St. Joseph County, Indiana - Chapter 21, 1880 (part 3 of 7)

Oliver prepared a letter, announcing to Gen. Harrison his safe arrival at the besieged fort, and giving an account of its beleaguered situation, which he dispatched by his friendly Shawanees, while he concluded to take his chances at the fort. Brave Logan and his companions started with the message, but had scarcely left the fort when they were discovered and pursued by the hostile Indians, yet passing the Indian lines in safety, they were soon out of reach. The Indians now began a furious attack upon the fort; but the little garrison, with Oliver to cheer them on, bravely met the assault, repelling the attack day after day, until the army approached to their relief. During this siege the commanding officer, whose habits of intemperance rendered him unfit for the command, was confined in the " black hole," while the junior oiBcer assumed charge. This course was approved by the General, on his arrival, but Capt. Rhea received very little censure, probably on account of his valuable services in the Revolutionary war.

Sept. 6, 1812, Harrison moved forward with his army to the relief of Fort Wayne; the next day he reached a point within three miles of St. Mary's river; the next day he reached the river and was joined at evening by 200 mounted volunteers, under Col. Richard M. Johnson; the next day at " Shane's Crossing" on the St. Mary's they were joined by 800 men from Ohio, under Cols. Adams and Hawkins. At this place Chief Logan and four other Indians offered their services as spies to Gen. Harrison, and were accepted. Logan was immediately disguised and sent forward. Passing through the lines of the hostile Indians, he ascertained their number to be about 1,500, and entering the fort, he encouraged the solaiers to hold out, as relief was at hand. Gen. Harrison's force at this time was about 3,500.

Al'ter an early breakfast Friday morning they were under marching orders; it had rained and the guns were damp; theywere discharged and reloaded; but that day only one Indian was encountered; preparations were made at night for an expected attack by the Indians, but no attack came; the next da}', Sept. 10, they expected to fight their way to Fort Wayne, but in that they were happily disappointed; and "At the first grey of the morning," as Bryce eloquently observes, " the distant halloos of the disappointed savages revealed to the anxious inmates of the fort the glorious news of the approach of the army. Great clouds of dust could be seen from the fort, rolling up in the distance, as the valiant soldiery under Gen. Harrison moved forward to the rescue of the garrison and the brave boys of Kentucky and Ohio."

This siege of Fort Wayne of course occasioned great loss to the few settlers who had gathered around the fort. At the time of its commencement quite a little village had clustered around the military works, but during the siege most of their improvements and crops were destroyed by the savages. Every building out of the reach of the guns of the fort was leveled to the ground, and thus the infant settlement was destroyed.

During this siege the garrison lost but three men, while the Indians lost 25. Gen. Harrison had all the Indian villages for 25 miles around destroyed. Fort Wayne was nothing but a military post until about 1819.

Simultaneously with the attack on Fort Wayne the Indians also besieged Fort Harrison, which was commanded by Zachary Taylor. The Indians commenced firing upon the fort about 11 o'clock one night, when the gan-ison was in a rather poor plight for receiving them. The enemy succeeded in firing one of the block-houses, which contained whisky, and the whites had great difficulty in preventing the burning of all the barracks. The word " fire " seemed to have thrown all the men into confusion; soldiers' and citizens' wives, who had taken shelter within the fort, were crying; Indiaus were yelling; many of the garrison were sick and unable to be on duty; the men despaired and gave themselves up as lost; two of the strongest and apparently most reliable men jumped the pickets in the very midst of the emergency, etc., so that Capt. Taylor was at his wit's end what to do; but he gave directions as to the many details, rallied the men by a new scheme, and after about seven hours succeeded in saving themselves. The Indians drove up the horses belonging to the citizens, and as they could not catch th<^m very readily, shot the whole of them in the sight of their owners, and also killed a number of the hogs belonging to the whites. They drove off all of the cattle, 65 in number, as well as the public oxen.

Among many other depredations committed by the savages during this period, was the massacre of the Pigeon Roost settlement, consisting of one man, five women and 16 children; a few escaped. An unsuccessful effort was made to capture these Indians, but when the news of this massacre and the attack on Fort Harrison reached Vinceunes, about 1,200 men, under the command of Ool. Wm. Russell, of the 7th IT. S. Infantry, marched forth for the relief of the fort and to punish the Indians. On reaching the fort the Indians had retired from the vicinity; but on the 15th of September a small detachment composed of 11 men, under Lieut. Richardson, and acting as escort of provisions sent from Vincennes to Fort Harrison, was attacked by a party of Indians within the present limits of Sullivan county. It was reported that seven of these men were killed and one wounded. The provisions of course fell into the hands of the Indians.

Expeditions Against The Indians

By the middle of August, tiirough the disgraceful surrender of Gen. Hull, at Detroit, and the evacuation of Fort Dearborn and massacre of its garrison, the British and Indians were in possession of the whole Northwest. Tiie savages, emboldened by their sue- cesses, penetrated deeper into the settlements, committing great depredations. The activity and success of the enemy aroused the people to a realization of the great danger their homes and families were in. Gov. Edwards collected a force of 350 men at Camp Russell, and Capt. Russell came from Vincennes with about 50 more. Being oiKcered and equipped, they proceeded about the middle of October on horseback, carrying with them 20 day's rations, to Peoria. Capt. Craig was sent with two boats up the Illinois, with provisions and tools to build a fort. The little army proceeded to Peoria Lake, where was located a Pottawatomie village. They arrived late at night, within a few miles of the village, without their presence being known to the Indians. Four men were sent out that night to reconnoiter the position of the village. The four brave men who volunteered for this perilous service were Thomas Carlin (afterward Governor), and Robert, Stephen and Davis Whiteside. They proceeded to the village, and explored it and the approaches to it thoroughly, without starting an Indian or provoking the bark of a dog. Tlie low lands between the Indian village and the troops were covered with a rank growth of tall grass, so high and dense as to readily conceal an Indian on horseback, until within a few feet of him. The ground had become still more yielding by recent rains, rendering it almost impassable by mounted men. To prevent detection the soldiers had camped without lighting the usual camp-fires. The men lay down in their cold and cheerless camp, with many misgivings. They well remembered how the skulking savages fell upon Harrison's men at Tippecanoe during the night. To add to their fears, a gun in the hands of a soldier was carelessly discharged, raising great consternation in the camp. Tlirough a dense fog which prevailed the following morning, the army took up its line of march for the Indian town, Capt. Judy with his corps of spies in advance. In the tall grass they came up with an Indian and his squaw, both mounted. The Indian wanted to surrender, but Judy observed that he " did not leave home to take prisoners," and instantly shot one of them. With the blood streaming from his mouth and nose, and in his agony " singing the death song," the dying Indian raised his gun, shot and mortally wounded a Mr. Wright, and in a few minutes expired! Many guns were immediately discharged at the other Indian, not tlien known to be a squaw, all of which missed lier. Badly scared, and her husband killed by her side, the agonizing wails of the squaw were heart-rending. She was taken prisoner, and afterward restored to her nation.

On nearing the town a general charge was made, the Indians fleeing to the interior wilderness. Some of their warriors made a stand, when a sharp engagement occurred, but the Indians were routed. In their flight they left behind all their winter's store of provisions, which was taken, and their town burned. Some Indian children were found who had been left in the hurried flight, also some disabled adults, one of whom was in a starving condition, and with a voracious appetite partook of the bread given him. He is said to have been killed by a cowardly trooper straggling behind, after the main army had resumed its retrograde march, who wanted to be able to boast tliat he had killed an Indian.

September 19, 1812, Gen. Harrison was put in command of the Northwestern army, then estimated at 10,000 men, with these orders: "Having provided for the protection of the western frontier, you will retake Detroit; and, with a view to the conquest of upper Canada, you will penetrate that country as far as the force under your command will in your judgment justify."

Although surrounded by many difficulties, the General began immediately to execute these instructions. In calling for volunteers from Kentucky, however, more men ofl'ered than could be received. At this time tliere were about 2,000 mounted volunteers at Vincennes, under the command of Gen. Samuel Hopkins, of the Kevolutionary war, who was under instructions to operate against the enemy along the Wabash and Illinois rivers. Accordingly, in October, Gen. Hopkins moved from Vincennes towards the Kickapoo villages in the Illinois territory, witli about 2,000 troops; but after four or five days' march tlie men and officers raised a mutiny which gradually succeeded in carrying all back to Vincennes. The cause of their discontent is not apparent.

About the same time Col. Russell, with two small companies of U. S. rangers, commanded by Capts. Perry and Modrell, marched from the neighborhood of Vincennes to unite with a small force of mounted militia under the command of Gov. Edwards, of Illinois, and afterward to march with the united troops from Cahokia toward Lake Peoria, for the purpose of co-operating with Gen. Hopkins against the Indian towns in that vicinity; but not finding the latter on tlie ground, was compelled to retire.

