St. Joseph County, Indiana - The State of Indiana, 1907 (part 1 of 3)

The State of Indiana

Sec. 1. - Nature of the French Occupancy. - Not taking into account the nomadic occupancy of the Indians or of others who may have preceded them, the first people to exercise governmental authority within the limits of the territory northwest of the Ohio river were the French. In 1641, just a hundred years after Hernando de Soto had penetrated to the shores of the Mississippi, in the south, the first conference of the French with the Indians of the northwest took place at the Sault Ste. Marie, between Lake Superior and Lake Huron : but it was not until 1660 that a mission was established in that locality. In 1665 Allouez renewed in that region the work of Father Mesnard. In 1668, Fathers ]\Iarquette and Dablon were laboring at the same place ; and in 1670, Talon, the intendant, or governor-general, of Canada, sent out Nicholas Perrot, who explored Lake Michigan as far as Chicago. It was in 1671, after the establishment of those missions and the making of those explorations, that the French took formal possession of the northwest; and in the same year jMarquette established the noted mission at St. Ignace, on the main land near the island of Mackinac. Two years afterwards INIarquette passed over Lake Michigan and northern Wisconsin, and on June 17, 1673, discovered the Mississippi, down which he sailed to a point below where de Soto had reached the river in 1541.« During the years

1670, 1671 and 1672, Allouez and Dablon continued their missions to the Indians and made explorations through eastern Wisconsin, northeastern Illinois, northern Indiana and southwestern Michigan." It seems well established also that as early as 1669, La Salle went south from Canada through the eastern part of the northwest territory until he discovered the Ohio river, down which he voyaged as far at least as the mouth of the Wabash, if not to the Mississippi itself. The earliest claims made by France to the country west of the Alleghenies and south to the Spanish possessions and the Gulf of Mexico, were based upon these explorations and discoveries of La Salle,'' as also those made by Marquette, Allouez and others about the great lakes.

On April 9. 1682, La Salle, after having sailed down the Mississippi and discovered its outlets into the Gulf of Mexico, solemnly took possession, in the name of France, of all the territories drained by the great river and its^ tributaries, which domain he called Louisiana, in honor of Louis XIV, then King of France. Thereafter the territory claimed by the French extended from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, by way of the great lakes and the Mississippi, to the Gulf of Mexico. Following out La Salle 's plan of empire, the government of France established military posts within supporting distance of one another throughout this vast region. Besides Quebec, Montreal and Frontenac, there were forts at the Sault Ste. Marie, Michilimackinae (Macki- naw) ; Detroit: DuQuesne (Pittsburg) ; Chicago; Miamis (at the mouth of the St. Joseph, afterwards abandoned for Fort St. Joseph's, near Xiles) ; Fort WajTie; Ouiatanon (near La Fayette); Vineennes; Kaskaskia; Fort Chartres; St. Louis; Natchez; New Orleans; and numerous smaller posts.

See. 2. - Canada and Louisiana. - The upper part of this great territory of French America, was called Canada, and sometimes New France ; the lower part retained the name Louisiana. The boundary between Canada and Louisiana was not well defined, nor did it always remain the same. The country west of the Mississippi was always referred to as a part of Louisiana, as was also the country east of that river and south of a line through Terre Haute.* Vineennes, accordingly, was at all times included in Louisiana; while Detroit, Chicago, Fort St. Joseph's, Fort Wayne and other posts situated on waters flowing into the great lakes were regarded as being within the limits of Canada. As to territory north of Terre Haute, but drained by the "Wabash, Illinois and other rivers flowing into the Ohio or IMississippi, there was little uniformity. In the articles of capitulation of Montreal, as Ave have already seen, when, on September 18, 1760, all Canada was surrendered to Great Britain, it was agreed that the limits of Canada included all territory drained into the great lakes.^ This statement in the articles left all the territory now embraced in Indiana within the domain of Louisiana, except only a small and irregularly bounded part in the north, drained by ^he St. Joseph and the Maumee rivers. Accordingly, by the terms of the capitulation so much of St. Joseph county as is embraced within the St. Joseph valley w^as regarded as a part of Canada and became British territory, while the rest of the county, being within the valley of the Kankakee, remained a part of Louisiana, and continued to be French terria. Dillon, Hist. Indiana, pp. 23-25. Dunn, Hist. Indiana, p. 58.

The respective governments of Canada and Louisiana were almost as uncertain as was the boundary between them. At times the governments of the two provinces were quite distinct, but more often Louisiana was subject to the superior rights of Canada, or New France.

While the many posts from Quebec to New Orleans, and from Michilimackinac, on the north, to DuQuesne, on the east, and St. Louis on the west, commanding the waters and the valleys of the St. Lawrence, the great lakes, the Maumee, the St. Joseph, the Illinois, the Wabash, the Ohio and the Mississippi, constituted the framework of a mighty French empire, according to the fine scheme of La Salle ; yet when the transfer of Canada and eastern Louisiana was made to Great Britain, in 1763, it w^as indeed but the framework of an empire. Outside the several forts, and excepting the districts near Quebec and Montreal, the French inhabitants of the immense region were exceedingly few in number. In the territory northwest of the Ohio the chief of the small centers of population M'ere at Michilimackinac, Detroit and Chicago, on the great lakes ; Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres, on the Mississippi; Vineennes, on the Wabash; and Fort Wayne, on the Maumee.

Ii. The British And Spanish Era

From the capitulation of Montreal, September 8, 1760, and the treaty of Paris, at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, February 10, 1763, until the beginning of the American revolution, the country northwest of the Ohio continued to be, nominally at least, a part of the British dominions. In 1778 and 1779, the expedition from Virginia and Kentucky, under George Rogers Clark, resulted in the capture of Kaskaskia and Vineennes and the conquest of the southern part of this territory; and, in 1781, the Spanish expedition from St. Louis resulted in the capture of Fort St. Joseph's, and the claim by the Spaniards to the northern part of the territory. It was not, however, until the treaty of peace recognizing the independence of the United States of America, September 3, 1783, that the claims of Great Britain, as well as those of Spain, were altogether finally extinguished.

The fifteen years of uninterrupted British occupancy, from the treaty of Paris to the capture of Kaskaskia, was merely occupancy, and nothing more. The forts taken over from the French were garrisoned by British troops ; but the population remained practically what it had been under the French rule. The garrisons, too, with the exception, perhaps, of those at ^Nlichilimackinac, Detroit, Fort Pitt, were feeble, barely sufficient to hold the country and protect the scattered posts from the Indians.

The Spanish expedition from St. Louis, in 1781, found it an easy matter to capture Fort St. Joseph's, the English garrison being quite insignificant, and not at all prepared to resist an attack in force by regular troops. The Spaniards themselves made no pretense to hold the country ; but were content to destroy the old fort, and so remove all semblance of British authority in the north, while setting up a visionary claim of their own.*^

For forty years after the secret treaty of 1763, Louisiana was Spanish. In 1801, by another secret treaty, it passed again to France, but remained outwardly under Spanish rule until the transfer to the United States by Napoleon, in 1803, during the presidency of Jefferson. Other conditions might have made the capture of Fort St. Joseph's, in 1781. of national importance. But Clark had taken Kaskaskia and Vincennes, the southern part of the great northwest was in American hands, and the American revolution was successful. The picturesque Spanish expedition across Illinois and Indiana was but an episode, and left no trace in our history.

Iii. George Rogers Clark

Sec. 1. - Clark in Kentucky. - The history of Indiana, proper, as the state now exists, begins with the expedition of George Rogers Clark, and his capture of Kaskaskia, July 4, 1778. This begining was an auspicious one, -occurring two years, to a day, after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But the infant nation was yet in the struggle for existence; and comparatively few persons then realized, indeed to this day many fail to realize, how important to the nation, and to the world, was this daring enterprise of the young Virginian, "The Hannibal of the West."

It is well to keep in mind that the conquest of the northwest was not made under the authority of the United States, but under that of the state of Virginia. This great commonwealth was not only the mother of presidents, but the mother of states. West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota were at one time included in the territory of the great state of Virginia, and were all directly subject to her laws and government.

Kentucky, during the period of the Revolution, was occupied by sparse settlements of emigrants from Virginia, surrounded by hostile Indians and exposed to attack from the British posts at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia and other points. The people looked for protection to the home government of Virginia; but the settlements of Kentucky were far removed from their friends in Virginia, and all the forces of the state were strained to the utmost in aiding the other colonies in the distressing war then waged with Great Britain.

