Posey County, Indiana - Chapter 6, 1886 (part 2 of 6)

" Our situation was now critical. No possibility of retreat in case of defeat, and in full view of a town containing at this time more than 600 men, troops, inhabitants and Indians. The crew of the galley, though not 60 men, would have been now a re-enforcement of immense magnitude to our little army, if I may so call it, but we would not think of them. We were now in the situation that I had labored to get ourselves in. The idea of being made prisoner ' was foreign to almost every man, as they expected nothing but torture from the savages if they fell into their hands. Our fate was now to be determined, probably in a few hours; we knew that nothing but the most daring conduct would insure success ; I knew also that a number of the inhabitants wished us well. This was a favorable circumstance; and as there was but little prooability of our remaining until dark undiscovered, I determined to begin operations immediately, and therefore wrote the following placard to the inhabitants:

Gentlemen: - Being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request such of you as are true citizens and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in your houses ; and those, if any there be, that are friends to the king, will instantly repair to the fort and join the hair-buyer general and fight like men ; and if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered afterward, they may depend on severe punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on being well treated ; and I once more request them to keep out of the streets ; for every one I find in arms on my arrival I shall treat as an enemy.

" I had various ideas on the results of "this letter. I knew it could do us no damage, but that it would cause the lukewarm to be decided, and encourage our friends and astonish our enemies. We anxiously viewed this messenger until he entered the town, and in a few minutes we discovered by our glasses some stir in every street we could penetrate, and great numbers running or riding out into the commons, we supposed to view us, which was the case. But what surprised us was that nothing had yet happened that had the appearance of the garrison being alarmed, - neither gun nor drum. We began to suppose that the informatiou we got from our prisoners was false, and that the enemy had already knew of us and were prepared. A little before sunset we displayed ourselves in full view of the town, - crowds gazing at us. We were plunging ourselves into certain destruction or success ; there was no midway thought of. We had but little to say to our men, except inculcating an idea of the necessity of obedience, etc. We moved on slowly in full view of the town ; but as it was a point of some consequence to us to make ourselves appear formidable, we, in leaving the covert we were in, marched and counter- marched in such a manner that we appeared numerous. Our colors were displayed to the best advantage; and as the low plain we marched through was not a perfect level, but had frequent risings in it, of 7 or 8 higher than the common level, which was covered with water; and as these risings generally run in an oblique direction to the town, we took the advantage of one of them, marching through the water by it, which completely prevented our being numbered. We gained the heights back of the town. As there were as yet no hostile appearance, we were impatient to have the cause unriddled. Lieut. Bay ley was ordered with 14 men to march and fire on the fort; the main body moved in a difierent direction and took possession of the strongest part of the town."

Clark then sent a written order to Hamilton commanding him to surrender immediately or he would be treated as a murderer; Hamilton replied that he and his garrison were not disposed to be awed into any action unworthy of British subjects. After one hour more of fighting, Hamilton proposed a truce of three days for conference, on condition that each side cease all defensive work; Clark rejoined that he would "not agree to any terms other than Mr. Hamilton surrendering himself and garrison prisoners at discretion," and added that if he, Hamilton, wished to talk" with him he could meet him immediately at the church with Capt. Helm. In less than an hour Clark dictated the termaof surrender, Feb. 24, 1779. Hamilton agreed to the total surrender because, as he there claimed in writing, he was too far from aid from his own government, and because of the " unanimity"' of his officers in the surrender, and his "confidence in a generous enemy."

"Of this expedition, of its results, of its importance, of the merits of those engaged in it, of their bravery, their skill, of their prudence, of their success, a volume would not more than suffice for the details. Suffice it to say that in my opinion, and I have accurately and critically weighed and examined all the results produced by the contests in which we were engaged during the Revolutionary war, that for bravery, for hardships endured, for skill and consummate tact and prudence on the part of the commander, obedience, discipline and love of country on the part of his followers, for the immense, benefits acquired, and signal advantages obtained by it for the whole union, it was second to no enterprise undertaken during that struggle. I might add, second to no undertaking in ancient or modern warfare. The whole credit of this conquest belongs to two men ; Gen. George Rogers Clark and Ool. Francis Vigo. And when we consider that by it the whole territory now^ covered by the three great states of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan was added to the union, and so admitted to be by the British commissioners at the preliminaries to the treaty of peace in 1783; (and but for this very conquest, the boundaries of our territories west would have been the Ohio instead of the Mississippi, and so acknowledged by both our commissioners and the British at that conference;) a territory embracing upward of 2,C00,000 people, the human mind is lost in the contemplation of its effects; and we can but wonder that a force of 170 men, the whole number of Clark's troops, should by this single action have produced such important results." [John Law.

The next day Clark sent a detachment of 60 men up the river Wabash to intercept some boats which were laden with provisions and goods from Detroit. This force was placed under command of Capt. Helm, Major Bosseron and Major Legras, and they proceeded up the river, in three armed boats, about 120 miles, when the British boats, about seven in number, were surprised and captured without firing "a gun. These boats, which had on board about $60,000 worth of goods and provisions, were manned by about 40 men, among whom was Philip Dejean, a magistrate of Detroit. The provisions were taken for the public, and distributed among the soldiery.

Having organized a military government at Yincennes and appointed Capt. Helm commandant of the town. Col. Clark returned in the vessel to Kaskaskia, where he was joined by reinforcements from Kentucky under Capt. George. Meanwhile, a party of traders who were going to the falls, were killed and plundered by the Dela wares of White River; the news of this disaster having reached Clark, he sent a dispatch to Capt. Helm ordering him to make war on the Delawares and use every means in his power to destroy them; to show no mercy to the men, but to save the women and children. This order was executed without delay. Their camps were attacked in every quarter where they could be found. Many fell, and others were carried to Post Yincennes and put to death. The surviving Delawares at once pleaded for mercy and appeared anxious to make some atonement for their bad conduct. To these overtures Capt. Helm replied that Col. Clark, the " Big Knife," had ordered the war, and that he had no power to lay down the hatchet, but that he would suspend hostilities until a messenger could be sent to Kaskaskia. This was done, and the crafty Colonel, well understanding the Indian character, sent a message to the Delawares, telling them that he would not accept their friendship or treat with them for peace; but that if they could get some of the neighboring tribes to become responsible for their future conduct, he would discontinue the war and spare their lives; otherwise they must all perish.

Accordingly a council was called of all the Indians in the neighborhood, and Clark's answer was read to the assembly. After due deliberation the Piankeshaws took on themselves to answer for the future good conduct of the Delawares, and the " Grand Door " in a long speech denounced their base conduct. This ended the war with the Delawares and secured the respect of the neighboring tribes.

Tradition says that when Clark captured Hamilton and his garrison at Fort Sackville, he took possession of the fort and kept the British flag flying, dressed his sentinels with the uniform of the British soldiery, and let everything about the premises remain as they were, so that when the Indians sympathizing with the British arrived they would walk right into the citadel, into the jaws of death. His success was perfect. Sullen and silent, with the scalplock of his victims hansfing at his girdle, and in full expectation of his reward from Hamilton, the unwary savage, unconscious of danger and wholly ignorant of the change that had just been eflected in his absence, passed the supposed British sentry at the gate of the fort unmolested and unchallenged ; but as soon as in, a volley from the rifles of a platoon of Clark's men, drawn up and awaiting his coming, pierced their hearts and sent the unconscious savage, reeking with murder, to that tribunal to which he had so frequently, by order of the -hair-buyer general, sent his American captives, from the infant in the cradle to the grandfather of the family, tottering with age and infirmity. It was a just retribution, and few men but Clark would have planned such a ruse or carried it out successfully. It is reported that fifty Indians met this fate within the fort; and probably Hamilton, a prisoner there, witnessed it all, ward, with two other prisoners of war, Dejean and LaMothe, to Williamsburg, Va., early in June following, 1779. Proclamations, in his own handwriting, were found, in which he had offered a specific sum for every American scalp brought into the camp, either by his own troops or his allies, the Indians; and from this he was denominated the "hair-buyer General." This and much other testimony of living witnesses at the time, all showed what a savage he was. Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia, being made aware of the inhumanity of this wretch, concluded to resort to a little retaliation by way of closer confinement. Accordingly he ordered that these three prisoners be put in irons, confined in a dungeon, deprived of the use of pen, ink and paper, and be excluded from all conversation except with their keeper. Major General Phillips, a British officer out on parole in the vicinity of Charlottesville, where the prisoners now were, in closer confinement, remonstrated, and President Washington, while approving of Jefferson's, course, requested a mitigation of the severe order, lest the British be goaded to desperate measures.

Soon afterward Hamilton was released on parole, and he subsequently appeared in Canada, still acting as if he had jurisdiction in the United States.

