their first missions among the latter tribe. The largest of these was at their chief village, Chitchakos, near the Tippecanoe River.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Algonquin family of Indians occupied a vast region of territory in North America. They occupied all that territory from 37° to 53° north latitude and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. Their territory was bounded on the northeast by the Esquimaux, on the northwest by the Athabascan tribes, on the west by the Dacotahs and on the south by the Cherokees and Natchez Indians. This family was made up of numerous tribes, resembling each other in manners, customs and dialects. Within this same territory dwelt some other tribes, differing essentially from the Algonquins. The

^^'he^ the first white man invaded the soil of Indiana he found here several tribes, sometimes living at peace with each other, but more often at war. Indiana was then the seat of the great Miami Confederacy. This Confederacy has been organized as against that of the Iroquois, or Five Nations. When the Iroquois had reached the Atlantic and found that they could go no farther east, and felt the western tribes still pushing them, they formed a Confederacy of five of the largest tribes, for the purpose of protecting themselves and driving back toward the setting sun those who were following in their wake toward the east. Individual tribes had sought to gain a foothold on the eastern side of the mountains, but had been repulsed by the Iroquois Confederation, and they, too, in turn made a union.

Among the principal tribes which formed this Miami Confederacy, in Indiana, where the Twightwees, Weas, Piankeshaws, and Shockeyes. They had fought many and bloody battles with the Iroquois, and had been worsted in the contest, and had been greatly reduced in numbers by the tiriie the white man first invaded their territory. They dwelt in small villages along the various water courses, from the lakes to the Ohio River. The Piankeshaws occupied the territory east of the Wabash and north of the Ohio, as far east as Lawrence County, and as far north as Vigo. The Wyandots had a little section comprising what is now Harrison, Crawford, Spencer, Perry, Dubois and Orange counties ; the Shawnees occupied the land east of the Wyandottes into the present State of Ohio, and as far north as Rush and Fayette counties ; the Weas had their possessions along the Wabash with their principal villages near where Lafayette now stands; the Twightwees were principally located along the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers ; the Pottawattamies held the whole northern part of the state, and the Dela wares the central-eastern part. One branch of the Shawnees had villages in the country to the south and east of that occupied by the Weas.

The Pottawattamies were at one time a very powerful and warlike tribe, any of the tribes made war on the Americans the Pottawattamies were sure to be found taking up the tomahawk. They united with the French as against the British; with other tribes, to fight the British, and with the British as against the Americans. They were at Harmar's defeat, at the overthrow of St. Clair, and were among the fiercest of those who fought Mad Anthony Wayne. Some of them took part in the defeat of Colonel Crawford and danced around his burning body. They joined Pontiac in his conspiracy, and Black Hawk when he opened up the last Indian war east of the ^lississippi. They were always among the first to make peace with the whites, and also among the first to take up the tomahawk again. Some of them fought at Tippecanoe and some at the battle of the Thames. They were finally moved west of the Mississippi. They claimed all northern Indiana, and southern Michigan. A few of the tribe still linger in Michigan.

The Aliamis were the most powerful nation or confederation in the West. They had been gradually migrating toward the East, when they met and had to battle with the Iroquois, who were just then being driven westward by the advancing Europeans. They settled in what is now the State of Ohio, and as this was the natural highway to the Mississippi Valley from the East, the Iroquois made many determined efforts to drive them away. The wars between the two nations were frequent and bloody, and as the Iroquois were the first to receive arms from the white man, they usually had the best of it. The :Miamis had a varied migratory experience. They were among the finest of all the race of Indians, and proudly called themselves "Men." In fact, that was their real name. They were "men," warriors, statesmen, men above all the other tribes. They were met everywhere in the West; around Superior, the upper Mississippi, and in Ohio and Indiana. They were heroic, warlike. They had long and bloody contests with the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes, until only the Miamis and Weas were left. The rest had been scattered. In 1669 they were mostly found around Green Bay, Wisconsin. From there most of them soon moved to Chicago, and then to the St. Joseph of the Lake, and then to the head of the Maumee, and there their principal villages were located. In 1680 the Iroquois declared war against the Illinois, who had been the friends and allies of the Miamis, and the wily Iroquois for awhile disarmed the suspicions of the Miamis. In 1682 war again was declared. By this time La Salle was a leading spirit among the Indians of this part of the country, and by his influence the Miamis, Shawnees, Weas, Illinois and Piankeshaws were gathered around his fort on the Illinois River. The Iroquois vainly endeavored to overthrow this formidable confederation. By this effort of La Salle, all the Indians had been drawn away from Indiana, and the Miamis did not return until 1712.