Among the Vii-ginians who went to the assistance of their brethren in Kentuckj^ was George Rogers Clark ; and he very early made up his mind that the best way to protect the people of that "dark and bloody ground" was to wrest the country north of the Ohio from the English, who were constantly inciting the Indians against the feeble settlements south of the river, and who might at any time send an expedition from Detroit to capture the Kentucky posts and thus also be enabled to attack Virginia, Pennsylvania and the Carolinas from the west, while other British troops attacked them from the east. The necessity of capturing Vincennes, Kaskaskia and Detroit seemed to Clark to be most urgent, notwithstanding the great difficulty of the enterprise, and the slender assistance which he could hope to receive. He determined, therefore, to return to Virginia and present the matter to Patrick Henry, then governor of the state, the man whose eloquence had roused the enthusiasm of the colonists to declare their independence of Great Britain.

Sec. 2. - His Appeal to Virginia. - Mr. English, in his History of the Conquest of the Northwest, presents the situation as it took place on Clark's return substantially as follows : Clark 's stay in the Kentucky country in 1777, had still further endeared him to the inhabitants, who now looked upon him as the leader upon whom they could rely with greatest safety. They instinctively felt that his active spirit was not likely to remain quiet in these dangerous times; and, Clark says, that when he was about to leave for Virginia, in the fall, every eye seemed to be turned on him in expectation that he was going to undertake some enterprise that would benefit them. There were some, however, who thought he contemplated entering service in the revolutionary army of Virginia, in the east, and feared he would never return to the Kentucky frontier. ' ' I left them with reluctance, ' ' said he, "promising them that I would certainly return to their assistance, which I had predetermined." This was on the 1st of October, 1777.

He had carefully looked over the western field and determined that he could best serve his country by leading a force against the enemy's posts in the Illinois and on the Wabash. The authority to do it, and the men and means necessary to make it a success, could only come from the home government of

Virginia. To that he now directed his attention, with his usual caution, good judgment and energy'. He went to Williamsburg, still the capital of the state, and there, at first, quietly employed himself in settling the accounts of the Kentucky militia, which shows that he had been in military authority in the Kentucky country; but he was, in fact, all the time feeling his way to the development of his great plan of striking the British posts northwest of the Ohio river. Events in the east about this time proved favorable to the adoption of his plans. The capture of the British army under Burgoyne had greatly encouraged the Americans, and they were feeling more as if they might be able to carry the war into the enemy's country. Clark talked confidently upon the subject to a few discreet friends, but it was about two months after his arrival in Virginia before he ventured to lay his plans before the governor of the state. The eventful day was the 10th of December, 1777, when he first presented the matter to the great governor, Patrick Henry. They were not strangers to each other. The grand old patriot gave eager attention to the youthful Virginian, but the plans now presented were vastly greater in importance then those he had presented the previous year in relation to giving the settlers in Kentucky a government and the stations gunpowder. In Clark's Memoir, he says : "At first he seemed to be fond of it ; but to detach a party at so great a distance, although the service performed might be of great utility, appeared daring and hazardous, as nothing but secrecy could give success to the enterprise. To lay the matter before the assembly, then sitting, would be dangerous, as it would soon be known throughout the frontiers, and probably the first prisoner taken by the Indians would give the alarm, which would end in the certain destruction of the party." Henry's great mind, no doubt, grasped not only the danger the invading party might be involved in, but the vast benefit it might be to the future of the country if the campaign should prove successful.

He realized that it was a matter of the gravest importance, and required the earnest and careful consideration of the wisest and most discreet men in the state. lie invited as his confidential counsellors and advisers upon this memorable occasion three men who fully came up to the requirement, namely Thomas Jefferson. George Wythe and. George Mason. Seldom in the annals of military affairs has a stronger body of men assembled to consider the expediency of a campaign than was assembled on this occasion. Patrick Henry, Thomas Jeff'ei-son, George Wythe, George Mason and George Rogers Clark - five men who made an honorable impress upon the age in which they lived, and who may justly be ranked with the fii*st men of their time, indeed, of any time.

These distinguished gentlemen were in consultation upon the subject of the contemplated campaign for several weeks, and Clark records in his Memoir that every enquiry was made into his proposed plan of operations, and particularly that of retreat, in case of misfortune, across the Mississippi into the Spanish territory. Friday, January 2, 1778, seems to have been the day the proposed "expedition against Kaskaskia" was formally communicated bv the governor to the council and approved - the same to be set on foot "with as little delay and as much secrecy as possible." This action of the governor and privy council was under a law of the Virginia legislature, passed by the General Assembly then in session, authorizing the governor, with the advice of the privy council, to organize an expedition, to march against and attack any of our western enemies, and give the necessary orders for the expedition. Clark says this law was passed to enable the governor to order the Illinois campaign, but that when it passed but few in the house knew the real intent of it.*

Sec. 3. - Secret Preparations. - On Janua. Conquest of the country northwest of the River Ohio, Vol. 1, pp. 86-93. The text slightly condensed and abbreviated.

ary 4, 1778, Clark, having received his instructions from the governor, together with £1,200 to defray expenses, set out to collect troops and supplies for the most brilliant enterprise in American history, following the conquest of Mexico by Cortez. On February 1st, he arrived at Red Stone, now^ Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He tells us in his Memoir that he found much opposition to the enterprise in the Pittsburg country. The Pennsylvanians seemed opposed to the raising of troops for the use of Virginia. "As my real instructions," he continues, "were kept concealed, and only an instrument from the governor was made public, wherein I was authorized to raise men for the defense of Kentucky, many gentlemen of both parties conceived it to be injurious to the public interest to draw off men at so critical a moment for the defense of a few detached inhabitants, who had better be removed, etc." After collecting a part of his troops and leaving instructions for further enlistments, Clark took his stores at Pittsburg and Wheeling and proceeded cautiously down the river. He occupied a small island at the Falls of the Ohio, afterwards called Corn Island, opposite the present city of LouLsville, where he arrived May 27, 1788, and here for the first time, he made know to his officers and men the nature of his design and the secret instructions received from the governor of Virginia. "Almost every gentleman," he says, "warmly espoused the enterprise, and plainly saw the utility of it, and supposed they saw the salvation of Kentucky nlniosl in their reach ; but some repined that we were not strong enough to put it beyond all doubt. The soldiery, in general, debated on the subject, but determined to follow their officers: some were alarmed at the tliought of being taken at so great a distance into the enemy's country, that if they should have success in the first instance they might be attacked in their- ]K)sts without a possibility of getting succoi- oi- making their retreat." There were some desertions at this time. l)ut Clark resolutely pursued aiid punished the guilty par-

Sec. 4. - Capture of Kaskaskia. - On June 24, 1778, they left Corn Island. The force consisted of four companies, commanded by Captains John Montgomery, Joseph Bowman, Leonard Helm and William Harrod. The total number of men was about one hundred and seventy-five, besides the officers." The force being so small Clark found it necessary to alter his plans. In his jNIemoir, he says that, "As Post St. Vincennes at this time was a town of considerable force, consisting of near four hundred militia, with an Indian town adjoining, and great numbers continually in the neighborhood, I had thought of attacking it first, but now found that I coula by no means venture near it. I resolved to begin my career in the Illinois where there were more inhabitants, but scattered in different villages, and less danger of being immediately overpowered by the Indians ; in case of necessity, we could probably make our retreat to the Spanish side of the Mississippi, but if successful, we might pave our way to the possession of Post Vincennes."

As Clark intended to leave the Ohio at Fort Massac, three leagues, or nine miles below the Tennessee, he landed. at a small island in the mouth of that river to prepare for the march overland to the British posts. Here they surprised a party of huntsmen coming up the river, who proved to be Americans recently engaged in hunting in the country about Kaskaskia. They willingly agreed to join the expedition and gave much needed information of conditions in and around the forts. On the evening of July 4, 1778, after a trying march of one hundred and twenty miles,- the little army arrived within a few miles of the town of Kaskaskia, and soon after dark completely surprised the fort and captured its garrison, without striking a blow. The commander, or commandant, as he was called by the French, a ]Mr. Roeheblave, was himself a

Frenchman, though serving as a British officer, and was exceedingly chagrined at the clever manner in which he had been overcome by Col. Clark. The French inhabitants proved to be exceedingly friendly. They took the oath of allegiance and joyfully proclaimed themselves American citizens as soon as they learned of the good intentions of Clark, and particularly after being informed that the French government had entered into a treaty with the Americans and was even then aiding them in their war for independence against the English, for whom indeed the French in America never had any good will. The surrounding villages were soon taken, chiefly through the aid of the French citizens of Kaskaskia.