Immediately after the disciiarge of the mutinous volunteers, Gen. Hopkins began to organize another force, mainly of infantry, to reduce the Indians up the Wabash as far as the Prophet's town. These troops consisted of three regiments of Kentucky militia, commanded by Cols. Barbour, Miller and Wilcox; a small company of regulars commanded by Capt. Zachary Taylor; a company of rangers commanded by Capt. Beckes; and a company of scouts or 'spies under the command of Capt. Washburn. The main body of this army arrived at Fort Harrison Nov. 5; on the 11th it proceeded up the east side of the Wabash into the heart of the Indian country, but found the villages generally deserted. Winter setting in severely, and the troops poorly clad, they had to return to Vincennes as rapidly as possible. With one exception the men behaved nobly, and did ranch damage to the enemy. That exception was the precipitate chase after an Indian by a detachment of men somewhat in liquor, until they found themselves surrounded by an overwhelming force of the enemy, and they had to retreat in disorder.

lu the fall of 1812 Gen. Harrison assigned to Lieut. Col. John B. Campbell, of the 19th U. S. Inf., the duty of destroying the Miami villages on the Mississinewa river, with a detachment of about 600 men. Nov. 25, Lieut. Col. Campbell marched from Franklinton, according to orders, toward the scene of action, cautiously avoiding falling in with the Delawares, who had been ordered by Gen. Harrison to retire to the Shawanee establishment on the Auglaize river, and arriving on the Mississinewa Dec. 17, when they discovered an Indian town inhabited by Delawares and Miamis This and three other villages were destroyed. Soon after this, the supplies growing short and the troops in a suffering condition, Campbell began to consider the propriety of returning to Ohio; but just as he was calling together his officers early one morning to deliberate on the proposition, an army of Indians rushed upon them with fury. The engagement lasted an hour, with a loss of eight killed and 42 wounded, besides about 150 horses killed. The whites, however, succeeded in defending themselves and taking a number of Indians prisoners, who proved to be Munsies, of Silver Heel's band. Campbell, hearing that a large force of Indians were assembled at Mississinewa village, under Tecumseh, determined to return to Greenville. The privations of his troops and the severity of the cold compelled him to send to that place for re-enforcements and supplies. Seventeen of the men had to be carried on litters. They were met by the re-enforcement about 40 miles from Greenville.

Lieut. Col. Campbell sent two messages to the Delawares, who lived on White river and who had been previously directed and requested to abandon tlieir towns on that river and remove into Ohio. In these messages he expressed his regret at unfortunately killing some of their men, and urged them to move to the Shawanee settlement on the Auglaize river. He assured them that their people, in his power, would be compensated by the Government for their losses, if not found to be hostile; and the friends of those killed satisfied by presents, if such satisfaction would be received. This advice was heeded by the main body of the Delawares and a few Miamis. The Shawanee Prophet, and some of the principal chiefs of the Miamis, retired from the country of the Wabash, and, with their destitute and suffering bands, moved to Detroit, where they were received as the friends and allies of Great Britain.

On the approach of Gen. Harrison with his army in September, 1813, the British evacuated Detroit, and the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Miamis and Kickapoos sued for peace with the United States, which was granted temporarily by Brig. Gen. Mc- Artliur, on condition of their becoming allies of the United States in case of war.

In June, 1813, an expedition composed of 137 men, under command of Col. Joseph Bartholomew, moved from Valonia toward the Delaware towns on the west fork of White river, to surprise and punish some hostile Indians who were supposed to be lurking about those villages. Most of these places they found deserted; some of them burnt. They had been but temporarily occupied for the purpose of collecting and carrying away corn. Col. Bartholomew's forces succeeded in killing one or two Indians and destroying considerable corn, and they returned to Valonia on the 21st of this month.

July 1, 1813, Col. William Russell, of the 7th U. S., organized a force of 573 eifective men at Valonia and marched to the Indian villages about the mouth of the Mississinewa. His experience was much like that of Col. Bartholomew, who had just preceded him. He had rainy weather, suffered many losses, found the villages deserted, destroyed stores of' corn, etc. The Colonel reported that he went to every place where he expected to find the enemy, but they nearly always seemed to have fled the country. The march from Valonia to the mouth of the Mississinewa and return was about 250 miles.

Close Of The Wak

The war with England closed on the 24th of December, 1814, when a treaty of peace was signed at Ghent. The 9th article of the treaty required the United States to put an end to hostilities with all tribes or nations of Indians with whom they had been at war; to restore to such tribes or nations respectively all the rights and possessions to which they were entitled in 1811, before the war, on condition that such Indians should agree to desist from all hostilities against the United States. But in February, just before tlie treaty was sanctioned by our Government, there were signs of Indians accumulating arms and ammunition, and a cautionary order was therefore issued to have all the white forces in readiness for an attack by the Indians; but the attack was not made. During the ensuing summer and fall the United States Government acquainted the Indians with the provisions of the treaty, and entered into subordinate treaties of peace with the principal tribes.

Just before the treaty of Spring Wells (near Detroit) was signed, the Shawanee Prophet retired to Canada, but declaring his resolution to abide by any treaty which the chiefs might sign. Some time afterward he returned to the Shawanee settlement in Ohio, and lastly to the west of the Mississippi, where he died, in 1834. The British Government allowed him a pension from 1813 until his death. His brother Tecuraseh was killed at the battle of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813, by a Mr. Wheatty, as we are positively informed by Mr. A. J. James, now a resident of La Harpe township, Hancock county. III., whose father-in-law, John Pigman, of Coshocton county, Ohio, was an eye witness. Gen. Johnson has generally had the credit of killing Tecumseh.

If one should inquire who has been the greatest Indian, the most noted, the " principal Indian " in North America since its discovery by Columbus, we would be obliged to answer, Tecumseh. For all those qualities which elevate a man far above his race; for talent, tact, skill and bravery as a warrior; for high-minded, honorable and chivalrous beai'iug as a man; in a word, for all those elements of greatness which place him a long way above his fellows in savage life, the name and fame of Tecnmseh will go down to posterity in the "West as one of the most celebrated of the aborigines of this continent, - as one who had no equal among the tribes that dwelt in the country drained by the Mississippi. Born to command himself, he used all the appliances that would stimulate the courage and nerve the valor of his followers. Always in the front rank of battle, his followers blindly followed his lead, and as his war-cry rang clear above the din and noise of the battle-field, the Shawnee warriors, as they rushed on to victory or the grave, rallied around him, foemen worthy of the steel of the most gallant commander that ever entered the lists in defense of his altar or his home.

The tribe to which Tecumseh, or Tecumtha, as some write it, belonged, was the Shawnee, or Shawanee. The tradition of the nation held that they originally came from the Gulf of Mexico; that they wended their way up the Mississippi and the Ohio, and settled at or near the present site of Shawneetown, 111., whence they removed to the upper Wabash. In the latter place, at any rate, they were found early in the ISth century, and were known as the " bravest of the brave." This tribe has uniformly been the bitter enemy of the white man, and in every contest with our people has exhibited a degree of skill and strategy that should characterize the most dangerous foe.

Tecumseh's notoriety and that of his brother, the Prophet, mutually served to establish and strengthen each other. "While the Prophet had unlimited power, spiritual and temporal, he distributed his greatness in all the departments of Indian life with a kind of fanaticism that magnetically aroused the religious and superstitious passions, not only of his own followers, but also of all the tribes in (111) this part of the country; but Tecumseh concentrated his greatness upon the more practical and business affairs of military conquest. It is doubted whether he was really a sincere believer in the pretensions of his fanatic brother; if he did not believe in the pretentious feature of them he had the shrewdness to keep his unbelief to himself, knowinof that religious fanaticism was one of the strongest impulses to reckless bravery.

During his sojourn in the Northwestern Territory, it was Tecnmseh's uppermost desire of life to confederate all the Indian tribes of the country together against the whites, to maintain their choice hunting-grounds. All his public policy converged toward this single end. In his vast scheme he comprised even all the Indians in the Gulf country, - all in America west of the Alleghany mountains. He held, as a subordinate principle, that the Great Spirit had given the Indian race all these hunting-grounds to keep iu common, and that no Indian or tribe could cede any portion of the land to the whites without the consent of all the tribes. Hence, in all his councils with the whites he ever maintained that the treaties were null and void.

When he met Harrison at Vincennes in council the last time, and, as he was invited by that General to take a seat with him on the platform, he hesitated; Harrison insisted, saying that it was the "wish of their Great Father, the President of the United States, that he should do so." The chief paused a moment, raised his tall and commanding form to its greatest height, surveyed the troops and crowd around him, fixed his keen eyes upon Gov. Harrison, and then turning them to the sky above, and pointing toward heaven with his sinewy arm in a manner indicative of supreme contempt for the paternity assigned him, said in clarion tones: " My father? The sun is my father, the earth is my mother, and on her bosom I will recline." He then stretched himself, with his warriors, on the green sward. The eflfect was electrical, and for some moments there was perfect silence.

