St. Joseph County, Indiana - Chapter 2: Early History, 1907 (part 2 of 2)

Sec. 5. - Taken by the Spaniards. - But the romantic story of Fort St. Joseph's had yet another episode. Early in 1779, war had again broken out between Spain and England. Louisiana still continued in possession of the Spaniards, and they had a strong military post at St. Louis. Mr. English in his life of George Rogers Clark says that: "General Clark's possession of the Illinois and Wabash country was not only good as against the British, but also as against the Spaniards, and there is scarcely a doubt that the latter would have seized the French towns, antl occupied the territory, if it had not already been in actual American possession." And he adds: "The Spaniards did make a raid, to that end, in the winter of 1780-81, and captured Fort St. Joseph's; but they made no attempt to hold the country. "« This Spanish expedition left St. Louis January 2, 1781, under command of Don Eugenio Pourre, the detachment consisting of sixty-five soldiers and sixty Indians.'' They marched rapidly across the frozen lands of Illinois and northwestern Indiana, and surrounded Fort St. Joseph before there was any intimation of their approach. The garrison was easily overcome, and the Spaniards took formal possession of the post and its dependencies, in the name of the king of Spain. The valley of the St. Joseph, including the territory of our own county, thus for a time became a part of the dominion of Spain. Not desiring to occupy the fort, the Spaniards burned it to the gTound and returned to St. Louis. Spain afterwards made a vain attempt to found, on this capture, a claim to a large tcrritoiy cast of the Mississippi. It is interesting to observe that this victory of the little Spanish army from St. Louis marks the extreme northern limit in the new world of the power of Spain, whose flag then floated from the valley of the St. Joseph to the Straits of Magellan. The old fort was never rebuilt: and soon after, on the establishment of American indejiendence. the soil on which it stood, together with that of all tlie iioii Invest, was, by reason of the victories ol' (leorge Rogers Clark, acknowledged as a part of the territory of the young republic. So passed Fort St. Joseph's, a little over a hundred years aftei' the founding of the mission of AUouez upon tlie hanks of our beautiful river.''

St. Joseph are high and the soil dry and gravelly. Accordingly, the growth of timber along the St. Joseph was not ''thick woods," but the trees stood well apart, as in a great natural park. The Indian custom of keeping the underbrush and leaves annually burned away added to the park-like appearance of the lands. The expressive phrase "oak openings" well describes the fine vistas through the ancient forests that decorated the banks on either side of the beautiful river. Added to the beauty and shade of the woodlands, the waters of the St. Joseph were always, as they are today, clear and cool, while refreshing springs bubbled up everywhere under the high banks or trickled down their face to the stream below. It is little wonder therefore that this ideal solitude was dear not only to the redman, but also to the birds of the air and the four-footed creatures that roamed the wilderness. Here came the elk and the deer ; but, more than all, this was the favorite haunt of the buffalo, the great wild oxen and cows that came into the cool shadows from the hot sun of the prairies, to browse on the fresh grass and drink of the sweet waters. From the mouth of the river, on either side, and far up beyond the limits of St. Joseph county, extended this magnificent park-like buffalo range. So accustomed were the early French hunters and traders to see the buft'alo cows come with their calves for rest and refreshment to these pleasant haunts along the St. Joseph, that they gave to the place the picturesque appellation of Pare aux Vaches (literally, park of the cows), a term changed in the spelling by our early settlers to parkovash. The term "parkovash" has been usually, no doubt properly, confined in application to the plain along the eastern bank of the river above and below the cities of South Bend and Mishawaka."

Parkovash ; and into and through these beautiful woodlands along the eastern and northern banks of the river came every trail from the surrounding wilderness. Here the bands set up their wigwams, and here the council fires arose. Hard by, on some open spot or highland, stood a village of Miamis or of Pottawatomies. For in this valley as elsewhere, as said by Maurice Thompson, the villages, or rather camps, of the Indians were usually situated, as were those of the Mound Builders, on highlands close to a stream, pond or lake where plenty of water could easily be had.*

Favorite fishing places were, of course, an additional attraction. Such was the location in the river at Fort St. Joseph's; where, on one side of the stream, was the ancient village of the Miamis, and, on the other, the village of the Pottawatomies. "Here," says Mr. Bartlett, "at a place where the waters were shallow, the aborigines had paved a strip of the river's bed from shore to shore with great slabs of limestone. Just who they were that labored at this task, or when they toiled, no one will ever know. These slabs of limestone are a characteristic of the surrounding glacial hills. The purpose of dragging the huge, flat stones into the river and disposing them so as to form a paved path through the waters was an important one, since thereby the people might more easily take the great fish with which the river at certain seasons was fairly alive. The canoes were accustomed to go up stream some miles, and then, descending in an open line that reached from bank to bank, so agitated the waters as to drive before them the finny game. Companions, who in the meantime had taken their stations at frequent intervals across the limestone floor, stood with uplifted spears awaiting the moment when the form of the rolling sturgeon or the catfish or the swift pickerel or the quick-darting pike should be outlined against the underlying pavement. Those who sometimes witnessed these operations have left the record that when the spearmen were at work, the boats went frequently to the shore and were often weighted down to the water's edge with the burden of fishes. It was nothing strange, therefore, that just above this renowned fishing-place a great Indian village should have survived from remote times down to a period within the memory of men now living."*