Around the Maumee and the Wabash they thereafter lived until finally they yielded their lands to the whites. A few of their descendants still remain in Indiana. The Miamis were not as lazy as most of the tribes, and raised corn, small fruits and vegetables. They had one peculiar feature. Some civilized nations have had their public executioners, whose duty it was to execute all criminals, and this office was a sort of hereditary one. So it was with the Miamis. They frequently condemned their captives to be eaten, and this eating was all done by one family, trained for that purpose, and the office remained in the same family generation after generation. The eating was always done in public, and was surrounded by certain religious rites and ceremonies. The last victim known to have been killed and eaten was a young Kentuckian who was thus disposed of at the Miami village near the present site of Fort Wayne.

In 1765, just after the territory northwest of the Ohio River was ceded to the British by France. Col. George Croghan, an Indian agent of the Province of Pennsylvania, visited the various tribes, and made the following statement in reference to the tribes then found occupying the territory :

"Twightwees (Miamis), two hundred and fifty fighting men, reside on the Miami (Maumee) River, near Fort Miamis; hunting grounds where they reside.

"Putawatimes, one hundred and fifty fighting men; Ottawas, one hundred and fifty fighting men ; reside near St. Joseph's ; hunting grounds thereabouts."

In 1670, and for many years previous, the fertile region of country now included within the boundaries of the State of Indiana, was inhabited by the Miami Confederacy of Indians. This league consisted of several Algonquin tribes, notably the Twightwees, Weas, Piankeshaws, and the Shockeyes, and was formed at an early period - probably in the early part of the seventeenth century - for the purpose of repelling the invasions of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, at whose hands they had suffered many severe defeats. By the frequent and unsuccessful wars in which they were compelled to engage, in self-defense, their numbers had become greatly reduced, until, at the date mentioned, they could not muster more than 1,500 or 2,000 warriors. They dwelt in small villages on the banks of the various rivers in Indiana, and extended their dominion as far east as the Scioto, north to the great lakes, and west to the country of the Illinois. Their principal settlements were scattered along the headwaters of the Great Miami, the banks of the Maumee, the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, the Wabash and its tributaries. Although once important among the nations of the lake region, they had become greatly demoralized by repeated defeats in war, and when first visited by the French, their villages presented a very untidy appearance. They were living in constant terror of the Five Nations, practicing only sufficient industry to prevent starvation, and indulging all their vicious passions to the vulgar extreme.

Almost immediately following the discovery and exploration of the Mississippi, by La Salle, in 1682, and a few years later by James Marquette, the government of France began to encourage the policy of connecting its possessions in North America by a chain of fortifications, and trading posts, and missionary stations, extending from New Orleans on the southwest, to Quebec on the northeast. This undertaking was inaugurated by La Motte Cadillac, who established Fort Pontchartrain, on the Detroit River, in 1701.

At this period the zealous Jesuit missionaries, the adventurous French fur traders, with their coarse blue and red cloths, fine scarlet, guns, powder, balls, knives, ribbons, beads, vermillion, tobacco, and rum; and the careless rangers, or coureurs des bois, whose chief vocation was conducting the canoes of the traders along the lakes and rivers, made their appearance among the Indians of Indiana. The pious Jesuits held up the cross of Christ and unfolded the mysteries of the Catholic religion in broken Indian to these astonished savages, while the speculating traders offered them fire water and other articles of merchandise in exchange for their peltries, and the rangers, shaking loose every tie of blood and kindred, identified themselves with the savages, and sank into utter barbarism.

The Jesuit missionaries were always cordially received by the Miami tribes. These Indians would listen patiently to the strange theory of the Savior and salvation, manifest a willing belief in all they heard, and then, as if to entertain their visitors in return, they would tell them the story of their own simijle faith in the Manatous, and stalk oft' with a groan of dissatisfaction because the missionaries would not accept their theory with equal courtesy. Missionary stations were established at an early day in all of the principal villages, and the work of instructing and converting the savages was begun in earnest.

