Gibson County, Indiana - e Sketch of the Northn, 1884 (part 2 of 2)

'The gentle and pious Marquette, devoted to his purpose of carrying the gospel to the Indians, had established m mission among the Illinois, in 1075, and thirty-five years afterward (1710), the French established on the banks of the Wabash "An Poste," or "The Post," subquently called " Post Vincennes;" though as before stated, the French voyageurs had been here sa early 1702. The same year, after establishing the fort, the French residents desired a missionary, and Father Mermet was nent there. One of the Inter commanders, und. after whom the town was named, was Francois Morgan de Vinsenne - "Vinsenne." He was an officer in the service of the King of France, and serving in Canada probably ns early as 1720, in the regiment "De- Carignan." He became commandant of this post about 1790. - An act of salo made by him and Madame Vinsenne, the daughter of M. Philip Longpne, of Kaskaskin, dated the 6th of January, 1785, styles him " an officer of the troops of the king, and commandant au peste du ulace." On anexpedition against the Chickasaws, in 1736, by orders from his superior officer at New Orleans, aud "Monsieur d' Artagette" commandant for the king in Illinois, and in which expedition, according to "Churlevoix," M. St. Vinsenne was killed. But as

'among the Inst of his volume: - " We have just received very bad news from Louisiana, and our war with the Chickasaws. The French have been defeated: among the slain is Monsieur de Vinsenne, who ceased not until his last breath to exhort the men to bebave worthy of their religion and their country." Thus perished this hero and gallant officer, after whom Vincennes is named. In the register of the Catholic chureb it will be found that this change of name from, Vinsenne to Vincennes, ite present appelation, was made as early as 1749. The war between France and England, which broke out in 1764, deprived the former of all her possessions in this country. Canada was added to Great

'The early French inhabitants were well adapted by their peculiar traits of character for intercourse with their savage neighbors of the forest, with whom they

| lived on terme of peace and friendship. For this reason the French colonista almost entirely escaped the Indian | hostilities, by which the English settlements were repressed and weakened. The froest communication in expeditions to remote rivers and distant forest, in the ceremonies and exercises of the church, the red men were treated as brothers, and the accident of race and color was mado as little mark of distincion as possible. Frequent intermarringes of the French with the Indians strongly cemented this union. For many | years the French colonists enjoyed continual peace, while the English settlements on the Atlantic const were in a state of almost constant danger from savage depredations.

It was doubtless owing to the peculiar facility with which the French temperament adapted to sur- | roundings, and the natural address with which French- | men ingratiated themselves in the favor of the savages, | that this happy condition of affairs existed. But some. | thing must be ascribed to the differences of character | between the French and English in regard to their ag- | gressiveness. The English colonists excited the jeal- | ousy and fear of the Indians by their rapid occupation | of the country. | New settlements were constantly being projected and. | the white population pushed farther and farther into the wilderness. When the Indiane saw their favorite haunts broken up, and their hunting grounds invaded, a natural feeling of distrust and jealousy led them to warfare against the English. With the French it was diferent. There was but litle disposition to found | new settlements, or occupy the wilderness. 'They were | essentially a social people, and the solitary life.of a villagers could converse across the street, each from his | own cottage. Hunting was a favorite pursuit and the chief means of support. With this mode of life the to unknown regions, anà avarice was wanting to lead them to grasp after great possessions. The development of the "territorial paradise," as La Salle had called the region through which he passed on his first voyage down the Mississippi, was to be accomplished by another race. A FOSSESION OF OREAT BRITAIN. By the treaty of Fontainebleau, 1703, the vast possesof France east of the Mississippi, with the exception of the island of New Orleans, passed under British control, Chartres, then the seat of authority, was surrounded by an impenetrable barrier of hostile savages, friends to the French and enemies to the Engglish, and the French officers were authorized to take command until it was found possible for the Euglish to take possession. M. Neyon de Villiers was commandant of Fort Chartres, and upon his retiring in 1764, St. Ange d Bellerive took upon himself the duties of that position, It was the time of Pontiac's conspiracy, 'when the Indian tribes, inflamed by the savage spirit of that warrior, were precipitating themselves on the Eng- Tish settlements from Canada to Carolina, From its occupation by the English different officers had sneceeded to the command of the post nt Vincennes, the last being Henry Hamilton, the British Lieutenant- Governor of Detroit. His army at that time consisted of about thirty regulars, fifty French volunteers, and 400 Indians, The post had for a short time been withont a British commandant, and Hamilton with this force passed down the Wabash, und took possession of Post Vincennes on the 15th of December, 1778. 'conquest crane.