After the Miamis went east and south, to the vicinity of the Maumee and the Wabash, the Pottawatomies were left in sole possession of the valleys of the St. Joseph and the Kankakee; but, while these Indians came every year in great numbers by way of the St. Joseph portage, with their furs, maple sugar, baskets and trinkets, to the markets at the trading posts down the river, yet no large villages of the tribe were to be found within the limits of St. Joseph county. Pokagon's village was on the west side of the St. Joseph, two miles north of the St. Joseph county line, near Bertrand, and there was a small band settled about a mile or two southwest of the site of South Bend, at a place called Raccoon village ; but the main body of the Pottawatomies was farther south, in Marshall county, around Twin Lakes and Lake Maxinkuckee, and in Fulton county. Accordingly, while the roving Indian was constantly on the trails throughout all this region, hunting, fishing, or going to or from the trading stations, yet his more permanent abode was in the villages to the south, and when finally he came to be removed to the west, the gathering places for the beginning of his long journey to the lands beyond the Mississippi were, in general, without the confines of St. Joseph county. And while of course many redmen had their fixed abode within the limits of St. Joseph county, yet the romantic Parkovash, the prairies, the woodlands and the streams were for visiting, for sightseeing and for hunting and trading, rather than for permanent dwelling places.

out of the surrounding wilderness. When whitemen first came into the Indian country they found everywhere those well marked pathways, trodden by human and pony feet, but not by buffaloes or other animals. To these pathways was given the name of trails, and sometimes that of traces. The word trail, as often used by hunters and frontiersmen, denoted the slight trace left where an animal or a man had passed but once, and to follow such a trail was no easy matter ; but the term was also used to denote a well worn narrow pathway that might have been trodden hundreds or thousands of times. These trails have in many instances been adopted as the lines of permanent roads by the civilized successors of the roving Indians and their ancient predecessors, the Mound Builders. This use of the trails for our modern highways resulted from convenience and long continued custom; for traders, travelers, scouting parties and frontiersmen passed along these trails for many years before the wagons of the pioneers widened them out with their Avheels, and before the civil authorities finally fixed them as legal public highways."

The most noted of these trails was that of the Portage, already referred to, extending from La Salle's landing, at a sharp western bend of the St. Joseph, thence across to the headwaters of the Kankakee, a little to the west and south of the blue sheet of water, sometimes known as La Salle's and sometimes as Stanfield lake, but perhaps even still more appropriately called Summit lake, because located almost on the line of the watershed between the St. Joseph and the Kankakee. This famous trail was used chiefly for the carrying of boats from one river to the other ; and therefore came to be named the Portage, from the French word porter, to carry. The beautiful prairie over which the ])ortage passed was naturally called Portage Prairie.

Other trails seem to have led from the St. Joseph, over the prairie to the IMiami village at Mount Pleasant, and to Chain lakes, neara. Ball, Hist. Northwestern Indiana, pp. 76-78.

See. 3. - Chari^voix on Portage Prairie. - It was while encamped on one of these trails, September 17, 1721, that the celebrated traveler and missionary, Father Charlevoix, wrote his very interesting letter to a friend in France descriptive of our Portage Prairie, as he then found it. The visit to this county at that early date of so distinguished a character as Charlevoix is of itself of sufficient historical interest to justify the making of an extract from his letter written on that occasion. The letter also serves to throw light on many points already touched upon in this chapter. The extract is as follows :

"I believe I gave you to understand in my last letter that I had two routes to choose from in going to the Illinois. The first was to return to Lake jNIichigan, follow along its southern course and enter the little Chicago river. After ascending that river five or six leagues, one passes into the Illinois by two portages, the longer of which is five quarter leagues; but as that river is only a brook at the point, I was warned that at this season I should not find in it enough water for my boat, and therefore I took the other route [by the St. Joseph], which, indeed, has also its inconveniences, and is not nearly so agreeable, but is surer. Yesterday I left the fort of St. Joseph river [Fort St. Joseph's], and ascended that river about six leagues. I disembarked on the right, walked five quarter leagues, first following the edge of the water and then crossing the fields into a great prairie, all sprinkled with little tufts of woodland which have a very beautiful effect. It is called Ox-Head Prairie, because there was found there, as they say, the head of an ox of monstrous size. Why may there not have been giants among these animals also?'* I ena. This "ox-head" was perhaps that of an unusually large buffalo. More likely, however, it was the head of a mastadon or of a mammoth, many of the remains of both being found at different places in the county, particularly in the miry stretches of the Kankakee bottoms. See note to Bartlett and Lyon's La Salle in the Valley of the St. Joseph, p. 37.

camped in an exceedingly beautiful place called the Fort of the Foxes, because the Fox Indians [the Outagamies] had a village there not long ago, fortified in their way. This morning I went a league farther into the prairie, my feet almost constantly in the water, and then found a sort of pond, which communicates with several others of different sizes, the largest of 'which is only a hundred paces in circuit. These are the sources of a river called the Theakiki, which our Canadians here corrupted into Kiakiki [Kankakee] . Theak means wolf, I do not remember in what language ; but this river bears that name because the Mahingans, who are also called the Wolves, formerly took refuge there. We put our boat, which two men had carried, up to this point, into the second of these sources, and embarked; but we had scarcely enough water to keep afloat. Ten men in two days could make a straight and navigable canal which would save much trouble, besides ten or twelve leagues of travel, and it is necessary continually to turn so sharply that at each instant one is in danger of breaking his boat [a bark canoe], as has just happened to us."" It is an interesting circumstance to note in this connection that the canal, or ditch, suggested by Father Charlevoix in 1721. nearly two hundred years ago, has recently been dug, and the Kankakee straightened and shortened, accordingly, as he said it could be; though it has taken the labor of more than ten men for two days to do it.