The order of religious exercises established at the missions established among the Miamis was nearly the same as that among other Indians. Early in the morning, the missionaries would assemble the Indians at the church, or the hut used for that purpose, and, after prayers, the savages were taught concerning the Catholic religion. These exercises were always followed by singing, at the conclusion of which the congregation was dismissed, the Christians only remaining to take part at mass. This service was generally followed by prayers. During the forenoon the priests were generally engaged in visiting the sick, and consoling those who were laboring under any affliction. After noon another service was held in the church, at which all the Indians were permitted to appear in their finery, and where each, without regard to rank or age, answered the questions put by the missionary. This exercise was concluded by singing hymns, the words of which had been set to airs familiar to the savage ear. In the evening all assembled again at the church for instruction, to hear prayers, and to sing their favorite hymns. The Miamis were always highly pleased with the latter exercise.

early French missionaries were among them, the traveler's attention would first be engaged with the peculiarities of the fur trade, which, during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, was monopolized by the French. This trade was carried on by means of the carriers, or rangers, who were engaged to conduct canoes on the lakes and rivers, and to carr}' burdens of merchandise from Detroit to the principal Miami villages, where the traders exchanged their wares for valuable furs, which they transported to the nearest trading post affording them the most available market. This traffic was not, however, confined to those whose wealth enabled them to engage vessels, canoes, and carriers for there were hundreds scattered through the various Indian villages of Indiana, at almost any time during the first half of the eighteenth century, who carried their packs of merchandise and furs by means of leather straps suspended from their shoulders, or with the straps resting against their foreheads.

Rum and brandy were freely introduced by these traders, and always found a ready sale among the Miami Indians. A Frenchman, writing of the evils which resulted from the introduction of spirituous liquors among these savages, remarked: "The distribution of it is made in the usual way; that is to say, a certain number of persons have delivered to each of them a quantity sufficient to get drunk with, so that the whole have been drunk over eight days. They begin to drink in the village as soon as the sun is down, and every night the fields echo with the most hideous howling."

In those early days the Miami villages of the ^laumee, those of the Weas about Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and those of the Piankeshaws, around Vincennes, were the central points of the fur trade in Indiana. Trading posts and missionaries had frequently visited them. A permanent mission, or church was established at the Piankeshaw village, near \'incennes, in 1749, by Father Meurin, and in the following year a small fort was erected there by order of the French government. It was in that year that a small fort was erected near the mouth of the Wabash River. These posts soon drew a large number of French traders around them, and in 1756 they had become quite important settlements, with a mixed population of French and Indian.

The siege of Detroit was conducted by Pontiac himself ; but this post, as also Fort Pitt, withstood the storm of Indian vengeance until the forces of Colonel Bradstreet on the one hand, and Colonel

Bouquet on the other, brought relief to the tired garrisons. The British army penetrated the Indian country, and forced the savages to a treaty of peace, and on the fifth of December, 1764, a cessation of hostilities was proclaimed.

From this date until 1774. the Indians who occupied the country northwest of the Ohio River remained at peace with the English, although in the meantime many English colonists, contrary to the proclamation of the king, the provisions of the treaty, and the earnest remonstrances of the Indians, continued to make settlements on Indian lands.

When the British extended dominion over the territory of Indiana by placing garrisons at the various trading posts in 1764-65, the total number of French families within its limits did not probably exceed eighty or ninety at Vincennes, about fourteen at Fort Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, and nine or ten at the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Mary's rivers, near the Twightwee village. At Detroit and in the vicinity of that post, there were about one thousand French residents, men, women and children. The remainder of the French population in the Northwest resided principally at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher, and in the vicinity of these villages ; and the whole French population, northwest of the Ohio, at that time did not exceed three thousand souls.