The principal of these smaller towns on the Mississippi was Cahokia, twenty leagues or sixty miles north of Kaskaskia, a little below and nearly opposite the site of the present city of St. Louis.

It was formerly called Cohos, and is claimed to have been the first white settlement on the Mississippi. It was probably settled about the year 1700.'* This town, hardly of less consequence than Kaskaskia itself, was captured from the British without a struggle by a force of Americans and French under Major Bowman, formerly Captain Joseph Bowman.

Col. Clark took the most discreet measures to win the good will of the French people and to make the new government popular. He tells us in his Memoir that he inquired particularly into the manner the people had been governed by the English, and much- to his satisfaction found that the government had generally been as severe as under militia law. "I was determined." he says, "to make an advantage of it. and took every step in my power to cause the people to feel the blessings enjoyed by an American citizen, which I soon discovered enabled me to support, from their own choice, almost a supreme authority over them. I caused a court of civil judication to be established at Kahokia. elected by the people. Major Bowman, to the surprise of the people, held a poll for a magistracy, and was elected and acted as judge of the court. After this similar courts were established in the towns of Kaskaskia and St. Vincent [Vincennes]. There was an appeal to myself in certain cases, and I believe that no people ever had their business done more to their satisfaction than they had through the means of these regulations for a considerable time. ' '

The old court house in Cahokia, w^here ]\Iajor Bowman sat as judge after his election in 1778 was a log building, capable of holding not more than one hundred persons. It was built by the French in 1716, and was used at first as a court house and afterwards also as a school house. It was the first building erected and used as a court house within the limits of the state of Illinois, and perhaps of all the northwest. The venerable structure of logs has been preserved to this day, and in the early part of the year 1906, was purchased for the Chicago Historical Society and moved to Jackson Park in that city. On December 1, 1906, the judges of the new municipal court of Chicago met and took the oath of office, and the court was duly organized, within the walls of this historic court house. The following observations made by Chief Justice Olson on that occasion are of historical interest in this connection.

' ' The little settlement of Cahokia in Illinois was one of the forest points of France, by which that nation attempted to intrench herself in the valley of the Mississippi. One of the relics of this lost empire of France is this court house, which has been removed from the ancient hamlet to this city in the hope that it may be an incentive to our youth to pursue the absorbing story of the trials, vicissitudes and triumphs of the early explorers and settlers of Illinois.

it appears that courts of justice with officers of record held forth even before the arrival of George Rogers Clark and his Virginians. In the village where this court stood, Clark met the representatives of everj^ tribe between the great lakes and the Mississippi. The judges who first sat at this old bench were electe'd by the people in the first election held on the soil of Illinois in the autumn of 1778.

"We who are about to assume judicial office in a court recently established by the people are proud to accept our commissions in this. building where the first court in the ^Mississippi valley Avas held as the result of the first popular election on Illinois soil."

Sec. 5. - Father Gibault and Vincennes. - ^The posts on the Mississippi being now well in hand, Clark turned his attention to the capture of the town of Vincennes. "I found it to be, ' ' he says, ' ' a place of infinite importance to us. To gain it was now my object, but, sensible that all the forces we had, joined by every man in Kentucky, would not be able to approach it, I resolved on other measures than that of arms."

Mr. English says that the population of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Vincennes and the other towns on the Mississippi and the Wabash "were almost entirely of French extraction, at the time of Clark's advent, and the universal dislike of English rule still existed, and greatly facilitated his operations."^ And he adds that "Father Gibault was the embodiment of this sentiment, and the man of all others who could make it effective in reconciling the inhabitants to the change of rulers. ' '^

Clark himself tells us in his Memoir that "the priest was inclined to the American interest previous to our arrival in the country;" and that "he had great influence over b. lb. See also Address of the Rev. Pierre Gibault, "The Patriot Priest of the Northwest," delivered before the Illinois State Historical Society by the Hon. Jacob P. Dunn, secretary of the Indiana State Historical Society, at Springfield, 111., Jan. 26, 1905.

the people at this period, and Post Vincennes was under his jurisdiction. I made no doubt of his integrity to us. I sent for him and had a long conference with him on the subject of Post Vincennes. In answer to all my queries he informed me that he did not think it worth my while to cause any military preparation to be made at the Falls of the Ohio for the attack of Post Vincennes, although the place was strong and a great number of Indians in its neighborhood, who, to his knowledge, were generally at war ; that Governor Abbott had, a few weeks before, left the place on some business to Detroit ; that he expected that when the inhabitants were fully acquainted with what had passed at the Illinois, and the present happiness of their friends, and made fully acquainted with the nature of the war, their sentiments would greatly change ; that he knew that his appearance there would have great weight, even among the savages; that if it was agreeable to me he would take this business on himself, and had no doubt of his being able to bring that place over to the American interest without my being at the trouble of marching against it ; that his business being altogether spiritual, he wished that another person might be charged with the temporal part of the embassy, but that he would privately direct the whole, and he named Doctor Lafont as his associate."

Father Gibault's plan was perfectly agreeable to what Clark had been secretly aiming at. The party set out on July 1-1, 1778, and arrived safe at Vincennes, where, after a day or two spent in explaining matters, the people acceded to the proposal and took the oath of allegiance. "An officer," says Clark, "was elected, the fort immediately garrisoif|||i^^and the American tlag displayed, to the astonishment of the Indians, and everything settled beyond our most sanguine hopes. The people began to put on a new face and to talk in a different style, and to act as perfect freemen. With a garrison of their own, with the United States at their elbow, their langiiage to the Indians was immediately altered. They began as citizens of the state, and informed the Indians that their old father the King of France, was come to life again, had joined the big knife, and was mad at them for fighting for the English ; that they would advise them to make peace with the Americans as soon as they could, otherwise they might expect the land to be very bloody, etc. The Indians began to think seriously. Throughout the country this was now the kind of language they generally got from their ancient friends of the Wabash and Illinois. Through the means of their correspondence spreading among the nations, our batteries now began to play in a proper channel. Mr. Gibault and party, accompanied by several gentlemen of Post Vincennes, returned to Kaskaskia about the first of August with the joyful news."

Thus, through the wise management of "The Patriot Priest of the Northwest, ' ' and Avithout the shedding of one drop of blood, the important town of Post Vincennes came under the jurisdiction of the United States, - the first spot on Indiana soil over which floated the American flag. About the middle of August Captain Leonard Helm was sent by Clark to take command of the town, with instructions to maintain the g:ood will of the people and to win over the Indian tribes. An Indian chief, called the Tobacco's Son, a Peankeshaw. resided at this time in an Indian villag'e west of the Wabash and not far from Vincennes. "This man," says Clark, "was called by the Indians 'The Grand Door to the Wabash,' as the great Pontiac had been to that of the St. Joseph ; and, as nothing of consequence was to be undertaken by the league on the Wabash without his assent, I discovered that to win him was an object of great importance." Clark, accordingly, had sent friendly messages to the chief by Father Gibault, which were returned in the same spirit ; and like compliments were again sent by Captain Helm. "Tobacco's Son," says Clark, "proved a zealous friend to the day of his death, which happened two years after this, when he desired to be buried among the Americans. His body was conveyed to the garrison of Cahokia and buried with the honors of war. He appeared in all his conduct as if he had the American interest much at heart."

"In a short time," continues Clark's Memoir, ' ' almost the whole of the various tribes of the different nations on the Wabash, as high as the Ouiatanon, came to St. Vincennes and followed the example of their grand chief ; and as expresses were continually passing between Captain Helm and myself the whole time of these treaties, the business was settled perfectly to my satisfaction, and greatly to the advantage of the public. The British interest daily lost ground in this quarter, and in a short time our influence reached the Indians on the river St. Joseph and the border of Lake Michigan." And he adds that the French gentlemen at the different posts engaged warmly in the American interests, and in promoting treaties of peace and good will with all the Indian tribes ; so that, as he tells us, "in a short time from this we could send a single soldier through any part of the AVabash and Illinois country, for the whole of those Indians came to treat, either at Cahokia or St. Vincennes, in course of the fall."