Sec. 4. - Other Trails. - Next in importance to the Portage trail was the Great Sauk Trail. To the travel and commerce of the wilderness, between the east and the west, this trail was what our great trunk lines of railroad are now to the travel and commerce, between the same distant localities. The Sauk Trail received its name from the Sac tribe of Indians. The Sacs and Foxes used it in their journey ings from Canada and other eastern points to their homes in the far northo. CTharlevoix's Travels in North America, Vol. 6, pp. 103-5.

west. The trail started near the site of Detroit, followed the high ridges across Michigan, crossed the St. Joseph river at Bertrand, six miles north of South Bend, and then ran westerly, crossing the northwest part of St. Joseph county, over Warren and Olive townships, passing through Terre Coupee, and then, by Hudson lake, formerly called Lake du Chemin, through the county of La Porte, and on to the site of Chicago and beyond to the Illinois and northwestern country. This was the path taken by the Iroquois of New York, in their raids against the Miamis, Illinois and other western tribes. A multitude of smaller trails ran into and out from this great thoroughfare. A well-know^n Pottawatomie town, called the village of Pokagon, after the wise chief of that name, stood on the Avest side of the St. Joseph, just south of the Sauk trail. For fifty years and more the Sauk trail has been called the Chicago Road, this name having been given to the old trail after the national government had smoothed and straightened its course from Detroit to Chicago."

The Dragoon trace was a well-worn trail leading from Fort Wayne to Chicago. Through this county it passed under the hills above Misha"\vaka and came into what is now South Bend over the line of Vistula avenue, passing to the west until it united with the Sauk trail. Near the extreme south bend of the St. Joseph river, by what has been known as the Turkey Creek road, now Miami street, another trail left the Dragoon trace and passed on southeasterly through the coimty. South ^Michigan street, a part of the old IMichigan road, marks the line of yet another southern trail, reaching to the Pottawatomie habitations at Twin lakes. Lake Maxinkuckee and other points in Marshall county; while still another trail went out southwesterly over the line of Sumption Prairie road. Along the east side of the St. Joseph, from its mouth almost to its source, ran a well-marked trail, connecting at Bertrand with the Sauk trail, and receiving from place to place all the minor trails that entered the Parkovash. Indeed every stream had its trail on either side ; for although the canoe glided along the water, yet the chief travel of the wilderness was along the trails, on foot or on the backs of the precious ponies.

Another trail, and the last that need be mentioned, was the Pottawatomie trail, which followed the Kankakee from the Illinois country, crossed the St. Joseph near the site of South Bend, one branch joining with the trail along the river down to Fort St. Joseph's, and another continuing along what is now South Bend avenue and the Edwardsburg road, and connecting at Edwardsburg with the great Sauk trail. As South Bend avenue and the Edwardsburg road mark this trail east of the St. Joseph, the Crum's Point road marks it on the west.

Throughout its course the Indian trail was at first simply a pathw^ay, which in time developed into a well trodden highway. This pathway "never crossed over a hill which it might go around; it crept through the hollows, avoiding, however, with greatest care, those conditions in which a moccasin could not be kept drj' and clean ; it clung to the shadows of the big timber-belts, and, when an arm of the prairie intervened, sought to traverse such a place of possible danger by the route which was shortest and least exposed. At every step the ancient path tells the story of wilderness fears. Yet the precincts of this venerable avenue of the old life had also their own peculiar delights. A warm and sheltered path in the winter-time, its fragrant airs were cool and soft in the siunmer days. . . . And then to the Pottawatomie this, above all others, was the ancient highway of his people. Along its course he saw the war-parties filing away to find the enemy in distant lands and among strange peoples. And he heard the forest walls of the old path re-echo the exultant cry of the returning band, saw the unhappy captives schooling their hearts to a stoic's cahn, or following with proud disdain in the footsteps of their conquerors, or nursing thoughts of grim vengeance by glaring scowls and vain mutterings. At such an hour the Pottawatomie, standing by the path of his fathers, rejoiced to know that the name of his people was terrible in the land of the enemy. The old men loved to wander along this path and rehearse the stories of the past, and tell of the times when they with their people, in tumultuous throng, hurried home from the chase. ' '"^

Vi. The Removal Op The Pottawatomies

The last fact of importance in the history of the Indians of St. Joseph county is the This pathetic story has been so well told by removal of the Pottawatomies to the west. Marshall county in the general assembly of 1905 and 1907, and the story as told by him is crowded with such a wealth of historical facts, that we cannot do better than give in full his admirable and eloquent speech, delivered in the House of Representatives, February 3, 1905. Mr. McDonald is one of the best informed men in Indiana on the early history of this section of the state ; and, as shown by his address, his heart was in his subject. The address is as follows:

Address of Representative Daniel McDonald of Plymouth, delivered in the House of Representatives, Indianapolis, Friday, February S, 1905, on the bill to erect a monmnent to the Pottawatomie Indians at Twin Lakes, Marshall county, published by direction of the House of Representatives.