The Governor, then, through an interpreter, told him that he understood he had some complaints to make and redress to ask, etc., and that he wished to investigate the matter and make restitution wherever it might be decided it should be done. As soon as the Governor was through with this introductory speech, the stately warrior arose, tall, athletic, manly, dignified and graceful, and with a voice at first low, but distinct and musical, commenced a reply. As he warmed up with his subject his clear tones might be heard.

as if " trumpet-tongued," to the utmost limits of the assembly. The most perfect silence prevailed, except when his warriors gave their guttural assent to some eloquent recital of the red man's wrong and the white man's injustice. Tecumseh recited the wrongs which his race had suffered from the time of the massacre of the Moravian Indians to the present; said he did 'not know how he could ever again be the friend of the white man; that the Great Spirit had given to the Indian all the land from the Miami to the Mississippi, and from the lakes to the Ohio, as a common property to all the tribes in these borders, and that the land could not and should not be sold without the consent of all; that all the tribes on the continent formed but one nation; that if the United States would not give up the lands they had bought of the Miarais and the other tribes, those united with him were determined to annihilate those tribes; that they were determined to have no niore chiefs, but in future to be governed by their warriors; that unless the whites ceased their encroachments upon Indian lands, the fate of the Indians was sealed; they had been driven from the banks of the Delaware across the Alleghanies, and their possessions on the Wabash and the Illinois were now to be taken from them; that in a few years they would not have ground enough to bury their warriors on this side of the "Father of Waters;" that all would perish, all their possessions taken from them by fraud or force, unless they stopped the progress of the white man westward; that it must be a war of races in which one or the other must perish; that their tribes had been driven toward the setting sun like a galloping horse (ne-kat a-kush-e ka-top-o-lin-to).

The Shawnee language, in which this most eminent Indian statesman spoke, excelled all other aboriginal tongues in its musical articulation; and the effect of Tecuraseh's oratory on this occasion can be more easily imagined than described. Gov. Harrison, although as brave a soldier and General as any American, was overcome by this speech. He well knew Tecumseh's power and influence among all the tribes, knew his bravery, courage and determination, and knew that he meant what 'he said. When Tecumseh was done speaking there was a stillness throughout the assembly which was really painful; not a whisper was heard, and all eyes were turned from the speaker toward Gov. Harrison, who after a few moments came to himself, and recollecting many of the absurd statements of the great Indian orator, began a reply which was more logical, if not so eloquent. The Shawnees were attentive ua- til Harrison's interpreter began to translate liis speech to the Miamis and Pottawatomies, when Tecumseh and his warriors sprang to their feet, brandishing their war-clubs and tomahawks. "Tell him," said Tecumseh, addressing the interpreter in Shawnee, " he lies." The interpreter undertook to convey this message to the Governor in smoother language, but Tecumseh noticed the effort and remonstrated, " No, no; tell liira he lies." The warriors began to grow more excited, when Secretary Gibson ordered the American troops in arms to advance. This allayed the rising storm, and as soon as Tecuraseh's " He lies " was literally interpreted to the Governor, the latter told Tecumseh through the interpreter to tell Tecumseh he would hold no further council with him.

Thus the assembly was broken up, and one can hardly imagine a more exciting scene. It would constitute the finest subject for a historical painting to adorn the rotunda of the capitol. The next day Tecumseh requested another interview with the Governor, which was granted on condition tliat he should make an apology to the Governor for his language the day before. This he made through the interpreter. Measures for defense and protection were taken, however, lest there should be another outbreak. Two companies of militia were ordered from the country, and the one in town added to them, while the Governor and his friends went into council fully armed and prepared for any contingency. On this occasion the conduct of Tecumseh was entirely different from tliat of the day before. Firm and intrepid, showing not the slightest fear or alarm, surrounded with a military force four times his own, he preserved the utmost composure and equanimity. No one would have supposed that he could have been the principal actor in the thrilling scene of the previous day. He claimed that half the Americans were in sympathy with him. He also said that whites had informed him that Gov. Harrison had purchased land from the Indians without any authority from the Government; that he, Harrison, had but two years more to remain in office, and that if he, Tecumseh, could prevail upon the Indians who sold the lands not to receive their annuities for that time, and the present Governor displaced by a good man as his successor, the latter would restore to the Indians all the lands purchased from them.

The Wyaudots, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Ottawasand the Winnebagoes, through their respective spokesmen, declared their adherence to the great Shawnee warrior and statesman. Gov. Harrison then told them that he would send Tecuraseh's speech to thePresi- dent of the United States and return the answer to the Indians as soon as it was received. Tecumseh then declared that he and his allies were determined that the old boundary line should continue; and that if the whites crossed it, it would be at their peril . Gov. Harrison replied that he would be equally plain with him and state that the President would never allow that the lands on the Wabash were the property of any other tribes than those who had occupied them since the white people first carae to America; and as the title to the lands lately purchased was derived from those tribes by a fair purchase, he might rest assured that the right of the United States would be supported by the sword. " So be it," was the stern and haughty reply of the Shawnee chieftan, as he and his braves took leave of the Governor and wended their way in Indian file to their camping ground.

Thus ended the last conference on earth between the chivalrous Tecumseh and the hero of the battle of Tippecanoe. The bones of the first lie bleaching on the battle-field of the Thames, and those of the last in a mausoleum on the banks of the Ohio; each struggled for the mastery of his race, and each no doubt was equally honest and patriotic in his purposes. The weak yielded to the strong, the defenseless to the powerful, and the hunting-ground of the Shawnee is all occupied by his enemy.

Tecumseh, with four of his braves, immediately embarked in a birch canoe, descended the Wabash, and went on to the South to unite the tribes of that country in a general system of self-defense against the encroachment of the whites. His emblem was a disjointed snake, with the motto, "Join or die!" In union alone was strength.

Before Tecumseh left the Prophet's town at the mouth of the Tippecanoe river, on his excursion to the South, he had a definite understanding with his brother and the chieftains of the other tribes in the Wabash country, that they should preserve perfect peace with the whites until his arrangements were completed for a confederacy of the tribes on both sides of the Ohio and on the Mississippi river; but it seems that while he was in the South engaged in his work of uniting the tribes of that country some of the Northern tribes showed signs of fight and precipitated Harrison into that campaign which ended in the battle of Tippecanoe and the total route of the Indians. Tecumseh, on his return from the South, learning what had happened, was overcome with chagrin, disappointment and anger, and accused his brother of duplicity and coward- ice; indeed, it is said tliat be never forgave him to the day of his death. A short time afterward, on the breaking out of the war of Great Britain, he joined Proctor, at Maiden, with a party of his warriors, and finally suffered the fate mentioned on page 108.

Owing to the absence of Gov. Harrison on military duty, John Gibson, the Secretary of the Territory, acted in the administration of civil affairs. In his message to the Legislature convening on the 1st of February, 1813, he said, substantially:

" Did I possess the abilities of Cicero or Demosthenes, I could not portray in more glowing colors our foreign and domestic political situation than it is already experienced within our own breasts. The United States have been compelled, by frequent acts of injustice, to declare war against England. For a detail of the causes of this war I would refer to the message of President Madison; it does honor to his head and heart. Although not au admirer of war, I am glad to see our little but inimitable navy riding triumphant on the seas, but chagrined to find that our armies by land are so little successful. The spirit of '76 appears to have fled from our continent, or, if not fled, is at least asleep, for it appears not to pervade our armies generally. At your last assemblage our political horizon seemed clear, and our infant Territory bid fair for rapid and rising grandeur; but, alas, the scene has changed; and whether this change, as respects our Territory, has been owing to an over anxiety in us to extend our dominions, or to a wish for retaliation by our foes, or to a foreign influence, I shall not say. The Indians, our former neighbors and friends, have become our most inveterate foes. Our former frontiers are now our wilds, and our inner settlements have become frontiers. Some of our best citizens, and old men worn down with age, and helpless women and innocent babes, have fallen victims to savage cruelty. I have done my duty as well as I can, and hope that the interposition of Providence will protect us."

The many complaints made about the Territorial Government Mr. Gibson said, were caused more by default of officers than of the law. Said he: "It is an old and, I believe, correct adage, that ' good officers make good soldiers.' This evil having taken root, I do not know how it can be eradicated; but it may be remedied. In place of men searching after and accepting commissions before they are even tolerably qualified, thereby subjecting themselves to ridicule and their country to ruin, barely for the name of the things, I think may be remedied by a previous examination."

During this session of the Legislature the seat of the Territorial Government was declared to be at Corydon, and immediately acting Governor Gibson prorogued the Legislature to meet at that place, the first Monday of December, 1813. During this ^-ear the Territory was almost defenseless; Indian outrages were of common occurrence, but no general outbreak was made. The militia-men were armed with riftes and long knives, and many of the rangers carried tomahawks.

In 1813 Thomas Posey, who was at that time a Senator in Congress from Tennessee, and who had been oflicer of the army of the Eevolution, was appointed Governor of Indiana Territory, to succeed Gen. Harrison. He arrived in Vincennes and entered upon the discharge of his duties May 2.5, 1813. During this year several expeditions against the Indian settlements were set on foot.