The faithful, self-sacrificing and patriotic services of Father Pierre Gibault in behalf of the Americans require a special notice of him in this connection. He was the parish priest at Vincennes, as well as at Kaskaskia. He was, at an early period, a Jesuit missionary to the Illinois. Had it not been for the influence of this man, Clark could not have obtained the influence of the citizens at either place. He gave all his property, to the value of 1,500 Spanish milled dollars, to the support of Col. Clark's troops, and never received a single dollar in return. So far as the records inform us, he was given 1,500 Continental paper dollars, which proved in the end entirely valueless. He modestly petitioned from the Government a small allowance of land at Cahokia, but we find no account of his ever receiving it. He was dependent upon the public in his older days, and in 1790 Winthrop Sargent "conceded" to him a lot of about "14 toises, one side to Mr. Millet, another to Mr. Vaudrey, and to two streets," - a vague description of land.

Col. Francis Vigo was born in Mondovi, in the kingdom of Sardinia, in 1747. He left his parents and guardians at a very early age, and enlisted in a Spanish regiment as a soldier. The regiment was ordered to Havana, and a detachment of it subsequently to New Orleans, then a Spanish post; Col. Yigo accompanied this detachment. But he left the army and engaged in trading with the Indians on the Arkansas and its tributaries. Next he settled at St. Louis, also a Spanish post, where he became closely connected, both in friendship and business, with the Governor of Upper Louisiana, then residing at the same place. This friendship he enjoyed, though he could only write his name; and we have many circumstantial evidences that he was a man of high intelligence, honor, purity of heart, and ability. Here he was living when Clark captured Kaskaskia, and was extensively engaged in trading up the Missouri.

A Spaniard by birth and allegiance, he was under no obligation to assist the Americans. Spain was at peace with Great Britain, and any interference by her citizens was a breach of neutrality, and subjected an individual, especially one of the high character and standing of Col. Vigo, to all the contumely, logs and vengeance which British power could inflict. But Col. Vigo did not falter. "With an innate love of liberty, an attachment to Republican principles, and an ardent sympathy for an oppressed people struggling for their rights, he overlooked all personal consequences, and as soon as he learned of Clark's arrival at Kaskaskia, he crossed the line and went to Clark and tendered him his means and influence, both of which were joyfully accepted.

Knowing Col. Vigo's influence with the ancient inhabitants of the country, and desirous of obtaining some information from Vincennes, from which he had not heard for several months, Col. Clark proposed to him that he might go to that place and learn the actual state of affairs. Vigo went without hesitation, but on the Embarrass river he was seized by a party of Indians, plundered of all he possessed, and brought a prisoner before Hamilton, then in possession of the post, which he had a short time previously captured, holding Capt. Helm a prisoner of war. Being a Spanish subject, and consequently a non-combatant. Gov. Hamilton, although he strongly suspected the motives of the visit, dared not confine him, but admitted him to parole, on the single condition that he should daily report himself at the fort. But Hamilton was embar- rassed by his detention, being besieged by the inhabitants of the town, who loved Vigo and threatened to withdraw their support from the garrison if he would not release him. Father Gibault was the chief pleader for Yigo's release. Hamilton finally yielded, on condition that he, Yigo, would do no injury to the British interests on his way to St. Louis. He went to St. Louis, sure enough, doing no injury to British interests, but immediately returned to Kaskaskia and reported to Clark in detail all he had learned at Vincennes, without which knowledge Clark would have been unable to accomplish his famous expedition to that post with final triumph. The redemption of this country from the British is due as much, probably, to Col. Vigo as Col. Clark.

Government Of The Northwest

Ool. John Todd, Lieutenant for the county of Illinois, in the spring of 177i9 visited the old settlements at Vincennes and Kaskaskia, and organized temporary civil governments in nearly all the Settlements west of the Ohio. Previous to this, however, Clark had established a military government at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, appointed commandants in both places and taken up his headquarters at the falls of the Ohio, where he could watch the operations of the enemy and save the frontier settlements from the depredations of Indian warfare. On reaching the settlements, Col. Todd issued a proclamation regulating the settlement of unoccupied lands and requiring the presentation of all claims to the lands settled, as the number of adventurers who would shortly overrun the country would be serious. He also organized a Court of civil and criminal jurisdiction at Vincennes, in the month of June, 1779. This Court was composed of several magistrates and presided over by Col. J. M. P. Legras, who had been appointed commandant at Vincennes. Acting from the precedents established by the early French commandants in the "West, this Court began to grant tracts of land to the French and American inhabitants; and to the year 1783, it had granted to different parties about 26,000 acres of land ; 22,000 more was granted in this manner by 1787, when the practice was prohibited by Gen. Harmer. These tracts varied in size from a house lot to 600 acres. Besides this loose business, the Court entered into a stupendous speculation, one not altogether creditable to its honor and dignity. The commandant and the magistrates under him suddenly adopted the opinion that they were invested with the authority to dispose of the whole of that large region which in 1842 had been granted by the Piankeshaws to the French inhabitants of Vincennes. Accordingly a very convenient arrangement was entered into by which the whole tract of country mentioned was to be divided between the members of the honorable Court. A record was made to that effect, and in order to gloss over the steal, each member took pains to be absent from Court on the day that the order was made in his favor.

In the fall of 1780 La Balme, a Frenchman, made an attempt to capture the British garrison of Detroit by leading an expedition against it from Kaskaskia. At the head of 30 men he marched to Vincennes, where his force was slightly increased. From this place he proceeded to the British trading post at the head of the Maumee, where Fort Wayne now stands, plundered the British traders and Indians and then retired. While encamped on the bank of a small stream on his retreat, he was attacked by a band of Miamis, a number of his men were killed, and his expedition against Detroit was ruined.

In this manner border war continued between Americans and their enemies, with varying victory, until 1783, when the treaty of Paris was concluded, resulting in the establishment of the independence of the United States. Up to this time the territory now included in Indiana belonged by conquest to the State of Yirginia; but in January, 1783, the General Assembly of that State resolved to cede to the Congress of the United States all the territory northwest of the Ohio. The conditions offered by Virginia were accepted by Congress Dec. 20, that year, and early in 1784 the transfer was completed. In 1783 Virginia had platted the town of Clarksville, at the falls of the Ohio. The deed of cession provided that the territory should be laid out into States, containing a suitable extent of territory not less than 10.0 nor more than 150 miles equare, or as near thereto as circumstances would permit; and that the States so formed shall be distinct Kepublican States and admitted members of the Federal Union, having the same rights of sovereignty, freedom and independence as the other States. The other conditions of the deed were as follows : That the necessary and reasonable expenses incurred by Virginia in subduing any British posts, or in maintaining forts and garrisons within and for the defense, or in acquiring any part of the territory so ceded or relinquished, shall be fully reimbursed by the United States; that the French and Canadian inhabitants and other settlers of the Kas- kaskia, Post Vincennes and the neighboring villages who have professed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their titles and possessions confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and privileges; that a quantity not exceeding 150,- 000 acres of land, promised by Virginia, shall be allowed and granted to the then Colonel, now General, George Eogers Clark, and to the officers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with him when the posts and of Kaskaskia and Vincennes were reduced, and to the officers and soldiers that have been since incorporated into the said regiment, to be laid off in one tract, the length of which not to exceed double the breadth, in such a place on the northwest side of the Ohio as a majority of the officers shall choose, and to be afterward divided among the officers and soldiers in due proportion according to the laws of Virginia; that in case the quantity of good lands on the southeast side of the Ohio, upon the waters of Cumberland river, and between Green river and Ten. nessee river, which have been reserved by law for the Virginia troops upon Continental establishment, should, from the North Carolina line, bearing in further upon the Cumberland lands than was expected, prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the deficiency shall be made up to the said troops in good lands to be laid off between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami, on the northwest side of the river Ohio, in such proportions as have been engaged to them by the laws of Virginia; that all the lands within the territory so ceded to the United States, and not reserved for or appropriated to any of the before-mentioned purposes, or disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of the American army, shall be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall become, members of the confederation or federal alliance of the said States, Virginia included, according to their usual respective proportions in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and honafide disposed of for that purpose and for no other use or purpose whatever. After the above deed of cession had been accepted by Congress, in the spring of 1784, the matter of the future government of the territory was referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Jefferson of Virginia, Chase of Maryland and Howell of Rhode Island, which committee reported an ordinance for its government, providing, among other things, that slavery should not exist in said territory after 1800, except as punishment of criminals ; but this article of the ordinance was rejected, and an ordinance for the temporary government of the county was adopted. In 1785 laws were passed by Congress for the disposition of lands in the territory and prohibiting the settlement of unappropriated lands by reckless speculators. But human passion is ever strong enough to evade the law to some extent, and large associations, representing considerable means, were formed for the purpose of monopolizing the land business. Millions of acres were sold at one time by Congress to associations on the installment plan, and so far as the Indian titles could be extinguished, the work of settling and improving the lands was pushed rapidly forward,

This ordinance has a marvelous and interesting history. Considerable controversy has been indulged in as to who is entitled to the credit for framing it. This belongs, undoubtedly, to Nathan Dane; and to Rufus King and Timothy Pickering belong the credit for suggesting the proviso contained in it against slavery, and also for aids to religion and knowledge, and for assuring forever the common use, without charge, of the great national highways of the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence and their tributaries to all the citizens of the United States. To Thomas Jeflferson is also due much credit, as some features of this ordinance were embraced in his ordinance of 1784. But the part taken by each in the long, laborious and eventful struggle which had so glorious a consummation in the ordinance, consecrating forever, by one imprescriptible and unchangeable monument, the very heart of our country to Freedom, Knowledge, and Union, will forever honor the names ol those illustrious statesmen.

