Attica Downtown Historic District

The history of this immediate vicinity opens out shortly after the battle of Tippecanoe, and a legend is still told that the prophet, the noted Tecumseh's brother, wliile on his way to join his tribe with the allied Indians at Tippecanoe, held a council of war under a large burroak tree which stood, until a few years ago, in the rear of the old Methodist church in Attica. This legend lent such a charm to the old oak that many would have gladly seen it spared. Several yeais before anv settlement was made in this vicinity a trading post was established near the village of Independence, six miles north of Attica. Here a daring French-Canadian, named Chiquot, bartered with the wily red man. At that time the river bottoms just opposite and a few miles above Attica were used by the Indian squaws as corn fields, and while the sinewy warriors scoured the forests for game, or lazily paddled over the placid waters of the Wabash, their dusky mates hovered over the fires at the wigwams or watched the growing crops from the peculations of the birds of the air or more formidable marauders from the deep recesses of the woods. And when autumn came, and the silver frosts tipped the blades of maize with yellow and gold, the cars were plucked and dried and carried in skins to the tops of the adjacent clitfs. where they were buried in the earth. On one occasion when a pair of Indians were making their excavation for the ai)ove purpose they came upon a rich vein of copper, and threw out great chunks of ore tliat was very nearly free from dross. AVith their usual cunningness they kept their discovery a secret for a time, and would stealthily dig out all tliey could carry and trade it to Chiquot. At length others of the triiie discovered it, and in time Chiquot acquired quite a cargo, which he loaded on a flat-boat and floated down to Yincennes, wliere he found a market for it. A numbcrof the older citizens of this township, among them John E. Latta Sr. and Enoch Farmer, spent years trying to discover the iiidden treasure, but without avail. Efforts were made to bribe fiie Indians, and scores of the old corn-holes were dug out, but all were unsucces--ful. In 1822 two tribes of Indians, the Kickapoos and Pottawalomies, got into a dispute which resulted in a collision, and a bloodv pitched liattle was fought on the cliffs across the river, bclow E-ickapoo falls. A large number on both sides were slain, and for long

Passage source: History of Fountain County : Together with Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, published 1881.

Prior to 1833 the territory now constituting Logan belonged to Shawnee and Davis townships, but the residents of Attica considered it a great inconvenience to go to Rob Roy to cast their ballots, and they accordingly asked for a new township. At tlie March session of the year named the board of commissioners organized Logan township, with the Ibllowing boundaries: beginning at the Wabash river, where the line dividing Sues, li and 23, T. 21, R. 8, strikes the saine, thence east with the said section line to the southeast corner of Sec. 14, T. 21, R. 7, thence north with the section line to the river. The township contains 13,799 acres, and has a population of 2,G09.

Passage source: History of Fountain County : Together with Historic Notes on the Wabash Valley, Gleaned from Early Authors, Old Maps and Manuscripts, published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Logan Township - 34,278 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.