Sec. 6. - Cl.\.rk's Winter Campaign. - This pleasant situation was to be rudely disturbed as the early winter came on. At first there was a vague rumor that there was active preparation going on for a British expedition from Detroit, intended to retake Vincennes and all the other posts in possession of Clark, and even to invade and conquer Kentucky. Clark could get no definite news from Vincennes; his messengers being captured by English scouting parties, as it afterwards turned out. Indeed Clark himself was nearly taken by one of these parties. It was not until January 29, 1779, that he first learned the true state of affairs from Francis Vigo, a Spanish merchant who had been at Vincennes. This gentleman, whose patriotism was afterward remembered by giving his honored name to the county of Vigo, Indiana, informed

Clark that in the previous December, a British force under Governor Hamilton had come from Detroit and captured Vincennes; after which Hamilton, thinking the season too far advanced to take the posts on the Mississippi, sent some of his men to watch the Ohio, and disbanded others, giving orders that all should meet again in the spring to drive Clark's forces out of the Illinois and also to attack the Kentucky settlements.

"We now viewed ourselves," says Clark, "in a very critical situation - in a manner cut off from any intercourse between us and the United States. We knew that Governor Hamilton, in the spring, by a junction of his northern and southern Indians, which he had prepared for. would be at the head of such a force that nothing in this quarter, could withstand his arms ; that Kentucky must immediately fall, and well if the desolation would end there. If we could immediately make our way good to Kentucky, we were convinced that before we could raise a force sufficient to save that country it would be too late, as all the men in it, joined by the troops we had, would not be sufficient, and to get timely succor from the interior frontiers w^as out of the question. We saw but one alternate, which was to attack the enemy in their quarters. If we were fortunate, it would save the whole ; if otherwise, it would be nothing more than what would certainly be the consequence if we should not make the attempt. Encouraged by the idea of the greatness of the consequences that would attend our success - the season of the year being also favorable - as the enemy could not suppose that we should be so mad as to attempt to march eighty leagues through a drowned country in the depths of winter; that they would be off their guard and probably would not think it worth while to keep out spies; that, probably, if we could make our way good, we might surprise them, and if we fell through, the country would not be in a worse situation than if we had not made the attempt. These, and many other similar reasons, induced us to resolve to at-

Orders to begin preparations were immediately issued, and all were executed with cheerfulness by the inhabitants. Every man was provided with whatever was needed to withstand the coldest weather. On February 5, 1779, after listening to a patriotic address by Father Gibault and receiving his blessing, Clark moved forward, with his army of one hundred and seventy men, almost exactly the number with which he took Kaskaskia on the preceding Fourth of July. "Insensibly," he says, "and without a murmur, were those men led on to the banks of the Little Wabash," which we reached on the 13th, through incredible difficulties, far surpassing anything that any of us had ever experienced." On February 17th, they reached the Embarrass river, but finding they could not cross it they moved down the bank of that river to its junction with the Wabash proper, which they reached on the 18th, at a point seven or eight miles below Vincennes. Here they expected to find the "Willing," a boat, or galley, as Clark called it, sent down the Mississippi before they left Kaskaskia, and which was to go up the Ohio and the Wabash and take them up to the neighborhood of the post; but the galley was delayed and did not arrive at Vincennes until February 27th, three days after the capture of the place. The march for five days from the Little Wabash, and by the Embarrass, to the banks of the main Wabash, almost constantly through water and that in the month of February, was one of almost incredible hardship. Yet those days were as nothing to the five days that w^ere to come."

Clark's original intention seems to have been to cross the Embarrass river near the site of the present town of Lawrenceville, and, with the help of his galley, attack the post from the front. He was now compelled to adopt a plan similar to that followed by another great general nearly a hundred years later. As Grant went down the Mississippi and crossed the river to the rear of Vicksburg, and so captured that stronghold, so now Clark by the aid of hastily constructed rafts, crossed the Wabash, marched up to the east of Vincennes and thus took the town from the British. Both exploits are among the most notable in all history. That Clark was able to hold his little baud together on this march through the cold waters up the east side of the Wabash often knee deep or waist deep and even more, seems almost past belief. Only men of the greatest resolution and inured to hardships of frontier life could have held out during the terrible ordeal. Indeed some of the volunteers did for a time begin to despair. Clark informs us that toward the end some of them talked of returning. "But my situation," he says, "was now such that I was past all uneasiness. I laughed at them, without persuading or ordering them to desist from any such attempt, but told them that I would be glad if they would go out and kill some deer. They went, confused with such conduct. My own troops I knew had no idea of abandoning an enterprise from want of provisions, while there were plenty of good horses in their possession ; and I knew that, w^ithout any violence, the volunteers could be detained for afew days, in the course of which time our fate would be known. I conducted myself in such a manner that caused the whole to believe that I had no doubt of success, which kept their spirits up."

In the absence of any news of his galley coming up the Wabash, for which he still had hopes, Clark had canoes constructed to aid in the passage through the waters. Two of these water marches, as related by the intrepid and resourceful commander, will illustrate the extraordinary situations through which they passed:

' ' The last day 's march through the water, ' ' says Clark, "was far superior to anything the Frenchman had an idea of. They were backward in speaking, said that the nearest land to us was a small league called the sugar camp, imagined by a person who could possess my or the bank of the river. A canoe was sent affections for them at that time. I concluded off and returned without finding that we by informing them that surmounting the could pass. I went in her myself and sounded plain that was then in full view, and reaching the w^ter ; found it deep as to my neck. I the opposite woods, would put an end to their returned with a design to have the men trans- fatigue ; that in a few hours they would have ported on board the canoes to the sugar camp, a sight of their long wished for object, and wliieh I knew would spend the whole day and immediately stepped into the water without ensuing night, as the vessels would pass but waiting for a reply. A huzza took place. We slowly through the bushes. The loss of so generally marched through the water in a much time to men half starved was a matter line ; it was much easiest. Before a third of consequence. I would have given now a entered, I halted, and, further to prove the great deal for a day's provision or for one of men, having some suspicion of three or four, our horses. I returned but slowly to the I hallooed to Major Bowman, ordering him to troops, giving myself time to think. On our fall in the rear with twenty-five men and put arrival all ran to hear what was the report, to death any man who refused to march, as we Every eye was fixed on me. I unfortunately wished to have no such person among us. The spoke in a serious manner to one of the officers, whole gave a cry of approbation that it was The whole were alarmed without knowing what right, and on we went. This was the most I said. They ran from one to another, bewail- trying of all the difficulties we had experiing their situation. I \aewed their confusion enced. I generally kept fifteen or twenty of for about one minute, whispered to those near the strongest men next myself, and judged me to do as I did, inunediately put some water from my own feelings what must be that of in my hand, poured on powder, blackened my others. Getting about the middle of the plain, face, gave the war whoop and marched into the water about knee deep, I found myself the water, without saying a word. The party sensibly failing, and as there were no trees gazed and fell in, one after another, without nor bushes for the men to support themselves saying a word, like a flock of sheep. I ordered by, I doubted that many of the most weak those near me to begin a favorite song of would be drowned. I ordered the canoes to theirs. It soon passed through the line and make the land, discharge their loading, and the whole went on cheerfully. I now intended play backward and forward, with all dilito have them transported across the deepest genee, and pick up the men, and to encourage part of the water, but when about waist deep the party. . . . The men exerted themone of the men informed me that he thought selves almost beyond their abilities - the weak he felt a path - a path is very easily dis- holding by the stronger, and frequently one covered under water by the feet. We ex- with two others' help, and this was of infinite amined and found it so, and concluded that it advantage to the weak. The water never got kept on the highest ground, which it did, and, shallower, but continued deepening - even by taking pains to follow it, we got to our when getting to the woods, where the men exsugar camp without the least difficulty. pected to land. The water was up to my ' ' This was the coldest night we had. The shoulders, but gaining the woods was of great ice, in the morning, was from one-half to consequence. All the low men, and the weakly, three-quarters of an inch thick near the shores hung to the trees and floated on the old logs and in still waters. The morning was the until they were taken off by the canoes. The finest we had on our march. A little after strong and tall got ashore and built fires, sunrise I lectured the whole. What I said Many would reach the shore, and fall Avith to them, I forget, but it may be easily thoii- bodit^s hnlf in the water, not being able to support themselves without it. This was a delightful, dry spot of ground, of about ten acres. We soon found that the fires answered no purpose, but that two strong men taking a weaker one by the arms was the only way to recover him, and, being a delightful day, it soon did. But, fortunately, as if designed by Providence, a canoe of Indian squaws and children was coming up to town, and took through part of this plain as a nighway. It was discovered by our canoes as they were out after the men. They gave chase and took the Indian canoe, on board of which was near half a quarter of a buffalo, some corn, tallow, kettles, etc. This was a grand prize and was invaluable. Broth was immediately made and served out to the most weakly with great care ; most of the whole got a little, but a great many gave their part to the weakly, jocosely saying something cheering to their comrades. This little refreshment and fine weather, by the afternoon, gave new life to the whole."