Mr. Jefferson had vainly tried to secure a system of government for the Northwestern territory. He was an emancipationist and favored the exclusion of slavery from the territory, but the South voted him down every time he proposed a measure of this nature. In 1787, as late as July 10, an organizing act without the antislavery clause was pending. This concession to the South was expected to carry it. Congress was in session in New York. On July 5, Kev. Manasseh Cutler, of Massachusetts, came into New York to lobby on the Northwestern territory. Everything seemed to fall into his hands. Events were ripe. The state of the public credit, the growing of Southern prejudice, the basis of his mission, his personal character, all combined to complete one of those sudden and marvelous revolutions of public sentiment that once in five or ten centuries are seen to sweep over a country like the breath of the Almighty.

Cutler was a graduate of Yale. He had studied and taken degrees in the three learned professions, medicine, law, and divinity. He had published a scientific examination of the plants of New England. As a scientist in America his name stood second only to that of Franklin. He was a courtly gentleman of the old style, a man of commanding presence and of inviting face. The Southern members said they had never seen such a gentleman in the North. He came representing a Massachusetts company that desired to purchase a tract of land, now included in Ohio, for the purpose of planting a colony. It was a speculation. Government money was worth eighteen cents on the dollar. This company had collected enough to purchase 1,500,000 acres of land. Other speculators in New York made Dr. Cutler their agent, which enabled him to represent a demand for 5,500,000 acres. As this would reduce the national debt, and Jefferson's policy was to provide for the public credit, it presented a good opportunity to do something.

Massachusetts then owned the territory of Maine, which she was crowding on the market. She was opposed to opening the Northwestern region. This fired the zeal of Virginia. The South caught the inspiration, and all exalted Dr. Cutler. The entire South ral. lied around him. Massachusetts could not vote against him, because many of the constuitents of her members were interested personally in the Western speculation. Thus Cutler, making friends in the South, and doubtless using all the arts of the lobby, was enabled to command the situation. True to deeper convictions, he dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of wise statesmanship that has ever adorned any human law book. He borrowed from Jefferson the term "Articles of Compact," which, preceding the federal constitution, rose into the most sacred character. He then followed very closely the constitution of Massachusetts, adopted three years before. Its most prominent points were:

2. Provision for public schools, giving one township for a seminary and every section n umbered 16 in each township ; that is, one thirty-sixth of all the land for public schools.

Be it forever remembered that this compact declared that " religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always be encouraged." Dr. Cutler planted himself on this platform'and would not yield. Giving his unqualified declaration that it was that or nothing, - that unless they could make the land desirable they did not want it, - he took his horse and buggy and started for the constitutional convention at Philadelphia. On July 13, 1787, the bill was put upon its passage, and was unanimously adopted. Thus the great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and "Wisconsin, a vast empire, were consecrated to free dom, intelligence, and morality. Thus the great heart of the nation was prepared to save the union of States, for it was this act that was the salvation of the republic and the destruction of slavery. Soon the South saw their great blunder and tried to have the compact repealed. In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee, of which John Randolph was chairman. He reported that this ordinance was a compact and opposed repeal. Thus it stood, a rock in the way of the on-rushing sea of slavery.

The " Northwestern Territory " included of course what is now the State of Indiana; and Oct 5, 1787, Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair was elected by Congress Governor of this territory. Upon commencing the duties of his office he was instructed to ascertain the real temper of the Indians and do all in his power to remove the causes for controversy between them and the United States, and to effect the extinguishment of Indian titles to all the land possible. The Governor took up quarters in the new settlement of Marietta, Ohio, where he immediately began the organization of the government of the territory. The first session of the General Court of the new territory was held at that place in 1788, the Judges being Samuel H. Parsons, James M. Varnum and John C. Symmes, but under the ordinance Gov. St. Clair was President of the Court. After the first session, and after the necessary laws for government were adopted. Gov. St. Clair, accompanied by the Judges, visited Kaskaskia for the purpose of organizing a civil government there. Full instructions had been sent to Maj. Hamtramck, commandant at Yincennes, to ascertain the exact feeling and temper of the Indian tribes of the Wabash. These instructions were accompanied by speeches to each of the tribes. A Frenchman named Antoine Gamelin was dispatched with these messages April 5, 1790, who visited nearly all the tribes on the "Wabash, St, Joseph and St.

Mary's rivers, but was coldly received ; most of the chiefs being dissatisfied with the policy of the Americans toward them, and prejudiced through English misrepresentation. Full accounts of his adventures among the tribes reached Gov. St. Clair at Kaskaskia in June, 1790. Being satisfied that there was no prospect of effecting a general peace with the Indians of Indiana, he resolved to visit Gen. Harmar at his headquarters at Fort Washington and consult with him on the means of carrying an expedition against the hostile Indians; but before leaving he intrusted Winthrop Sargent, the Secretary of the Territory, with the execution of the resolutions of Congress regarding the lands and settlers on the Wabash. He directed that officer to proceed to Vincennes, lay out a county there, establish the militia and appoint the necessary civil and military officers. Accordingly Mr. Sargent went to Vincennes and organized Camp Knox, appointed the officers, and notified the inhabitants to present their claims to lands. In establishing these claims the settlers found great difficulty, and concerning this matter the Secretary in his report to the President wrote as follows:

" Although the lands and lots which were awarded to the inhabitants appeared from very good oral testimony to belong to those persons to whom they were awarded, either by original grants, purchase or inheritance, yet there was scarcely one case in twenty where the title was complete, owing to the desultory manner in which public business had been transacted and some other unfortunate causes. The original concessions by the French and British commandants were generally made upon a small scrap of paper, which it has been customary to lodge in the notary's office, who has seldom kept any book of record, but committed the most important land concerns to loose sheets, which in process of time have come into possession of persons that have fraudulently destroyed them ; or, unacquainted with their consequence, innocently lost or trifled them away. By French usage they are considered family inheritances, and often descend to women and children. In one instance, and during the government of St. Ange here, a royal notary ran off with all the public papers in his possession, as by a certificate produced to me. And I am very sorry further to observe that in the office of Mr. Le Grand, which continued from 1777 to 1787, and where should have been the vouchers for important land transactions, the records have been so falsified, and there is such gross fraud and forgery, as to invalidate all evidence and information which I might have otherwise acquired from his papers."

Mr. Sargent says there were about 150 French families at Yincenues in 1790. The heads of all these families had been at some time vested with certain titles to a portion of the soil ; and while the Secretary was busy in straightening out these claims, he received a petition signed by 80 Americans, asking for the confirmation of grants of land ceded by the Court organized by Col. John Todd under the authority of Virginia. With reference to this cause. Congress, March 3, 1791, empowered the Territorial Governor, in cases where land had been actually improved and cultivated under a supposed grant for the same, to confirm to the persons who made such improvements the lands supposed to have been granted, not, however, exceeding the quantity of 400 acres to any one person.

Liquoe And Gaming Laws

The General Court in the summer of 1790, Acting Governor Sargent presiding, passed the following laws with reference to vending liquor among the Indians and others, and with reference to games of chance:

1. An act to prohibit the giving or selling intoxicating liquors to Indians residing in or coming into the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and for preventing foreigners from trading with Indians therein.

2. An act prohibiting the sale of spirituous or other intoxicating liquors to soldiers in the service of the United States, being within ten miles of any military post in the territory; and to prevent the selling or pawning of arms, ammunition, clothing or accoutrements.

3. An act prohibiting every species of gaming for money or property, and for making void contracts and payments made in consequence thereof, and for restraining the disorderly practice of discharging arms at certain hours and places.

Winthrop Sargent's administration was highly eulogized by the citizens at Vincennes, in a testimonial drawn up and signed by a committee of officers. He had conducted the investigation and settlement of land claims to the entire satisfaction of the residents, had upheld the principles of free government in keeping with the animus of the American Eevolution, and had established in good order the machinery of a good and wise government. In the same address Major Hamtramck also received a fair share of praise for his judicious management of afl"airs.