The bill to erect a monument to the memory of the Pottawatomie Indians at Menominee village, in Marshall county, being under consideration. Representative Daniel McDonald said :

Indian titles to the lands of the Pottawatomie Indians in northern Indiana and southern ^Michigan, and their removal to a reservation to be provided for them west of the Missouri river, was one of the most important and delicate questions the government had to deal with in the early settlement of this part of the Northwest Territory. General treaties were made from 1820 to 1830 between the government agents and the chiefs and headmen of the Pottawatomies by which large tracts of land were ceded to the government, and numerous reservations made to various bands of Pottawatomie Indians in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Later these reservations were ceded back by treaty by the Indians for a stipulated amount, and in all the treaties it was provided that the Indians should remove to the reservation west of the Missouri river within two years from the date thereof. The dates of these treaties were about all in the years 1835 and in 1836, the last date for removal expiring about the first of August, 1838.

The territory now included within the boundaries of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, which was the home of the Pottawatomie Indians for many years prior to the time they were removed to the ' reservation west of the Missouri river, was in the early days of the history of America owned and occupied by the Miami Indians, originally kno^^^l as the Twightwees. It was claimed by France from the time of the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi river by La Salle, in 1682, to 1763, when it was relinquished by treaty to the government of England and held by it until 1779 as a part of her colonial possessions in North America. The state of Virginia extended its jurisdiction over it until 1783 when it became by treaty of peace and by cession from Virginia the property of the United States. In 1787 an ordinance was passed by Congress creating the territory northwest of the river Ohio, which embraced the territory of the states above mentioned.

The Pottawa.tomie tribe of Indians, the owners and inhabitants of the territory now comprising northern Indiana, belonged to the great Algonquin family, and were related by ties of consanguinity to the Ojibways, Chippewas and Ottawas. The first trace we have of them locates their territory in the Lake Superior region on the islands near the entrance of Green bay, holding the country from the latter point to the headwaters of the

About 1817 it was estimated that there were in the region north of the AVabash river and south of Lake ]\Iichigan something more than two thousand Pottawatomies. They were located in villages on the Tippecanoe ; Kankakee; Iroquois; Yellow river; St. Joseph of Lake Michigan ; the Elkhart ; INIaumee or ^liamis of the Lake ; the St. Joseph emptying into it; the St. Marys; Twin lakes ; Maxinkuckee ; and Lake Kewanna. At that time they had no uniform abiding place of residence. During the fall, winter and part of the spring they were scattered in the woods hunting and fishing. Their wigwams were made of poles stuck in the ground and tied together with strips of bark, slender hickory withes or raw hide strings. They were covered with bark or a kind of mat made of flagweeds. There was an occasional rude hut made of logs or poles, but nearly all the dwellings were wigwams hastily put up as here diseribed. They raised some corn, but lived principally on wild game, fish, fruits, nuts, and roots and were clothed with blankets and untanned skins.

From the date of the treaty of peace at Greenville in 1795 to 1832, all the lands in possession of the Pottawatomie and Miami Indians were ceded to the United States. Nearly all the titles to the lands in this part of the country reserved for various bands by the treaty of 1832 were extinguished by United States Commissioner Abel C. Pepper, who seems to have been well fitted for the difficult task assigned him.

In 1831 the legislature of Indiana passed a joint resolution requesting an appropriation by Congress for the. purpose of the extinguishment of the remaining titles of lands held by the Indians within the state. The appropriation was made and three' citizens - Jonathan Jennings, first governor of Indiana; John W. Davis and Marks Crume - were appointed by the secretary of war to carry into effect the law authorizing the appropriation. The commissioners assembled with the several Indian chiefs concerned at a place called Chippewayning on the Tippecanoe river where the Michigan road crosses that stream two or three miles north of Rochester and sixteen miles south of Plymouth, where they concluded a treaty October 27, 1832, by which the chiefs and warriors of the Pottawatomies of Indiana and Michigan territory ceded to the United States their title and interest to all the lands in Indiana, Michigan, and in Illinois south of Grand river. From this general treaty a large number of small individual reservations were made. Among them was a reservation of two sections to Naswagee, and one section to Quashqua, both on the east shore of Lake ^Maxinkuckee, and twenty-two sections to Menominee, Pepinawa, Nataka, and Macatawmaaw, adjoining the town of Plymouth on the west and extending south to Twin Lakes, a short distance north of Lake ilaxinkuckee ; several sections in the vicinity to Aubenaube and other chiefs making in all 160 sections. These reservations were all ceded back to the government between 1834 and 1837, mostly under treaties negotiated by Abel C. Pepper. All of these treaties contained the following:

"Article 3. - The United States further agrees to convey by patent to the Pottawatomies of Indiana a tract of country on the Osage river, southwest of the Missouri river, sufficient in extent and adapted to their wants and habits, remove them to the same, furnish them with one year's subsistence after their arrival there, and pay the expenses of the treaty, and the delegation now in this city."