The danger from the waters was now past, but the danger from the living enemy was at hand. Clark's narrative, from which we can make only brief extracts, now continues : "Crossing a narrow, deep lake in the canoes and marching some distance, we came to a copse of timber caller the Warrior's Island. We were now in full view of the fort and town, not a shrub between us, at about two miles' distance. Every man now feasted his eyes and forgot that he had suffered anything, saying that all that had passed was owing to good policy and nothing but what a man could bear, and that a soldier had no right to think, etc., passing from one extreme to another, which is common in such cases. It was now we had to display our abilities. The plain between us and the town was not a perfect level. The sunken grounds were covered with water full of ducks. We observed several men out on horseback, shooting at them, within half a mile of us, and sent out as many of our active young Frenchmen to decoy and take one of these men prisoner in such a manner as not to alarm the others, which they did.

The information we got from this person M^as similar to that which we got from those we took on the river, except that of the British having that evening completed the wall of the fort, etc., and that there were a good many Indians in town. Our situation was now truly critical - no possibility of retreating in case of defeat - and in full view of a town that had, at this time, upwards of six hundred men in it, troops, inhabitants and Indians. The crew of the galley, though not fifty men, would have been now a reinforcement of immense magnitude to our little army (if I may so call it) ; but w^e would not think of them. We were now in the situation that I had labored to get ourselves in. The idea of being made prisoner was foreign to almost eveiy man, as they expected nothing but torture from the savages if they fell into their hands. Our fate was now to be determined, probably in a few hours. We knew that nothing but the most daring conduct would insure success. I knew that a number of the inhabitants wished us well; that many were lukewarm in the interest of either; and I also learned that the grand chief, the Tobacco's Son, had, but a few days before, openly declared, in council with the British, that he was a brother and friend to the big knives." Clark now took a bold course. It was all that could save him or bring success to his enterprise. He sent a placard to the inhabitants, by the hand of the prisoner just taken, announcing his presence and that he was prepared to take the fort that night. He called upon the people to remain in their homes; that those who were friends to the English King should at once betake themselves to the fort; and any persons found in the streets would be treated as enemies, and punished accordingly. One object in sending in this proclamation was to give out the idea that this was an army from Kentucky; for the people would not believe it possible that it could be Clark or that he should have been able to march across the country from Kaskaskia. That w^as the effect, the people believed that the message came from some Kentucky officer who made use of Clark's name. "A little before sunset," says Clark, "we moved and displayed ourselves in full view of the town, crowds gazing at us. We were flinging ourselves into certain destruction - or success ; there was no midway thought of. We had but little to say to our men, except inculcating an idea of the necessity of obedience, etc. We knew they did not want encouraging, and that anything might be attempted with them that was possible for such a number - perfectly cool, under proper subordination, pleased with the prospect before them, and much attached to their officers. They all declared that they were convinced that an implicit obedience to orders was the only thing that would ensure success, and hoped that no mercy would be shown the person who should violate them, but should be immediately put to death. Such language as this from soldiers to persons in our station must have been exceedingly agreeable. We moved on slowly in full view of the town; but, as it was a point of some consequence to us to make ourselves appear as formidable as possible, we, in leaving the covert that we were in, marched and countermarched in such a manner that we appeared numerous. ' '

The Virginians directed their march in such a manner, in and out from the cover of the hills, so that it was dark while they were yet a mile from the town. It turned out that, partly through fear of Clark's threat, and partly through love of the American cause, not an inhabitant of the town gave notice to the garrison of the presence of the little army of patriots. The British garrison felt- absolutely at their ease and were in total ignorance of Clark's presence, until the Americans fired upon the fort. Even then it was thought to be some wild shooting by drunken Indians. The persistence of Clark's attack, however, soon brought Governor Hamilton, the British commander, to realize that his fort was besieged by what he, too, believed to be a formidable army. The fighting continued all the night of the 23rd ; and on February 24, 1779, after some negotiations, the fort was surrendered. The terms of this surrender, as dictated by Clark himself, are in these words :

' ' Agreed for the following reasons : The remoteness from succor; the state and quantity of provisions, etc. ; unanimity of officers and men in its expediency ; the honorable terms allowed; and, lastly, the confidence in a generous enemy.

So signal a victory, with such slender means and in the face of such formidable obstacles of nature, and against so strong a force and so well fortified a post, places George Rogers Clark and his army of Virginians and Frenchmen in the foremost ranks of all heroes.

Clark's history from the day of his first broaching his plan to Patrick Henry; his recruiting an army in the wilds of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky ; his march across southern Illinois, from the Ohio to the capture of Kaskaskia and the other British posts on the Mississippi ; his winning the confidence and affection of the French inhabitants ; his securing the good will of the Indians, and his noble conduct in his refusal to allow them to participate with him in the war, even when he sorely needed help ; his trust in Father Gibault in the first taking of Vincennes; but, above all. his march in mid-winter, with his Franco- Virginian heroes, through leagues and leagues of water-covered plains; and the brilliant close which resulted in the conquest from the power of Britain of the great northwest, now the heart of the republic, - reads more like a chapter from knight errant romance than from sober, modern American history. Strangest of all, however, is the apparent neglect of this great episode in our history by Americans themselves. It is only recently that we have come to realize how great a debt of gratitude we owe to this young Virginian, who is worthy to stand by the side of the other great men of the Revolution from his own great state, - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and their illustrious compatriots. Without George Rogers Clark we should have no Indiana, no St. Joseph county, to write about ; and it is to our credit as a state that there has been such a revival of the fame of this great man. His statue stands at the base of our noble soldier's monument at Indianapolis, placed there February 25, 1895, as that of our most fitting representative of the Revolutionary period ; and, finally, the hand and heart and brain of an Indianian, our own William H. English, has lovingly picked up every thread of Clark's history and woven it into an inspiring story of heroes, to be read of all time.

Other great men also have spoken in fitting terms of this savior of the west ; and we close our reference to him with this fitting eulogy taken from President Roosevelt's "The Winning of the West ' ' :

"Much credit belongs to Clark's men, but most belongs to their leader. The boldness of his plan and the resolute skill with which he followed it out, his perseverance through the intense hardships of the mid-winter march, the address with which he kept the French and Indians neutral, and the masterful way in which he controlled his own troops, together with the ability and courage he displayed in the actual attack, combined to make his feat the most memorable of all the deeds done west of the Alleghanies in the revolutionary war. It was likewise the most important in its gee. 1. - First Measures Taken by Virginia. - The victories of George Rogers Clark added enormously to the territory subject to the control of the old dominion of Virginia. Her authority now extended from her own Atlantic Coast, by way of Kentucky and the northwest, to the extreme western limits of Lake Superior and the headwaters of the Mississippi. That the people of Virginia appreciated the glory of the achievements of their own officei-s and men may weU be believed. Soon after the capture of Kaskaskia, Clark sent a party with dispatches to Virginia, and with them went Mr. Rochblave, the British commander of the fort. "The arrival of the party in Virginia," says Mr. English," "with this prominent representative of the king in the Illinois country as a prisoner, and the startling news that all the British posts and towns on the Mississippi, from Kaskaskia to Cahokia, had been captured and were in possession of the Virginia troops, created the most intense excitement everywhere. It was indeed a most important event to the whole country, and particularly to the Old Dominion, for these were her troops, led by Colonel Clark, one of her favorite sons. As the news spread, pride and gratitude took possession of every patriotic heart, and words of praise were upon every lip. The governor, evidently greatly elated at the joyful news, communicated it to the Virginia delegates in congress by letter, dated November 16, 1778."

