Washington Township (part 1 of 3)

Miscellaneous Introduction

As preliminary to the history of any locality, custom, the precursor of law, has made it necessary to present a generous outline of what may be examined in detail in the body of the work. If it were necessary in previous experiments, it is proper in this. Frequently it happens that the introduction requires, or at least receives, more elaboration than that which is introduced. In this instance, however, the labor and research bestowed in the preparation' of the body of the work must compensate for any lack that may be observable in the presentation of the reflexive epitome thereof which precedes. If what has been written in the following pages is found, upon examination, to possess sufficient merit to justify a re-perusal, the introductory part will have been found to be extraneous matter, occupying space that might have been more judiciously appropriated in giving place to additional facts that, had they been utilized instead, might have given more interest in their recital and more satisfaction to their perusal.

The history of Allen County, abounding as it does with incidents of more than ordinary moment, is properly divisible into four great periods ; the first embracing the Period of Discovery, made up of tracings from the earliest naviga¬ tors who have visited this country, especially such as came under the authority of the French Government, in which the objective is plainly indicated - a western pass¬ age to China, Japan and the Indies, the discovery of the American Continent being an incident to that end. While this discovery, for a time, delayed the progress by the presence of an interposing continent, the ideal point was kept continually in view by subsequent explorers who labored to establish a direct line of communication between this and the countries still to the westward beyond the Pacific. In pursuing this ideal, their course being to the westward, it was but natural that the line of discovery was along the connecting lakes that found an outlet in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, presumiug that away to the westward, perhaps, at the head of this great chain of lakes, was another outlet, whose channel connected the j ocean beyond. The result of efforts to this end was the discovery of intermedi¬ ate points, the establishment of trading-posts and the founding of missions among the natives. Movements in this direction commenced with the earliest voyageurs and only terminated in the discovery that the course of the Great Father of Waters, the Mississippi, instead of extending to the Vermilion Sea, debouched into the Gulf of Mexico. In the mean time, the energies of all were bent toward utilizing the advantages attainable in giving direction to trade, in developing the latent elements of prosperity, in Christianizing and civilizing the savage natives.' To evolve trade, agencies were put in motion to penetrate the deep forests, trav¬ erse rivers, lakes and swamps, to secure the articles of traffic upon which their lucrative trade so much depended. Traders extended their search into all the avenues through which valuable returns were likely to flow back. Money was not so much a consideration with the Indian, for what he had to sell, as knives, hatchets and guns, adapted to their needs and uses, and triukets for purposes of ornamentation.

Priests, filled with the novelty of adventure, anxious to gratify such ambi¬ tion and exhibit their devotion to the cause of Christian civilization, generally alone and on foot, left the society of white men and mingled with savages, hop¬ ing, by such self-sacrifice, to sow among them the seeds of exemplary discipline.

In the furtherance of these objects, they became willingly instrumental in advan¬ cing the interests of discovery and strengthening the inpulses of trade, whereby advantages accrued to the Crown and to the Church. These examples of devo¬ tion and self-denial have left an impress on the society of to-day, though more than two centuries have passed since their presence in this region round about first heralded the advance of civilization.

" The Aboriginal Period " .occupies the second place, following, mturally, the period of Discovery, which, while it had a prior existence, did not become known until the advent of discovery. It embraces, first, the principal generic features of the race, then the great family divisions, based upon a similarity of the lingual elements, taking the Algonquin as the primitive type. This family is noticed with reference to its peculiarities and distinguishing characteristics, mentally and physically. A subdivision into tribes, whose history is more or less intimately i connected with this locality, follows, in which the purpose has been to trace the I migrations and transmigrations from the period of the first discovery of them to | their removal beyond "the limits of this State, or their blotting-out from the I galaxy of distinct and separate tribes. As an addenda to the tribal history, short j biographies of some of the noted chiefs and representative men who have figured more or less extensively in our immediate vicinity. An appropriate conclusion tb this period is presented in a review of the conspiracies preceding and following the overthrow of French power in the territory of the Northwest. The first being a development of the Indian opposition to French control, the other an expression of the combined Indian and French opposition to the ascendancy of the English, in the original dominion of New France.

A new order of things having been inaugurated in the organization of the United States Government, after the close of the American Revolution, " The Semi-Savage Period " succeeds the " Aboriginal," and introduces the reader to the transactions incident to the struggle for the mastery between the Indians and pioneersmen, in which the latter acquire dominion here and lay the foundations of permanent settlements and subsequent prosperity, the fruits of which are being enjoyed after the lapse of nearly two centuries and a half from the advent of white men in the Maumee Valley.

When the problem of permanent settlements was demonstrated, and pio¬ neersmen, desiring to become citizens, moved to be clothed upon with the habili¬ ments of legislative authority to enjoy and maintain civil and religious liberty, as a separate jurisdiction, then "The Period of Civilization and Law" were fully developed, and Allen County became an integral quantity in the political econ¬ omy of the State of Indiana. Under this head may be found the germs of organic life with a careful digest of the proceedings incident to the development and growth of our body politic, with the progressive transitions from the embryonic to the mature state. Following this, the local history of Fort Wayne, our central city, with the changes, modifications and improvements which time has wrought, and the present elements of prosperity, including the various industries which mark a distinctive era in its advance toward supremacy. Then the separate town¬ ships have been treated historically, in which will appear the dates of settlement, organization and subsequent growth, with the names of the settlers and their connection therewith, followed by biographical sketches of individual citizens of local and general notoriety, who have left their impress upon society from time to time as they have appeared and still appear on the theater of active life. To the preparation of this latter department, Mr. L. H. Newton has given his especial attention.

As introductory to the distinctively local history of the county, we give an elaborate article on its physical geography, with the geological features apparent, followed by a descriptive account of the mounds and archmological remains discovered by the industrious research of Col. R. S. Robertson, by whose hand the articles in question have been prepared. To be appreciated, they need only to be carefully read.

Again, immediately preceding the Township History, will be found a very complete and well-digested outline of our military history, from the pen of Col. J. B. Dodge, to whose energy and skill the people of Allen County are and will be especially indebted for the preservation of these mementos of war.

Appendatory to the preceding divisions also, the reader will find a fund of miscellaneous and statistical matter, which, not coming under any other specific head, is nevertheless of such momentous value that its omission would be almost criminal, since it embodies facts, figures and references so thoroughly digested that our work would be incomplete without them.