The first removal under these treaties took place in July, 1837, and within the two years from the date of these treaties to August. 1837. all had gone peaceably, or had been removed without force, except IMenominee cind his band, whose village w^as on the north bank of Twin lakes. On the 6th of August. 1838, the time stipulated in the treaties for the Indians to emigrate having expired, and Menominee and his band declining to go, a council was held at his village, at which Col. Abel C. Pepper, agent of the Govei-nment. was present, and most of the chiefs in that i)art of the country, as also many white residents of the surrounding country. The treaty was read wherein it was shown that in ceding their lands the Indians had agreed to remove to the western reservation within the time specified and that the date was then at hand when they must go. It was plain to those present who were familiar with the Indian character that there was great dissatisfaction among them and a si)irit of rebellion growing which if not soon suppressed would probably lead to serious results. The leader and principal spokesman for the Indians was Menominee. By the treaty of 1832 twenty-two sections of land had been reserved to him and three other chiefs, viz., Pepinawa, Xataka and Macatawmaaw. The last three named chiefs entered into a treaty, with Col. Abel C. Pepper on behalf of the government August 5, 1836, by which they ceded all their interest in the reservation above described for which the government paid them $14,080 in specie, and they agreed to remove to the country west of the Missouri river provided for them within two years from the date of the treaty. Chief Menominee refused to sign the treaty and persistently declined to release to the government his interest in the reservation. When Col. Pepper had made his final appeal and all had had their say, Menominee arose to his feet, and, drawing his costly blanket around him, through an interpreter 'he addressed the council as follows:

"Members of the Council - The President does not know the truth. He, like me, has been imposed upon. He does not know that you have made my young chiefs drunk and got their consent and pretended to get mine. ' He does not know that I have refused to sell my lands and still refuse. He would not by force drive me from my home, the graves of my tribe, and my children who have gone to the Great Spirit, nor allow you to tell me your braves will take me tied like a dog if he knew the truth. My brothers, the President is .iust, but he listens to the word of young chiefs who have lied; and when he knows the truth he will leave me to my own. I have not sold my lands. I will not sell them. I have not signed any treaty and will not sign any. I am not going to leave my lands, and I don't want to hear anything more about it."

Describing the scene, one who was present said: "Amid the applause of the chiefs he sat down. Spoken in the peculiar style of the Indian orator - although repeated by an interpreter - with an eloquence of which Logan would have been proud, his presence the personification of dignity, it presented one of those rare occasions of which history gives but few instances, and on the man of true appreciation would have made a most profound impression."

Considerable time was spent in trying to persuade IMenominee and his following to accept the inevitable and remove peaceably to the reservation provided for them, and that if they did not, the government would be compelled to remove them by force. Without accomplishing anything, however, the council disbanded. ]\Ienominee was a wise and experienced chief, and he knew the final consummation was near at hand. As soon as the council had disbanded the began at once to fire the hearts of his followers, with a determination to resist the government officers in their evident intention to remove them, peaceably if they could, forcibly if they must. The consequence was the Indians became desperate, intoxicating liquors were drank to excess ; threats of violence were freely made, and the white settlers in the immediate neighborhood became greatly alarmed for the safety of themselves and families. In this alarming condition of affairs, a number of white settlers of Marshall county, early in August, 1838, petitioned the governor of Indiana for protection against what they believed would result in the certain destruction of their lives and property. In his message to the legislature December 4, 1838, Governor David Wallace said:

"By the conditions of the late treaty with the Pottawatomie Indians in Indiana, the time stipulated for their departure to the west of the Missouri expired on the 6th of August last. As this trying moment approached a strong disposition was manifested by many of the most influential among them to disregard the treaty entirely, and to cling to the homes and graves of their fathers at all hazards. In consequence of such a determination on their part, a collision of the most serious character was likely to ensue between them and the surrounding settlers. Apprehensive of such a result, and with a view to prevent it, the citizens of Marshall county, early in the month of August, forwarded to the executive a petition praying that an armed force might be immediately sent to their protection. On receipt of this petition I i-epaired as speedily as circumstances would permit to the scene of difficulty in order to satisfy myself by a personal examination whether their fears were justifiable or not. On my return to Logansport a formal requisition awaited me from the Indian agent. Col. A. C. Pepper, for one hundred armed volunteers to be placed under the command of some competent citizen of the state, whose duty it should be to preserve the peace and to arrest the growing spirit of hostility displayed by the Indians. The requisition was instantly granted. I appointed the Hon. John Tipton to this command and gave him authority to raise the necessary number of volunteers. He promptly and patriotically accepted the appointment, and, although sickness and disease prevailed to an alarming extent throughout northern Indiana, yet such was the spirit and patriotism of the people there that in about forty-eight hours after the requisition was authorized the requisite force was not only mustered, but was transported into the midst of the Indians before they were aware of its approach or before even they could possibly take steps to resist or repel it. The rapidity of the movement, the known decision and energy of General Tipton, backed by his intimate acquaintance and popularity with the Indians, whom it was his business to quiet, accomplished everything desired. The refractory became complacent; opposition to removal ceased, and the whole tribe, with a few exceptions amounting to between 800 and 900, volimtarily prepared to emigrate. General Tipton and the volunteers accompanied them as far as Danville, Illinois, administering to them on the way whatever comfort and relief humanity required. There they were delivered over to the care of Judge Polke and the United States removing agents. Copies of all the communications and reports made to the executive by General Tipton while in the discharge of this duty I lay before you, from which I feel assured you will discover with myself that much credit and many thanks are due not only to him but to all who assisted him in bringing so delicate an alfair to so happy and successful a termination."

David Wallace served as governor of Indiana from 1837 to 1840. The most important act of his administration was his order to remove the remaining Pottawatomie Indians as set forth in his message herein quoted. After his term as governor expired, he was subsequently elected to Congress. He was made a member of the committee on ways and means, and in that committee gave the casting vote in favor of assisting with a donation to Professor Morse to develop the magnetic telegraph. This vote was ridiculed by his political opponents and cost him many votes the last time he ran for Congress. But he lived to see the telegraph established in nearly all the countries of the world and the wisdom of his action acknowledged bj' all.