"When the legislature met," says Mr. English, "the popular feeling w^as embodied in formal legislation." On November 23, 1778, resolutions were adopted giving thanks to ' ' Colonel Clark and the brave ofdcers and men under his command, for their extraordinary resolution and perseverance, in so hazardous

Mr. English also tells us, in the same connection, that the legislature of Virginia "realized the necessity of extending more effective civil government over the conquered Illinois country, and promptly passed an act organizing it into 'the county of Illinois.' " Except in saying that the legislature ''promptly" passed the act, Mr. English does not indicate the date of its passage. Dillon says that it was passed "in October, 1778. "« In Smith's history of Indiana, the same statement is made.^ In a history of Randolph county, Illinois, in which county Kaskaskia is situated, the writer also says that the act creating the county of Illinois was passed "in October, 1778. As however the letter of Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, announcing to the delegates in congress from that state the news of Clark's success, was dated November 16, 1778, and the resolution of thanks to Clark and his command by the legislature of Virginia was adopted November 23, 1778, it would seem that Mr. English's statement, that the act of the Virginia legislature organizing the county of Illinois was passed "promptly," must be taken to mean that it was passed soon after the governor had announced the good news to the delegates in congress and the legislature had voted its thanks to Clark. Plainly, the act for the organization into a county of this vast territory, now embracing five great states of the union, was a more deliberative measure then the impulsive and patriotic communication to the delegates in congress or the voting by the legislature of thanks to the conquerors. The document is printed in full, but without date, in Mr. English's great work. It is expressly stated in the act itself, that it was passed to establish "some temporary form of government." and that it was to be in force "for and during the term of twelve months, and from thence to the end of the next session of assembly, and no longer." The duration of the act was however' afterwards extended, by the general assembly.

Sec. 2. - Nature of the County Government. - This "temporary form of government," established by the legislature of Virginia for the county of Illinois, is worthy of particular attention as being the first government set up under American authority for the territory now comprising the five states of the northwest. It is probably true that, at least for some time, no part of the county of St. Joseph, and, indeed, no part of the St. Joseph valley, was actually subject to the provisions of this government organized under Virginia auspices; for, it is to be remembered, that, at the time of the passing of that act, the British flag still floated over Fort St. Joseph ; and it was more than two years later when the Spaniards from St. Louis took and destroyed the old fort. Yet, as Virginia continued to hold and govern the county of Illinois for some time after the treaty of peace with Great Britain, there was, in fact, an interval, following the date when England and Spain were forced to yield their shadowy claims, and preceding the date of the cession, to the United States by Virginia ; and, during this period, that is, from the treaty of peace, September 3, 1783, to the deed of cession, March 1, 1784, St. Joseph county was within the -wide limits of the county of Illinois, and, as such was a part of the dominion of Virginia, and subject to its laws and government, made so by the victories of George Rogers Clark, and asserted by the act organizing the county of Illinois.

Two paragraphs of the act will be sufficient to show the general character of this first form of free government applicable to the soil of St. Joseph county; 'even though we know that there were then, almost to a certainty, no white inhabitants in St. Joseph county, or indeed in this part of the state, to whom the law could apply. The act of Ihe Virginia assembly provided:

' ' That all the citizens of this commonwealth who are already settled, or shall hereafter settle, on the- western side of the Ohio aforesaid, shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois county; and that the governor of this commonwealth, with. the advice of the council, may appoint a county lieutenant or commandant-in-chief in that county, during pleasure, who shall appoint and commission so many deputy commandants, militia officers and commissaries, as he shall think proper in the different districts, during pleasure. aU of whom, before they enter into office, shall take the oath of fidelity to this commonwealth and the oath of office, according to the form of their own religion, which the inhabitants shall fully, and to all intents and purposes, enjoy together with all their civil rights and property.

And all civil officers to which said inhabitants have been accustomed, necessary for the preservation of peace and the administration of justice, shall be chosen by a majority of the citizens in their respective districts, to be convened for that purpose by the county lieutenant or commandant, or his deputy, and shall be commissioned by the said county lieutenant or commandant-in-chief, and be paid for their services in the same manner as such expenses have been heretofore borne, levied and paid in that county; which said civil officers, after taking the oaths as above prescribed, shall exercise their several jurisdictions and conduct themselves agreeable to the laws w^hich the present settlers are now accustomed to."

Colonel John Todd of Kentucky was appointed by the governor of Virginia, and received his instructions, December 12. 1778, as the first county lieutenant of the county of Illinois, but did not arrive at Kaskaskia until June 15, 1779, when he proceeded to put in operation the civil government established for the county by the legislature of Virginia. The instructions received from the governor by the county lieutenant w^ere, as might be expected, coming as they did from the libertyloving Patrick Henry, quite in accord with the spirit of the act organizing the county. One paragraph from these instructions will show the liberal character of the free institutions under which the government of our northwast started into existence :

"And I know no better general direction to give than this, ' ' wrote Governor Henry, ' ' that you consider yourself as at the head of the civil department, and as such having the command of the militia who are not to be under the command of the military, until ordered out by the civil authority and act in conjunction with them. You are on all occasions to inculcate on the people the value of liberty and the difference between the state of free citizens of this commonwealth and that slavery to which Illinois was destined. A free and equal representation may be expected by them in a little time, together with all the improvements in jurisprudence and policy which the other parts of the state enjoy. ' '

One of the earliest and most important acts of the county lieutenant affecting the territory now constituting the state of Indiana was the establishment at Vincennes, in June, 1779, of a court of civil and criminal jurisdiction. This court was composed of several magistrates, presided over by Colonel J. M. P. Legras, commandant of the post. For three years Colonel Todd continued to administer the affairs of the county of Illinois, - a territory so vast that it is now divided into five great states, and these states subdivided into no less' than four hundred and thirty-four counties. In 1782, he w^ent to Virginia on business connected with the county, and on his return through Kentucky met with his old companion Daniel Boone whom he accompanied in an expedition against the Indians. During the course of this expedition Colonel Todd was killed at the noted battle of Blue Licks.

As an indication of the equal place to which the French inhabitants had attained in the new government and the confidence reposed in them as American citizens, it is interesting to note that the successor of Colonel Todd in the high office of county lieutenant was Timothy de Montbrun, a Frenchman. This was a fitting recognition of the faithful people who had received and stood by Colonel Clark so patriotically, and who formed so efficient a part of the brave army that immortalized itself in the capture of Vincennes."^ Sec. 3. - Claims M.vde by Other States. - Virginia was not the only state that made individual claim to large parts of the western country. Connecticut, ]\Iassachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and other states also had their claims. Connecticut claimed the territory west of Pennsylvania, to the ^Mississippi, from latitude forty- - one degrees to latitude forty-two degrees and two minutes north; while Massachusetts claimed the strip north of the Connecticut claim, to latitude forty-three degrees and thirty minutes. The claims of Connecticut and Massachusetts overlapped and of course conflicted with the Virginia claim, which last included the whole northwest. It is not easy at this day to appreciate the grounds of the claims made by the two New England states. Those claims seem to have been based upon the theory that no western bounds had been fixed for those commonwealths in the royal charters originally establishing the colonies and defining their limits, and consequently, that these states, to their full width north and south, reached to the west without limit, - even to the Pacific ocean, if there should be any American territory extending so far. We may note, as a matter of local interest, that St. Joseph county is included wholly within the bounds of the Connecticut claim; so that the soil of our county was at the same time claimed by Virginia and by Connecticut. It is but the simple truth to say, in the calm light of history, that it now appears very clear that the claim of Virginia is the only one that had any substantial founa. Conquest of the Northwest, Vol. 1, pp. 248- 252, Vol. 2, p. 1037. Montague, Hist. Randolph County, 111., pp. 30-31.

dation in fact or in right reason. The Old Dominion, single-handed, under direction of her governor, Patrick Henry, with the sage counsel of Thomas Jefferson, George Mason and other wise and far-seeing statesmen, commissioned the young Virginian, George Rogers Clark, who with his little army of Virginians, Pennsylvanians, Kentuekians and Frenchmen, won from British power this splendid northwest. Had Clark not made that mid-winter march through the icy waters of Illinois and Indiana, and met and conquered Hamilton at Vincennes, it may be doubted whether there would now be any northwest for us, and whether the western boundaries of the nation would not be the Alleghanies, or at most the Ohio, rather than the great lakes. Great Britain retained Canada at the treaty of peace ; but without Clark Canada would have extended at least to the Ohio and the Mississippi. And, afterwards, without our boundary on the Mississippi; what likelihood is there that we should have obtained Louisiana from Napoleon?