When Gen. William Henry Harrison was appointed governor of the Northwest Territory, he was invested with general powers to make treaties with the various Indian tribes, and to extinguish by such treaties the titles of the Indians to the lands within the territory. He was very active in this matter and negotiated several treaties, acquiring with each large tracts of land. In 1802 he got from the Miamis and Pottawattamies large tracts in the vicinity of Vincennes, on the Wabash. In the next year at a treaty negotiated at Vincennes, he secured about one million six hundred thousand acres from the head men of the Delaware, Shawnee, Pottawattamie, Eel River, Kickapoo, Piankeshaw and Kaskaskia tribes. During the same year he negotiated at \'incennes another treaty with the

Kaskaskias by which the government secured about eight million and six hundred thousand acres, lying on the borders of the j\lississinewa and Illinois rivers. In August, 1S04, at a treaty concluded at Vincennes, the Delawares and Piankeshaws relinquished their claim to the tract of country lying between the Wabash and ' Ohio rivers, and south of the road which led from \'incennes to the Falls of the Ohio. In 1805 the Delawares, Pottawattamies, Miamis, Eel Rivers and Weas ceded a large tract on the Ohio River, and in December of the same year the Piankeshaws ceded about two million six hundred thousand acres lying west of the Wabash River. By these treaties the United States had acquired the title to all the Indian lands along the Ohio River from the mouth of the Wabash to the western line of the State of Ohio. In i8og Governor Harrison obtained from several of the tribes, by a treaty concluded at Fort Wayne, about three million acres, lying principally on the southeastern side of the Wabash River, and below the mouth of Raccoon Creek, in what is now Parke County. Governor Harrison, by his several treaties had acquired for the government, about twenty nine million seven hundred and ten thousand five hundred and thirty acres of land. Tecumseh, and his brother, the Prophet, rejected the treaty of Fort Wayne, and refused to be bound by it. The next treaty was in 1S18, when the Delawares ceded all the lands claimed by them in the present boundaries of Indiana, but they reserved the right to occupy the land for three years after signing the treaty. Between that and the year 1840, when the Indian title to the last of the lands claimed by them in Indiana was extinguished, thirty-three separate treaties were negotiated.

It will thus be seen that the process of extinguishing the Indian titles was a slow one, and that the Indians were not finally dispossessed until after Indiana had been a member of the Union for nearly a quarter of a century. In most of these final treaties certain tracts were reserved by the Indians for favorite members of the tribes, and are yet known as "reservations," although about all the lands have passed to other persons than the descendants of the original beneficiaries. A few descendants of the Miamis still live in Wabash and Miami counties.

As above stated, the Miamis, by treaty of October 23, 1826, ceded all their claim to land in Indiana, lying north and west of the Wabash and Miami (Maumee) rivers, except six small tribal

September 23, 1836, various bands of the Pottawattamies ceded the lands reserved for them by the treaty of 1832 (being all their remaining lands in Indiana).

By the treaty of November 28, 1840, the United States agreed to convey this tract to Me-shing-go-me-sia, son of Me-to-siu-ia, in trust for the band. By act of Congress approved June 10, 1S72, this reserve was partitioned among the members of the band, sixtythree in number, and patents issued to each of them for his or her share. This ended all the Indian tribal titles to lands in Indiana.

What is now Elkhart County was along the primitive highways of travel, which were rudely traced before the coming of the white man, between the populous Indian regions of the Northeast and the North and that grand western outlet toward the Mississippi, the Valley of the Illinois. To use a homely illustration, when you "cut across lots" you instinctively select the path of the easiest grades - the line of the least resistance. So it has always been with the migratory routes across the United States, or any other country, whether selected by Indians or whites, afoot, horseback or in wagons ; whether by canal builders or railroad engineers. It is the old story of a study in the saving of labor, which is at the basis of progress and civilization.

What is now Northwestern Indiana was a very important section in the Great Short-Cut from the lands of the Chippewas and the Iroquois, from the territories of the Sacs and Miamis and Pottawattamies, to the prairies of the lUini and the Sioux.

As Lakes Erie and Michigan obtruded themselves southward from the Great Chain and the most populous and fertile districts of the East were in a latitude not far from their southem extremities, while the teeming prairies of the West lay in substantially the same zone, it was inevitable that the continuous migrations induced by wars and racial pressures should be along the comparatively easy grades. By water and by land, generation after generation, these migrations poured along, from East to West, and no strip of soil has been more ceaselessly worn by man and beast than that which lies betwen the foot of Lake Michigan and the banks of the Kankakee and the St. Joseph rivers.