On the breaking ont of the War of the Revolution, the English, who were there in control of the Northwest Territory strengthened their posts at Detroit, Kaskaskin, Vincennes and other points. They zlo called to their nid the savage Indian. Indiana was remote from the theatre of action, and the colonists were little disturbed by the rumors of war which came from the Atlantic coast. The French inhabitants were rath sympathy with the Americans than with the English, but probably understood little of the nature of the struggle. Indiana belonged to the jurisdiction of miim. George Rogers Clark, who visited Kentucky 1775, seems to have been the first to comprehend the advantages which would result from the occupation of the Northwest by the Americans. He visited Virgi where he Inid his plans before Patrick Henry, the Govemor. Fortunately for the country, they were not wnheeded. Gov. Henry encouraged by the advice of some of Virginia's most prominent and patriotic sons, yielded to the solicitation of Clark, and, on the 2d of January, 1778, he received two sets of instructions: "one publio, directing him to proceed to Kentucky for its defence, the other, secret, ordering an attack the British post at Kaskaskia; and the following month he set 'out for Pittsburg. His instructions were to raise seven 'companies of men, but he could only succeed in enli ing four, commanded by Captains Montgomery, Bow- 'man, Helm, and Harrod. On Corn Island, opposite Louisville, on the Ohio, Clark announced his destination to the men. At the mouth of the Tennessee, 'man named John Duff was encountered, with a party of hunters, who had recently visited Kuskaski also brought the intelligence that Rocheblave, a was in command at that point, that well drilled, and that sentinels were as the Virginians were called, of whom the inhabitants were in terror. Securing his boats near Fort Massacre (or Massac,) Clark undertook the journey across the country, 120 miles, to Kaskaskia, It was accomplished with dificulty. On the afternoon of the 4th of July, 1778, the exhausted band of invaders came to the vicinity of Kaskaskin, and concealed themselves in the hills east of the town. After dark Clark proceeded to the old ferry-honse, three-fourths of a mile above the village, and at midnight addressed his troops on the bunk of Me divided his forces into three parti were to cross to the west side of the river, und enter the town from different quarters. The third, under the direction of Clark himself, was to capture Fort Gago, the cant side. Kaskaskia at that timo was a village of about 250 houses. Clark effected un entrance to the fort without difenlty. The other parties at given signal entered the village at the opposite extremities, with terrible onteries and hideous noises aronsed the terrified inhabitants. The panic-stricken townsmen delivered up their arms, and the victory was accom: plished without the shedding of a drop of blood. M. Rocheblave, the British commandant, was scious of the presence of the enemy, till an officer of the detachment entered his bed chamber, and claimed him as a prisoner. The French inhubitants were readily reconciled to a change of government, In October, 1778, i Virginia Assembly erected the conquered territory into the county of Ilinois. This county embraced all the region northwest of Ohio, and five largo states live since been formed from it. Col. Clark was appointed military commander of the western territory north and south of the Ohio, and Col. John Todd, one of soldiers, was appointed Tieutenant-commander. In the spring of 1779 Col. Todd visited Kaskiskin a territorial government. Now that the most important. of the British strongholds in the Mississippi Valley Ind been taken, flark next turned his attention to the capture of Post Vincennes. Among the ls at Kaskaskia at the time of its capture was M. Gibault, the Roman Catbolic priest at Vincennes. At Clark' request he made trip to Vincennes and secured the allegiance of the French inhabitants, Capt. Helm was appointed commandant and agent for the Indian affairs in the department of the Wabash, and repaired to the | "Post." At this time the British commander was absent at Detroit. On his return he resumed command and Capt, Helm was made « prisoner; and subsequently going outside of the stockude was killed by an Indian. | Col. Clark not hearing any tiding ftom the "Post" for | several months, prevailed on Col. Francis Vigo - a Span- | ish soldier (who had quit the army and was living at the Post St. Louis) - to make a trip to Vincennes and to wequire information in regard to the fortifications, ete., report the sume, Vigo started with one servant, and when near Vincennes, on the Embarmss River, was captured by a party of Indians, who took bim to the post, aud turned him over to Gov. Hamilton, as bi As Vigo wus « Spanish subject he was libnot until after he Ind acquired all the informan hy desired. He returned to St. Louis in a pirogue down the Wabash and Ohio and up the Mississippi ied by two voyageurs. He went to Kaskaskia mude n fall report to Clark of the condition of the fortifications at Post Viuceunes. On the 6th of Feb. 1779, Col. Clark, with u band of 170 men, crossed the Kuskuskia River on their mareh to Vincennes. The waters were high and many of the streams partially frozen, which made the perils of the march exceedingly hard. On the 284 of February, about 1 o'clock, they halted in sight of the town, on small hill of dry land, called "Warren's Island," where he took a prisoner Col. Clark wrote a letter nud sent it nts, follows:

" Grarueor: - Being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort this wight, uud not being willing to surprise you, I take this method of requesting such of you ns are true citizens, willing to enjoycthe, liberty I bring you, to remain still in your houses. Aud those, if any there are, that friends to the King, will instantly repair to the fort, and joj the Hair-buyer General, and fight like men. y Aud it any such as do not go to the fort shall be dispectet dein way or pal: | ut. On the contrary, those who are true friends of liberty will be well j. E. Coin." | In onler to give effect to this letter, the army marched into town, and threw up nu entrenchment in front of the | fort, and the buttle commenced from the British side | ange of their cannon, though without effect. | 'The Americans returned the fire with ride shots. On | the morning of the 24th, about 9 o'clock, Col. Clark | sent in a Bug of truce with a letter, of which the fol-

* Sim: - In order to save yourself from the impending 'storm that now threatens you. I order you imaliately to surrender yourself, with all your garrison, stores, etc for if I am obliged to storm, you may depend on such treatment as is justly due a murderer. Beware of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers or letters 'that are in your possession, or hurting one house in town, for by Heavens, if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you. G. B. Cum.

'Two other letters passed between them - and the on 'same day, Feb. 24,1779, Clark dictated the terms upon which he would receive the surrender. Col. George Rogers Clark was a remarkable man, resolute in nature, wise in council, prudent in policy, bold in action, and heroic in danger. Few men who have figured in the early history of America are more deserving than be. Nothing short of first-class ability could have rescued 7 Vincennes" and all Dlinois from the English, and it is not possible to over-estimate the influence of this achievement upon the republic. In 1779 Indiana became a part of Virginia.

In 1784 Virginia ceded the Northwest Territory to the General Government to be cut into states, to be republican in form, with * the same right of sovereignty, freedom and independence as the other states."

In 1767 it was the object of the wisest and ablest legislation found in any merely human records. Xo man can study the secret history of The Compact of 1787 and not feel that Providence was guiding with sleepless 'eyes these unborn states. The ordinance that on July 18, 1787, finally became the incorporating act, hue a most marvelous history. Jefferson bad vainly tried to secure a system of government for the North- 'western Territory. He was an emancipationist of that day, and favored the exclusion of slavery from the territory Virginia had ceded to the General Government, but the South voted him down as often as it came up. In 1787, as late as July 10th, an organizing wet without the anti-slavery clause was pending. 'This concession to the South was expected to carry it. Congress was in session in New York City. On July Sth Rev. Dr. Manasse Cutler, of Massachusetts, came into New York to lobby the Northwestern Territory. Everything seemed to fall into his hands. Events were ripe: the state of the publie credit, the growing of prejudice, the basis of his mission, his per- 'sonal character, all combined to complete one of those sudden and marvelous revolutions of public sentiment. that once in five or ten centaries are seen to sweep over country like the breath of the Almighty. Cutler was a remarkable man ; a graduate of Yale, he bad studied and taken degrees in the three learned professions, law, divinity and medicine. Harcard had given hin his A. M., and Yale bad honored herself by adding his D. D. He had thus America's best literary indorsement. He had published « scientific examination of the plants of New England. His name stood second only to that of

