Jackson County, Indiana - Chapter 2, 1886

Chapter 2

Indians - The French and the Catholics - Aboriginal Inhabitants of Indiana - Occupants of Jackson County - Early Reminis¬ cences - Indian Murders - Battle of Tipton's Island - Prehis¬ toric People - Classification of Mounds - Succeeding Races.

IN the early struggles for supremacy on the Western continent between the nations of the Old World, nearly all of the Mis¬ sissippi Valley gradually came under the dominion of France. This was acquired through the influence of the large number of ardent and zealous missionaries, which that country sent out in the latter part of the seventeenth and fore part of the eighteenth centuries. A number of trading posts were established through¬ out the whole of this vast tract of country, from along the shores of the lakes and banks of the important streams to the mouth of the Mississippi River, and from these places the peltry of the Indians was received in exchange for whatever gaudy and trifling ornaments would attract the savages' fancy. This, in connection with the religious influence of devout Catholics, won the heart and confidence of the red man toward the French. Almost without opposition France had thus secured control of all the lands from the Alleghany Mountains to the Mississippi River. Near the middle of the eighteenth century England began to arouse her¬ self to the situation. Her supremacy along the Atlantic was not questioned, and she had rested in contentment, satisfied with claiming the Pacific Ocean as the western boundary of her colo¬ nies. When her traders began to push beyond the mountains they found themselves forestalled by the French, and thus the conflict began, which only ended with the French and Indian war in 1763. In February, of that year, a treaty of peace was signed at Paris, in which France gave up all claims to any territory lying east of the Mississippi River, except the town of New Orleans and the island on which it is situated Thus matters remained until the Revolution necessitated a new map of the American Conti¬ nent.

The policy of the British Government seems to have retarded commerce with the Indians, who in return despised the haughty and domineering spirit of the English. No doubt the foundation of Indian hostility to later pioneers of the West was laid in this early antipathy for the English, and which, when once conceived, was craftily nourished by the proud and unrelenting natives. Immediately prior to the War for Independence several large tracts of land were purchased by companies organized for that purpose in the territory northwest of the Ohio River.

Aboriginal Inhabitants Of Indiana

The most reliable information that can be obtained seems to establish the fact that nearly the whole of Indiana was originally inhabited by three different tribes of Indians, called the Twigtwees or Miamis, the Weas and the Piankeshaws. The last of these occupied nearly all of the Wabash Valley, and was a powerful factor in the celebrated Miami Confederacy. As the tide of im¬ migration poured its throng of Europeans upon the Atlantic shore, and civilization began its westward march across the New World, the sullen savage, disdaining the enlightenment of white men, retired constantly to the gloom and solitude of his native forests. Thus, in time, different tribes came to occupy the same territory. These later tribes were called " permitted," and throughout the whole of Indiana these stranger Indians were early found. Some of them were the Delawares,. Pottawatomies, Shawnees, Kickapoos, Wyandots and Senecas.

people of this nation that occupied the territory now embraced in Jackson County, although at a later date a few Wyandots and Shawnees were settled here, and the Delawares had strong claim to the land through a treaty with the Piankeshaws in 1767. The Indian title to the land in the county was extinguished by three different treaties, as may be seen in the organization chapter elsewhere in this volume.