And last, though not least, of consequence in this introductory review, is the department of " Illustrations," which includes the maps, portraits, home views, landscapes and historical representations - mementos of the past, designed to extend into the future, reflexes of the antecedents of coming generations.

These results have only been attained by the patient, effective labor and untiring energy, appropriated by those having in charge the conduct of the several depart¬ ments of their work. In the preparation of the maps, Messrs. Ellis Kiser and J. A. Johnson, Engineers, have done themselves credit in the completeness, accu¬ racy and finish which characterize their productions. As an artist, Mr: Charles H. Radcliff has acquitted himself with honor, which entitles him to high rank in his profession, as the effusions of his pencil fully attest. And, finally, not only the editor and proprietors, but the citizens of Fort Wayne especially, and ot Allen County generally, owe much to the thoroughness and efficiency of the labors of Mr. Kiser in collecting the details of business and historical miscellany of the city and county, than whom no one, in the opinion of the editor, could have more faithfully ar.d satisfactorily performed the task.

With The Indians

Without discussing further what may have been the status of civilization amon-' the aborigines of this country, or what divisions of the continent the pre¬ vailing tribes occupied, from period to period in their migrations and transmigrations, the fact that America was not destined to be the perpetual inheritance of the red man in the light of the nineteenth century, must be admitted. In the progress of the age, new actors appeared on the sceue, whose advent heralded the depart¬ ure of the' aboriginal races to habitations beyond the setting sun. In this con¬ nection, therefore, it will not be out of place to recite briefly the progress of " the star of empire " westward bound. . . , u The discovery of a continent, so large that it may be said to have doubled the habitable world, is an event so mueh the more grand and interesting, that nothin - parallel to it can ever occur again in the history of mankind. America had. of course, been known to the barbarous tribes of Eastern Asia for thousands of years ; but it. is singular that it should have been visited by one of the most enterprising nations of Europe five centuries before the time of ^Columbus, with¬ out awakening the attention of either statesmen or philosophers."

About the middle of the ninth century, the spirit of European adventure is known to have directed its course to the westward, across the Atlantic. In the vear NbO A. D., the Scandinavians discovered Iceland, and in 874-75, colonized it ; and, less than one hundred years later, they discovered and colonized Greenland. [Enc. Brit. I, 706 ; Cham. Enc. I, 198.]

On the authority of M. Rafn, a Danish historian, well versed in the narra¬ tives of these early voyageurs, it is stated, also, that America was discovered by them in A. D. 985, shortly after the discovery and colonization of Greenland. That early in the following century, and repeatedly afterward, the Icelanders visited the embouchure of the St. Lawrence, the Bay of Gasp6 being their prin¬ cipal station ; " that they had penetrated along the coast as far south as Carolina and that they introduced a knowledge of Christianity among the natives." [Note. - En. Brit., 706.] ,

- This account, though meager, is distinct and consistent. Its authenticity can scarcely be disputed ; and it" is almost equally obvious that the country it refers to, under the name of Vinland, is in the vicinity of Rhode Island. A conclusion resting on such strong grounds scarcely requires to be supported by the high authority of Humboldt and Maltc Brun. [Same.]

"Subsequently to the Scandinavian discoveries, aud previous to that of Columbus, America is believed by some to have been visited by a Welsh Prince. In - Cardoc's Historic of Cambria,' it is stated that Madoc, son of Owen Gwynnedd, Priuce of Wales, set sail westward in 1170, with a small fleet, aud, after a voyage of several weeks, landed in a region totally different, both in its inhabitants and productions, from Europe. Madoc is supposed to have reached the coast of Virginia." [Cham. Enc. I, 198.]

However the facts may have been, as stated in these several accounts, it is apparent that the period hadnot elapsed when the Old World, ripe with the experi¬ ence of the past, was ready for the appropriation of the New ; hence, it was reserved for the enterprise of the fifteenth century to transmit the civilization of that age to the new continent across the Atlantic.

One of the primary inducements for the voyage of Columbus, and his pre¬ decessors as well, was the desire to fiod a more direct route to the East Indies and China by sailing westward. These were the objective points in all the voy

A letter to Henry VIII, from an English Captain, written at St.John, Newfoundland, in August, 1527, says that there was at that date in one harbor, eleven sail of Normans and one Breton engaged in the fishery. ' About the same time," says Martin, just cited, " the French had growing establishments in Canada for fishing and trading in furs with the natives." In their traffic with the Indians of that locality, the Iroquois, and others, the French, in exchange for the furs obtained from the natives, gave them knives, hatchets and other utensils of iron and brass adapted to their use, with trinkets and other articles for ornamentation. To the natives, these articles of European manufact¬ ure possessed more than a mere commercial value, and hence were treasured up as mementos of fortunate possession, and were transmitted to succeeding gener¬ ations with characteristic ceremony. Three-quarters of a century later, some of these same articles were discovered by Capt. Smith, in his voyage up the Chesa¬ peake, iu possession of the Susquehannocks, who obtained them from the Iroquois. Many of these also passed into other hands, and found their way to territories farther to the westward, traversed by the Iroquois in their numerous warlike expeditions against the Ottawas and other tribes. That some of these found their way round the borders of the lakes even to the head-waters of the ancient Ottawa (Omee or Maumee), would not be out of the natural order of things. The Ke-ki-ong-a of the primitive Miamis, and their predecessors, was the center or radiating point, also, for the numerous kindred bands to the north and south of the great lakes, and is known to have been visited by some of the original recipients "of those articles exchanged for furs on the banks of the St. Lawrence. Indeed, numerous members of the Algonquin family resident on the north of the. St. Lawrence at the date when the traffic with the French traders was bein'* carried on. began to migrate westward toward Lake Michigan, to the west and3 south of Lake Erie, whence they were accompanied by traders still ambitious to open and extend the avenues of trade to localities rich in lurs and hitherto unoccupied by white men. These traders not unfrequently intermarried with the natives as a means of securing greater confidence and better opportuni¬ ties to advance their pecuniary interests.

Subsequently, Jacques Cartier, on a voyage of discovery, sailed from bt. Malo, in France, April 20, 1534. The result of his first voyage was the discovery and reconnaisance of the Northern Coast of Newfoundland. Having done this, he returned, and made port (St. Malo] on the 15th of September, of the same year. The prestige acquired in his first voyage induced a second, fior this purpose three vessels were fitted out duriug the winter of 1534-35, and, on the 15th day of May, of the latter year, he embarked again from the same port to pursue his ideal of discovery under the patronage of the French Government.