In his first message to the Legislature the following December, at Corydon, Gov. Posey said: " The present crisis is awful, and big with great events. Our land and nation is involved in the common calamity of war; but we are under the protecting care of the beneficent Being, who has on a former occasion brought us safely through an arduous struggle and placed us on a foundation of independence, freedom and happiness. He will not suffer to be taken from us what He, in His great wisdom has thought proper to confer and bless us with, if we make a wise and virtuous use of His good gifts. « * * Although our affairs, at the commencement of the war, wore a gloomy aspect, they have brightened, and promise a certainty of success, if properly directed and conducted, of which I have no doubt, as the President and heads of departments of the general Government are men of undoubted patriotism, talents and experience, and who have grown old in the service of their country. * * * It must be obvious to every thinking man that we were forced into the war. Every measure consistent with honor, both before and since the declaration of war, has tried to be on amicable terms with our enemy, * * * You who reside in various parts of the Territory have it in your power to understand what will tend to its local and general advantage. Tlie judiciary system would require a revisal and amendment. The militia law is very defective and requires your immediate attention. It is necessary to have good roads and highways in as many directions through the Territory as the circumstances and situation of the inhabitants will admit; it would contribute very much to promote the settlement and improvement of the Territory. Attention to education is highly necessary. There is an appropriation made by Congress, in lands, for the purpose of establishing public schools. It comes now within your province to carry into operation the design of the appropriation."

This Legislature passed several very necessary laws for the welfare of the settlements, and the following year, as Gen. Harrison was generally successful in his military campaigns in the Northwest, the settlements in Indiana began to increase and improve. The fear of danger from Indians had in a great measure subsided, and the tide of immigration began again to flow. In January, 1814, about a thousand Miamis assembled at Fort "Wayne for the purpose of obtaining food to prevent starvation. They met with ample hospitality, and their example was speedily followed by others. These, with other acts of kindness, won the lasting friendship of the Indians, many of whom had fought in the interests of Great Britain. General treaties between the United States and the Northwestern tribes were subsequently concluded, and the way was fully opened for the improvement and settlement of the lands, consequently upon the people of Indiana Territory, but after all it cauie far short of conferring as many privileges as are enjoyed at the present day by our Territories. They did not have a full form of Republican government. A freehold estate in 500 acres of land was one of the necessary qualifications of each member of the legislative council of the Territory'; every member of the Territorial House of Representatives was required to hold, in his own right, 200 acres of land; and the privilege of voting for members of the House of Representatives was restricted to those inhabitants who, in addition to other qualifications, owned severally at least 50 acres of land. The Governor of the the Territory was invested with the power of appointing officers of the Territorial militia. Judges of the inferior Courts, Clerks of the Courts, Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, Coroners, County Treasurers and County Surveyors. He was also authorized to divide the Territory into districts; to apportion among the several counties the members of tlie House of Representatives; to prevent the passage of any Territorial law; and to convene and dissolve the General Assembly whenever he thought best. None of the Governors, however, ever exercised these extraordinary powers arbitrarily. Nevertheless, tlie people were constantly agitating the question of extending the right of sufiTage. Five years after the organization of the Territory, the Legislative Council, in reply to the Governor's Message, said: ''Although we are not as completely independent in our legislative capacity as we would wish to be, yet we are sensible that we must wait with patience for that period of time when our population will burst the trammels of a Territorial government, and we shall assume the character more consonant to Republicanism. * * * The confidence which our fellow citizens have uniformly had in your administration has been such that they have hitherto had no reason to be jealous of the unlimited power which you possess over our legislative proceedings. "We, however, cannot help regretting that such powers have been lodged in the hands of any one, especially when it is recollected to what dangerous lengths the exercise of those powers may be extended."

After repeated petitions the people of Indiana were empowered by Congress to elect the members of the Legislative Council by popular vote. This act was passed in 1809, and defined what was known as the property qualification of voters. These qualifications were abolished by Congress in 1811, which extended the right of voting for members of the General Assembly and for a Territorial delegate to Congress to every free white male person who had attained the age of twenty-one years, and who, having paid a county or Territorial tax, was a resident of the Territory and had resided in it for a year. In 1814 the voting qualification in Indiana was defined by Congress, " to every tree white male person having a freehold in the Territory, and being a resident of the same." The House of Kepresentatives was authorized by Congress to lay oif the Territory into five districts, in each of which the qualified voters were empowered to elect a member of the Legislative Council. The division was made, one to two counties in each district.

At the session in August, 1S14, the Territory was also divided into three judicial circuits, and provisions were made for holding courts in the same. The Governor was empowered to appoint a presiding Judge in each circuit, and two Associate Judges of the circuit court in each county. Their compensation was fixed at $700 per annum.

The same year the General Assembly granted charters to two banking institutions, the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Madison and the Bank of Vincennes. The first was authorized to raise a capital of $750,000, and the other $500,000. On the organization of the State these banks were merged into the State Bank and its branches.

Organization Of The State

The last regular sessioa of the Territorial Legislature was held at Corydon, convening in December, 1815. The message of Governor Posey congratulated the people of the Territory upon the general success of the settlements and the great increase of immigration, recommended light taxes and a careful attention to the promotion of education and the improvement of the State roads and highways. He also recommended a revision of the territorial laws and an amendment of the militia system. Several laws were passed preparatory to a State Government, and December 14, 1815, a memorial to Congress was adopted praying for the authority to adopt a constitution and State Government. Mr. Jennings,the Territorial delegate, laid this memorial before Congress on the 2Sth, and April 19, 1816, the President approved the bill creating the State of Indiana. Accordingly, May 30 following, a general election was held for a constitutional convention, which met at Corydon June 10 to 29, Johathan Jennings presiding and Wm. Hendricks acting as 'Secretary.

"The convention that formed the first constitution of the State of Indiana was composed mainly of clear-minded, unpretending men of common sense, whose patriotism was unquestionable and morals were fair. Their familiarity with the theories of the Declaration of American Independence, their Territorial experience under the provisions of the ordinance of 17S7, and their knowledge of the principles of the constitution of the United States were sufficient, when combined, to lighten materially their labors in the great work of forming a constitution for a new State. "With such landmarks in view, the labors of similar conventions in other States and Territories have been rendered comparatively light. In the clearness and conciseness of its style, in the comprehensive and just provisions which it made for the maintainance of civil and religious liberty, in its mandates, which were designed to protect the rights of the people collectively and individually, and to provide for the public welfare, the constitution that was formed for Indiana in 1816 was not inferior to any of the State constitutions which were in exat that time." - Dillon'' s History of Indiana. (121J

The first State election took place on tlie first Monday of August, 1816, and Jonathan Jennings was elected Governor, and Christopher Harrison, Lieut. Governor. Wm. Hendricks was elected to represent the new State in the House of Representatives of the United States.

The first General Assembly elected under the new constitution began its session at Corydon, Nov. 4, 1816. John Paul was called to the chair of the Senate pro tem., and Isaac Blackford was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Among other things in the new Governor's message were the following remarks: " The result of your deliberation will be considered as indicative of its future character as well as of the future happiness and prosperity of its citizens. In the commencement of the State government the shackles of the colonial should be forgotten in our exertions to prove, by happy experience, that a uniform adherence to the first principles of our Government and a virtuous exercise of its powers will best secure efliciency to its measures and stability to its character. Without a frequent recurrence to those principles, the administration of the Government will imperceptibly become more and more arduous, until the simplicity of our Republican institutions may eventually be lost ia dangerous exjiedieiits and political design. Under every free government the happiness of the citizens must be identified with their morals; and while a constitutional exercise of their rights shall continue to have its due weight in discharge of the duties required of the constituted authorities of the State, too much attention cannot be bestowed to the encouragement and promotion of every moral virtue, and to the enactment of laws calculated to restrain the vicious, and prescribe punishment for every crime commensurate with its enormity. In measuring, however, to each crime its adequate punishment, it will be well to recollect that the certainty of punishment has generally the surest eife'ct to prevent crime; while punishments unnecessarily severe too often produce the acquittal of the guilty and disappoint one of the greatest objects of legislation and good government. * * * The dissemmation of useful knowledge will be indispensably necessary as a support to morals and as a restraint to vice; and on this subject it vdll only be necessary to direct your attention to the plan of education as prescribed by the constitution. * * * I recommend to your consideration the propriety of providing by law, to prevent more effectually any unlawful attempts to seize and carry into bondage persons of color legally entitled to their freedom; and at the same time, as far as practicable, to prevent those who rightfully owe service to the citizens of any other State or Territory from seeking within the limits of this State a refuge from the possession of their lawful owners. Such a measure will tend to secure those who are free from any unlawful attempts (to enslave them) and secures the rights of the citizens of the other States and Territories as far as ought reasonably to be expected."

This session of the Legislature elected James Noble and Waller Taylor to the Senate of the United States; Robert A. New was elected Secretary of State; W. H. Lilley, Auditor of State; and Daniel C. Lane, Treasurer of State. The session adjourned January 3, 1817.

As the history of the State of Indiana from this time forward is best given by topics, we will proceed to give them in the chronological order of their origin.