Military History 1790-1800 Expeditions Of Haemaje, Scott And Wilkinson

G-ov. St. Clair, on his arrival at Fort "Washington from Kaskaskia, had a long conversation with Gen. Harmar, and concluded to send a powerful force to chastise the savages about the headwaters of the Wabash. He had been empowered by the President to call on Virginia for 1,000 troops and on Pennsylvania for 500, and he immediately availed himself of this resource, ordering 300 of the Yirginia militia to muster at Fort Steuben and march with the garrison of that fort to Yincennes, and join Maj. Hamtramck, who had orders to call for aid from the militia of Vincennes, march up the Wiabash, and attack any of the Indian villages which he might think he could overcome. The remaining 1,200 of the militia were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Washington, and to join the regular troops at that post under command of Gen. Harmar. At this time the United States troops in the West were estimated by Gen. Harmar at 400 effective men. These, with the militia, gave him a force of 1,450 men. With this army Gen. Harmar marched from Fort Washington Sept. 30, and arrived at the Maumee Oct. 17. They commenced the work of punishing the Indians, but were not very successful. The savages, it is true, received a severe scourging, but the militia behaved so badly as to be of little or no service. A detachment of 340 militia and 60 regulars, under the command of Col. Hardin, were sorely defeated on the Maumee Oct. 22. The next day the army took up the line of march for Fort Washington, which place they reached Nov. 4, having lost in the expedition 183 killed and 31 wounded; the Indians lost about as many. During the progress of this expedition Maj. Hamtramck marched up the Wabash from Yincennes, as far as the Yermillion river, and destroyed several deserted villages, but without finding an enemy to oppose him.

Although the savages seem to have been severely punished by these expeditions, yet they refused to sue for peace, and continued their hostilities. Thereupon the inhabitants of the frontier settlements of Yirginia took alarm, and the delegates of Ohio, Monon- gahela, Harrison, Kandolph, Greenbrier, Kanawha and Montgomery counties sent a joint memorial to the Governor of "Virginia, saying that the defenseless condition of the counties, forming a line of nearly 400 miles along the Ohio river, exposed to the hostile invasion of their Indian enemies, destitute of every kind of support, was truly alarming; for, notwithstanding all the regulations of the General Government in that country, they have reason to lament that they have been up to that time ineffectual for their protection; nor indeed, could it be otherwise, for the garrisons kept by the Continental troops on the Ohio river, if of any use at all, must protect only the Kentucky settlements, as they immediately covered that country. They further stated in their memorial: "We beg leave to observe that we have reason to fear that the consequences of the defeat of our army by the Indians in the late expedition will be severely felt on our frontiers, as there is no doubt that the Indians will, in their turn, being flushed with victory, invade our settlements and exercise all their horrid murder upon the inhabitants thereof whenever the weather will permit them to travel. Then is it not better to support us where we are, be the expense what it may, than to oblige such a number of your brave citizens, who have so long supported, and still continue to support, a dangerous frontier (although thousands of their relatives in the flesh have in the prosecution thereof fallen a sacrifice to savage inventions) to quit the country, after all they have done and suffered, when you know that a frontier must be supported somewhere?"

This memorial caused the Legislature of Virginia to authorize the Governor of that State to make any defensive operations necessary for the temporary defense of the frontiers, until the general Government could adopt and carry out measures to suppress the hostile Indians. The Governor at once called upon the military commanding oflBcers in the western counties of Virginia to raise by the first of March, 1791, several small companies of rangers for thia purpose. At the same time Charles Scott was appointed Brigadier- General of the Kentucky militia, with authority to raise 226 volunteers, to protect the most exposed portions of that district. A full report of the proceedings of the Virginia Legislature being transmitted to Congress, that body constituted a local Board of "War for the district of Kentucky, consisting of five men. March 9, 1791, Gen. Henry Knox, Secretary of War, sent a letter of instructions to Gen. Scott, recommending an expedition of mounted men not exceeding 750, against the Wea towns on the Wabash. With this force Gen. Scott accordingly crossed the Ohio, May 23, 1791, and reached the Wabash in about ten days. Many of the Indians, having discovered his approach, fled, but he succeeded in destroying all the villages around Ouiatenon, together with several Kickapoo towns, killing 32 warriors and taking 58 prisoners. He released a few of the most infirm prisoners, giving them a " talk," which they carried to the towns farther up the Wabash, and which the wretched condition of his horses prevented him from reaching.

March 3, 1791, Congress provided for raising and equipping a regiment for the protection of the frontiers, and Gov. St. Clair was invested with the chief command of about 3,000 troops, to be raised and employed against the hostile Indians in the territory over which his jurisdiction extended. He was instructed by the Secretary of War to march to the Miami village and establish a strong and permanent military post there;, also such posts elsewhere along the Ohio as would be in communication with Fort Washington. The post at Miami village was intended to keep the savages in that vicinity in check, and was ordered to be strong enough in its garrison to afford a detachment of 500 or 600 men in case of emergency, either to chastise any of the Wabash or other hostile Indians or capture convoys of the enemy's provisions. The Secretary of War also urged Gov. St. Clair to establish that post as the first and most important part of the campaign. In case of a previous treaty the Indians were to be conciliated upon this point if possible; and he presumed good arguments might be offered to induce their acquiescence. Said he: " Having commenced your march upon the main expedition, and the Indians continuing hostile, you will use every possible exertion to make them feel the effects of your superiority; and, after having arrived at the Miami village and put your works in a defensible state, you will seek the enemy with the whole of your remaining force, and endeavor by all possible means to strike them with great severity. * * * *

In order to avoid future wars, it might be proper to make the Wabash and thence over to the Maumee, and down the same to its mouth, at Lake Erie, the boundary between the people of the United States and the Indians (excepting so far as the same should relate to the Wyandots and Delawares), on the supposition of their continuing faithful to the treaties; but if they should join in the war against the United States, and your army be victorious, the said tribes ought to be removed without the boundary mentioned."

Clair, June 25, 1791, authorized Gen Wilkinson to conduct a second expedition, not exceeding 500 mounted men, against the Indian villages on the Wabash. Accordingly Gen. Wilkinson mustered his. forces and was ready July 20, to march with 525 mounted volunteers, well armed, and provided with 30 days' provisions, and with this force he reached the Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua village on the north bank of Eel river about six miles above its mouth, Aug. 7, where he killed six warriors and took 34 prisoners. This town, which was scattered along the river for three miles, was totally dostroyed. Wilkinson encamped on the ruins of the town that night, and the next day he commenced his march for the Kickapoo town on the prairie, which he was unable to reach owing to the impassable condition of the route which he adopted and the failing condition of his horses. He reported the estimated results of the expedition as follows: "I have destroyed the chief town of the Ouiatenon nation, and have made prisoners of the sons and sisters of the king. I have burned a respectable Kickapoo village, and cut down at least 400 acres of corn, chiefly in the milk."

Expeditions Of St. Claik And Wayne

The IndianB were greatly damaged by the expeditions of Harmar, Scott and Wilkinson, but were far from being subdued. They regarded the policy of the United States as calculated to exterminate them from the land; and, goaded on by the English of Detroit,, enemies of the Americans, they were excited to desperation. At. this time the British Government still supported garrisons at. Niagara, Detroit and Michilimackinac, although it was declared by the second article of the definitive treaty of peace of 1783, that the king of Great Britain would, " with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction or carrying away any negroes or property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his forces, garrisons and fleets from the United States, and from every post, place and harbor within the same." That treaty also provided that the creditors on either side should meet with no lawful impediments to the recovery of the full value, in sterling money, of all bona fide debts previously contracted. The British Government claimed that the United States had broken faith in this particular understanding of the treaty, and in consequence refused to withdraw its forces from the territory. The British garrisons in the Lake Region weps a source of much annoyance . to the Americans, as they afforded OBCfcor to iiostile Indians, encouraging them ta- make raids among the Americans. This state of aflfairs in the Territory Northwest of tlie Ohio continued from the commencement of the Revolutionary war to 1796, when under a second treaty all British soldiers were withdrawn from the country.

In September, 1791, St. Clair moved from Fort "Washington with about 2,000 men, and itfovember 3, the main army, consistingof abont 1,400 effective troops, moved forward to the head- waters of the Wabash, where Fort Recovery was afterward erected, and here the army encamped. About 1,200 Indians were secreted a few miles distant, awaiting a favorable opportunity to begin an attack, which they improved on the morning of N ov. 4, about half an hour before sunrise. The attack was first made upon the militia, which immediately gave way. St. Olair was defeated and he returned to Fort "Washington with a broken and dispirited army, having lost 39 officers killed, and 539 men killed and missing; 22 officers and 232 men were wounded. Several pieces of artillery, and all the baggage, ammunition and provisions were left on the field of battle and fell into the hands of the victorious Indians. The stores and other public property lost in the action were valued at $32,800. There were also 100 or more American women with the army of the whites, very few of whom escaped the cruel carnage of the savage Indians. The latter, characteristic of their brutal nature, proceeded in the flush of victory to perpetrate the most horrible acts of cruelty and brutality upon the bodies of the living and the dead Americans who fell into their hands. Believing that the whites had made war for many years merely to acquire land, the Indians crammed clay and sand into the eyes and down the throats of the dying and the dead!