Enterin'* the broad gulf at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, he sailed up that stream as far as the Island of Orleans, in the month of September A little later he ascended to the site of the present city of Montreal, where induce¬ ments were offered by the natives to go farther to the westward, the country abounding in great stores of gold and copper ; " that there were three of fresh water so large that no man had ever found the end is de la all terof discovery during the centuries preceding, to which European enterprise gave origin. With this purpose in view, Christopher Columbus, a Genoese, under the patronage of the united kingdoms of Castile and Leon, on the 3d of August, 1492. started on the voyage which resulted in the discovery of the North American continent. " It was toward the East that his hopes directed his western course, hopes whose supposed fulfillment still lives in the misapplication to the New World of the terms Indian and Indies. Much of our subsequent knowledge of America has been owing to the same desire of reaching the East Indies that led to its discovery." [Cham., Enc., I, 198].

In the summer of 1501, Manuel, King of Portugal, sent out an expedition for West and Northwest discovery, under the command of Gaspar Cortereal. This expedition traversed the coast of North America for six or seven hundred miles, till, somewhere to the south of the fiftieth degree of north latitude, it was stopped by the ice. " The name of Labrador, transferred from the territory south of the St. Lawrence to a more northern coast, is a memorial of his voyage, and is, perhaps, the only permanent trace of Portuguese adventure within the limits of North America." [Bancroft, Hist. U. S., I, 13].

The French were among the first to compete for the prosecution of discov eries in the New World. As early as 1504, and, indeed, anterior to that date, the fisheries of Newfoundland were known and visited by the hardy mar¬ iners of Brittany and Normandy. These fishermen, in remembrance of their home, gave the name of Cape Breton to an island adjacent. [Bancroft, Hist., I. p. 13]. A map of the Gulf of St. Lawrence was drawn in 1506, by Denys, a citizen of Honfleur.

This fact is farther stated by Judge Martin in the introduction to his history of North Carolina : " The French made several attempts to establish permanent, settlements on the continent of North America. As early as 1506, <.ne of their Norman navigators sailed from Rouen, visited and drew a chart of the Gulf and a part of the River St. Lawrence, and Thomas Aubert, of Dieppe, in the year 1508, sailed up the River St. Lawrence. And it is known that as early as the year 1504. the Basque whalers and fishermen from Brittany and Normandy visited its shores." [Vol. I, 2],

Five years after, in the year 1540, a charter was granted to Fra Roque, Seigneur de Ruberval, investing him with the supreme power ov ritory north of the English settlements. Under this charter, a squadron of fine vessels, commanded by Admiral Cartier, and supplied with all the necessaries men and provisions - for forming a colony, bore Ruberval to his new possessions. Upon their arrival a fort was erected with Cartier as Commandant, and a colony planted under favorable auspices. Subsequently, in 1603, an expedition fitted out by a company of Rouen merchants, with the objective purpose of speculation in the fur trade, was sent over to the same territory, in charge of Samuel Cham¬ plain, a member of the company. One of the results of this expedition was the founding of the city of Quebec, in 1608.

The great profits realized from the fur trade were inducements for still greater adventure, and the extension of settlements farther westward into the Indian country. These inducements were accepted, and numerous traders and other adventure-loving spirits found their way to the extensive (Ionium of New France. Among these, of course, members of the society of Jesuits were found, and, in 1611, a mission had been established among the Indians of that region. From that time forward, vigorous efforts were made for the furtherance of tradein connection with the establishment of missions for the conversion of the Indians. By means of the assiduous perseverance of the French traders and priests, these efforts were generally attended with succe-s. As a result, it is stated that up to 1621, 500 convents of the Recollets had been established in New France. In 1635. a Jesuit college was founded at Quebec. During that year, Champlain, the first Governor of New France, died, and with him, much of the zeal. incident j to prosperous settlements.*

3ov- U The immediate successor of Champlain as Governor, was Chasteaufort, who ,l'"f was superceded by De Montmagny, in 1636. With this latter appointment, a change in the affairs of the Government was noticeable, the fur trade becoming the principal object of attention. A consequence of this policy was the explora¬ tion of other new territory to enlarge the arena of trade. " Rude forts were erected as a means of defense to the trading-houses" and a protection to the trade. " Not far remote - a never-failing auxiliary - was the chapel of the Jesuit, sur¬ mounted by a cross."! ,

Gradually, these explorations extended westward and southward along (lie mar,riu of the lakes rfnd their tributaries, and the avenues of trade were opened up ° Anterior, however, to the progress of events just noted, during the adminis¬ tration of Gov. Champlain, "in 1611 and 1612, J he asceuded the Grand River as far as Lake II ur<

Nation, next to the Neutral Nation and to the Mascoutins, who were then resid¬ ing near the place called the Sakiman (between the head of Lake Erie and the Saginaw Bay) ; from that he went to the Algonquins and Huron tribes, at war with the Iroquois. He passed by places he has himself described in his book, which are no other than Detroit and Lake Erie."

In 1640, when Charles Raymbault and Claude Pijart were appointed' to mis¬ sionary work among the Algonquins of the North and West, " their avenue to the West was by the way of the Ottawa and French Rivers, so that the whole coast of Ohio and Southern Michigan remained unknown, except as seen by missionaries from the stations in Canada."* From this, it would be readily inferred, that these localities had been visited previously, though by a different route, perhaps, than the one proposed, which was no doubt the fact, because, at a date more than twenty years in advance of this, explorations had been made to locali¬ ties but little to the northward, for where the missionaries went the traders had gone before.

I rom 1640 to 1654, continued advances had been made in extending the avenues of trade, and^ the domain of the missionary enterprise was enlarged also. t" August (6th), 1654, two young fur traders, smitten with the love of adventure, joined a band of Ottawas or other Algonquins, and, in their gondolas of bark, ventured on a voyage of five hundred leagues. After two years, they re-appeared, accompanied by a fleet of fifty canoes. * * * They describe the vast lakes of the West, and the numerous tribes that hover round them ; they speak of the Knisteneaux, whose homes stretched away to the North¬ ern Sea ; of the powerful Sioux, who dwelt beyond Lake Superior ; and they demand commerce with the French, and missionaries for the boundless West."