The happy close of the war with Great Britain in 1814 was followed by a great rush of immigrants to the great Territory of the Northwest, including the new States, all now recently cleared of the enemy; and by 1820 the State of Indiana had more than doubled her population, having at this time 147,178, and by 1825 nearly doubled this again, that is to say, a round quarter of a million, - a growth more rapid probably than that of any other section in this country since the days of Columbus.

The period lS25-'30 was a prosperous time for the young State. Immigration continued to be rapid, the crops were generally good and the hopes of the people raised higher than they had ever been before. Accompanying this immigration, however, were paupers and indolent people, who threatened to be so numerous as to become a serious burden. On this subject Governor Ray called for legislative action, but the Legislature scarcely knew what to do and they deferred action.

Black Hawk War

In 1830 there still lingered within the bounds of the State two tribes of Indians, whose growing indolence, intemperate habits, dependence upon their neighbors for the bread of life, diminished prospects of living by the chase, continued perpetration of murders and other outrages of dangerous precedent, primitive ignorance and unrestrained exhibitions of savage customs before the children of the settlers, combined to make them subjects for a more rigid government. The removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi was a melancholy but necessary duty. The time having arrived for the emigration of the Pottawatomies, according to the stipulations contained in their treaty with the United States, they evinced that reluctance common among aboriginal tribes on leaving the homes of their childhood and the graves of their ancestors. Love of country is a principle planted in the bosoms of all mankind. The Laplander and the Esquimaux of the frozen north, who feed on seals, moose and the meat of the polar bear, would not exchange their country for the sunny clime of "Arab}' the blest." Color and shades of complexion have nothing to do with the heart's best, warmest emotions. Then we should not wonder that the Pottawatomie, on leaving his home on the Wabash, felt as sad as ^schines did when ostracised from his native land, laved by the waters of the classic Scamander; and the noble and eloquent Naswaw-kay, on leaving the encampment on Crooked creek, felt his banishment as keenly as Cicero v^hen thrust from the bosom of his beloved Rome, for which he had spent the best efforts of his life, and for which he died.

On Sunday morning, May 18, 1832, the people on the west side of the Wabash were thrown into a state of great consternation, on account of a report that a large body of hostile Indians had approached within 15 miles of Lafayette and killed two men. The alarm soon spread tliroughont Tippecanoe, Warren, Vermillion, Fountain, Montgomery, and adjoining counties. Several brave commandants of companies on the west side of the Wabash in Tippecanoe county, raised troops to go and meet the enemy, and dispatched an express to Gen. Walker with a request that he should (130) make a call upon the militia of the county to equip themselves instantly and march to the aid of their bleeding countrymen. Thereupon Gen. "Walker, Col. Davis, Lieut-Col. Jenners, Capt. Brown, of the artillery, and various other gallant spirits mounted their war steeds and proceeded to the army, and thence upon a scout to the Grand Prairie to discover, if possible, the number, intention and situation of the Indians. Over 300 old men, women and children flocked precipitately to Lafayette and the surrounding country east of the Wabash. A remarkable event occurred in this stampede, as follows:

A man, wife and seven children resided on the edge of the Grand Prairie, west of Lafayette, in a locality considered particularly dangerous. On hearing of this alarm he made hurried preparations to fly with his family to Lafiyette for safety. Imagine his surprise and cbagrin when his wife told him she would not go one step; that she did not believe in being scared at trifles, and in her opinion there was not an Indian witliin 100 miles of them. Importunity proved unavailing, and the disconsolate and frightened husband and father took all the children except the youngest, bade his wife and babe a long and solemn farewell, never expecting to see them again, unless perhaps he might find their mangled remains, minus their scalps. On arriving at Lafayette, his acquaintances rallied and berated him for abandoning his wife and child in that way, but he met their jibes with a stoical indifference, avowing that he should not be held responsible fur their obstinacy.

As the shades of the first evening drew on, the wife felt lonely; and the chirping of the frogs and the notes of the whippoorwill only intensified her loneliness, until she haif wished she had accompanied the rest of the family in their flight. She remained in the house a .ew hours without striking a light, and then concluded that " discretion was the better part of valor," took her babe and some bed-clothes, fastened the cabin door, and hastened to a sinkhole in the woods, in which she afterward said that she and her babe slept soundly .until sunrise next morning.

Lafayette literally boiled over with people and patriotism. A meeting was held at the .court-house, speeches were made by patriotic individuals, and to allay the fear? of the women an armed police was immediately ordered, to be called the " Lafayette Guards." Thos. T. Benbridge was elected Captain, and John Cox, Lieutenant. Capt. Benbridge yielded the active drill of his guards to the Lieutenant, who had served two years in the war of 1812. After the meeting adjourned, the guards were paraded on the green where Purdue's block now stands, and put through sundry evohitions by Lieut. Cox, who proved to be an expert drill officer, and whose clear, shrill voice rung out on the night air as he marched and counter-marched the troops from where the paper-mill stands to Main street ferry, and over the suburbs, generally. Every old gun and sword that could be found was brought into requisition, with a new shine on them.

Gen. Walker, Colonels Davis and Jenners, and other ofBccrs joined in a call of the people of Tippecanoe county for volunteers to march to the frontier settlements. A large meeting of the citizens assembled in the public square in the town, and over 300 volunteers mostly mounted men, left for the scene of action, with an alacrity that would have done credit to veterans.

The first night they camped nine miles west of Lafayette, near Grand Prairie. They placed sentinels for the night and retired to rest. A few of the subaltern officers very injudiciously concluded to try what effect a false alarm would have upon the sleeping soldiers, and a few of them withdrew to a neighboring thicket, and thence made a charge upon the picket guards, who , after hailing them and receiving no countersign, fired off their guns and ran for the Colonel's marquee in the center of the encampment. Tlie aroused Colonels and staff' sprang to their feet, shouting "To arms! to arms!" and the obedient, though panic-stricken soldiers seized their guns and demanded to be led against the invading foe. A wild scene of disorder ensued, and amid the din of arms and loud commands of the officers the raw militia felt that they had already got into the red jaws of battle. One of the alarm sentinels, in running to the center of the encampment, leaped over a blazing camp fire, and alighted full upon the breast and stomach of a sleeping lawyer, who was, no doubt, at that moment dreaming of vested and contingent remainders, rich clients and good fees, which in legal parlance was suddenly estopped by the hob-nails in the stogas of the scared sentinel. As soon as the counselor's vitality and consciousness sufficiently returned, he put in some strong demurrers to the conduct of the affrighted picket men, averring that he would greatly prefer being wounded by the enemy to being run over by a cowardly booby. E"ext morning the organizers of the ruse were severely reprimanded.

provisions, even though it be necessary to seize them. The next day four baggage wagons, loaded with camp equipments, stores, provisions and other articles, were sent to the little army, who were thus provided for a campaign of five or six weeks. The following Tiiursday a squad of cavalry, under Colonel Sigler, passed through Lafayette on the way to the hostile region ; and on the 13th of June Colonel Russell, commandant of the -iOth Regiment, Indiana Militia, passed through Lafayette with 3i0 mounted volunteers from the counties of Marion, Hendricks and Johnson. Also, several companies of volunteers from Montgomery, Fountain and Warren counties, hastened to the relief of the frontier settlers. The troops from Lafayette marched to Sugar creek, and after a short time, there being no probability of finding any of the enemy, were ordered to return, They all did so except about 4.5 horsemen, who volunteered to cross Hickory creek, where the Indians had committed their depredations. They organized a company by electing Samuel McGeorge, a soldier of the war of 1812, Captain, and Amos Allen and Andrew W. Ingraham, Lieutenants.

Crossing Hickory creek, they marched as far as O'Plein river without meeting with opposition. Finding no enemy here they concluded to return. On the first night of their march home they encamped on the open prairie, posting sentinels, as usual. About ten o'clock it began to rain, and it was with difficulty that the sentinels kept their guns dry. Capt. I. H. Cox and a man named Fox had been posted as sentinels within 1.5 or 20 paces of each other. Cox drew the skirt of his overcoat over his gun-lock to keep it dry; Fox, perceiving this motion, and in the darkness taking him for an Indian, fired upon him and fractured his thigh-bone. Several soldiers immediately ran toward the place where the flash of the gun had been seen; but when they cocked and leveled their guns on the figure which had fired at Cox, the wounded man caused them to desist by crying, " Don't shoot him, it was a sentinel who shot me." The next day the wounded man was left behind the company in care of four men, who, as soon as possible, removed him on a litter to Col. Moore's company of Illinois militia, then encamped on the O'Plein, where Joliet now stands.