A famous Indian route was known as the Sac Trail, and crossed Northwestern Indiana in a generally southwesterly direction to Joliet, which marked the western limits of the Sac country. From the main Sac trail a branch struck southward near the Lake of the Red Cedars and across Lake Prairie to the rapids of the Kankakee at the present site of Momence, Illinois. Another trail came in from the East and hugged the shores of Lake Michigan, leading to Fort Dearborn, afterward Chicago. The last named was much used by the Pottawattamies. Indians, traders, travelers, scouting parties, military expeditions and frontiersmen passed along these trails before the wagons of the pioneers widened them out with their wheel tracks.

It is an unprofitable matter of conjecture as to how early the dusky children of the Upper Lakes region commenced to make tracks across the country bordering Lake Michigan on their way toward the Mississippi Valley, or when the Iroquois and other eastern tribes begun to push in along their own trails.

But it is quite certain that the intrepid and executive La Salle, with his companions and followers, was the first white man to test these Indian trails, which even in his time (1680) were old. The waters and the marshes of the Kankakee, alive with water fowl, muskrats and mink, must have been a welcome sight to the chevalier, who had as sharp an eye for the fur-trade as for exploration and discovery. We also remember how he united the tribes of the Ohio and Illinois valleys against the invading Iroquois, and it must have been largely along these trails, not far from the southern shores of Lake Michigan, that the Miamis, Pottawattamies and other tribes of the Middle West migrated, to afterward gather in the Valley of the Illinois under La Salle's leadership and make such an effective stand against their fierce enemies of the East.

As the St. Joseph Valley was the acknowledged keynote to the settlement and development of Southwestern Michigan and Northern Indiana, so was the old Chicago trail - later, the "military road" - the avenue along which the Indian tribes and the first white settlers entered this section of the county. From the advent of the first Frenchmen and Englishmen who penetrated into the central regions of the United States, until the period of Black Hawk's greatest activities, from 1812 to 1832, the Indian trail around the foot of Lake Michigan had been the highway for the red men of Northern America traveling anywhere by land between the regions of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi Valley. When the country became a battling ground between England and the United States, in 1812, and Detroit and Fort Dearborn were recognized as military keys to the occupancy of interior America, the old Indian trail was still the traveled path between those points and was utilized by both white and red men.

In the war of 1812, Black Hawk was the most powerful native ally of the British. He felt that he had good grounds for deserting the Americans, but found, after he had joined the British, that they were not as powerful as he had been led to believe, and soon returned to the home of his people (the Sacs and Foxes). During his absence these, tribes had been removed by the United States government up the Missouri River, and Black Hawk found that he had been displaced by the more pacific chief, Keokuk. Through the influence of the two, the Sacs and Foxes were divided into war and peace parties, in their relations to the Americans.

After the war of 1812 Black Hawk was in constant communication with the British government, and every year passed along the Chicago trail, at the head of other less noted warriors of the Sac nation, to receive his annuities from his royal patron represented by the authorities at Fort Maiden. When the procession began to approach the settlements, runners were sent out to notify the inhabitants along the trail that the main body of dusky warriors was coming and to assure them of the pacific intentions of the Indians.

It was rarely that any trouble arose ; in fact, for many years previous to the outbreak of the Black Hawk war in 1832, the sole cause of disturbance between the whites and the Indians migrating along the Chicago trail was "tire water," and all the name implies.

In 183 1, a joint resolution of the legislature of Indiana, requesting an appropriation by Congress for the extinguishment of the Indian title to lands within the state, was forwarded to that body, and, in compliance with the request, the necessary provision was made. Three citizens were designated by the secretary of war, to constitute a commission to carry into effect the object of the appropriation. It was considered an object of great importance to extinguish the title of the Miamis to their lands, at that time surrounded on all sides by American settlers, situated almost in the heart of the state, and immediately on the line of the canal, then under construction. The prompt and cheerful manner in which the chiefs of the tribe obeyed the summons to the treaty, induced the belief that the negotiation would prove successful; but in their response to the propositions of the commissioners, they positively refused to go westward, or sell the, remains of their lands.