Franklin as a scientist in America. He was a courtly gentleman of the old style, a man of commanding presence, and of inviting face. The Southern members were captivated by his genial manners, rare and profound abilities. He came representing a company that desired to purchase a tract of land now included iu Ohio, for the purpose of planting a colony. Governnent money was worth eighteen cents on the dollar. This Massachusetts company had collected enough to purchase 1,500,000 acres of land. Other speculators in New York made Dr, Cutler their agent; the 12th he represented a demand for 5,500,000 seres. This 'would reduce the national debt. Jeffersou and Virgini were regarded as authority concerning the land Virginia had just ceded. Jefferson's policy wanted to provide for the public credit, aud this was a good opportunity to do something. Massachusetts then owned the territory of Muine, which she was erowding on the market. She was opposed to opening the northwestern region. 'This fired the zeal of Virginia. The South caught the wpiration, and all exalted Dr. Cutler. 'The English vited him to dine with some of the Southern He was the centre of interest; the entire around him. Mussuchusctts could not A him, because many of the constituents of bers were interested personally in the western speculation; thus Cutler, making friends with the: doubtless using all the ts of the lobby, was enabled to command the situation. True to deeper convietion, he dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of wise statesmanship that ever adorned any human law book; he borrowed from Jefferson the tenu * Articles of Compact," which preceding the federal constyition, rose into the most sacred character. He then followed very closely the constitution of Massa chusetis, adopted three years before. Its most marked points were: Jot. The excl

Be it forever remembered that this compact declared that "religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, of education shall always be en- Dr. Cutler planted himself ou this platnot yield. Giving his unqualified dec- | was that or nothing - that. unless they could make the land desirable they did uot want it - he 'ook his horse and gig and started for fie Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. On July 13, 1767, the bill |

COUNTY, INDIANA. a was put upon its passage and was unanimously adopted, every Southern member voting for it, and only one man, Mr. Yates of New York, voting against it, but us the states voted as states, Yates lost his vote, compact was put beyond repeal. Then the great states of Ohio, Indiana, Ilinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. vast empire, the heart of the great valley - were couscerated to freedom, intelligence and honesty. lu the light of these ninety-seven years, it is evident to all that this act was the salvation of the republic und the destruction of slavery. Soon the South saw their great bunder, und tried to repeal the compact. In 1808 Congress referred it to a committee, of which John Randolpl was chairman, He reported thut this ordinuice was a compact, aud opposed repeal. Thus it stood a in the way of the on-rushing sea of slavery. With all this timely aid, it was, after all, a most desperyte id protracted struggle to keep the soil of Indiana sacred to freedom. It was the natural battle-field for id this population brought their laws, tutions with them. A stream of popthe North poured into the northern part 'These sections misunderstood and huted utherners regarded the ees as u skinning, tricky, penurious rice of ped- filling the country with tinware, brass clocks nud wooden mutmegs. The Northerner thought of the 'Southerner as a lean, lank, lazy creature, burrowing in ht, aud rioting in whisky, dirt and ignorance. These canses aided in making the struggle long and bitter. So strong was the sympathy with slavery that in spite 'of the ordinance of 1747, and in spite of the dee of cession, it was determined to allow the old French setters to retain their slaves. Planters from the slave ight bring their slaves, they would give them a chance to chose freedom, or year of service and bondage for their children til they should become thirty of age. If they chose freedom they must leave the state in sixty days or be sold as fugitives. Servants were whipped for offenses for which white men are fined; cach lash paid forty cents of the fine. A nego just as they imported laws for the inspection of flax and wool when there was neither in the state, T! black laws are now wiped out. A vigorous effort was made to protect slavery in the state constitution of 1816. It barely failed; but slaves did not disappear fro the census of the state until 1850. 'There were mobs and murders in the interest of slavery. Lovejoy was added to the list of martyrs - a sort of first fruits of. that long line of immortal heroes who saw freedom as

The several states agreed on. the adoption of the Articles of the Confederation, to cede their cli to the western lands to the general government. xinin excented her deed of cession March 1, 1784, several years afterward there was an imperfect adi istration of the law. The French customs partly held force. By the ondivance of 1787, all the territory northwest of the Ohio was constituted into one district, the laws to be administered by a governor and secretary; a court wns instituted of three judges. A general as sembly was provided for, the members to be chosen by the people. Gen, Arthur St. Clair was selected as governor of the Northwestern Territory. Tho seat of mt was first at Marietta, Ohio. From 1788 to 1791 an Indian war prevailed. In 1800 all the region west and north of Ohio (then formed into a distinct territory) became merged in Indiana, with the seat of government at Vincennes. of the state were defined, Michigan having been formed jn 1805 and Ilinois in 1809.