Sec. 4. - Cession by Virginia. - The Virginia claim, then, was good as against that of any other state. But the question became broader. Was it good as against all the states, against the Union itself? The people of the whole republic, and, finally, even the people of Virginia themselves, felt that this great northwest was too vast to be the property of any state ; that while it had been won solely by the wisdom and valor of Virginia, yet that it was won by her while aiding in waging war against the common enemy. In the treaty of peace it was the nation that was recognized; and when the great lakes were made the northern boundary, it was the boundary of the American Union, and not that of any state, that was recognized. Very early, therefore, Virginia began to feel that, in the interests of harmon}^ and the general welfare of the common county which that great state had done so much to establish, she ought to yield her undoubted rights to the general good; that while her claims were superior to

Accordingly, by an act of the general assembly of Virginia, passed December 20, 1783, but a little over three months after the acknowledgment of the independence of the United States, the delegates of Virginia in the congress of the United States were authorized and empowered, for and on behalf of the state of Virginia, "to convey, transfer, assign and make over to the United States in congress assembled, for the benefit of the said states, all right, title and claim, as well of soil as jurisdiction, which this commonwealth hath to the territory or tract of country, within the limits of the Virginia charter, situate, lying and being to the northwest of the river Ohio."

One of the conditions of the act of cession was: "That the territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed into states, containing suitable extent of territory, not less than one hundred, nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances will admit ; and that the states so formed shall be distinct republican states, and admitted members of the federal union, having the same rig-hts of sovereignty, freedom and independence as the other states."

Another condition was : ' ' That the French and Canadian inhabitants and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have professed themselves citizens of Virginia, shall have their possessions and titles confirmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and liberties."

It was further provided that all the lands within the territory so ceded to the United States, except those disposed of in bounties to the officers and soldiers of the American army, including Clark and his command, and lands reserved for certain other purposes named in the act of cession, "shall be considered as a common fund for the use and benefit of such of the United States as have become, or shall become, members of the confederation or federal alliance of said states, Virginia inclusive, according to their usual respective proportions in the general charge and expenditure, and shall be faithfully and bona fide disposed of for that purpose, and for no other use or purpose whatsoever. ' '

When we remember that the constitution of the United States was not yet written, and that the several states, but loosely joined under the articles of confederation, were still almost independent sovereignties, the generous character of the order surrendering this great territory to the equal ownership of all the states of the Union will be more apparent. The Deed of Cession, so authorized by the Virginia assembly was duly executed March 1, 1784, by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, \rthur Lee and James Monroe, then the delegates in congress from the commonwealth of Virginia. On that day the territory now comprising the county of St. Joseph, together with all the remainder of the northwest, became for the first time, in letter and in fact, a part of the United States of America. The other states having or making any claims to any parts of the western territories followed the patriotic lead of Virginia, and from time to time, executed formal deeds of cession to the United States: Massachusetts, April 19, 1785 ; Connecticut, September 13, 1786 ; South Carolina, August 19, 1787 ; North Carolina, in 1790 ; and Georgia, in 1802. New York had at one time a claim of an exceedingly vague and indefinite character, which was surrendered to the United States, March 1, 1781. Connecticut, in her deed of cession, at first reserved her claim to the lands south of Lake Erie, long called the Western Reserve ; this reservation was finally surrendered. May 30, 1800. The claims affecting the northwest were only those of Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts, - unless we consider the intangible claim of New York.

The Ordinance Of 1787

Sec. 1. - First Congressional Plan: Seventeen States. - The Virginia deed of cession was made on March 1, 1784; and, on April 23, 1784, congress, by a series of resolutions, provided for the maintenance of temporary government in the northwest territory.'*

It won Id seem that after the capturu ot Vincennes the same wise course with the Indians pursued by Clark after his invasion of the Illinois country Avas not followed; certainly, very soon after that time, there began a deplorable border warfare which continued, with interruptions, until the decisive victory of General Anthony Wayne over the Indians in the battle on the banks of the Maumee river, August 20, 1794. There is little doubt the Indians were encouraged in this barbarous warfare by British agents and officers, to whom the success of American army in the Revolutionary war was exceedingly unpalatable.^

The resolutions and code of government for the northwest, adopted by the continental congress, April 23, 1784, although intended only for temporary purposes and until a more satisfactory sj^stem could be devised, were yet the result of much deliberation and discussion. The situation was novel, and the wise men of congress were, as it were, groping in the dark and feeling their way. One plan suggested was to divide the new territory into seventeen states. Eight states were to be between the Mississippi and a line due north from the falls of the Ohio, at Louisville; and eight more to be between the Ohio falls line and a line parallel to it running north from the western side of the mouth of the Great Kanawha. On the extreme east was to be h. In Dillon's History of Indiana, a large part of Chapters XVI to XXVIII, inclusive, is devoted to an account of those harassing Indian wars, culminating in Governor St. Clair's humiliating defeat, followed by the brilliant and decisive victory of General Wayne and the historic treaty of Greenville, which was signed August 3, 1795.

the seventeenth state. This scheme found little favor; and the subject was referred to a special committee of which Thomas Jefferson was chairman.

Sec. 2. - Jefferson's Plan: Ten States. - Jefferson, Chase and Howe devised a second plan for dividing the territory into ten states. The lines of division are now quite forgotten, and even the high-sounding names of the proposed states are seldom heard. Some of the names were Latin, some Greek, and some were latinized forms of Indian names of rivers in the territory. The states were to be about two degrees in width, north and south, and bounded on the east and west, so far as practicable, by the north and south lines of the first plan. That part of the territory north of the forty-fifth parallel of latitude, covering the then heavy woodlands of northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, was to be called Sylvania. The remainder of the southern peninsula of the present state of Michigan was to be called Chersonesus, the Greek word for peninsula. South of Sylvania, covering a part of the present state of Wisconsin, was to be the state of ]\Iichigania. South of Michigania, as far as the forty-first parallel of latitude, was to be the state of Assenisipia, a word derived from the Indian name for Rock river. East of Assenisipia, and extending north to the shore of Lake Erie, was to be the state of Metropotamia, mother of rivers. South of Assenisipia, to the thirty-ninth parallel, was to be the state of lUinoia. To the east of lUinoia was to be Saratoga ; and east of Saratoga, bounded by the Ohio river, the west line of Pennsylvania and the eastern part of the south shore of Lake Erie, was to be the state of Washington. South of Illinoia and Saratoga, and lying along the Ohio river, was to be a state named Polypotamia, from its many rivers. East of Polypotamia was to be the -tenth state, called Pelisipi, from a Cherokee name sometimes given to the Ohio river. While all tho.se state lines have disappeared, and even the names given by Jefferson and his commit- tee are no longer applied to the territories for which they were intended, vet it will be observed that one of the names, that of the father of his country, has since been given to the extreme northwest state of the Union, lying on the borders of an ocean which even the most far-seeing statesmen could not then dream of as the western boundary of the great republic. Two more of Jefferson's names, with slight changes of orthography, have also been adopted for commonwealths since created. ]\Iichigania, which Jefferson applied to territory bordering on the west of Lake Michigan, has been given, without the Latin termination, to the great state east of the same lake ; and Ulinoia, which was applied to parts of the present states of Illinois and Indiana, has been given, with like change of orthography, to the great southwestern state of the territory.

There is some uncertainty in which of two of those proposed states the county of St. Joseph would have been situated. The state of Chersonesus was to be the southern part of the peninsula bounded on the west by Lake Michigan and on the east by Lake Huron, the Straits and Lake Erie; that is, the southern part of what is now the lower peninsula of ^Michigan. This would seem to include the north part of St. Joseph county, and, indeed, all that part of Indiana north of an east and west line through the southern extremity of Lake Michigan. On the other hand, the state of Assenisipia was to extend, north and south, from the forty-third to the forty-first parallel of latitude : and from the Mississippi east to the line running north from the falls of the Ohio. That would give a state bounded on the north by a line of latitude a little south of Milwaukee. Wisconsin ; on the south, by a- line of latitude a little south of Fort Wayne, Indiana : on the west, by the Mississippi river: and on the east, by a line running nearly from Jeffersonville. Indiana, or Louisville, Kentucky, to Grand Rapids. Michigan. The state of Assenisipia would therefore comprise the southern part of the present state of Wisconsin, the northern part of Illinois, the northwestern part of Indiana and the southwestern part of Michigan. But as the southern part of the lower Michigan peninsula was to constitute the state of Chersonesus, it is probable that the state of Assenisipia would have embraced no territory east of Lake ^lichigan. Consequently, the north ten miles of St. Joseph county would have been in the state of Chersonesus and the rest of the county in the state of Assenisipia. At the time that the boundaries of the ten states were defined, as above set out, a code of laws was prepared to serve for the government of each state until it should contain twenty thousand free inhabitants. One article of the code, as prepared by the committee, provided that after the year 1800 there should be no slaverj^ in the states so organized. This is believed to have been the first national attempt to provide for the abolition of slavery. Another article of the proposed code provided that no person holding a hereditary title should ever become a citizen of any of the new states. This article was directed against the society of the Cincinnati, then recently organized by the officers of the late Continental army. There was strong opposition to a provision of the constitution of this society making the sons and other direct descendants of those officers, to the latest generation, members of the organization This looked to the stern republicans of that day as savoring too strongly of an order of nobility ; and they wished for nothing of that nature in the free institutions of America. The uncompromising republicanism of Jefferson is seen in his advocacy of these two measures - against slavery and against orders of nobility. Both articles, however, were stricken out by congress. The paragraphs giving names to the ten new states were also stricken out. The resolutions as so amended were then adopted, April 23, 1784, and remained the law for the government of the