Early Indian Reminiscences

"In the War of 1812, the settlement in this county was the most northern of the white men in the States, and bordered the hunting grounds of the Miami tribe of Indians, the most hostile of all the tribes in the Territory. The Delaware and Shawnee tribes professed friendship, but, true to Indian character, were treacher¬ ous ; and, being near neighbors, gave great uneasiness to the set¬ tlement and often did much by their incursions and thefts to dis¬ turb the already agitated settlement. When war was commenced there were ninety-three families residing within the borders of this county. Seventy moved off, which left twenty-three to bear the heat and burthen of the day, which were the families of Will¬ iam Graham, Jesse B. Durham, John Griffith, John Berry, Daniel McCoy, Samuel Slade, John Sage, Samuel Burcham, James McGee, Abraham Miller, Daniel Beem, Aquilla Rogers, David Rogers, John Storm, William Taber, Robert Sturgeon, James Hutcheson, Abraham Huff, John Johnson, John Kitchum, Will¬ iam Ruddick, John Parker and Willson. This little band got themselves together and built forts at convenient distances and locations for their security - one at Burcham's, one at Huff's, near the mouth of Huffs Creek, one near Vallonia, and at other convenient points. Many young men came in to render assist¬ ance at the the forts whose names are not mentioned above, among whom was one Hockman, from Harrison County. He was a raw Dutchman, and after remaining at the fort some time, the butt of the company, they persuaded him to take a bunt As no Indian had been seen for a considerable length of time in the vicinity no danger was apprehended it was acceded to by Hookman. All suspecting there was lack of courage in Hockman, they concluded to frighten him by tying handkerchiefs about their heads and faces, and a party of six surprised him in the woods as Indians. They were not long in finding him, and dodging from tree to tree with their guns toward him, they forced him to a tree. The party continued to get nearer, and whilst one of them was showing his body, Hockman fired and knocked the bark off the tree by his side just as he had made his escape. The joke was turned: Hockman now became the charging party and the six were forced to retreat, which was effected with great danger. As Hockman1 s dutch was fairly up he gave them no chance for par¬ ley, but by dodging they all reached the fort in safety. Hockman's courage was never afterward doubted, inasmuch as he had shown the courage to contend with the unequal odds of six to one."

Captain John Berry, who came in 1808 ; Thomas Ewing, 1810 ; James Rogers, 1810; Ranger Michael Beem, 1811; Alexander Craig, 1808, and William Graham, 1811, constituted a party of six who went in search of a horse that had been stolen by the Indians from a man named Lindsey, of Washington County. They pur¬ sued the Indians ten miles north of the present site of Indianap¬ olis. At that place Ewing discovered an Indian, raised his gun to shoot, but the Indian dropped his gun and one of the party told him not to shoot; when he took his gun from his shoulder the Indian disappeared among the bushes. The party became quite uneasy on account of their situation, being nearly one hun¬ dred miles from home among savage Indians ; and being discov¬ ered by the Indian they had seen rendered their situation perilous. They expected hourly to overtake the Indians with the stolen horses, which were tracked that far, and they were then close up¬ on them. That night a heavy rain fell and the whole face of the country around was covered with water, but making brush heaps they managed to refresh themselves with sleep. Next morning they discovered one of the party on his back, half side deep in water - the water having raised in the night; they awoke him and when he got up he coolly said he believed he had got his shirt a little wet! This amused his comrades. They determined to push ahead, but the rain caused them to lose the trace and to take a wrong direction. They had not traveled far before they met three or four friendly Delawares, and among the number was the Indian they had seen the day before; and as he was of a friendly tribe our men were conducted to a Delaware town not far off, and the matter of Ewing's attempt to shoot the Indian was investigated and settled. It would not have been set¬ tled very amicably had the Indian been in good standing with the tribe, and this little rashness would have cost the lives of the whole party. They held a regular council of war that night in the presence of our men, before the chiefs who occasionally spoke with much earnestness. The guests were permitted to depart next morning with a Delaware guide, and all hope of recovering the horses being at an end, they commenced their journey home. They burned on their way some villages. They had been three days without provisions when they reached the Delaware town, and that tribe being so surrounded that the party found them al¬ most in a starving condition, but with the little assistance they got there and the game they were able to kill on the route they were able to get to Sand Creek in January, 1812. The next day found them at Fort Yallonia after as perilous a journey as was ever un¬ dertaken by six men.

One Yandover was cultivating a small field on the farm some time since known as the Hollen farm in 1812, when the Indiana shot him while he was at work. A number from the fort at Vallonia came to the burying, and on their return, as Robert Sturgeon was riding a short distance in advance of the company and near

Vallonia at the half mile branch, he was shot from his horse. The company hearing the report of the gun rode on rapidly, but on finding Sturgeon lying in the road, and fearing a large body of Indians was near, rode on to the fort leaving Sturgeon. When they returned they found Sturgeon scalped, and about a half dozen yards from the road a blind made of bushes was placed by the Indians.