Although no particular blame was attached to Gov. St. Clair for the loss in this expedition, yet he resigned the office of Major-General, and was succeeded by Anthony "Wayne, a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary war. Early in 1792 provisions were made by the general Government for re-organizing the army, so that it should consist of an efficient degree of strength. "Wayne arrived at Pittsburg in June, where the army was to rendezvous. Here he continued actively engaged in organizing and training his forces until October, 1793, when with an army of about 3,600 men he moved westward to Fort "Washington.

possible means was employed to induce the hostile tribes of the Northwest to enter into a general treaty of peace with the American Government; speeches were sent among them, and agents to make treaties were also sent, but little was accomplished. Major Hamtramck, who still remained at Vincennes, succeeded in coneluding a general peace with the "Wabash and Illinois Indians; but the tribes more immediately under the influence of the British refused to hear the sentiments of friendship that were sent among them, and tomahawked several of the messengers. Their courage had been aroused by St. Clair's defeat, as well as by the unsuccessful expeditions which had preceded it, and they now felt quite prepared to meet a superior force under Gen. Wayne. The Indians insisted on the Ohio river as the boundary line between their lands and the lands of the United States, and felt certain that they could maintain that boundary.

Maj. Gen. Scott, with about 1,600 mounted volunteers from Kentucky, joined the regular troops under Gen. Wayne July 26, 1794, and on the 28th the united forces began their march for the Indian towns on the Maumee river. Arriving at the mouth of the Auglaize, they erected Fort Defiance, and Aug. 15 the army advanced toward the British fort at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, where, on the 20th, almost within reach of the British, the American army gained a decisive victory over the combined forces of the hostile Indians and a considerable number of the Detroit militia. The number of the enemy was estimated at 2,000, against about 900 American troops actually engaged. This horde of savages, as soon as the action began, abandoned themselves to flight and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving Wayne's victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field. The Americans lost 33 killed and 100 wounded; loss of the enemy more than double this number.

The army remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and cornfields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol shot of the British garrison, who were compelled to remain idle spectators to this general devastation and conflagration, among which were the houses, stores and property of Col. McKee, the British Indian agent and " principal stimulator of the war then existing between the United States and savages." On the return march to Fort Defiance the villages and cornfields for about 50

Sept. 14, 1794, the army under Gen. Wayne commenced its march toward the deserted Miami villages at the confluence of St. Joseph's and St. Mary's rivers, arriving Oct. 17, and on the following day the site of Fort Wayne was selected. The fort was completed Xov. 22, and garrisoned by a strong detachment of infantry and artillery, under the command of Ool. John F. Hamtramck, who gave to the new fort the name of Fort Wayne. In 1814 a new fort was built on the site of this structure. The Kentucky volunteers returned to Fort Washington and were mustered out of service. Gen. Wayne, with the Federal troops, marched to Greenville and took up his headquarters during the winter. Here, in August, 1795, after several months of active negotiation, this gallant officer succeeded in concluding a general treaty of peace with all the hostile tribes of the Northwestern Territory. This treaty opened the way for the flood of immigration for many years, and ultimately made the States and territories now constituting the mighty Northwest.

Up to the organization of the Indiana Territory there is but little history to record aside from -those events connected with military affairs. In July, 1796, as before stated, after a treaty was concluded between the United States and Spain, the British garrisons, with their arms, artillery and stores, were withdrawn from the posts within the boundaries of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, and a detachment of American troops, consisting of 65 men, under the command of Capt. Moses Porter, took possession of the evacuated post of Detroit in the same month.

In the latter part of 1796 Winthrop Sargent went to Detroit and organized the county of Wayne, forming a part of the Indiana Territory until its division in 1805, when the Territory of Michigan was organized.

Teeeitorial History Oeganization Of Indiana Teeeitokt

On the final success of American arms and diplomacy in 1796, the principal town within the Territory, now the State, of Indiana was Yincennes, which at this time comprised about 50 houses, all presenting a thrifty and tidy appearance. Each house was surrounded by a garden fenced with poles, and peach and apple-trees grew in most of the enclosures. Garden vegetables of all kinds were cultivated with success, and corn, tobacco, wheat, barley and cotton grew in the fields around the village in abundance. During the last few years of the 18th century the condition of society at Yincennes improved wonderfully.

Besides Vincennes there was a small settlement near where the town of Lawrenceburg now stands, in Dearborn county, and in the course of that year a small settlement was formed at "Armstrong's Station," on the Ohio, within the present limits of Clark county. There were of course several other smaller settlements and trading posts in the present limits of Indiana, and the number of civilized inhabitants comprised within the territory was estimated at 4,875.

The Territory of Indiana was organized by Act of Congress May 7, 1800, the material parts of the ordinance of 1787 remaining in force; and the inhabitants were invested with all the rights, privileges and advantages granted and secured to the people by that ordinance. The seat of government was fixed at Yincennes. May 13, 1800, Wm. Henry Harrison, a native of Yirginia, was appointed Governor of this new territory, and on the next day John Gibson, a native of Pennsylvania and a distinguished Western pioneer, (to whom the Indian chief Logan delivered his celebrated speech in 1774), was appointed Secretary of the Territory. Soon afterward Wm. Clark, Henry Yanderburgh and John Griffin were appointed territorial Judges.

Secretary Gibson arrived at Yincennes in July, and commenced, in the absence of Gov. Harrison, the administration of government. Gov. Harrison did not arrive until Jan. 10, 1801, when he immediately called together the Judges of the Territory, who proceeded

From this time to 1810 the principal subjects which attracted the attention of the people of Indiana were land speculations, the adjustment of land titles, the question of negro slavery, the purchase of Indian lands by treaties, the organization of Territorial legislatures, the extension of the right of suffrage, the division of Indiana Territory, the movements of Aaron Burr, and the hostile views and proceedings of the Shawanee chief, Tecumseh, and his brother, the Prophet. \

Up tb this time the sixth article of the celebrated ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery in the Northwestern Territory, had been somewhat neglected in the execution of the law, and many French settlers still held slaves in a manner. In some instances, according to rules prescribed by Territorial legislation, slaves agreed by indentures to remain in servitude under their masters for a certain number of years; but many slaves, with whom no such contracts were made, were removed from the Indiana Territory either to the west of the Mississippi or to some of the slaveholding States. Gov. Harrison convoked a session of delegates of the Territory, elected by a popular vote, who petitioned Congress to declare the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery, suspended; but Congress never consented to grant that petition, and many other petitions of a similar import. Soon afterward some of the citizens began to take colored persons out of the Territory for the purpose of selling them, and Gov. Harrison, by a proclamation April 6, 1804, forbade it, and called iipon the authorities of the Territory to assist him in preventing such removal of persons

During the year 1804 all the country west of the Mississippi and north of 33° was attached to Indiana Territory by Congress, but in a few months was again detached and organized into a separate territory.

"When it appeared from the result of a popular vote in the Territory that a majority of 138 freeholders were in favor of organizing a General Assembly, Gov. Harrison, Sept. 11, 1804, issued a proclamation declaring that the Territory had passed into the second grade of government, as contemplated by : the ordinance of 1787, and fixed Thursday, Jan. 3, 1805, as the time for holding an election in the several counties of the Territory,to choose members of a House of Eepresentatives, who should meet at Yincennes Feb. 1 and adopt measures for the organization of a Territorial Council. These delegates were elected, and met according to the proclamation, and selected ten men from whom the President of the United States, Mr. Jefferson, should appoint five to be and constitute the Legislative Council of the Territory, but he declining, requested Mr. Harrison to make the selection, which was accordingly done. Before the first session of this Council, however, was held, Michigan Territory was set off, its south line being one drawn from the southern end of Lake Michigan directly east to Lake Erie.

Fibst Teeeitorial Legislatuee

The first General Assembly, or Legislature, of Indiana Territory met at Vincennes July 29, 1805, in pursuance of a gubernatorial proclamation. The members of the House of Representatives were Jesse B. Thomas, of Dearborn county ; Davis Floyd, of Clark county; Benjamin Parke and John Johnson, of Knox county, Shadrach Bond and William Biggs, of St. Clair county, and George Fisher, of Randolph county. July 30 the Governor delivered his first message to "the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Indiana Territory." Benjamin Parke was the first delegate elected to Congress. He had emigrated from New Jersey to Indiana in 1801.

was the first newspaper published in the Indiana Territory, now comprising the four great States of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and the second in all that country once known as the "Northwestern Territory." It was commenced at Vincennes in 1803, by Elihu Stout, of Kentucky, and first called the Indiana Gazette, and July, 4, 1804, was changed to the Western Sun. Mr. Stout continued the paper until 1845, amid many discouragements, when he was appointed postmaster at the place, and he sold out the office.

Indiana In 1810

The events which we have just been describing really constitute the initiatory steps to the great military campaign of Gen. Harrison which ended in the "battle of Tippecanoe;" but before proceeding to an account of that brilliant affair, let us take a glance at the resources and strength of Indiana Territory at this time, 1810:

Histoky Of Indiana

During the year 1810 a Board of Commissioners was established to straighten out the confused condition into which the land-title controversy had been carried by the various arid conflicting administrations that had previously exercised jurisdiction in this regard. This work was attended with much labor on the part of the Commissioners and great dissatisfaction on the part of a few designing speculators, who thought no extreme of perjury too hazardous in their mad attempts to obtain lands fraudulently. In closing their report the Commissioners used the following expressive language: "We close this melancholy picture of human depravity by rendering our devout acknowledgment that, in the awful alternative in which we have been placed, of either admitting perjured testimony in support of the claims before us, or having it turned against our characters and lives, it has as yet pleased that divine providence which rules over the affairs of men, to preserve us, both from legal murder and private assassination."