Although the main body returned to Lafayette in eight or nine days, yet the alarm among the people was so great that they could not be induced to return to their farms for some time. The presence of the hostiles was hourly expected by the frontier settlements of Indiana, from Vincennes to La Porte. In Clinton county the inhabitants gathered within the forts and prepared for a regular siege, while our neighbors at Crawfordsville were suddenly astounded by the arrival of a courier at full speed with the announcement that the Indians, more than a thousand in number, were then crossing the Nine-Mile prairie about twelve miles north of town, killing and scalping all. The strongest houses were immediately put in a condition of defense, and sentinels were placed at the principal points in the direction of the enemy. Scouts were sent out to reconnoitre, and messengers were dispatched in different directions to announce the danger to the farmers, and to urge them to hasten with their faraUies into town, and to assist in fighting the momentarily expected savages. At night-fall the scouts brought in the news that the Indians had not crossed the Wabash, but were hourly expected at Lafayette. The citizens of Warren, Fountain and Vermillion counties were alike terrified by exaggerated stories of Indian massacres, and immediately prepared for defense. It turned out that the Indians were not within 100 miles of these temporary forts ; but this by no means proved a want of courage in the citizens.

After some time had elapsed, a portion of the troops were marched back into Tippecanoe county and honorably discharged ; but the settlers were still loth for a long time to return to their farms. Assured by published reports that the Miamis and Pottawatomies did not intend to join the hostiles, the people by degrees recovered from the panic and began to attend to their neglected crops.

During this time there was actual war in Illinois. Black Hawk and his warriors, well nigh surrounded by a well-disciplined foe, attempted to cross to the west bank of the Mississippi, but after being chased up into Wisconsin and to the Mississippi again, he was in a final battle taken captive. A few years after his liberation, about 1837 or 1838, he died, on the banks of the Des Moines river, in Iowa, in what is now the county of Davis, where his remains were deposited above ground, in the usual Indian style. His remains were afterward stolen and carried away, but they were recovered by the Governor of Iowa and placed in the museum of the Historical Society at Burlington, where they were finally destroyed by fire.

Last Exodus Of The Indians

In July, 1S37, Col. Abel C. Pepper convened the Pottawatomie nation of Indians at Lake Ke-waw-nay for the purpose of removing thera west of the Mississippi. That fall a small party of some 80 or 90 Pottawatomies was conducted west of the Mississippi river by George Proffit, Esq. Among the number were Ke-wawnay, Nebash, Nas-waw-kay, Pash-po-ho and many other leading men of the nation. The regular emigration of these poor Indians, about 1,000 in number, took place under Col. Pepper and Gen. Tipton in the summer of 1838.

It was a sad and mournful spectacle to witness these children of the forest slowly retiring from the home of their childhood, that contained not only the graves of their revered ancestors, but also many endearing scenes to which their memories would ever recur as sunny spots along their pathway through the wilderness. They felt that they were bidding farewell to the hills, valleys and streams of their infancy, the more exciting hunting-grounds of their advanced youth, as well as the stern and bloody battle-fields where they had contended in riper manhood, on which they had received wounds, and where many of their friends and loved relatives had fallen covered with gore and with glory. All these they were leaving behind them, to be desecrated by the plowshare of the white man. As they cast mournful glances back toward these loved scenes that were rapidly fading in the distance, tears fell from the cheek of the downcast warrior, old men trembled, matrons wept, the swarthy maiden's cheek turned pale, and sighs and half-suppressed sobs escaped from the motley groups as they passed along, some on foot, some on horseback, and others in wagons, - sad as a funeral procession. Several of the aged warriors were seen to cast glances toward the sky, as if they were imploring aid from the spirits of their departed heroes, who were looking down upon them from the clouds, or from the Great Spirit, who would ultimately redress the wrongs of the red man, whose broken bow had fallen from his hand, and whose sad heart was bleeding within him. Ever and anon one of the party would start out into the brush and break back to their old encampments on Eel river and on the Tippe- (131) canoe, declaring that they would rather die than be banished from their country. Thus, scores of discontented emigrants returned from difi'erent points on their journey; and it was several years before they could be induced to join their countrymen west of the Mississippi.

Several years after the removal of the Pottawatomies the Miami nation was removed to their Western home, by coercive means, under an escort of United States troops. They were a proud and once powerful nation, but at the time of tlieir removal were far inferior, iu point of numbers, to the Pottawatomie guests whom they had permitted to settle and hunt upon their lands, and fish in their lakes and rivers after they had been driven southward by powerful and warlike tribes who inhabited the shores of the Northern lakes.

In 1831 a joint resolution of the Legislature of Indiana, requesting an appropriation by Congress for the extinguishment of the Indian title to lands within the State, was forwarded to that body? which granted the request. The Secretary of War, by authority, appointed a committee of three citizens to carry into effect the provisions of the recent law. Tlie Miamis were surrounded on all sides by American settlers, and were situated almost in the heart of the State on the line of the canal then being made. The chiefs were called to a council for the purpose of making a treaty; they promptly came, but peremptorily refused to go westward or sell the remainder of their land. The Pottawatomies sold about 6,000,000 acres in Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, including all their claim in this State.

In 1838 a treaty was concluded with the Miami Indians through the good offices of Col. A. C. Pepper, the Indian agent, by which a considerable of the most desirable portion of their reserve was ceded to the United States.

Land Sales

As an example of the manner in which land speculators were treated by the early Indianians, we cite the following instances from Cox's '' Kecollections of the Wabash Yalley."

At Crawfordsville, Dec. 2i, lS2i, many parties were present from the eastern and southern portions of the State, as well as from Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and even Pennsylvania, to attend a land sale. There was but little bidding against each other. The settlers, or " squatters," as they were called by the speculators, had arranged matters among themselves to their general satisfaction. If, upon comparing numbers, it appeared that two were after the same tract of land, one would ask the other what he would take not to bid against him; if neither would consent to be bought off they would retire and cast lots, and the lucky one would enter the tract at Congress price, §1.25 an acre, and the other would enter the second choice on his list. If a speculator made a bid, or showed a disposition to take a settler's claim from him, he soon saw the white of a score of eyes glaring at him, and he would "crawfish" out of the crowd at the first opportunity.

The settlers made it definitely known to foreign capitalists that they would enter the tracts of land they had settled upon before allowing the latter to come in with their speculations. The land was sold in tiers of townships, beginning at the southern part of the district and continuing north until all had been ofiered at public sale. This plan was persisted in, although it kept many on the ground for several days waiting, who desired to purchase land in the northern part of the district.

In 1827 a regular Indian scare was gotten up to keep speculators away for a short time. A man who owned a claim on Tippecanoe river, near Pretty prairie, fearing that some one of the numerous land hunters constantly scouring the country might enter the land he had settled upon before he could raise the money to buy it, and seeing one da}' a cavalcade of land hunters riding toward where his land lay, mounted his horse and darted off at full speed to meet them, swinging his hat and shouting at the top of his voice, " Indians! Indians! the v/oods are full of Indians, (133) murdering and scalping all before them!" They paused a moment, but as the terrified horseman still urged his jaded animal and cried, "Help! Longlois, Cicots, help!" they turned and fled like a troop of retreating cavalry, hastening to the thickest settlements and giving the alarm, which spread like fire among stubble until the whole frontier region was shocked with the startling cry. The squatter who fabricated the story and started this false alarm took a circuitous route home that evening, and while others were busy building temporary block-houses and rubbing up their guns to meet the Indians, he was quietly gathering up money and slipped down to Crawfordsville and entered his land, chuckling to himself, " There's a Yankee trick for you, done up by a Hoosier."

Harmony Community

In 1814 a society of Germans under Frederick Eappe, who had originally come from Wirtemberg, Germany, and more recently from Pennsylvania, founded a settlement on the Wabash about 50 miles above its mouth. They were industrious, frugal and honest Lutherans. They purchased a large quantity of land and laid off a town, to which they gave the name of " Harmony," afterward called "New Harmony." They erected a church and a public school-house, opened farms, planted orchards and vineyards, built flouring mills, established a house of public entertainment, a public store, and carried on all the arts of peace with skill and regularity. Their property was " in common," according to the custom of ancient Christians at Jerusalem, but the governing power, both temporal and spiritual, was vested in Frederick Eappe, the elder, who was regarded as the founder of the society. By the year 1821 the society numbered about 900. Every individual of proper age contributed his proper share of labor. There were neither spendthrifts, idlers nor drunkards, and during the whole 17 years of their sojourn in America there was not a single lawsuit among them. Every controversy arising among them was settled by arbitration, explanation and compromise before sunset of the day, literally according to the injunction of the apostle of the New Testament.

About 1825 the town of Harmony and a considerable quantity of land adjoining was sold to Robert Owen, father of David Dale Owen, the State Geologist, and of Robert Dale Owen, of later notoriety. He was a radical philosopher from Scotland, who had distinguished for his philanthropy and opposition to

Christianity. He charged the latter with teaching false notions regarding human responsibility - notions which have since been clothed in the language of physiology, mental philosophy, etc. Said he:

"That which has hitherto been called wickedness in our fellow men has proceeded from one of two distinct causes, or from some combination of those causes. They are what are termed bad or wicked,

"1. Because they are born with faculties or propensities which render them more liable, under the same circumstances, than other men, to commit such actions as are usually denominated wicked; or,

" 2. Because they have been placed by birth or other events in particular countries, - have been influenced from infancy by parents, playmates and others, and have been surrounded by those circumstances which gradually and necessarily trained them in the habits and sentiments called wicked ; or,

" Every society which exists at present, as well as every society which history records, has been formed and governed on a belief in the following notions, assumed as first principles:

" 1. That it is in the power of every individual to form his own character. Hence the various systems called by the name of religion, codes of law, and punishments; hence, also, the angry passions entertained by individuals and nations toward each other.