In 1811 Indiana was the theatre of the Indian war brought ahont by Tecumseh, ending with the decisivo battle of Tippecanoe. Early in 1806 Gov. Harrison was advised that n Shawnee Indian had set himself

In the spring of 1808, the Prophet and his adherents moved from Greenville and took up their abode on the Wabash, near the mouth of the Tippecanoe. The Prophet was merely u screen behind which his brother, Tecumseh, a man of much more ability, was perfecting confederation of all the tribes in a grand scheme of hostility against the people of the United States, and involving no less than a bold attempt to check the westicurd advance of whité emigration and the recovery of all previously ceded lunds north and northward of the Ohio.

Inst, in the month of April, 1809, required his followers to take up tho Imtchet against the white people, to destroy the inhabitants of Vincennes and those on the Ohio, from its mouth as high up ne Cincinnati, telling tien that the Great Spirit had ordered them to do this, and that their refusal would result in their own destruction. In the spring of 1810 Gen. Harrison sent message to Tecumseh, then residing at the Propliet' town, inviting him to n council to be held at Vincennes. It was not until the month of August of the same year that Tecumseb, accompanied by about seventy of his warriors, made his appearance. They town, and Tecumseh gave notice to the General that, in pursuance of his invitation, he had come to hold a talk "with him and his braves." The succeeding day was appointed for the meeting. Notice had been sent to Tecumseh that it was expected that himself and only a portion of his warriors would be present. At the time appointed Tecumseh and some fifteen or twenty of his warriors made their appearance. He came with a firm and clastic step, a proud and defiant look. Ho adneed to the place where the Governor and those who had been invited to attend the conference were sitting. He seemed to scan the preparations which had been made for bis reception, particularly the military part of it, with an eye of suspicion, yet without fear. As he came in front of the dais, an elevated portion of thë place on which the Governor and officers of the teftitory were seated, the Governor invited him, through his interpreter, to come forward and take seat, prerising the invitation by saying " that it was the wish of their Great Father, the President of the United States, that he should do so."

The chief paused fora moment as the words were uttered and the sentence finished, and raising his tall form to its greatest height, surveyed the troops and the crowd around him. Then with his keen eyes fixed upon the Governor for a single moment, and turning them to the sky above, with his sinewy arm pointing toward the heavens, and with a tone and manner indicative of contempt for the paternity assigned bim, said in a voice whose clarion tones were heard throughout the assembly, "My Father? 'The sun is my father - tho earth is my mother - and on her bosom Iwill recline." Having finished, he stretched himself with his warriors on the green sward. The matter to be considered wes the boundary lines of lands which had previouslybeenc eded.

ief became very angry when Harrison was makcech to him through his interpreter, and sprang feet, turned to the interpreter, and said, "Tell him he lies." Tecumseh made a speech reciting bis grievances. At its conclusion the Governor informed Tecumseh that he would transmit his speech to the President. Tecumseh declared that he and his allies 'were determined that the old boundary line should continue. As soon as the council had ended, 'Tecumseh embarked in his birch canoe with four of his braves, for the mission he had long contemplated, to the tribes of the South and Southwest, with a view, if possible, to form a confederation and an alliance, offensive and defonsive, between the northwestern and southwestern Indians, with & view of driving the whites out of the Northwest Territory. He visited all the tribes south of the Ohio River, extending his trip as far as Alabama and around the Gulf of Mexico. With all these tribes he held councils, gnd in fervent and eloquent terms described the white man's wrongs and the red nfän's in.

Believing that the Prophet would fully carry out his views under the pledge made him, Tecumseh felt no disposition to return until after his plans were fully matured. The boldness and insolence of the assemblage at the Prophet's town increased daily; hostile parties were continually leaving that place for the white settle- 'ments, where they killed the inhabitants and stole their horses. Finally, Gov. Harrison received orders to proceed to the Prophet's town, with a military force, which ho was only to use after all efforts to effect a peaceable dispersion of its occupants had failed. The Governor left Vincennes on the 26th of September, 1811, with force of 900 effective men, composed of the 4th Regiment U. 8. Regulars, with a body of mibtia, and 190 volunteer dragoons. The militia, who were all volunteers, had been well trained by the Governor in person. On the Srd of October the army moving "up on the east side of the Wabash, reached a place ou the bank of the stream, some two miles above the old Wea village of We-anto-no, "The Rising Sun," and called by many the " Old Orchard Town, out of mind by the old French traders, Terre Haute. Here the Governor halted, according to i within the boundary of the country already ceded by the Indians, and occupied his time in erecting a fort, while waiting the of messengers whom he had dispatched to the Prophet's town, demanding the surrender of murderers, and the return of stolen horses sheltered there, and requiring that the Shawnees, Winnebagoes, Pottawattomies and Kickapoos collected there should disperse 'and return to their own tribes.