" The remote nations, by the necessity of the case, still sought alliance with the French. The Mohawks and their confederates, receiving European arms from Albany, exterminated the Eries, and approached the Miamis and the Illi nois. The Western Indians desired commerce with the French, that they might gain means to resist the Iroquois ; and, as furs were abundant there, the traders pressed forward to Green Bay." These traders were followed by mission¬ aries sent out by the Bishop of Quebec. The charge fell upon Father Mesnard to visit Green Bay and Lake Superior. This mission was established in 1660. In August (8th), Father Claude Allouez embarked on a mission to the far West. He returned to Quebec, two years afterward, and urged the establishment of permanent missions, to be accompanied by colonies of French emigrants. Suc¬ cess attended his efforts, and he was accompanied on his return to the mission by Claude Dablon and James Marquette, then recently from France. Their field of labor embraced the region of country entending from Green Bay to the head of Lake Superior, and southward to the countries of the Sacs, Foxes, Miamis and Pottawatomies, whither, also, the traders had preceded them.

Again, Father Marquette, in 1671,1 "gathered the remains of one branch of the Huron Nation round a chapel at Point St. Ignace, on the continent north of the peninsula of Michigan." The year following, " the countries south of the village founded by Marquette were explored by Allouez and Dablon, who bore the Cross through Wisconsin and the north of Illinois, visiting the Mascou¬ tins and the Kickapoos, on the Milwaukee, and the Miamis, at the head of Lake Michigan."

In May, 1669, M. Talon, Intendant of Justice, Police and Finance, under the appointment of Louis, the French King, for the Province of New France, having then recently returned from a conference with his sovereign at Paris, in carrying out the instructions received, to extend the domain of his dis¬ covery in the New World, appointed Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, a person of great energy and discretion, with instructions " to penetrate further than has [had] ever been done, * * * to the southwest and south ; " to keep a journal of his adventures in all instances, and, on his return, to reply to the written instructions embraced in his commission. These instructions required, also, that he take possession of all the new territory discovered, in the King's name, displaying the arms of France, and issuing proces verbaux to settlers to serve as titles. Reporting this appointment to the King, he remarked : ' His

Majesty will probably have no news of him before two years from this, and when I shall return to France." At the same time, with like instructions, Sieur de St. Luisson was appointed to penetrate to the west and northwest.

Subsequently, in February, 1671, M. Colbert, the King's Secretary, in a communication addressed to the Intendant, says : " The resolution you have taken to send Sieur de La Salle toward the south, and Sieur de St. Luisson to the north, to discover the South Sea passage, is very good ; but the principal thing to which you ought to apply yourself in discoveries of this nature, is to look for the copper mine."

As a part of the annual report to the King, in November of the same year, he makes this announcement : " Sieur de La Salle has not yet returned from his journey to the southward of this country. Bui Sieur de Luisson is returned, after having advanced as far as five hundred leagues from here [Quebec], and planted the Cross and set up the King's arms in presence of seventeen Indian nations, assembled, on this occasion, from all parts, all of whom voluntarily sub¬ mitted themselves to the dominion of His Majesty, whom alone they regard as their sovereign protector." This meeting was held at the Falls of St. Mary, north of Lake Michigan. He reports, also, that, "according to the calculations made from the reports of the Indians and from maps, there seems to remain not more than fifteen hundred leagues of navigation to Tartary, China and Japan. Such discoveries must be the work either of time or of the King."

The route pursued by La Salle in this adventure is, to some extent, a matter of conjecture, since no record made by himself is now known to be extant, except so much as relates to his starting out on such an expedition with Messrs. Dollier and Gallinef1 ; and, becoming dissatisfied with the proposed plans of these two gentlemen, to his pursuing a route more in accord with his own judgment. Hav¬ ing thus separated from them, after a short period of silence, we hear of him a few leagues to the southward of Lake Erie, approaching the head-waters of the principal tributary of the Ohio, the Alleghany, no doubt, which he descends until met. by a great fall in the river, understood to be the Falls of the Ohio, at Louis¬ ville. Here the direct narrative ends, and we are left to a consideration of perti¬ nent circumstances for tracings of him during the succeeding two or three years. This was in the fall of 1669, and he was the bearer of a commission from the French Government by which he was clothed with authority and directed to make discoveries to the southwest and south of the countries over which their jurisdic¬ tion then extended, " and to penetrate in those directions farther than has ever been done," keeping a journal, and reply, on his return, to the written instruc¬ tions given - " in all cases to lake possession, display the King's arms and draw up proces verbeavx, to serve as titles. Other items in the correspondence of the government officials, from time to time, during the period of his absence, show that he had not yet returned. Indeed, it was stated in the beginning that his return was not expected until the expiration of two years, at least ; and that he returned accordingly - all these fact tending to show that his movements were fully known by the authorities aforesaid, and in compliance with instructions. Such being the conditions, let us examine, from the context, whether he retraced his steps, as some have affirmed, or took a different route to reach the point contemplated. This objective purpose was to find the outlet of the great river supposed to run to the southwest or south and fall into the Vermilion Sea (Gulf of California), on the western border of the continent. Animated with a desire to accomplish his mind's ideal of a more direct route to Cbina and Japan, such as seemed to control his actions about the time of his separation from his companions in the vicinity of Lake Erie, it is not presumable, even, that he was so easily discouraged as to turn back after having reached the Falls of the Ohio, almost in direct line with his contemplated route. The less objectionable probability is that he either con¬ tinued thence down the Ohio River to the Missisippi, the great " Father of Waters," or started overland toward the line of northern lakes, which might dis¬ charge an outlet to the westward. Or, again, he may have so far! retraced his steps as to enable him to ascend one of those larger tributaries of the Ohio, the Scioto or Miami, toward the western extremity of Lake Erie, whence, proceeding northward, he may have traversed the strait to Lake Huron, and along the eastern boundary of the peninsula of Michigan to the Strait of Michilimackinac ; thence, passing to the westward around Green Bay and down the west side of Lake Michigan to its southern border. Leaving this point, his route seemed to lay in the direction of the Illinois, crossing which, he is said to have traced its course to the Mississippi, and, perchance, descended its muddy channel. This route is, in part, conjectural, but not wholly so, since the nearest approach to an account of his travels yet produced, incidentally refers to that portion of, his travels after leaving Lake Erie, at a period subsequent to his passage down the Ohio.