"2. That the affections are at the command of the individual. Hence insincerity and degradation of character; hence the miseries of domestic life, and more than one-half of all the crimes of mankind.

" 3. That it is necessary a large portion of mankind should exist in ignorance and poverty in order to secure to the remaining part such a degree of happiness as they now enjoy. Hence a system of counteraction in the pursuits of men, a general opposition among individuals to the interests of each other, and the necessary effects of such a system, - ignorance, poverty and vice.

" 5. That nature has provided means by which population may be at all times maintained in the proper state to give the greatest happiness to everj individual, without one check of vice and misery;

" 6. That any community may be arranged on a due combination of the foregoing principles in such a manner as not only to withdraw vice, poverty, and in a great degree misery from the world, but also to place every individual' under circumstances in which he shall enjoy more permanent happiness than can be given to any individual under the principles which have hitherto regulated society ;

" 7. That all the fundamental principles on which society has hitherto been founded are erroneous and may be demonstrated to be contrary to fact; and -

" 8. That the change that wottld follow the abandonment of those eiToneous maxims which bring misery into the world, and the adoption of the jjrlnciples of truth, unfolding a system which shall remove and forever exclude that misery, may be effected without the slightest injury to any human being."

Mr. Owen's efforts to establish a community on his principles failed, probably because he overlooked the deeper principle that the main element of "Liberalism " is "individuality" of life in all respects.

Pioneer Life

Most of the early settlers of Indiana came from older States, as Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia, where their prospects for even a competency were very poor. They found those States good - to emigrate from. Tlieir entire stock of furniture, implements and family necessities were easily stored in one wagon, and sometimes a cart was their only vehicle.

The Log Cabin

After arriving and selecting a suitable location, the next thing to do was to build a log cabin, a description of which may be interniSTOKY OF IK DIANA. 137 esting to many of our younger readers, as in some sections these old-time structures are no more to be seen. Trees of uniform size were chosen and cut into logs of the desired length, generally 12 to 15 feet, and hauled to the spot selected for the future dwelling. On an appointed day the few neighbors who were available would assemble and have a " house-raising." Each end of every log was saddled and notched so that tliey would lie as close down as possible; the next day the prop: ictor would proceed to "chink and daub" the cabin, to keep out the rain, wind and cold. The house had to be redaubed every fall, as the rains of the intervening time would wash out a great part if the mortar. The usual height of the house was seven or eight feet. The gables were formed by shortening the logs gradually at each end of the building near the top. The roof was made by laying very straight small logs or stout poles suitable distances apart, generally about two and a half feet, from gable to gable, and on these poles were laid the " clapboards " after the manner of shingling, showing about two and a half feet to the weather. These clapboards were fastened to their place by " weight poles," corresponding in place with the joists just described, and these again were held in their place by " runs " or " knees," which were chunks of wood about 18 or 20 inches long fitted between them near the ends. Clapboards were made fiom the nicest oaks in the vicinity, by chopping or sawing them into four-foot blocks and riving these with a frow, which was a simple blade fixed at right angles to its handle. This was driven into the blocks of wood by a mallet. As the frow was wrenched down through the wood, the latter was turned alternately over from side to side, one end being held by a forked piece of timber.

The chimne3- to the Western pioneer's cabin was made by leaving in the original building a large open place in one wall, or by cutting one after the structure was up, and by building on the outside from the ground up, a stone column, or a column of sticks and mud, the sticks being laid up cob-house fashion. The fire-place thus made was often large enough to receive fire-wood six to eight feet long. Sometimes this wood, especially the " back-log," would be nearly as large as a saw-log. The more rapidly the pioneer could burn up the wood in his vicinity the sooner he had his little farm cleared and readj'^ for cultivation. For a window, a piece about two feet long was cut out of one of the wall logs, and the hole closed sometimes by glass, but generally with greased paper. Even greased deer-hide was sometimes used. A doorway was cut through one of the walls if a saw was to be had; otherwise the door would be left by shortened logs in the original building. The door was made bj' pinning clapboards to two or three wood bars, and was hung upon wooden hinges. A wooden latch, with catch, then finished the door, and the latch was raised by any one on the outside by pulling a leather string. For security at night this latch- string was drawn in; but for friends and neighbors, and even strangers, the " latch-string was always hanging out," as a welcome. In the interior, over the fire-place would be a shelf, called " the mantel," on which stood the candlestick or lamp, some cooking and table ware, possibly an old clock, and other articles; in the fireplace would be the crane, sometimes of iron, sometimes of wood; ou it the pots were hung for cooking; over the door, in forked cleats, hung the ever trustful rifle and powder-horn; in one corner stood the larger bed for the "old folks," and under it the trundle-bed for the children; in another stood the old-fashioned spinning-wheel, with a smaller one by its side; in another the heavy table, the only table, of course, there was in the house; in the remaining corner was a rude cupboard holding the table-ware, which consisted of a few cups and saucers and blue-edged plates, standing singly on their edges against the back, to make the display of table furniture more conspicuous; while around the room were scattered a few splint-bottomed or Windsor chairs and two or three stools.

These simple cabins were inhabited by a kind and true-hearted people. They were strangers to mock modesty, and the traveler, seeking lodgings for the night, or desirous of spending a few days in the community, if willing to accept the rude offering, was always welcome, although how they were disposed of at night the reader might not easily imagine; for, as described, a single room was made to answer for kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room, bed-room and parlor, and many families consisted of six or eight members.

Sleeping Accommodations

The bed was very often made by fixing a post in the floor about six feet from one wall and four feet from the adjoining wall, and fastening a stick to this post about two feet above the floor, on each of two sides, so that the other end of each of the two sticks could be fastened in the opposite wall; clapboards were laid across these, and thus the bed was made complete. Guests were given this bed, while the family disposed of themselves in another corner of the room, or in the " loft." When several guests were on hand at once, they were sometimes kept over night in the following manner: when bed-time came the men were requested to step out of doors while the women spread out a broad bed upon the midfloor, and put themselves to bed in the center; the signal was given and the men came in and each husband took his place in bed next his own wife, and the single men outside beyond them again. They were generally so -crowded that they had to lie "spoon" fashion, and when any one wished to turn over he would say "Spoon," and the whole company of sleepers would turn over at once. This was the only way they could all keep in bed.

To witness the various processes of cooking in those days would alike surprise and amuse those who have grown np since cooking stoves and ranges came into use. Kettles were hung over the large fire, suspended with pot-hooks, iron or wooden, on the crane, or on poles, one end of which would rest upon a chair. The longhandled frying-pan was used for cooking meat. It was either held over the blaze by hand or set down u])on coals drawn out upon the hearth. This pan was also used for baking pan-cakes, also called " flap-jacks," " batter- cakes," etc. A better article for this, however, was the cast-iron spider or Dutch skillet. The best thing for baking bread those days, and possibly even yet in these latter days, was the flat-bottomed bake kettle, of greater depth, with closely fitting cast-iron cover, and commonly known as the '' Dutchoven." With coals over and under it, bread and biscuit would quickly and nicely bake. Turkey and spare ribs were sometimes roasted before the fire, suspended by a string, a dish being placed underneath to catch the drippings.

Hominy and samp were very much used. The hominy, however, was generally hulled corn - boiled corn from which the hull, or bran, had been taken by hot lye; hence sometimes called " lye hominy." True hominy and samp were made of pounded corn. A popular method of making this, as well as real meal for bread, was to cut out or burn a large hole in the top of a huge stump, in the shape of a mortar, and pounding the corn in this by a maul or beetle suspended on the end of a swing pole, like a wellsweep. This and the well-sweep consisted of a pole 20 to 30 feet long fixed in an upright fork so that it could be worked "teeter" fashion. It was a rapid and simple way of drawing water. "When the samp was sufficiently pounded it was taken out, the bran floated

The chief articles of diet in early day were corn bread, hominy or samp, venison, pork, honey, beans, pumpkin (dried pumpkin for more than half the year), turkey, prairie chicken, squirrel and some other game, with a few additional vegetables a portion of the year. "Wheat bread, tea, coffee and fruit were luxuries not to be indulged in except on special occasions, as when visitors were present.

Besides cooking in the manner described, the women had many other arduous duties to perform, one of the chief of which was spinning. Tlie "big wheel" was used for spinning yarn and the "little wheel " for spinning flax. These stringed instruments furnished the principal music of the family, and were operated by our mothers and grandmothers with great skill, attained without pecuniary expense and with far less practice than is necessary for tlie girls of our period to acquire a skillful use of their costly and elegant instruments. But those wheels, indispensable a few years ago, are all now superseded by the mighty factories which overspread the country, furnishing cloth of all kinds at an expense ten times less than would be incurred now by the old system.