General Tipton recruited and organized the company of soldiers authorized by Governor Wallace*^ immediately after the requisition was made. These recruits were nearly all from Cass county, at .Logansport, and in the vicinity. They started from Logansport the latter part of August, marching along the Michigan road through Rochester, across Tippecanoe river, and then along the old Indian trail northwestward until they came to Menominee village at Twin lakes, five miles southwest from Plymouth. A great many of the white settlers in the neighborhood turned out to welcome the soldiers and to render such assistance as might be necessary. The Indians were surrounded before they realized that the soldiers had been sent to remove them. Such arms as they had were taken from them and preparations at once commenced for the starting of the caravan. Squads of soldiers were sent out in every direction for the purpose of capturing the straggling bands encamped in various places in the county, and such others as might be found hunting and fishing in the neighborhood. Several days were occupied in getting everything in readiness. The names of heads of families, and other Indians were registered, and when the list was completed it showed a total of 859.

On the day prior to the exodus a meeting of the Indians was held at the little graveyard, a short distance from the village, at which a final farewell of the dead was taken by those who were to leave the following morning, never to return. Addresses were made by the chiefs present and several white settlers. (An address of some length was delivered by Myron H. Norton of Laporte which was afterwards printed, but unfortunately no copies of it can now be found.) The scene is said to have been affecting in the extreme. Weeping and wailing, which was confined to a few at first, became general, and until they were finally induced to disperse, it looked as though a riot would surely ensue. In solemn reverence they turned their weeping eyes from the sleeping dead never to look upon the graves of their kindred again.

The Indian chapel which was used as General Tipton's headquarters while preparing for the removal was situated on the north bank of the middle Twin lake about twenty rods west of the Vandalia railroad. It was erected by Rev. Stephen Theodore Badin, the first Catholic priest ordained in the United States. He was born at Orleans, France, in 1768, ordained May 23, 1793, and died at Cincinnati, April, 19, 1853. The chapel was erected about 1830 and was built of hewn logs and covered with clH])boai-ds. It was about 30 by 40 feet, the west half being two stories high. There was a hallway through the center. The room for the missionary was over the west end of the chapel which was reached from below by means of a rustic ladder. The furniture was of the most primitive kind; and the food, corn, and wild meat and such fruits and vegetables as were suitable to eat during the summer season. The chapel was torn down many years ago. Bishop Brute, of Vincennes, under whose supervision this mission was established, writes as follows in regard to the Indians, their village and chapel:

"A large number of their huts are built around their chapel, which is constructed of logs with the bark on with a cross erected behind and rising above it, and filled with rudely made benches. The Indians begin and end their work without hammer, saw or nails, the ax being their only implement, and bits of skin or bark serving to fasten the pieces together. The room of the missionary is over the chapel, the floor of the one forming the ceiling of the other. A ladder in the corner leads to it, and his furniture consists, as did the prophets, of a table and chair, and a bed. or rather a hammock swung on ropes. Around the room are his books, and the trunks which contain the articles used in his chapel, as vs'ell as his own apparel. He spends his life with his good people, sharing their corn and meat, with water for his drink, and tea made from the herbs of his little garden. He abjures all spirits, as all Catholic Indians are forl)idden to touch that which is the bane of their race and he would encourage them with his example. I attended at the evening catechism, prayers and canticles, and in the morning said mass, at which a large number attended."

At the time the arrangements for the removal were being perfected. Father Benjamin Marie Petit was the missionary in charge of the chapel. He was about twenty-five years old, and had been born and reared in France. This ardent youthful spirit evinced an intense enthusiasm from first to last in the work of his chosen field, and in an outburst of fervency he tells something of his feelings and of his ministrations: "How I love these children of mine, and what pleasure it is for me to find myself among them. There are now from 1,000 to 1.200 Christians. Could you see the little children when I enter a cabin crowding around me and climbing on my knees - the father and mother making the sign of the cross in pious recollection, and then coming with a confiding smile on their faces to shake hands with me - you could not but love them as I do." Of the chapel exercises he gave the following interesting account : "At sunrise the first peal was rung ; then you might see the savages moving along the paths of the forest and the borders of the lakes. When they were assembled the second peal was rung. The catechist then, in an animated manner, gave the substance of the sermon preached the evening before ; a chapter of the catechism was read and morning prayers were recited. I then said mass, the congregation singing hymns the while, after which I preached, my sermon being translated by a respectable French lady, seventytwo years old, who had devoted herself to the missions in the capacity of interpreter. The sermon was followed by a pater and ave ; after which the congregation sang a hymn to Our Lady, and quietly dispersed. The next thing was confession which lasted till evening, and sometimes was resumed after supper. At sunset the natives again assembled for catechism, followed by an exortation and evening prayers which finished with a hymn to Our Lady. I then gave them my benediction - the benediction of poor Benjamin. In the first three weeks of my pastorate I baptised eighteen adults and blessed nine marriages."

About this time officers and soldiers arrived at the chapel and village to arrange for the departure of the Indians. Father Petit again wrote as follows :

' ' One morning I said mass and immediately afterward we began removing all the ornaments from my dear little church. At the moment of my departure I assembled all my children to speak to them for the last time. I wept, and my auditors sobbed aloud. It was indeed a heartrending sight, and over our dying mission we prayed for the success of those they would establish in the new hunting grounds. We then with one accord sang:

When General Tipton and his soldiers had arranged everything in readiness to move, the teepees, wigwams and cabins were torn down and destroyed and Menominee village had the appearance of having been swept by a hurri- cane. Early on the morning of September 4, 1S38. orders were given to move, and at once nearly one thousand men, women and children, with broken hearts and tearful eyes took up the line of march to their far western home.