The negotiation with the Pottawattamies was more successful. This tribe sold about six millions of acres in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, including their entire claims in this state.

At the settlement of Elkhart County, the Pottawattamie nation was scattered over a vast territory. A portion remained in Canada, a portion in what is now known as the Upper Peninsula, a portion along the Miami of the Lakes and a portion in the State of Illinois, besides the comparatively small branch which remained on the reservation. The separate branches or sub-divisions were governed by their respective head and subordinate chiefs, agreeable to their national policy and the usages, customs and traditions by which they had always been governed. No national measures could be adopted, or transfer of their hunting grounds be made, without the sanction of the majority of the head chiefs of all the several departments or tribes.

At the time of the first settlement of Michigan, the home of various bands of Indians, notably those of the Pottawattamie, Ottawa and Chippewa, were in the St. Joseph Valley and they were known as the Nottawa-seepe Indians. In 1821, at the treaty of Chicago, when the territory of this section was ceded to the United States, there were several sections or reservations exempted from the pro-

From 1823 until 1833 the government agent, Patrick Alarantette, tried to get the Nottawa-seepe Indians to relinquish to the government the lands that had been so long their forefathers' but without much success. This was partially owing to the peculiar conditions of the Pottawattamie nation and the great area of country covered by it, as well as their national customs, laws and usages. To more intelligently understand the situation and the Indian title of the lands of this reservation, a brief review of the Pottawattamie nation in 1830 is necessary.

Part of this powerful Indian nation was in Canada, some in the Upper Peninsula near Marquette, others in the Miami Valley, a portion in Illinois near Peoria, and the small bands in the Valley of the St. Joseph River. Each of these portions had its head men or tribal chiefs, and no measure of national importance, such as selling their hunting grounds, etc., could be made without the sanction or consent of all the head chiefs. As it was difficult to get them all together, the work of inducing them to relinquish these lands was slow.

"The legitimate Pottawattamie chief at this time was Cush-eewees, but he had been supplanted by Pierre Morreau, a native of France and belonging to one of the first families of Canada. Meeting with reverses in Detroit in early life, he came to the banks of the beautiful winding St. Joseph. Here he wedded a dusky maiden of the forest, and by his superior wisdom and cunning ways soon gained such ascendency over the poor untutored savages that they renounced the sway of Cush-ee-wees, then hereditary sachem, and installed Morreau in his stead. He reigned over them for many years until the oldest son, Sau-au-quett, became of man's estate and took the reins of government from his father, who was now in his dotage. Thus matters stood at the close of the Black Hawk war; when Cush-ee-\vee died and was succeeded by Pee-quoit-ah-kissee, a direct descendant of the Pottawattamie sachem. But the tribe having been under the sway of Morreau and his son a long time, the most of the Indians acknowledged Sau-au-quett as their head

In the fall of 1833, the government having almost despaired of getting the Indians to relinquish the Nottawa-seepe reservation, induced Sau-au-quett and a few others of his followers to cede the lands to the United States. They were to receive about $30,000 and be allotted land west of the Mississippi, whither they were to go by land with their ponies, dogs and other belongings. After two years' peaceable possession of their reservation, the first payment of $10,000 worth of calico, beads and other trinkets was made on the reservation.

The first December of the same year { 1833), for nearly a week the Indians were camping on the bank of the Old St. Joe, casting eager looks at the bright colored calico, blankets, beads, etc., so temptingly displayed by the government agent, but refusing to confirm the treaty by receiving them, as they had consulted among themselves and had concluded that Sau-au-quett and his followers had no authority to cede their lands.