See. 3. - Emigration to the West. - Soon after the close of the Revolutionary war a heavy tide of emigration, chiefly officers and soldiers of the war, set in for the lands west of the Alleg-hanies. The southern soldiers found lands in Kentucky, then in effect a part of Virginia ; Tennessee, then western North Carolina : and in the western part of Georgia, which then extended to the Mississippi. The soldiers farther north naturally looked to the lands in the new territory northwest of the Ohio. The long debates of congress in providing for the organization of this territory, and the delay in the enactment of laws for the survey and sale of the lands, tired the patience of those who were anxious to start life anew on those rich lands. On March 1, 1786, the Ohio Company was formed for the purchase and sale of western lands in shares of $1,000 each. The directors of this company were General Rufus Putnam, General Samuel H. Parsons and the Dr. Manasseh Cutler. Dr. Cutler was the master spirit of the body, and exercised a very decided influence on the future of the new country. Under the old confederation a treasury board acted as commissioners of public lands,_ but had no power to make sales without the approval of congress. Dr. Cutler, after weary waiting for favorable action by congress, finally succeeded in obtaining confirmation of the sale of the lands desired by the Ohio Company; and on October 27, 1787, the contract of the treasury board with the company was agreed to and the contract executed. In December and January following, two companies, forty-eight persons in all, under the general direction of General Putnam, and consisting of surveyors, boat-builders, carpenters, smiths, farmers and laborers, set out for the west with their stores and outfit, descended the Ohio, and on April 7, 1788, landed at the mouth of the Muskingum. At a point oppoa. McMaster, Hist. U. S., Vol. 1, Chapt. 2. Perkins' Annals of the West, p. 312.

site Fort Harmar, at the junction of the Ohio and the Muskingum, they founded their town. Before leaving Boston the prospective town was called Adelphia ; but at the first meeting of the directors, on the ground, July 2, 1788, the name of Marietta was selected, in honor of ]\Iarie Antoinette, then queen of France." The founding of Marietta, the first settlement in the limits of the present state of Ohio, was a most noteworthy event, and marks the beginning of a new era in the history of the northwest territory.

Sec. 4. - Development of the Ordinance. - After the adoption of the resolutions of April 23, 1784, congress continued to discuss the future of the northwest, not being satisfied with the form of government established by those resolutions. Little progress was made, however, until May 10, 1786, when a committee appointed on motion of Nathan Dane of Massachusetts, reported in favor of fixing the number of states at from two to five, to be admitted according to the proposition of Jefferson, as reported to congress previous to the resolutions of April 23, 1784, but leaving the question of slavery open. No definite action was taken on this report. On April 26, 1787, another conuuittee, consisting of Johnson of Connecticut, Pinckney of South Carolina, Smith of New York, Dane of Massachusetts and Henry of Maryland, reported "An ordinance for the government of the western territory." This first draft of the ordinance is said to have been prepared by Nathan Dane. After many amendments. May 10, 1787, was fixed for the third reading of the ordinance ; but the bill was postponed for further consideration. Congress was evidently not yet satisfied as to what should be done. At this time Dr. Cutler, representing the Ohio company, and anxious for the future form of government in which that company had so much at stake, appeared before congress and its committees; and it is believed that he greatly influenced many important amendments which were thereafter made to the ordinance. On July 9, 1787, the bill was referred to a new committee, consisting of Carrington of Virginia, Dane of Massachusetts, Smith of New York, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, and Kean of South Carolina. It was after this that the clauses against slavery, and in favor of the liberty of conscience and of the press, the right of habeas corpus and trial by jury, the equal distribution of estates, and the encouragement of education, were added. The anti-slavery clause was at first rejected by the committee, but on July 11th this and other amendments were accepted, although a majority of the committee were from the southern states. On July 13, 1787, the great charter of free institutions became a law, with but one member of congress, Yates of New York, voting against it.*^ The Ordinance of 1787 was adopted nearly two years before the Constitution of the United States went into effect. Except the Declaration of Independence, it was at the date of its adoption the most noted declaration of fundamental law ever enacted by a free people. Indeed the Constitution of the United States is itself but the normal outgrowth of the Declaration of Independence and the Ordinance of 1787.

The ordinance provides, as already indicated, for the equal distribution of property among kindred of equal degrees, without distinction as to whole blood or half blood, except in case of a devise by will. The fathers of the republic took every occasion to protect the people against the accumulation of estates in the hands of elder sons or other favored persons, to the exclusion of others equally related to the ancestor. Corporations had not then become a menace to the fair and equal distribution of property, and occasioned the enactment of no legislation to guard against wrongful accumulations; but primogeniture and entail were well known evils, and against these they guarded. The rights of the French inhabitants of Vincennes, Kaskaskia and other settlements were carefully guarded. A governor and courts were provided for, and were authorized to adopt, at first and until the organization of a legislature, such laws of the original states as they should find suitable to the needs of the new government. As soon as there should be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age, a legislature should be elected by the people, and should have power to enact all laws, subject to the approval of the governor.

Sec. 5. - The Six Articles op the Ordinance. - ^The important provisions of the ordinance, and those which give it so high a place in the jurisprudence of the world, are set out in the following six articles :

Art. 1st. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory.

Art. 2nd. The inhabitants of said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature; and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. AU fines shall be moderate ; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or property, but by judgment -of his peers or the law of the land, and, should the public exigencies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared, that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever, interfere with or affect private contracts or engagements, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed.

Art. 3rd. Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of. education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians ; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without tluur consent; and, in their property, rights and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by congress ; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall, from time to time, be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.

Art. 4th. The said territory, and the states which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the Articles of Confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made ; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in congress assembled, conformable thereto. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by congress according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other states; and the taxes, for paying their proportion, shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new states, as in the original states, within the time agreed upon by the United States in congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts or new states, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in congress assembled, nor with any regulations congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no case, shall non-resident proprietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other state that may be admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost or duty, therefor.

Art. 5th. There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three nor more than five states; and the boundaries of the states, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of cession, and consent to the same,'* shall become a. In the Virginia Act of Cession, passed December 20, 1783, the cession was made "upon condition that the territory so ceded shall be laid out and formed into states, containing suitable fixed and established as follows, to-wit : The western state in the said territory shall be bounded by the Mississippi, Ohio and Wabash rivers ; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post St. Vincent's, due north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, and, by the said territorial line, to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle state shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash from Post St. Vincent's to the Ohio; by. the Ohio, by a direct line, drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern state shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line : Provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three states shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two states in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said states shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such state shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original states in all respects whatever, and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and state government : Provided,' the constitution and government so to be formed shall be republican and in conformity to the principles contained in these articles; and so far as it can be, consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in the state than sixty thousand.

Art. 6th. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted: Provided, always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original states, such fugitive may be lawextent of territory, not less than one hundred nor more than one hundred and fifty miles square, or as near thereto as circumstances will permit." By an act passed December 30, 1788, the General Assembly of Virginia altered her act of cession as to the foregoing condition, and consented to the boundaries of the new states as fixed by Congress, in the ordinance of 1787.

Sec. 6. - The Constitution of the United States. - The Congress that adopted the Ordinance of 1787 was the old Continental Congress, which, under the Articles of Confederation, had carried the government through the Revolutionary war and secured the independence of the young republic. As soon, however, as the pressure of the common enemy was removed it was perceived that the loose Articles of Confederation were insufficient to hold the former independent colonies together in one government ; and steps were taken by the people of all the states, "to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty." At the very time that the Ordinance of 1787 was under discission, and when it was adopted, the convention for the adoption of a constitution which should "form a more perfect union" was in session. In the ordinance we find the same patriotic provisions that are permanently established in the constitution; and both great documents were the product of practically the same wise Fathers who laid the foundations of the republic.