A man named Dome was killed one mile and a half north of Brownstown by a considerable body of Indians. Messrs. Ketcham and Ruddick were with him, and Ruddick at the same time re¬ ceived a bullet in the arm.

David Hays and Maj. Sparks went out in the companies of Capts. Peyton and Dunn, and near the Delaware town Hays re¬ ceived a mortal wound. Other accounts of Indian murders will be found in the history of the townships.

Battle Of Tipton'S Island

This battle was fought at Tipton's Island, about two miles up the Driftwood Fork of White River from Rockford. A party of nearly sixty Indians were marauding and lurking about through the county, evidently watching their opportunity to plunder the home of the settlers and murder the inmates. Desiring to inter¬ cept them before they had committed any outrages a party con¬ sisting of about thirty white men under Gen. John Tipton started in pursuit The Indians knowing that they were pursued sta¬ tioned themselves at a ford on White River and concealed them¬ selves where they would have every advantage in the contest Gen. Tipton at once saw the advantage of their position and de¬ cided to cross the river at some distance above, and make a flank movement The Indians did not discover this movement until the whites had begun firing. The skirmish lasted about half an hour when the Indians retreated, not however, until one of their number had been killed and several wounded. The troops under

Prehistoric People

Scattered throughout the Mississippi Valley and the heart of the American Continent, lie the silent monuments of a long buried and unknown race. Through the long vista of years that have gone over the graves of this ancient and forgotten people there comes no sound to tell us of the times that saw these monu¬ ments arise. The mystery that enshrouds this race has hitherto baffled all science and research. Archaeologists have outrun all clues in their vain endeavors to penetrate the secrets that sur¬ round these dead inhabitants of the past. Beyond the fact of their existence but little is known. No recorded history, no curi¬ ous and perplexing hieroglyphics were left by them to span the abyss of time. The mounds and earthworks are numerous, and some of them are of such magnitude that it is concluded "that they lived in towns and were governed by a despotic ruler whose will was law and whose commands received implicit obedience." For want of a better name that of Mound-Builder has been given to this extinct race, since only by these mounds is it known. The date of these mounds is beyond the centuries that have been re¬ quired for the growth of the forests. "Not entirely voiceless, they tell of a people who once possessed the valley of the conti¬ nent Peaceful and law-abiding, they were skilled in agriculture and the arts of the stone age, and executed works that required the united and persistent effort of thousands under the direction of a well matured design. In the comparative absence of war¬ like implements, we conclude that this work was a labor of love, and not of fear ; that it was inaugurated and directed by a regal priesthood to erect votive temples in honor of the sun, a creator of comfort, food and life."

Classes And Contents Of Mounds

These mounds are of various kinds, but the most common are either habitation, sepulchral, or temple mounds. The first are supposed to have been made for the purpose of building the tents or dwellings upon. Sepulchral mounds were for the burial of the dead, and when explored are usually found to contain human bones and various ornaments and implements of the race. Tem¬ ple mounds were the places for religious devotion. Besides these mounds, there are many forts, walled enclosures and citadels.

Considerable numbers of stone axes, arrow points, spear heads, knives, fleshers, and other articles of stone, left by tlie prehistoric people who once inhabited the valley of the East Fork of White Biver and its tributaries, have been found in Jackson County. Prof. E. T. Cox, in his report on this county in 1874, says:

"Though I could find no earthen or stone wall enclosures, the numerous mounds that are scattered along the streams give abundant evidence that the district once contained a large popu¬ lation of mound-building people. In the northeast corner of the county, on Section 33, Town 7, Range 6, there is a large, sym¬ metrical mound thirty-five feet high, 100 feet long, and about sixty feet across the shorter diameter. It is in a short easterly bend of East Fork of White River, 100 steps from the left bank, and commands an extended view up and down the stream. The section from the bed of the river to the top of the mound is:

"The bank at this point never overflows. One hundred and twenty paces to the south there is a small branch which forms a circuit nearly around the mound, while on the. north side a larger branch lies so near as to cut well into its base. I counted be¬ tween forty and fifty large forest trees growing on the mound, mostly sugar trees ( Acer saccharinum ), some beech, poplar and ash. A sugar tree near the top measures three feet in diameter one foot above ground. At the west side of the mound there is a poplar tree which measures seven feet in diameter, three feet from the ground, and estimated to be seventy feet to the first limb. On the north side of the large branch, in George Shilling's old field, I thought I could detect the remains of a number of mounds, but the land has been so long in cultivation that it is difficult to pronounce upon it with certainty, though it is reasonable to suppose that since the river overflows its banks a short distance to the south, and this being the nearest high ground outside of the branches that enclose the great mound, it formed a most eligible site for the purpose. The large mound served the double purpose of an assembly ground for sun worship and a lookout A small hole has been, at some time, dug into the top of the large mound, but there is no account of any relics being found in it "A visit was made to the so-called mounds between the waters of Mutton Creek and the Muscatatuck Biver, near Newry. It is a hill detached from the spur of a low range of hills that divide the bottoms of the two streams. It lies about a quarter of a mile from the main ridge, and the same distance from the Mus¬ catatuck, and sixty steps from Mutton Creek. The long diameter is seventy-six feet, the short diameter sixty feet, and the height twenty feet These measurements were made before it was dis¬ covered, in a hole made by the uprooting of a large tree, that the revealed strata corresponded with that seen in the main ridge. I have made mention, therefore, of this isolated hill, not from any has been so generally recognized as an artificial mound. When making inquiries about antiquities, in different parts of the county, I was always cited to the above hill as being one of the largest mounds known in the country. Before discovering that the stratification of the clay and sand in the hill corresponded with that of the ridge, my suspicions were aroused by seeing that it was on a bottom subject to a deep overflow from freshets in the Muscatatuck River. It is only in rare instances that you will find mounds built by prehistoric men on land subject to inunda¬ tions.

"On the east side of East Fork of White River, one-half mile from Mahan's Ferry, and on the south side of the wagon road, there is a large mound situated on a low ridge a few feet above overflow. In digging the foundation for a house now standing on the mound, a great many human bones were found. Human bones were also thrown out in digging the well and in digging post holes. Though I noticed this mound while passing along the road, it was not until Dr. Wilson, of Medora, informed me of the above facts that I was aware of any special interest being attached to it. The old dwelling house on Daniel P. Henderlider's place, two miles south of Medora, is built on a mound. It is on a sandy terrace which borders on the flats. The eleva¬ tion is about eight feet above high water. The land here has been in cultivation for a great many years, which has had the effect to equalize the surface, and to partially obliterate the mounds, which exist over the entire length of the terrace, which is about a mile and a half long. In some of the mounds of this district human bones have been found, together with great num¬ bers of stone axes, celts and arrow points.

"On the very top of the ridge near Sparksville, 280 feet above the river, there are still to be seen traces of four mounds in a sandy field that has long since been in cultivation. It is said that they were rich in stone relics, but the constant wearing away

"On the high ridge which divides the waters of Luts Fork from the waters of Muddy Fork of Salt Creek, one and a half miles southeast of Houston, I was informed that there are four or more deep mortar holes worn into sandstone, which have shallow traces leading from the top of the cavities to the edge of the rock.

"I could hear of many other mounds in the county, but with the exception of the mortar holes above mentioned, which are probably the work of modern Indians, the most important locali¬ ties and antiquities have been visited and reported upon."

The Succeeding Races

The immediate successors of the Mound-Builders were a race of fishermen, who lived along the banks of streams and existed almost solely upon the food they obtained from the rivers. Along the Western streams there are found many large "shell heaps," where it is supposed these people for a time made their homes. Many stone vaults and sepulchers, intruded on the sides and tops of mounds, have led to the conclusion that this people adopted many of the habits and customs, perhaps even the religion, of their predecessors. But they, too, have long since passed away, leaving naught to tell us of their life, their times, or their am¬ bitions.

Later there came a barbarous and wandering race, originating in ancient Scythia, and bringing with them the cruelties and characteristics of the inhabitants of that country. The tell-tale monuments along their route from northern Asia to the center of America reveal the origin of the Indians. In their turn as a race they, too, will soon be numbered among the perished. In the struggle for existence with a foeman race they have been van¬ quished, and one by one they are going down to inglorious and unremembered graves.