'The messengers were treated with great insolence by 'the Prophet and his council, who, to put an end to all hopes of peace, sent out a small war party to precipitate. hostilities. This war party, finding no stragglers about the Governor's encampment, shot at und wounded one of his sentinels. The Delaware chiefs who went with the messengers to the Prophet's town advised the Governor, on their return, that it would be in vain to expect anything short of force would obtain satisfaction for past injuries, or security for the future. They also informed him that the strength of the Prophet was daily increasing by access

The new fort was finished on the 28th of October, and by the unanimous request of all the officers it was christened "Fort Harrison." On the 29th of October Gov. Harrison moved up the Wabash and ferried his 'army over the former stream, at the mouth of Raccoon Creek, on sent up the river for that purpose. The army encamped on the 24 of November, some two miles below the mouth of the Big Vermilion, and about

'twenty-five feet square, on the edge of a small prairie sloping down to the water's edge. The block house was garrisoned with a sergeant and eight men, in whose charge were left the boats which up to this time had been used for the transportation of supplies. On the 34 the army crossed the Vermilion, and the ith of. November approached the very dificult pass of Pine Creek. On the evening of the Sth the army encamped within nine or ten miles of the Prophet's town. The 6th was consumed in working the army over dificult | ground toward the Indian town. Every effort to effect | pence was exhausted by the Governor. About 4 "clock on the morning of the 7th the Indians began the attack. The morning was dark aud cloudy; the savager evidently aimed to surprise the troops. The Indians fought like the very demons, They were inspired by the incantations of the Prophet, who, secure from flying bullets, occupied an adjacent eminence and sang "the war song" The Indians were completely routed. Speaking of their bravery, Harrison in his oficial report 'uses the following language: - " The Indians manifested 'ferocity uncommon even with them. To their savage fury our troops opposed that cool and deliberate valor which is characteristic of the Christian soldier." The Tth was spent in burying the dead, on the field where. they fell, caring for the wounded, and fortifying the 'camp. On the 8th of November the village was reconnoitered, aving boen abandoned in great haste. The household utensils were all left, and some guns, still in the covers in which they had been imported, and a quantity of prime double-glazed English ride powder. Hogs and poultry were found running through the village, a large quantity of com and a vast number of kettles. Everything useful to the army was removed, and then the village and everything, in it was committed to the flames. The loss of the American army was thirty-seven killed on the field, twenty-five mortally wounded and 126 wound in wagons drawn by oxen, of which there was scarcely * sufficient number for this humane purpose. On the th the troops were put in motion, returning by the seme route they had come. The main army reachod Fort Harrison on the 14th of November, and Vincennes four days later, where they were met with great rejoicing | by the inhabitants | Thus ended this celebrated battle. In its results, the | engagement at Tippecanoe ranks as one of the most important ever fought against the Indians in the West. 'Te may be said to have been the opening battle of the | War of 1812, although the formal declaration of hostilities was deferred until the following June. However, | many and grave were the irritating canes in the AL | lantic states, which had threatened the peace of the two countries. William Hull, Governor of the Michigan | Territory, was appointed to the command of the west- | frontiers, and on the 16th of July he surrendered | Detroit and his whole force to Sir Isane Brock, Gover- | nnor-general of Canada. This most unexpected calamity | was followed by intelligence, received on the 28th of | July, that the post of Mackinaw had been captured by the British. Fast upon this startling news camo the surrender of Fort Dearborn to the Indians by Capt. | Heald, on the 15th of August, nnd the massacre or capture of the inhabitants and soldiers. Thus, sixty days after the declaration of hostilities, the whole Northwest from tho Detroit to the Mississippi River, was in the hands of the British or their Indian allies, under the lend of English traders, Fort Wayne and Fort Harrison were the only points at which the United | Stuten presonted resistance, The plans of Tecumseh mceveding more happily than ho could have expected, it was determined to lay siege to Forts Wayne and Harrison siwultancously, as the only remaining obstacles | in the way of driving the white inhabitants over the | Ohio River. Fort Wayne was nocordingly besieged, nnd. closely invested by the savages until it was relieved by Gen. Harrison, who had been. appointed to the chief command of the Northwest immediately after the au; render of Hull. The Indians were repulsed and fail to capture either fort. 'The events following the relief of Bort Wayne tho failure at Fort Harrison wore the form tion of a navy upon Lake Erie and tho raising of a large military forco by Gon. Harrison, under dification which would hive discouraged alinost nny other oficors thin Harrison and the immortal | On the 10th of September, 1818, Perry met the British Heet of vossols ut the head of Lako ery one of them iu an engagen Me fams upon every officor and private of his wd. Harrison's army collected formed by Sandusky Bay. Retreuting up the River | 'Times, thence over to the River Rasin, the forces of Proctor and Tecumseh wore brought to an engagement went the Moravian towns, where, on the 6th of October, they were defented in « brilliant action. Tho Indians were posted in a swamp, end were commanded by Tecumsch in person, who went down in the thickest of the fight gallantly encouraging his mon. His prediction was verified to the letter: ho and Harrison had "fought it the confederation ho had moulded dropped to pieces, The several tribes hastened to Harrison's head quarters to say they wanted peace.