The question of dividing the Territory of Indiana was agitated from 1806 to 1809, when Congress erected the Territory of Illinois, to comprise all that part of Indiana Territory lying west of the Wabash river and a direct line drawn from that river and Post Vincennes due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada. This occasioned some confusion in the government of Indiana, but in due time the new elections were confirmed, and the new territory started off on a journey of prosperity which this section of the United States has ever since enjoyed.

From the first settlement of Vincpnnes for nearly half a century there occurred nothing of importance to relate, at least so far as the records inform us. The place was too isolated to grow very fast, and we suppose there was a succession of priests and commandants, who governed the little world around them with almost infinite power and authority, from whose decisions there was no appeal, if indeed any was ever desired. The character of society in such a place would of course grow gradually different from the parent society, assimilating more or less with that of neighboring tribes. The whites lived in peace with the Indians, each under-

Standing the other's peculiarities, which remained fixed long enough for both parties to study out and understand them. The government was a mixture of the military and the civil. There was little to incite to enterprise. Speculations in money and property, and their counterpart, beggary, were both unknown; the necessaries of life were easily procured, and beyond these there were but few wants to be supplied; hospitality was exercised by all, as there were no taverns; there seemed to be no use for law, judges or prisons; each district had its commandant, and the proceedings of a trial were singular. The complaining party obtained a notification from the commandant to his adversary, accompanied by a command to render justice. If this had no effect he was notified to appear before the commandant on a particular day and answer; and if the last notice was neglected, a sergeant and file of men were sent to bring him, - no sheriff and no costs. The convicted party would be fined and kept in prison until he rendered justice according to the decree; when extremely refractory the cat-o'-ninetails brought him to a sense of justice. In such a state of society there was no demand for learning and science. Few could read, and still fewer write. Their disposition was nearly always to deal honestly, at least simply. Peltries were their standard of value. A brotherly love generally prevailed. But they were devoid of public spirit, enterprise or ingenuity.

Gov. Hakeison And The Indians

Immediately after the organization of Indiana Territory Governor Harrison's attention was directed, by necessity as well as by instructions from Congress, to settling affairs with those Indians who still held claims to lands. He entered into several treaties, by which at the close of 1805 the United States Government had obtained about 46,000 square miles of territory, including all the lands lying on the borders of the Ohio river between the mouth of the Wabash river and the State of Ohio.

The levying of a tax, especially a poll tax, by the General Assembly, created considerable dissatisfaction among many of the inhabitants. At a meeting held Sunday, August 16, 1807, a number of Frenchmen resolved to " withdraw their confidence and support forever from those men who advocated or in any manner promoted the second grade of government."

In 1807 the territorial statutes were revised and under the new code, treason, murder, arson and horse-stealing were each punishable by death. The crime of manslaughter was punishable by the common law. Burglary and robbery were punishable by whipping, fine and in some cases by imprisonment not exceeding forty years. Hog stealing was punishable by fine and whipping. Bigamy was punishable by fine, whipping and disfranchisement, etc.

In 1804 Congress established three land ofiBces for the sale of lands in Indiana territory; one was located at Detroit, one at Vincennes and one at Kaskaskia. In 1807 a fourth one was opened at Jeffersonville, Clark county; this town was first laid out in 1802, agreeably to plans suggested by Mr. Jefferson then President of the United States.

Governor Harrison, according to his message to the Legislature in 1806, seemed to think that the peace then existing between the whites and the Indians was permanent; but in the same document he referred to a matter that might be a source of trouble, which indeed it proved to be, namely, the execution of white laws among the Indians - ^laws to which the latter had not been a party in their enactment. The trouble was aggravated by the partiality with which the laws seem always to have been executed ; the Indian was nearly always the sufferer. All along from 180-5 to 1810 the Indians complained bitterly against the encroacliments of the white people upon the lands that belonged to them. The invasion of their hunting grounds and the unjustifiable killing of many of their people were the sources of their discontent. An old chief, in laying the trouble of his people before Governor Harrison, said; " You call us children ; why do you not make us as happy as our fathers, the French, did? They never took from us our lands; indeed, they -were common between us. They planted where they pleased, and they cut wood where they pleased; and so did we; but now if a poor Indian attempts to take a little bark from a tree to cover him from the rain, up comes a white man and threatens to shoot him, claiming the tree as his own."

The Indian truly had grounds for his complaint, and the state of feeling existing among the tribes at this time was well calculated to develop a patriotic leader who should carry them all forward to victory at arms, if certain concessions were not made to them by the whites. But this golden opportunity was seized by an unworthy warrior. A brother of Tecumseh, a "prophet" named Law-le-was-ikaw, but who assumed the name of Pems-quat-a-wah (Open Door), was the crafty Shawanee warrior who was enabled to work upon both the superstitions and the rational judgment of his fellow Indians. He was a good orator, somewhat peculiar in his appearance and well calculated to win the attention and respect of the savages. He began by denouncing witchcraft, the use of intoxicating liquors, th^ custom of Indian women marrying white men, the dress of the whites and the practice of selling Indian lands to the United States. He also told the Indians that the commands of the Great Spirit required them to punish with death those who practiced the art? of witchcraft and magic; that the Great Spirit had given him power to find out and expose such persons; that he had power to cure all diseases, to confound his enemies and to stay the arm of death in sickness and on the battle-field. His harangues aroused among some bands of Indians a high degree of superstitious excitement. An old Delaware chief named Ta-te-bock-o-she, through whose influence a treaty had been made with the Delawares in 1804, was accused of witchcraft, tried, condemned and tomahawked, and his body consumed by fire. The old chief's wife, nephew ("Billy Patterson ") and an aged Indian named Joshua were next accused of witchcraft and condemned to death. The two men were burned at the stake, but the wife of Ta-te-bock-o-she was saved from death by her brother, who suddenly approached her, took her by the hand, and, without meeting any opposition from the Indians present, led her out of the council- house. He then immediately returned and checked the growing influence of the Prophet by exclaiming in a strong, earnest voice, " The Evil Spirit has come among us and we are killing each other." - [^Dillon'' s History of Indiana.

When Gov. Harrison was made acquainted with these events he sent a special messenger to the Indians, strongly entreating them to renounce the Prophet and his works. This really destroyed to some extent the Prophet's influence; but in the .spring of 1808, having aroused nearly all the tribes of the Lake Region, the Prophet with a large number of followers settled near the mouth of the Tippecanoe river, at a place which afterward had the name of "Prophet's- Town." Taking advantage of his brother's influence, Tecumseh actively engaged himself in forming the various tribes into a confederacy. He announced publicly to all the Indians that the treaties by which the United States had acquired lands northwest of the Ohio were not made in fairness, and should be considered void. He also said that no single tribe was invested with power to sell lands without the consent of all the other tribes, and that he and his brother, the Prophet, would oppose and resist all future attempts which the white people might make to extend their settlements in the lands that belonged to the Indians.

Early in 1808, Gov. Harrison sent a speech to the Shawanees, in which was this sentence: " My children, this business must be stopped ; I will no longer suffer it. You have called a number of men from the most distant tribes to listen to a fool, who speaks not the words of the Great Spirit but those of the devil and the British agents. My children, your conduct has much alarmed the white settlers near you. They desire that you will send away those people; and if they wish to have the impostor with them they can carry him along with them. Let him go to the lakes ; he can hear the British more distinctly." This message wounded the pride of the Prophet, and he prevailed on the messenger to inform Gov. Harrison that he was not in league with the British, but was speaking truly the words of the Great Spirit.

In the latter part of the summer of 1808, the Prophet spent several weeks at Vincennes, for the purpose of holding interviews with Gov. Harrison. At one time he told the Governor that he was a Christian and endeavored to persuade his pepple also to become Christians, abandon the use of liquor, be united in broth- erly love, etc., making Mr. Harrison believe at least, that he was honest; but before long it was demonstrated that the "Prophet" was designing, canning and unreliable; that both he and Tecumseh were enemies of the United States, and friends of the English; and that in case of a war between the Americans and English, they would join the latter. The next year the Prophet again visited Vincennes, with assurances that he was not in sympathy with the English, but the Governor was not disposed to believe him ; and in a letter to the Secretary of War, in July, 1809, he said that he regarded the bands of Indians at Prophet's Town as a combination which had been produced by British intrigue and influence, in anticipation of a war between them and the United States.

In direct opposition to Tecumseh and the prophet and in spite of all these difficulties, Gov. Harrison continued the work of extinguishing Indian titles to lands, with very good success. By the close of 1809, the total amount of land ceded to the United States, under treaties which had been effected by Mr. Harrison, exceeded 30,000,000 a'res.