Taking into consideration all the facts pertinent to the issue, thus far devel¬ oped, the more probable route, after leaving the Falls of the Ohio, at Louisville, was down that river to he mouth of the Wabash, since, on a manuscript map, drawn in 1673, and still etxtant, exhibiting the area of discovery at that date, the Mississippi River is not shown, but the Ohio is traced a short distance below the Falls, and a part of Eastern and Northern Illinois delineated thereon. From this, the inference is naturally and reasonably drawn that, with the information manifestly in the possession of the compiler of that map, and who must have been, at the same time, cognizant of the movements of M. de La Salle, if not a companion, it is highly probable that, if the Mississippi had been then discov¬ ered, or La Salle had descended the Ohio below the mouth of the Wabash, these additional areas of discovery would have been represented also. "And this, ' says Mr. Parkman (who is the possessor of this map), in his account of M. de La Salle's proceedings at that time, " is very significant, as indicating the extent of La Salle's exploration of the following year, 1670."

Accepting this probability as true - and there seems to be little reason to doubt it - that he ascended the Wabash, where did he leave that stream ? The obvious answer is, that if he subsequently embarked on the western extremity of Lake Erie, and ascended the Strait to Lake St. Clair and beyond, as we have seen, he must have traversed it to " the carrying-place" <>n " La Riviere de Portage," or Little River, and thence, by the portage, to the river " de la Roche " (Maumee), at " Ke-ki-ong-a,' and down that river until it debouches into Lake Erie. This is the more probable, too, in view of the further fact that, being a trader as well as a discoverer, the greater inducement was in favor of the central or chief village of the Miamis, not only the principal arena of trade, but the great converging point of all the sources of information, as stated by Little Turtle in his address to Gen. Wayne at the treaty of Greenville, and his statement was not mere speculation, but founded on the traditions of his fathers from time immemorial. Hence, the route was practical, since it offered tfte means of acquiring more complete and accurate information than was obtain¬ able from any other source, concerning what he most desired to know.

As an objective point, also, Ke-ki-ong-a may have been, and very likely was, visited at an earlier period by adventul^rs or traders, seeking new sources of traf¬ fic, or by priests, desiring to extend the area of civilization by instructing the natives in a knowledge of the duties imposed by the teaching of the Great Spirit whom they ignorantly worshiped. In support of the proposition that this point had been previously visited by white men, it maybe stated as a fact that, as early as 1611 - 12, Champlain, during a series of voyages up the Ottuway to Lake Nipissing, Georgian Bay, Lakes Huron and St. Clair, to the Strait [Detroit River], thence he descended the channel to Lake Erie, and, passing around its western extremity, he examined the coast to the southward along the lower extrem¬ ity of the peninsula of Michigan on his return voyage. Accompanying this expedition was a number of French traders and hunters, who occasionally

About the same time, also, the adventure-loving and persevering Jesuits had formed a part of numerous emigrating bands, spreading over the entire area ot New France/, and, by their earnest, active zeal, were establishing missions among the savages wherever they went, the number of converts, prior to 1621, amountin" to 500. The following year, additional priests were sent from Fiance to aid in the work, and, in 1635, a Jesuit College was founded at Quebec. "W ith tho facilities thus'ufforded, the cultivation of new fields of labor was prosecuted with vigor, extending over the vast domain appropriated by the French King, the establishment of missions depending upon the success with which their labors were crowned. . .. ,

Again, in 1636, upon the incoming of the successor of Cbauiplaine, M. ue Montmagny, the interests of the fur trade were especially promoted, and greater activity manifested in that department by sending out into remote districts per¬ sons adapted to the wants of the situation. Hunters and traders were induced by official recognition to penetrate far into tbe> country of the natives, to negotiate for and secure the trade of distant tribes not before visited, and to carry with them such articles of traffic as would be adapted to the wants of the people where they mi"ht temporarily sojourn. By this means, the Indians, in exchange for the furs and peltries, could supply themselves with hatchets, knives and guns, and the opportunities so presented of securing those necessary articles, operated as encour¬ agements to the Indians to greater effort in procuring the furs required by the traders. Borders of lakes were visited and the larger streams flowing into them were traversed by these adventurers, in pursuit of these commodities of trade. These traders, as we have seen, were either accompanied or followed by priests. For purposes of defense, and for the protection of their stores against ravage, rude forts or stock ades^ were erected at every head-center of trade. The line of travel was generally suggested by the ascertained haunts of fur-bearing animals. Hence, the margin of lakes and rivers bordered by lowlands, were considered the best points, and offered the greatest inducements to these fur hunters and traders. It had been early ascertained that the margin of Lake Erie, and Lake Michigan as well, were bordered by lowlands, especially on the south and west. Where the Maumee enters Lake Erie, and for many leagues above the mouth of that stream, both sides, as long as 1 60 years ago, at least, were bordered by one vast swamp, abounding at all times with game in numerous variety. Farther up, at the Glaise, and in the vicinity, buffaloes were always to be found. Much of the country, also, between the two lakes, was of the same character, and, as a consequence, was fre¬ quently visited in search of the class of furs usually found in such localities.

When Raymbault and Pijart were appointed to missionary work among the Algonquins of the North and West, in 1640, their avenue to the West was by the. way of the Ottawa and French Rivera, and " that the whole coast of Ohio and Southern Michigan remained unknown, except as seen by missionaries from their stations in Canada." The presumption follows, then, that even at that early date, and before, this locality had been traversed by these missionaries, and by traders also, for it is generally conceded that where missionaries have gone the traders have gone before. Iudeed, the country lying but a little to the north of this, had been explored more than twenty years in advance of this date. Of this there can be but little doubt, if we accept the statement of Champlain in his narrative of explorations.

Returning again to the consideration of the question whether La Salle, dur¬ ing the period of his two years' absence, from 1669 to 1671, ascended the Wabash to this point, in making connection between the Falls of Ohio and the west end of Lake Erie ; as stated above, let it be observed that in an official account of his voyages and explorations, the following passages occur :

" In 1676, Sieur de La Salle caused a ship and large house to be built above the Falls of Niagata, within three or four leagues o£Lake Erie, * * * which, being completed in 1677, about the feast of St. John the Baptist, was con¬ ducted, freighted with merchandise, into the said Lake Eric, and thence passed through the Detroit [Strait]. * * * navigated Lake Huron as far as Missilimackanack, and thence through that of the Illinois or Missagan beyond the Huron Islands ; which said bark was constructed for the greater convenience of trading with the French, who inhabited the said place of Missilimakinak for more than forty years [1637]. * * * For the continuance of which trade, he caused a fort and buildings to be erected .and a bark to be begun, at a place called Crevecoeur, in order to proceed as far as the South Sea, two-thirds of which bark only were built, the said Sieur de La Salle having after¬ ward employed canoes for this trade in said countries, as he had already done for several years, in the rivers Oyo, Ouabach and others in the surrounding neighborhood, which flow into the said river Mississippi, whereof possession was taken by him in the King's name, as appears by the relations made thereof. The countries and rivers of the Oyo or Abache and circumjacent territory were inhabited by our Indians, the Chaouanons, Miamis and Illinois." [N. Y. Col. Doc. IX, 182, 183.]