The loom was not less necessary than the wheel, though they were not needed in so great numbers; not every house had a loom, one loom had a capacity for the needs of several families. Settlers, having succeeded in spite of the wolves in raising sheep, commenced the manufacture of woolen cloth; wool was carded and made into rolls by hand-cards, and the rolls were spun on the " big wheel." We still occasionally find in the houses of old settlers a wheel of this kind, sometimes used for spinning and twisting stocking yarn. They are turned with the hand, and with such velocity that it will run itself while the nimble worker, by her backward step, draws out and twists her thread nearly the whole length of the cabin. A common article woven on the loom was linsey, or linsey-woolsey, the chain being linen and the filling woolen. This cloth was used for dresses for the women and girls. Nearly all the clothes worn by the men were also home-made; rarely was a fanner or his son seen in a coat madeof any other. If, occasionally, a young man appeared in a suit of " boughten " clothes, he was suspected of having gotten it for a particular occasion, which occurs in the life of nearly every young man.

Dress And Manners

The dress, habits, etc., of a people throw so much light upon their conditions and limitations that in order better to show the circumstances surrounding the people of the State, we will give a short exposition of the manner of life of our Indiana people at different epochs. The Indians themselves are credited by Charlevoix with being "very laborious," - raising poultry, spinning the wool of the buifalo, and manutacturiug garments therefrom. These must have been, however, more than usually favorable representatives of their race.

"The working and voyaging dress of the French masses," says Reynolds, " was simple and primitive. The French were like the lilies of the valley [ the Old Eanger was not always exact in his quotations], - they neither spun nor wove any of their clothing, but purchased it from the merchants. The white blanket coat, known as the capot, was the universal and eternal coat for the winter with the masses. A cape was made of it that could be raised over the head in cold weather.

" In the house, and in good weatlier, it hung behind, a cape to the blanket coat. The reason that I know these coats so well is that I Jiave worn many in my youth, and a working man never a better garment. Dressed deer-skins and blue cloth were worn commonly in the winter for pantaloons. The blue handkerchief and the deer-skin moccasins covered the head and feet generally of the French Creoles. In 1800 scarcely a man thought himself clothed unless he had a belt tied round his blanket coat, and on one side was hung the dressed skin of a pole-cat filled with tobacco, pipe, flint and steel. On the other side was fastened, under the belt, the butcher knife. A Creole in this dress felt like Tam O'Shanter filled with usquebaugh; he could face the devil. Checked calico shirts were then common,- but in winter flannel was frequently worn. In the summer the laboring men and the voyagers often took their shirts ofl:' in hard work and hot weather, and turned out the naked back to the air and sun."

" Among the Americans," he adds, " home-made wool hats were the common wear. Fur hats were not common, and scarcely a boot was seen. The covering of the feet in winter was chiefly moccasins made of deer-skins and shoe-packs of tanned leather. Some wore shoes, but not common in very early times. In the summer the greater portion of the young people, male and female.

and many of the old, went barefoot. Tlie substantial and universal outside wear was the blue linsey liunting shirt. This is an excellent garment, and I have never felt so happy and healthy since I laid it off. It is made of wide sleeves, open before, with ample size so as to envelop the body almost twice around. Sometimes it had a large cape, which answers well to save the shoulders from the rain. A belt is mostlj' used to keep the garment close around the person, and, nevertheless, there is nothing tight about it to hamper the body. It is often fringed, and at times the fringe is composed of red, and other gay colors. The belt, frequently, is sewed to the hunting shirt. The vest was mostly made of striped linsey. The colors were made often with alum, copperas and madder, boiled with the bark of trees, in such a manner and proportions as the old ladies prescribed. The pantaloons of the masses were generally made of deer-skin and linsey. Coarse blue cloth was sometimes made into pantaloons.

" Linse^', neat and fine, manufactured at home, composed generally the outside garments of the females as well as the males. The ladies had linsey colored and woven to suit their fancy. A bonnet, composed of calico, or some gay goods, was worn on the head when they were in the open air. Jewelry on the pioneer ladies was uncommon ; a gold ring was an ornament not often seen."

In 1S20 a change of dress began to take place, and before 1830,. according to Ford, most of the pioneer costume had disappeared. ''The blue linsey hunting-shirt, with red or white fringe, had given place to the cloth coat. [Jeans would be more like the fact.] The raccoon cap, with the tail of the animal dangling down behind, had been thrown aside for hats of wool or fur. Boots and shoes had supplied the deer-skin moccasins; and the leather breeches, strapped tight around the ankle, had disappeared before unmentionables of a more modern material. The female sex had made still greater progress in dress. The old sort of cotton or woolen frocks, spun, woven and made with their own fair hands, and striped and cross-barred with blue dye and Turkey red, had given place to gowns of silk and calico. The feet, before in a state of nudity, now charmed in shoes of calf-skin or slippers of kid ; and the head, formerly unbonneted, but covered with a cotten handkerchief, now displayed the charms of the female face under many forms of bonnets of straw, silk and Leghorn. The young ladies, instead of walking a mile or two to church on Sunday, carrying their shoes and stockings in their hands until within a hundred yards of the place of worship, as formerly,

The last half century has doubtless witnessed changes quite as great as those set forth by our Illinois historian. Tiie chronicler of to-day, looking back to the golden days of 1830 to 1840, and comparing them with the present, must be struck with the tendency of an almost monotonous uniformity in dress and manners that comes from the easy inter-communication aflorded by steamer, railway, telegraph and newspaper. Home manufacturers have been driven from the household by the lower-priced fabrics of distant mills. The Kentucky jeans, and the copperas-colored clothing of home manufacture, so familiar a few years ago, have given place to the cassi meres and cloths of noted factories. The ready-made clothing stores, like a touch of nature, made the whole world kinand may drape the charcoal man in a dress-coat and a stove-pipe hat. The prints and silks of England and France give a variety of choice and an assortment of colors and shades such as the pioneer women could hardly liave dreamed of. Godey and Demorest and Harper's Bazar are found in our modern farm-houses, and the latest fashions of Paris are not uncommon.

Family Worship

The Methodists were generally first on the ground in pioneer settlements, and at that early day they seemed more demonstrative in their devotions than at the present time. In those days, too, pulpit oratory was generally more eloquent and effective, while the grammatical dress and other " worldly " accomplishments were not so assiduously cultivated as at present. But in the manner of conducting public worship there has probably not been so much change as in that of family worship, or "family prayers," as it was often called. We had then most emphatically an American edition of that pious old Scotch practice so eloquently described in Burns' " Cotter's Saturday Eight:"

Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide ; He wales a portion with judicious care. And " let us worsnip God," he says with solemn air.

Once or twice a da.j, in the morning just before breakfast, or in the evening just before retiring to rest, the head of the familywould call those around him to order, read a chapter in the Bible, announce the hymn and tune by commencing to sing it, when all would join ; then he would deliver a most fervent prayer. If a pious guest was present he would be called on to take the lead in all the exercises of the evening; and if in those days a person who prayed in the family or m public did not pray as if it were his very last on earth, his piety was thought to be defective.

The familiar tunes of that day are remembered by the surviving old settlers as being more spiritual and inspiring than those of the present day, such as Bourbon, Consolation, China, Canaan, Conquering Soldier, Condescension, Devotion, Davis, Fiducia, Funeral Thought, Florida, Golden Hill, Greenfields, Ganges, Idumea, Imandra, Kentucky, Lenox, Leander, Mear, New Orleans, North field. New Salem, New Durham, Olney, Primrose, Pisgah, Pleyel's Hymn, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Reflection, Supplication, Salvation, St. Thomas, Salem, Tender Thought, Windham, Greenville, etc., as they are named in the Missouri Harmony.

Members of other orthodox denominations also had their family prayers in which, however, the phraseology of the prayer was somewhat dififerent and the voice not so loud as characterized the real Methodists, United Brethren, etc.

Histoey Of Indiana Hospitality

The traveler always found a welcome at the pioneer's cabin. It was never full. Although there might be already a guest for every puncheon, there was still " room for one more," and a wider circle would be made for the new-comer at the log fire. If the stranger was in search of land, he was doubly welcome, and his host would volunteer to show him all the " first-rate claims in this neck of the woods," going with him for days, showing the corners and advantages of every " Congress tract " within a dozen miles of his own cabin.

To his neighbors the pioneer was equally liberal. If a deer was killed, the choicest bits were sent to his nearest neighbor, a halfdozen miles away, perhaps. When a " shoat " was butchered, the same custom prevailed. If a new comer came in too late for " cropping," the neighbors would supply his table with just the same luxuries they themselves enjoyed, and in as liberal quantity, until a crop could be raised. "When a new-comer liad located his claim, the neighbors for miles around would assemble at the site of the new-comer's proposed cabin and aid him in " gittin' " it up. One party with axes would cut down the trees and Jiew the logs; another with teams would haul the logs to tiie ground; another party would "raise" the cabin; while several of the old men would " rive the clapboards " for the roof. By night the little forest domicile would be up and ready for a " house-warming," which was the dedicatory occupation of the house, when music and dancing and festivity would be enjoyed at full height. The next day the new-comer would be as well situated as his neighbors.