From 1805 to 1807, the movements of Aaron Burr in the Ohio valley created considerable excitement in Indiana. It seemed tliat he intended to collect a force of men, invade Mexico and found a republic there, comprising all the country west of the Alleghany mountains. He gathered, however, but a few men, started south, and was soon arrested by the Federal authorities. But before his arrest he had abandoned his expedition and his followers had dispersed.

While the Indians were combining to prevent any further transfer of land to the whites, the British were using the advantage as a groundwork for a successful war upon the Americans. In the spring of 1810 the followers of the Prophet refused to receive their annuity of salt, and the officials who offered it were denounced as "American dogs," and otherwise treated in a disrespectful manner. Gov. Harrison, in July, attempted to gain the friendship of the Prophet by sending him a letter ,offering to treat with him personally in the matter of his grievances, or to furnish means to send him, with three of his principal chiefs, to the President at Washington; but the messenger was coldly received, and they returned, word that they would visit Vincennes in a few days and interview the Governor. Accordingly, Aug. 12, 1810, the Shawanee chief with 70 of his principal warriors, marched up to the door of the

Governor's house, and from that day until the 22d held daily interviews with His Excellency. In all of his speeches Tecumseh was haughty, and sometimes arrogant. On the 20th he delivered that celebrated speech in which he gave the Governor the alternative of returning their lands or meeting them in battle.

While the Governor was replying to this speech Tecumseh interrupted him with an angry exclamation, declaring that the United States, through Gov. Harrison, had "cheated and imposed on the Indians." When Tecumseh first rose, a number of his party also sprung to their feet, armed with clubs, tomahawks and spears, and made some threatening demonstrations. The Governor's guards, who stood a little way off, were marched up in haste, and the Indians, awed by the presence of this small armed force, abandoned what seemed to be an intention to make an open attack on the Governor and his attendants. As soon as Tecumseh's remarks were interpreted, the Governor reproached him for his conduct, and commanded him to depart instantly to his camp.

On the following day Tecumseh repented of his rash act and requested the Governor to grant him another interview, and protested against any intention of offense. The Governor consented, and the council was re-opened on the 21st, when the Shawanee chief addressed him in a respectful and dignified manner, but remained immovable in his policy. The Governor then requested Tecumseh to state plainly whether or not the surveyors who might be sent to survey the lands purchased at the treaty of Fort Wayne in 1809, would be molested by Indians. Tecumseh replied: "Brother, when you speak of annuities to me, I look at the land and pity the women and children. I am authorized to say that they will not receive them. Brother, we want to save that piece of land. We do not wish you to take it. It is small enough for our purpose. If you do take it, you must blame yourself as the cause of the trouble between us and the tribes who sold it to you. I want the present boundary line to continue. Should you cross it, I assure you it will be productive of bad consequences."

The next day the Governor, attended only by his interpreter, visited the camp of the great Shawanee, and in the course of a long -interview told him that the President of the United States would not acknowledge his claims. "Well," replied the brave warrior, "as the great chief is to determine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will put sense enough into his head to induce him to direct you to give up this land. It is true, he is so far off he will not be

In his message to the new territorial Legislature in 1810 Gov. Harrison called attention to the dangerous views held by Teeumseh and the Prophet, to the pernicious influence of alien enemies among the Indians, to the unsettled condition of the Indian trade and to the policy of extinguishing Indian titles to lands. The eastern settlements were separated from the western by a considerable extent of Indian lands, and the most fertile tracts within the territory were still in the hands of the Indians. Almost entirely divested of the game from which they had drawn their subsistence, it had become of little use to them ; and it was the intention of the Government to substitute for the precarious and scanty supplies of the chase the more certain and plentiful support of agriculture and stock-raising. The old habit of the Indians to hunt so long as a deer could be found was so inveterate that they would not break it and resort to intelligent agriculture unless they were compelled to, and to this they would not be compelled unless they were confined to a limited extent of territory. The earnest language of the Governor's appeal was like this: "Are then those extinguishments of native title which are at once so beneficial to the Indian and the territory of the United States, to be suspended on account of the intrigues of a few individuals? Is one of the fairest portions of the globe to remain in a state of nature, the haunt of a few wretched savages, when it seems destined by the Creator to give support to a large population, and to be the seat of civilization, of science and true religion?"

Among the acts passed by this session of the Legislature, one authorized the President and Directors of the Vincennes Public Library to raise $1,000 by lottery. Also, a petition was sent to Congress for a permanent seat of government for the Territory, and commissioners were appointed to select the site.

With the beginning of the year 1811 the British agent for Indian affairs adopted measures calculated to secure the support of the savages in the war which at this time seemed almost inevitable. Meanwhile Gov. Harrison did all in his power to destroy the influence of Teeumseh and his brother and break up the Indian confederacy which was oeing organized in the interests of Great Britain. Pioneer settlers and the Indians naturally grew more and more aggressive and intolerant, committing depredations and murders,, until the Governor felt compelled to send the following speech, substantially, to the two leaders of the Indian tribes: "This is the third year that all the white people in this country have been alarmed at your proceedings; you threaten us with war; you invite all the tribes north and west of you to join against us, while your warriors who have lately been here deny this. The tribes on the Mississippi have sent me word that you intended to murder me and then commence a war upon my people, and your seizing the salt I recently sent up the Wabash is also sufficient evidence of such intentions on your part. My warriors are preparing themselves, not to strike you, but to defend themselves and their women and children. Tou shall not surprise us, as you expect to do. Tour intended act is a rash one: consider well of it. What can induce you to undertake such a thing when there is so little prospect of success? Do you really think that the handful of men you have about you are able to contend with the seventeen 'fires?' or even that the whole of the tribes united could contend against the Kentucky 'fire' alone? I am myself of the Long 'Knife fire.' As soon as they hear my voice you will see them pouring forth their swarms of hunting-shirt men as numerous as the musquitoes on the shores of the Wabash. Take care of their stings. It is not our wish to hurt you; if we did, we certainly have power to do it,

" You have also insulted the Government of the tTnited States, by seizing the salt that was intended for other tribes. Satisfaction must be given for that also. You talk of coming to see me, attended by all of your young men; but this must not be. If your intentions are good, you have no need to bring but a few of your young men with you. I must be plain with you. I will not suffer yon to come into our settlements with such a force. My advice is that you visit the President of the United States and lay your grievances before him.

" With respect to the lands that were purchased last fall I can enter into no negotiations with you; the affair is with the President. If you wish to go and see him, I will supply you with the means.

" The person who delivers this is one of my war officers, and is a man in whom I have entire confidence; whatever he says to yon, although it may not be contained in this paper, you may believe comes from me. My friend Tecumseh, the bearer is a good man and a brave warrior; I hope you will treat him well. You are

The bearer of this speech was politely received by Tecumseh, who replied to the Governor briefly that he should visit Vinoennes in a few days. Accordingly he arrived July 2T, 1811, bringing with him a considerable force of Indians, which created much alarm among the inhabitants. In yiew of an emergency Gov. Harrison reviewed his militia - about 750 armed men - and stationed two companies and a detachment of dragoons on the borders of the town. At this interview Tecumseh held forth that he intended no war against the United States; that he would send messengers among the Indians to prevent murders and depredations on the white settlements; that the Indians, as well as the whites, who had committed murders, ought to be forgiven; that he had set the white people an example of forgiveness, which they ought to follow; that it wag his wish to establish a union among all the Indian tribes; that the northern tribes were united; that he was going to visit the southern Indians, and then return to the Prophet's town. He said also that he would visit the President the next spring and settle all diflSculties with him, and that he hoped no attempts would be made to make settlements on the lands which had been sold to the United States, at the treaty of Fort Wayne, because the Indians wanted to keep those grounds for hunting,

By the way, a lawsuit was instituted by Gov. Harrison against a certain Wm. Mcintosh, for asserting that the plaintiff had cheated the Indians out of their lands, and that by so doing he had made them enemies to the United States. The defendant was a wealthy Scotch resident of Yincenues, well educated, and a man of influence among the people opposed to Gov. Harrison's land policy. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Harrison, assessing the damages at $4,000. In execution of the decree of Court a large quantity of the defendant's land was sold in the absence of Gov. Harrison; but some time afterward Harrison caused about two-thirds of the land to be restored to Mr. Mcintosh, and the remainder was given to some orphan children.