If he had traversed the Wabash and traded along it in canoes several years prior to 1676, at what time is it probable these voyages were made and the trading done? At what other time than' in the fall of 1669, and during the years 1670 and 1671? If not within that period, when? for we have no account of his having done so between the years 1672 and 1676, the date at which the above account commences. Furthermore, if he was trading at that time on the Wabash, then his articles of traffic passed up La Riviere de Portage, were trans¬ ported over "the carrying-place" to the St. Mary's, reshipped and taken down the Maumee to Lake Erie. What more probable route? What more natural point for the location of a fort, palisaded according to the necessities for protec¬ tion and defense, than that at the head of the "portage," on the St. Mary's? Without direct proof to the contrary, the propositions will be accepted as true, that he traded along the upper Wabash in 1669-71, visited Ke-ki-ong-a

County, Indiana

Count de Frontenac was appointed Governor General of the province of New France in 1672, and with his appointment at that period commenced an epoch jjoted for the energy manifested by him in reviving the spirit, of discovery, and for the judicious management of the affairs of the province. " His first efforts were directed to the extension of the French interests in the region of the great lakes. Under his guidance and encouragement, the posts of Michilmackinac and Sault Ste. Marie were established, former explorations perfected, and conciliatory treaties made with the immeuse hordes of Indians, who roamed through that far-off wilderness." The perfection of discoveries to which reference is made extended not only over territory since known as Canada, but over the entire domain of New France, including the valley of the Maumee and St. Mary's, and the great valley of the Wabash, for all this was a part of the dominion of France in North America.

As early as 1611-12, French priests of the Franciscan and Jesuit Orders be"an to extend their missionary work far to the westward. It was not until many years later that we find any traces of them among the Miamis of this vicin¬ ity. In 1632, the shores of Lake Huron had been visited by Father Sagard. Nine years later, Fathers Raymbault and Jogues penetrated as far as Sault Ste. Marie, but Rene Mesnard, in 1660, and Claude Allouez, in 1666, appear to have been first to establish missions as far to the westward as the Bay des l'uans. The mission at Sault Ste. Marie was permanently established in 1668, and, the year following, Father Marquette having succeeded Allouez at La Pointe, the lat¬ ter then established himself at Green Bay, whence that earnest Father began to enlarge his field of labor, visiting the countries to the southward and westward of Lake Michigan. Although we have no direct account of the exact period when the mission was established among the Miamis, yet, in view of the direction pur¬ sued by Allouez about this time, it is fair to presume that Ke-ki-ong-a was vis¬ ited by one or more of these priests as early as 1669 or 1670, for, in May, 1671, a grand council of all the adjacent tribes, including the Miamis, previously vis¬ ited or communicated with, was held at Sault Ste. Marie, in whose presence and with whose consent the Governor General of New France took " possession, in the -name of His Majesty, of all the lands lying between the east and west, and from Montreal to the south, so far as it could be done."

Meanwhile, Allouez had been pursuing his labors among the Miamis, and extending the beneficent influence of his holy faith ; but it appears to have been reserved to Marquette to establish a mission among them, and erect there the standard of the Cross, in the year 1673. On the 18th of May, 1675, Marquette died on the river that has since taken his name, near the margin of the lake, in southwestern Michigan. Allouez died also, soon after, in the midst of his labors among the Miamis. According to the account given by Hennepin, of the pro¬ gress made in Christianizing the Indians, it appears that the mission on the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, was not established until 1679. The following is his account of the establishment of a post at the mouth of the river, afterward called Fort Miami :

" Just at the mouth of the river Miamis, there was an eminence, with a kind of platform, naturally fortified. It was pretty high and steep, of a trian¬ gular form - defended on two sides by the river, and on the other by a deep ditch, which the fall of the water had made. We felled the trees that were on the top of the hill, and, having cleared the same from bushes for about two musket-shot, we began to build a redoubt of eighty feet long, and forty feet broad, with great, square pieces of timber, laid one upon another ; and prepared a great number of stakes, of about twenty-five feet long, to drive into the ground, to make our fort more inaccessible on the river side. We employed the whole month of November (1679), about that work, which was very hard, though we had no other food but the bear's flesh our savage killed. These beasts are very common in that place, because of the great quantity of grapes that abound there ; but their flesh being too fat and luscious, our men began to be weary of it, and desired to leave to go a-hunting and kill some wild goats. M. de La Salle denied them that liberty, which caused some murmurs among them ; and it was unwillingly that they continued the work. This, together with the approach of the winter, and the apprehension that M. de La Salle had that his vessel (the Griffin) was lost, made* him very melancholy, though he concealed it as much as he could. We made a cabin wherein we performed divine service every Sunday; and 'Father Gabriel and I, who preached alternately, took care to take such texts as were suitable to our present circumstances, and fit to inspire us with courage, concord and brotherly love."

This same Father, the year following, visited the villages of the Miamis in the vicinity and on the Illinois River, in his experiences, learning much of the habits and mode of thought of their people, of whom he said : " There were many obstacles that hindered the conversion of the savage ; but, in general, the difficulty proceeds from the indifference they have co everything. When one speaks to them of the creation of the. world and of the mysteries of the Christian religion, they say we have reason, and they applaud, in general, all that we say on the great affairs of our salvation. They would think themselves guilty of a great inpivility if they should show the least suspicion of incredulity in respect to what is proposed. But, after having approved all the discourses upon these matters, they pretend likewise, on their side, that we ought to pay all possible | deference to the relations and reasonings that they may make on their part.'