It was the last great combination of the Indians against the whites; and it is an historical coincidence that the confederations of both Pontiac and Tecumseh to check the ever westward flow of immigration should have met their final overthrow in the vicinity of Detroit and on British soil.

chivalrous and gallant Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, 'and he who, since the period alluded to, has ruled the destinies of the nation as its Chief Magistrate., The bones of the former lie bleaching on the battle-field of the 'Thames - those of the latter aro deposited in the rhausoleum that covers them, on the banks of the Ohio: Each struggled for the mastery of their race: euch, no doubt, equally honest and patriotic in his purposes. 'The weak yielded to the strong - the defenseless to the pewerful - and the hunting ground of the Shawnee, not only on the Wabash, but the Kansas, where the small remnant of their tribe was extirpated, has given place to the field of the musbandman, Buch is the inevitable destiny of tho red mma on this continent, Tribe after ion after nation are Passing Happily that owing largely to the exertions of its 'own people, the lost territory was recovered, and when the tronty of peace was concluded in 1815, the old boundary lines remained as before, without the loss of a single nere.

Upon the restoration of penco, immigration received a now impulso, and on the 10th of April, 1816, Indiana Territory was allowed to form a state government, and the 20th of June ensuing adopted the first constitu: tion of Indi

At that time there were thirteen counties organized, containing about 09,000 inhabitants. 'The first election of atate'oficers wa held in August, when Jonathan Jennings was chosen Governor. 'Tho officers were sworn in on the Th of November, and on Dec. 11, 1816, tho stato was formally admitted into the Union. For somo time the seat of government was at Corydon, but & more contral location being desirable, the present capital, Indianapolis, (City of Indiana) was laid out Jan. 1, 1826. In 1827 the Erie Canal opened an outlet for the produce of the West and the national road 'was commenced. Both those circumstances naturally stimulated settlements; and the sales of land so rapidly increased that in the ten years ending in 1890 they amounted to 8,658,221 acres. Now commenced that speculation mania which terminated in the financial crisis of 1887. In 1892 the legislature incorporated ight stock companies for constructing railroads, In 1888 the m dale section of tho Wabash wud Erie Canal was commenced, and in 1894 the Stato Bank, with ten branches, was incorporated, to which were subsequently added three other branches, The result of these undertakings, and others which the state entered, was a debt amounting to $14,057,000, and a general bankruptcy. Tn 1846 tho state debt, on which no interest bad been paid since 1889, was consolidated and arranged into two classes, tho state dobt proper and the canal debt; and means were devised for paying interest on tho former.

in 1869 the legislature passed « free banking law. Since the collapse of public credit above mentioned, the 'greater number of the public works which had brought i that imbroglio, especially the great Wabash and Erie Canal, have been completed, to the grest benefit of the state, whose subsequent progress has year by year been marked by rapid strides in the paths of wealtb, commerce, and general social and political prosperity. 'The population of Indiana by decades is as follows: (1800) 6,641, (1810) 24,520, (1820) 147,178, (1830) 348,081, (1840) 685,866, (1850) 988,416, (1860) 1,- 350,428, (1870) 1,680,687, (1880) 1,978,901.

'The pablic institutions of the state are many and various, and on a seale of magnitude and efficiency commensurute with her important political and indu trial status. An extensive railroad system permeates the state in all directions, and greatly conduces to the development of her expanding agricultural and manufacturing interests.