General Tipton accompanied the Indians as far as Sandusky Point, Illinois, at which place the caravan arrived on September 18, 1838. two weeks after the departure from Twin lakes. From that point he made a lengthy report to Governor Wallace, giving a historical sketch of the occurrences that led up to the removal, together with a copy of his daily journal in which is shown in detail all that occurred during the time he had charge of the caravan. The report is too lengthy for insertion here in full, and only brief extracts can be given. He says:

"The arrival of the volunteers in the Indian village Avas the first intimation they had of the movement of men with arms. Many of the Indian men were assembled near the chapel when we arrived and were not permitted to leave camp or separate until matters were amicably settled and they had agreed to give peaceable possession of the land sold by them."

As has been stated heretofore, Menominee, the principal chief in the owaiership of the reservation which bore his name, never signed the treaty executed by the three chiefs associated with him in the reservation, viz., Pepina.wa, Xataka and ]\Iackatawmaaw. The reason he did not sign this treaty was because he knew from past experience that the amount of money received from the government by these chiefs would all be spent for whisky and riotous living before the two years expired stipulated by the treaty that they should remove to the west. His worst fears were fully realized. The $14,080 the government paid them to sign the treaty had all been squandered for spirituous liquors and trinkets of one kind or another purchased at enormous prices from the white traders that gathered about them like crows about a dead carcass until their money was all gone. J\Ienominee declined to sign the treaty, and never did sign it, but there was at no time any danger of an uprising. The Pottawatomies as a tribe were always friendly with the white settlers, and in northern Indiana never caused any disturbance except in individual cases where they were driven into it by white traders and other designing persons who sold and gave

At the time of the removal none of these Indians were armed for defense or warfare, and had only a few rifles which they had purchased from the white traders at exorbitant prices, and the bows and arrows for killing game for food. Menominee, the head of the band, was a religious man. and an exhorter. He taught his followers to avoid the use of intoxicating liquors; not to cheat, or murder, or lie, or steal, or quarrel with one another, or the white settlers, although they might have ample provocation, but to live in peace with all men. They were completely under his control, and that of their priest. Father Petit. No trouble ever occurred between them and the whites except that related by General Tipton in his report to Governor Wallace, as follows :

"On the 5th of last month, the day on which the Indians were to have left the reservation, the whites demanded possession which they - the Indians - absolutely refused. Quarrels ensued and between the 15th and 20th the Indians chopped the door of one of the settlers - :\Ir. Watters - and threatened his life. This was followed by the burning of ten or twelve Indian cabins which produced a state of feeling bordering on hostilities.

Having made a thorough and exhaustive investigation of this subject a few years ago when many of the settlers were still living and several who were there at the time and participated in the removal and knew all about the circumstances leading up to the removal, it is but the truth to say that the origin of the trouble was not with the Indians, but with Mr. Watters, who had settled in the reservation, without authority, a few months previous, and desired the Indians to leave so he could preempt 160 acres of the reservation under the laws of Congress passed in June of that year. He was the disturbing element, and set about deliberately to work up the disturbance so that the Governor would be compelled to remove them. The infomiation on which Governor Wallace based his action was that received from ]\Ir. Watters and a few other white settlers in the vicinity that allowed him to be the spokesman. The Indians were not consulted and had no say in the matter.

"Most of them appeared willing to go. Three of their principal men, however, expressed a wish to be governed by the advice of their priest (Mr. Petit, a Catholic gentleman), who. had resided with them up to the time of the commencement of the quarrel between the Indians and the whites, when he left Twin lakes and retired to South Bend [Notre Dame]. I addressed a letter inviting him to join the emigration and go west. He accepted the invitation and I am happy to inform you that he joined us two days ago and is going west with the Indians. It is but justice to him to say that he has both by example and precept, produced a very favorable change in the morals and industry of the Indians; that his untiring zeal in the cause of civilization has been and will continue to be eventually beneficial to these unfortunate Pottawatomies, when they reach their new abode."

On the 16th of September Father Petit re- ' joined his flock near Danville, Illinois. He found them moving onward, enveloped" in clouds of dust, and surrounded by the soldiers who hurried on their march. Behind came the wagons in w^hich were crowded together the sick, the women and the children. The scene as described by Father Petit was one of the most mournful description; the children overcome by heat were reduced to a wretched state of languor and exhaustion. By this time General Tipton had begun to understand something of Father Petit 's worth, and treated him with marked respect. The chiefs who had hitherto been treated as prisoners of war were released at the priest's request and took their places with the rest of the tribe. First went the flag of the United States borne by a dragoon ; after which came the baggage ; then the vehicle occupied by the native chiefs ; next followed the main body of the emigrants, men, women and children, mounted on horses, marching "in file after Indian fashion, while all along the flanks of the multitude might be seen dragoons and volunteers urging on unwilling stragglers, often with the most violent words and gestures. The sick were in their wagons under an awning of canvas, which, however, far from protecting them from the stifling heat and dust, only deprived them of air. The interior was like an oven, and many consequently died. Six miles from Danville, Illinois, there was a halt for two days. "When we quitted the spot," Father Petit said, "we left six graves under the shadow of the cross." Order had been so thoroughly restored through the presence of the good priest that the troops now retired and Father Petit was left with the civil authorities to conduct the emigrants to their destination. Having seen the emigrants safely landed on their reservation on the Osage river southwest of the Missouri river, such as had not died and escaped on the way, Father Petit started on the return trip. At St. Louis he was taken sick from fatigue and malarial fever and died. His remains were afterward removed to Notre Dame, Indiana, where they lie buried beneath a beautiful chapel at that place.