Superstition, he says, is one of the great hindrances to conversion, and the. cusi tom of traders, in common with themselves, to make the most of the bargain by ! cheating, lying and artifice, to promote personal gain, thus encouraging fraud and injustice. On the other hand, " the best accounts agree that it was through , the agency and persevering exertions of missionaries, combined with the active I and enterprising movements of traders, that amicable relations and a moderate I trade were brought about between the colonists of Canada and the Miami Indians in the seventeenth century. The Indian trade," says Mr. Dillon, *" was carried on by means of men (coureurs des bois), who were hired to manage small vessels on the lakes, and canoes along the shores of the lakes and on the rivers, and to carry burdens of merchandise from the different trading-posts to the principal villages of the Indians who were at peace with the French. At those places, the traders exchanged their wares for valuable furs, with which they returned to the places of deposit. The articles of merchandise used by the French traders in carrying on the fur trade were, chiefly, coarse blue and red cloths, fine scarlet, guns, powder, balls, knives, hatchets, traps, kettles, hoes, blankets, coarse cottons, ribbons, beads, vermilion, tobacco, spirituous liquors, etc. The poorest class of fur traders sometimes carried their packs of merchandise by means of leather straps suspended from their shoulders, or with the straps resting against their foreheads. It is probable that some of the Indian villages on the borders of .the Wabash were visited by a few of this class of traders before the French' founded a settlement at Kaskaskia. It has been intimated, conjecturally, by a learned writer (Bishop Brut<5), that missionaries and traders, before the close of the sev¬ enteenth century, passed down from the river St. Joseph, left the Kankakee to the west, and visited the Tippecanoe, the Eel River and the upper parts of .the Wabash."

Consequent upon the changes occurring in the administration of Canadian affairs, from the death of Champlain, in 1635, to the year 1672, when Count de Frontenac was appointed Governor-General, a manifest want of judicious manage¬ ment was apparent in the conduct of administrative officers and subordinates intrusted with the direction of under colonial affairs. The effect of this was to create distrust, induce insubordination, and retard the operations incident to the prosperity of frontier settlements. At this latter date, and subsequently, there was an advance in the regulatory system, and greater activity in the extensions of trade and settlements. Military posts were established and garrisoned, as a means of protecting those engaged in them, at the principal points designated, as war¬ ranted by the demands of these developing interests. As early as 1672, a con¬ siderable trade had grown up among the Miamis and their allies, in the territory watered by the St. Joseph and Maumee Rivers, adjacent to Lake Erie, which, in a not very remote period in the future, would demand the attention of the colon¬ ial authorities to protect and encourage. In common, therefore, with other points of no greater commercial value, a military post was established here and maintained by the Government.

As we have already shown, a fort was built by La Salle, in 1679, at the mouth of the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan, ostensibly for the purpose of pro¬ tecting trade, but, without doubt, for another purpose, then quite as apparent, defense against the incursions of warlike bands of the Iroquois, especially, who, at that time and for two years or more, had been engaged in a war with the Illi¬ nois and Miamis, a circumstance, also, tending to show why he had not continued at the heyd of the Miami of Lake Erie in line of most direct communication between the lakes and Mississippi trade, which had been discovered and traversed by him and his associates for some time previously.

Count Frontenac, in a communication to the French King, dated November 2, 16&1. speaking of the relations existing in his department, between the Iroquois and the Western tribes, he says: "The Mohawks have done nothing in violation of the promises of the ambassadors whom they sent last autumn ; but the Onondagas and Senecas have not appeared, by their conduct, to be similarly minded and disposed."

" The artifices of certain persons, to which the English, perhaps, have united theirs, have induced them to continue the war against the Illinois, notwithstand¬ ing every representation I had made to them. They burnt one of their villages, and took six or seven hundred prisoners, though mostly children and old women. What is more vexatious is, that they wounded, with a knife, Sieur de Tonty, who was endeavoring to bring about some arrangement between them, and who had been left by Sieur de La Salle in this same village, with some Frenchmen, to pro¬ tect the post he had constructed there. A Recollet Friar, aged seventy years, was also found to have been killed whilst retiring. So that, having waited the entire of this year to see whether I should have any news of them, and whether they would not send to offer me some satisfaction, I resolved to invite them to repair next year to Fort Frontenac to explain their conduct to me.

" Though of no consideration, they have become, Sire, so insolent since their expedition against the Illinois, and are so strongly encouraged in these senti¬ ments, in order that they be induced to continue the war, under the impression that it will embarrass Sieur de La Salle's discoveries, that it is to be feared they will push their insolence farther, and, on perceiving that we do not afford any succor to our allies, attribute this to a want of power, that may create in them to come and attack us."

Some time during the following year, La Salle, in a letter t3 the Governor General of Canada, mentioned the fact of the existence of a shorter route to the Mississippi than that usually traveled, from Lake Erie up the Maumee, to the Portage ; thence down the Wabash to the Ohio and the great Father of Waters, which he had previously discovered ; notwithstanding which, it has been the cus¬ tom of explorers and traders " to go round by the lakes, sometimes descending by Green Bay and the Fox and Illinois Rivers, or by the head of Lake Michigan, up the St. Joseph's of the lake, to the present site of South Bend ; thence by port¬ age to the Kankakee, and down that river." Why this most direct route should have been so long ignored, and the other one so long used, apparently with the idea that there was no other, is satisfactorily answered by M. de La Salle him¬ self, in a letter bearing date October, 1682 : " Because I can no longer go to the

Illinois but by the Lakes Huron and Illinois, the other ways which I have dis¬ covered, by the head of Lake Erie and by the southern coast of the same, becom¬ ing too dangerous by frequent encounters with the Iroquois, who are always upon these coasts." [" Parcequo je ne pourrois plus aller aux Islinois, que par les lacs Huron et Islinois, les aiitres chemins, que j'ay descouverts par le haut dulac

These conditions continuing to surround the village of the Miamis at the head of the Maumee, as long as hostilities existed between those parties, no steps appear to have been taken toward the erection of a fort there other than that probably built by La Salle, while he occupied the place as a trading-post, until there was a temporary suspension, at least, of warlike operations anfong the bel¬ ligerent elements. In 1685, the French Governor began to adopt positive meas¬ ures for the protection of the Miamis; yet, with greater or lesser activity on the part of the combatants, the warfare continued for a series of years, being* allayed only by treaty, about 1695. Notwithstanding this temporary interruption of trade along the short route to the Mississippi, it was, neverthless, resumed soon after the obstructions were removed, if not before that time, and the necessary defenses erected for its maintenance. This becomes manifest when it is shown that a commandant was appointed by the French Government, and provided with the requisite outfit. In an account of the occurrences in Canada from the 1st of November, 1696, to the 15th of October, 1697, appears the following item concerning appointments in the military department:

" Count de Frontenac, after having taken the advice of the principal officers of this country, ordered D'Argcnteuil to place himself at the head of the soldiers about to proceed to Missilima'ckinac and the Miamis. Sieur de Vincennes was to command at the latter post. These officers and soldiers have precisely, only what is necessary for their subsistence, and are very expressly forbidden to trade in Beaver." And this appointment carries with it the very reasonable presutrfption that a fort had already been built, which was necessary to be supplied with officers and men. No change appearing to have been made in the mean time, in a like annual report of the occurrence of the preceding year, bearing date of November 16, 1704, was the following statement of appointments made :

" Dispatched Father Valliant and Sieur de Joncaire to Seneca, and I sent Sieur de Vinsiene to the Miamis with my annexed order and message to be com¬ municated to them.