Governor Porter had issued a proclamation that no liquor should be allowed on or near the reservation, but parties disobeyed the orders and provided the Indians with plenty of fire-water, until at length patience ceased to be a virtue, and Governor Porter commanded his agent, Mr. Marantette, to break in the heads of the barrels containing the whiskey. This was accordingly done and the Indians in their desire for the liquor drank it from the ground and eagerly lapped the place where it was spilled. Subsequently Mr. Marantette was sued for the value of the liquor and forced to pay several hundred dollars, notwithstanding he was obeying explicit orders of Governor Porter when he broke the heads of the barrels ; nor was he ever reimbursed for this unjust payment of money. The Indians finally accepted the provisions of the treaty and received their money at the earnest solicitation of Sau-au-quett, who said, "I did sell this land, and I would sell it again for two gallons of whiskey." The bad blood thus engendered among the Indians was only wiped out by the murder of Sau-au-quett, at Coldwater in 1839. by one of his band who opposed the sale.

croached upon their lands and had not lived up to the terms of th< treaty. Thus matters went on until 1840, when General Brady with a force of troops compelled them to vacate. The remnants of .this once powerful tribe were taken to the Mississippi, whence they were to cross to the borders of Kansas. All went by land on their horses which were well packed for their journey. When arriving at their crossing on the Mississippi, Mr. Marantette and his assistant observed that some of the tribe were trying to escape. Mr. Marantette immediately sent Governor Porter a message apprising him that the Indians were trj'ing to escape, and that the surest and only way to stop them from escaping would be to confiscate the horses of the leading conspirators. Receiving an approval from Governor Porter, Mr. Marantette and his assistants crossed them all on barges over to the border of Kansas, returning their horses after crossing where they settled ; but finally their lands became so valuable that they sold them and many went to the Indian Territory."

Shaubenee, who for twenty years was head chief of the Pottawattamies, Ottawas and Chippewas, was a grand nephew of Pontiac, the famous Ottawa, and a contemporary of Tecumseh and Black Hawk. Bom in Canada in 1775, when twenty-five years of age he accompanied a hunting party to the Pottawattamie country and married a daughter of the principal chief of that tribe, whose village stood on the site of the Chicago of today.

When forty years of age Shaubenee was war chief of both the Ottawas and Pottawattamies, and was next in command to Tecumseh at the battle of the Thames. When Tecumseh fell, Shaubenee ordered a retreat, which concluded his warfare with the whites. He was deposed as war chief, but continued to be the principal peace chief of the Ottawas, Chippewas and Pottawattamies. Shaubenee died in Grundy County, Illinois, on the south bank of the river by that name, in 1859, being eighty-four years of age. Although he never lived in Indiana, his name and fame were high among the Indians of the northern part of the state.

Alexander Robinson, or Chee-Chee-Bing-Way (Blinking Eyes), as he was known in the Indian tongue, was not as great a man among his people as Shaubenee, but is closely related to the wild life of northern Indiana before the civihzation of the whites became planted therein. There is said to have run through his veins blood from Indian, French and English sources. He was able and enterprising and in 1809, while still a young man, he was in the employ of John Jacob Astor and engaged in the transportation of corn around the head of Lake Michigan, as well as the purchase of furs. This grain was raised by the Pottawattamies and was taken to Chicago for sale and export in bark-woven sacks on the backs of ponies.

In August, 1812, while engaged in these occupations, he was making a canoe voyage to Fort Dearborn, when some friendly Miamis hailed him from the shore and warned him to avoid that post, as "it would stonii tomorrow." On the 15th of that month occurred the Fort Dearborn massacre, for which the Pottawattamies are responsible. But the warning of the Miamis fortunately saved Robinson from any portion of the stigma attached to that horrible affair, as he left his canoe at the mouth of the Big Calumet and passed the succeeding winter in hunting and trapping in the Calumet region. In 1825 he became the principal chief of that tribe, and four years afterward married a woman of the Calumet region who was three-fourths Indian. At that time there was no more widely known character in Northwestern Indiana or Northeastern Illinois than Alexander Robinson. His headquarters were at Chicago, his journeys for the purchase of furs extended as far south as the Wabash River, and his word was law with the now peaceful Pottawattamies.

'Tt is claimed that he, as a Pottawattamie chief, evidently a trader rather than a warrior, called together an Indian council at Chicago during the Black Hawk war (1832), and it is said that in 1836, when the great body of this tribe met for the last time in that village, received their presents and started for the then Wild West, this trader chief went with them. But, like Shaubenee, who also went out to see his people settled in their new home, he soon returned and passed his last years on the Des Plaines River." The claim is made that Robinson was one hundred and four years of age at the time of his death - in many ways a remarkable man - a veritable link between the restless, migratory red man and the more settled and patient white man.