Of the onward journey after leaving Sandusky Point, Illinois, where the caravan was placed in charge of Judge Polke, we have only the general statement that 150 persons were lost on the whole way by death and desertion. "What amount of suffering fell to the lot of these poor Indians every day of this horrible journey, no tongue can tell. Hundreds of them were daily burning with the terrible malarial fever so universally prevalent during the warm part of 1838. These hundreds were crowded into common rough wagons and compelled to bear the downpouring rays of a sultry sun, and the only beverage to quench the prevailing thirst was dipped from some mud stream just drying up. The food was composed of beef and flour cooked as might be while encamped for the night. Alas, how these poor little dusky infants must have suffered. No wonder that their little graves marked the daily journey.

In the southern part of Indiana, the legislature two years ago authorized the erection of a monument to the memory of the pioneers of that section of the state who were massacred by the Shawnee Indians during the period of the War of 1812 with England. The massacre was cruel and inhuman and without excuse, but in the history of that most deplorable event, the Indian side of the question that led up to the culmination of the dispute has never been written. The monument at Pigeon Eoost, while it commemorates the memory of the murdered dead, also perpetuates the worst feature in the Indian character.

On the other hand the state, through its legislature, is now asked to authorize the erection of a monument to mark the dawn of civilization in northern Indiana; the rebuilding of the first house of Christian worship in the entire great northwest, east of the Pacific coast, and to perpetuate the memory of the Pottawatomie Indians, the owners and first inhabitants of the country north of the Wabash river, and south of the lakes, whose writton liistory is entirely the work of the white people, the g'overnment agents, traders, and schemers who wrote from the white man's selfish and prejudiced standpoint. I stand here to-day, in this magnificent presence, to plead for the Pottawatomie Indians; to give their side of the story which has never before been told. As I stand here to-day I wish you to imagine that the spirit of the good Indian Menominee has come back after nearly threequarters of a century to tell you the truth in regard to the cruel and inhuman manner in which he and his tribe were treated by the government agents who dispossessed him of his property against his will, without compensation, and forced him and his people into captivity beyond the great Missouri, where he was never heard of again and where he undoubtedly died of a broken heart.

They are now all gone - not one is left to tell the story. But whether the legislature authorizes the erection of this monument or uot^the Pottawatomie Indians will not be forgotten. Their memory has been preserved, and will continue to be perpetuated for all time to come in the rivers, lakes and various localities bearing their names. Aubenaube and Kewanna, and Tiosa, in Fulton county, perpetuate the names of noted Indian chiefs; and the beautiful Tippecanoe, with its rippling waters Of blue ; and the picturesque Manitou, and the lovely Maxinkuckee, the St. Joseph, and especially the famous Wabash, where " 'Round my Indiana homestead wave the

From the fields there comes the breath of new-mown hay. Through the sycamores the candle-lights are gleaming On the banks of the Wabash, far away. ' '

All these names will perpetuate for all time to come the memory of the Pottawatomie Indians, the first owners and inhabitants of all the beautiful country north of the Wabash river and south of the great lakes. "The Indians all have passed away, That noble race and brave. Their light canoes have vanished

While the house of representatives showed its appreciation of the eloquence of Mr. Mc- Donald by ordering his address published in pamphlet form (the only address of the session so honored), yet the members were not prepared to pass his bill for the erection of the modest memorial which he requested. It is gratifying, however, to know that Mr. McDonald was . returned to the general assembly for the session of 1907, and that his bill was re-introduced during that session and became a law by the approval of the governor, March 12, 1907. The memorial to the great Menominee will be no less a monument to the noble heart and wise head of his advocate and defender, the Hon; Daniel MeDonald.«

In 1840, Alexis Coquillard, the first white man to establish a trading post on the site of the city of South Bend, was commissioned by the general government to remove certain bands of Pottawatomies who still remained in St. Joseph county. They had agreed to go peaceably with, "the Pottawatomie Chief," as Mr. Coquillard was called by the Indians, who had much admiration and affection for this distinguished pioneer. These last Indians were removed by Mr. Coquillard without trouble, and in a most humane manner. There was in this case none of the sadness and suffering so graphically described by Mr. Mc- Donald in the former case, - ^the Ooquillard removal being all in wagons. The only regrettable circumstance connected with this last Indian emigration is the fact that Alexis Ooquillard was defrauded by his partner, a man named Alverson. who appropriated to himself the large sum of money, $40,000 and over, which the general government had appropriated and paid for this important service. The defalcation of his partner, for a time, weighed heavily upon the spirits and fortunes of Mr. Ooquillard, but only for a time. The same indomitable energies that made his fortunes restored them. He was a fine type of those business men that followed him, men who refused to be suppressed by adverse circumstances and who have made the business enterprises of St. Joseph county known to the people of the world.

With this last removal of the primitive inhabitants, but two or three Pottawatomie families were left in St. Joseph county, and now there is not an Indian of full blood where once the race was in absolute possession. As said by Mr. McDonald, in closing his notable speech in the state house at Indianapolis: "They are now all gone - not one is left to tell the story."