Harrison's first movement was to erect a new fort on the Wabash river and to break up the assemblage of hostile Indians at the Prophet's town. For this purpose he ordered Col. Boyd's regiment of infantry to move from the falls of Ohio to Vincennes. When the military expedition organized by Gov, Harrison was nearly ready to march to tHe Prophet's town,several Indian chiefs arrived at Vincennes Sept. 25, 1811, and declared that the Indians would comply with the demands of the Governor and disperse; but this did not check the military proceedings. The army under command of Harrison moved from Vincennes Sept. 26, and Oct. 3, encountering no opposition from the enemy, encamped at the place where Fort Harrison was afterward built, and near where the city of Terre Haute now stands. On the night of the 11th a few hostile Indians approached the encampment and wounded one of the sentinels, which caused considerable excitement. The army was immediately drawn up in line of battle, and small detachments were sent in all directions; but the enemy could not be found. Then the Governor sent a message to Prophet's Town, requiring the Shawanees, "Winnebagoes, Pottawatomies and Kickapoos at that place to return to their respective tribes; he also required the Prophet to restore all the stolen horses in his possession, or to give satisfactory proof that such persons were not there, nor had lately been, under his control. To this message the Governor received no answer, unless that answer was delivered in the battle of Tippecanoe.

The new fort on the "Wabash was finished Oct. 28, and at the request of all the subordinate officers it was called "Fort Harrison," near what is now Terre Haute. This fort was garrisoned with a small number of men under Lieutenant-Colonel Miller. On the 29th the remainder of the army, consisting of 910 men, moved toward the Prophet's town ; about 270 of the troops were mounted. The regular troops, 250 in number, were under the command of Col. Boyd. With this army the Governor marched to within a half mile of the Prophet's town, when a conference was opened with a distinguished chief, in high esteem with the Prophet, and he informed Harrison that the Indians were much surprised at the approach of the army, and had already dispatched a message to him by another route. Harrison replied that he would not attack them until he had satisfied himself that they would not comply with his demands ; that he would continue his encampment on the Wabash, and on the following morning would have an interview with the prophet. Harrison then resumed his march, and, after some difficulty, selected a place to encamp - a spot not very desirable. It was a piece of dry oak land rising about ten feet above the marshy prairie in front toward the Indian town, and nearly twice that height above a similar prairie in the rear, through which and near this bank ran a small stream clothed with willow and brush wood. Toward the left flank this highland widened considerably, but became gradually narrower in the opposite direction, and at the distance of 150 yards terminated in an abrupt point. The two columns of infantry occupied the front and rear of this ground, about 160 yards from each other on the left, and a little more than half that distance on the right, flank. One flank was filled by two companies of mounted riflemen, 120 men, under command of Major-General Wells, of the Kentucky militia, and one by Spencer's company of mounted riflemen, numbering 80 men. The front line was composed of one battalion of United States infantry, under command of Major Floyd, flanked on the right by two companies of militia, and on the left by one company. The rear line was composed of a battalion of United States troops, under command of Capt. Bean, acting as Major, and four companies of militia infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Decker. The regular troops of this line joined the mounted riflemen under Gen. Wells, on the left flank, and Col. Decker's battalion formed an angle with Spencer's company on the left. Two troops of dragoons, about 60 men in all, were encamped in the rear of the left flank, and Capt. Parke's troop, which was larger than the other two, in rear of the right line. For a pight attack the order of encampment was the order of battle, and each man slept opposite his post in the line. In the formation of the troops single file was adopted, in order to get as great an extension of the lines as possible.

Battle Of Tippecanoe

No attack was made by the enemy until about 4 o'clock on the morning of Nov. 7, just after the Governor had arisen. The attack was made on the left flank. Only a single gun was fired by the sentinels or by the guard in that direction, which made no resistance, abandoning their posts and fleeing into camp; and the first notice which the troops of that line had of the danger was the yell of the savages within a- short distance of them. But the men were courageous and preserved good discipline. Such of them as were awake, or easily awak^ed, seized arms and took their stations; others, who were more tardy, had to contend with the enemy in the doors of their tents. The storm first fell upon Capt. Barton's company of the Fourth United States Regiment, and Capt. Geiger's company of mounted rifiemen, which formed the left angle of the rear line. The fire from the Indians was exceedingly severe, and men in these companies suffered considerably before relief could be brought to them. Some few Indians passed into the encampment near the angle, and one or two penetrated to some distance before they were killed. All the companies formed for action before they were fired on. The morning was dark and cloudy, and the fires of the Americans afforded only a partial light, which gave greater advantage to the enemy than to the troops, and they were therefore extinguished.

As soon as the Governor could mount his horse he rode to the angle which was attacked, where he found that Barton's company had suffered severely, and the left of Geiger's entirely broken. He immediately ordered Cook's and Wentworth's companies to march up to the center of the rear line, where were stationed a small company of IT. S. riflemen and the companies of Bean, Snelling and Prescott. As the General rode up he found Maj. Daviess forming the dragoons in the rear of these companies, and having ascertained that the heaviest fire proceeded from some trees 15 or 20 paces in front of these companies, he directed the Major to dislodge them with a part of the dragoons ; but unfortunately the Major's gallantry caused him to undertake the execution of the order with a smaller force than was required, which enabled the enemy to avoid him in front and attack his fianks. He was mortally wounded and his men driven back. Oapt. Snelling, however, with his company immediately dislodged those Indians. Oapt. Spencer and his Ist and 2nd Lieutenants were killed, and Oapt. Warwick mortally wounded. The soldiery remained brave. Spencer had too much ground originally, and Harrison re-enforced him with a company of rifiemen which had been driven from their position on the left flank.

Gen. Harrison's aim was to keep the lines entire, to prevent the enemy from breaking into the camp until daylight, which would enable him to make a general and effectual charge. "With this view he had re-enforced every part of the line that had suffered much, and with the approach of morning he withdrew several companies from the front and rear lines and re-enforced the right and left flanks, foreseeing that at these points the enemy would make their last effort. Maj. Wells, who had commanded the left flank, charged upon the enemy and drove them at the point of the bayonet into the marsh, where they could not be followed. Meanwhile Oapt. Oook and Lieut. Larrabee marched their companies to the right flank and formed under fire of the enemy, and being there joined

In this battle Mr. Harrison had about 700 eflScient men, while the Indians had probably more than that. The loss of the Americans was 37 killed and 25 mortally wounded, and 126 wounded; the Indians lost 38 killed on the fleld of battle, and the number of the wounded was never known. Among the whites killed were Daviess, Spencer, Owen, Warwick, Eandolph, Bean and "White. Standing on an eminence near by, the Prophet encouraged his warriors to battle by singing a favorite war-song. He told them that they would gain an easy victory, and that the bullets of their enemies would be made harmless by the Great Spirit. Being informed during the engagement that some of the Indians were killed, he said that his warriors must fight on and they would soon be victorious. Immediately after their defeat the surviving Indians lost faith in their great (?) Prophet, returned to their respective tribes, and thus the confederacy was destroyed. The Prophet, with a very few followers, then took up his residence among a small band of Wyandots encamped on Wild-Cat creek. His famous town, with all its possessions, was destroyed the next day, Nov. 8.

On the 18th the American army returned to Vincennes, where most of the troops were discharged. The Territorial Legislature, being in session, adopted resolutions complimentary to Gov. Harrison and the officers and men under him, and made preparations for a reception and celebration.

Capt. Logan, the eloquent Shawanee chief who assisted our forces so materially, died in the latter part of November, 1812, from the effects of a wound received in a skirmish with a reconnoitering party of hostile Indians accompanied by a white man in the British service, Nov. 22. In that skirmish the white man was killed, and Winamac, a Pottawatomie chief of some distinction, fell by the rifle of Logan. The latter was mortally wounded, when he retreated with two warriors of his tribe, Capt. Johnny and Bright-Horn, to the camp of Gen. Winchester, where he soon afterward died. He was buried with the honors of war.

Wae Of 1812 With Geeat Beitain

The victory recently gained by the Americans at the battle of Tippecanoe insured perfect peace for a time, bat only a short time as the more extensive schemes of the British had so far ripened. as to compel the United States again to declare war against them. Tecumseh had fled to Maiden, Canada, where, counseled by the English, he continued to excite the tribes against the Americans. As soon as this war with Great Britain was declared (June 18, 1812), the Indians, as was expected, commenced again to commit depredations. During the summer of 1812 several points along the Lake Eegion succumbed to theBritish, as Detroit, under Gen. Hull, Fort Dearborn (now Chicago), commanded by Capt. Heald under Gen. Hull, the post at Mackinac, etc.

In the early part of September, 1812, parties of hostile Indians began to assemble in considerable numbers in the vicinity of Forts Wayne and Harrison, with a view to reducing them. Capt. Ehea, at this time, had command of Fort Wayne, but his drinking propensities rather disi^ualified him for emergencies. For two weeks the fort was in great jeopardy. An express had been sent to Gen. Harrison for reinforcements, but many days passed without any tidings of expected assistance. At length, one day, Maj. Wm. Oliver and four friendly Indians arrived at the fort on horseback. One of the Indians was the celebrated Logan. They had come in defiance of " 500 Indians," had "broken their ranks" and reached the fort in safety. Oliver reported that Harrison was aware of the situation and was raising men for a re-enforcement. Ohio was also raising volunteers ; 800 were then assembled at St. Mary's, Ohio, 60 miles south of Fort Wayne, and would march to the relief of the fort in three or four days, or as soon as they were joined by reenforcements from Kentucky.