"Sieur de Vinsiene, my lord, has been formerly Commandant at the Miamis (1697), by whom he was much beloved; this led me to select him in preference to any other to prove to that nation how wrong they were to attack the Iroquois - our allies and theirs - without any cause ; and wc - M. de Beaucharnois and I - after consultation, permitted said Sieur de Vinsiene to carry some goods and to take with him six men and two canoes."

Again, in a communication from Vandrueil to Pontehartrain, dated October 19, 1705, the following further statement occurs: "I did myself the honor to inform you last year that I regarded the continuance of the peace with the Iroquois as the principal affair of this country, and. as I have always labored on -that principle, it is that also which obliged me to send Sieur de Joncaire to the Senecas and Sieur de Vinsiene to the Miamis." [N. Y. Col. Doc. IX, 696, 759. 766].

In addition to what has already been shown in reference to the discovery and use of the line of communication practically by water from the lakes to the Mississippi, the reader is referred to the following testimony :

" It is evident from Father Hennepin and La Salle's travels that the com¬ munication between Canada and Mississippi is a very late discovery ; and, perhaps, such a one as no nation less industrious than the French would have attempted ; but it must be allowed that they have a great advantage over us in this particular, to which even the nature of their religion and government do greatly contribute, for their missionaries, in blind obedience to their superiors, spend whole years in exploring new countries ; and the encouragement the late French King gave to the discoverers and planters of new tracts of land, doth far exceed any advantage your Majesty's royal predecessors have hitherto given to their subjects in America. * * * * From this lake (Eric) to the Missis¬ sippi they have three different ^routes. The shortest by water is up the river Miamis or Ouatnis, on the southwest of Lake Erie, on which river they sail about one hundred and fifty leagues without interruption, when they find themselves stopped by another landing of about three leagues, which they call a carryingplace, because they are generally obliged to carry their canoes overland in those places to the next river, and that where they next embark is a very shallow one, called La Riviere de Portage ; hence they row about forty leagues to the river Ouabach, and from thence about one hundred and twenty leagues to the river Ohio, into which the Ouabach falls, as the river Ohio does about eighty leagues lower into the Mississippi, which continues its course for about three hundred and fifty leagues directly to the Bay of Mexico."

There are likewise two other passages much longer than this, which are particularly pricked down in Hennepin's map, and may be described in the fol¬ lowing manner :

" From the northeast of Lake Erie to a fort on Lake St. Clair, called Pont Chartrin, is about eight leagues' sail ; here the French have a settlement, and ofteu 400 traders meet there. Along this lake they proceed to the Straits of Michillimackinack, 120 leagues. Here is a garrison of about thirty French, and a vast concourse of traders, sometimes not less than 1,000, beside Indians, being a com¬ mon place of rendezvous. At and near this place the Outarwas, an Indian nation, are settled.

" From the Lake Huron, they pass by the Straight Michillimackinack four leagues, beins: two in breadth, and of great depth, to the Lake Illinois ; thence 150 leagues on the lake to Fort Miamis, situated on the mouth of the river Chigagoe ; from hence came those Indians of the same name, viz., Miamis, who are settled on the forementioned river that runs into Erie. Up the river Chigagoe. they Sail but three leagues to a passage of one-quarter of a league, then enter a small lake of about a mile, and have another very small portage, and again another of two miles to the river Illinois, thence down the stream 130 leagues to the Mississippi.

" The next is from Michillimackinack, on the lake Illinois, to the lake Depauns 90 leagues, thence to the river Paans 80 leagues, thence up the same to a

" These distances are as the traders reckon them, but they appear generally to be much overdone, which may be owing to those people coasting along the shores of the lakes, and taking in all the windings of the rivers.

« They have another much shorter passage from Mount Real to Lake Huron, by the French River, on the north of St. Lawrence, which communicates with the two latter routes, but it abounds with falls, and therefore is not so much used. They have also by this river a much shorter passage to the upper lake, or Lake Supcrieur." [N. Y. Col. Doe. V, 620-622.]

Although this paper bears date September 8, 1721, it must be remembered that the statements are based wholly upon the reports of the travels of La Salle and Hennepin - with the maps delinentive thereof - which were consummated within the period from 1660 and 1685, and that the language is simply descrip¬ tive of what was ascertained and known by these voyageurs nearly a half-century before the paper was written. And it seems, too, exceedingly strange that many historians who have written upon the subject should fix the period of the discov¬ ery of this particular route in 1716. when the vefy testimony upon which the statement rests says they were so made from the travels of those two noted trav¬ elers, and not from discoveries made within a short period anterior to 1721. And still further, it must be understood that the account is from English officials, who, necessarily, were not cognizant of the details of recent discoveries made by another nation not enjoying the most friendly relations with them. And. while the account is, in the main, just and fair, the idea should not go forth that this was the first enunciation of a new discovery, when, in fact, it was only a recital of facts long before within the knowledge of the nations.

Of like purport with the information from which the foregoing English article was educed, is the statement of Father Allouez, who, in describing the countries bordering on the Lakes Illinois and Erie, their water-courses and the means of transport to and from the principal marts of trade, items of advan¬ tage proper to be known in the selections of eligible sites for future settlements, says , u There is at the end of Lake Erie, ten leagues below the strait, a river by which we could greatly shorten the route to the Illinois [country], being navi¬ gable for canoes, about two leagues nearer than that way by which they usually go there " - referring to that by the Maumee and Wabash ; but speaks of another route still shorter and better, by way of the Ohio, because of its being navigable for vessels of greater capacity than canoes, and to this latter there were objections not attaching to the one just cited. [Margry's Fr. Disc. Am., 2-98.]

That this route was probably traveled at a much earlier date, even, than that usually claimed for it, is at least strongly suggested by a map published as early as 1657. drawn, no doubt, two or three years before, by M. de Sanson, Royal Geographer to the King of France, designed to accurately represent the relative situation of New France, with its numerous lakes, rivers and mountains, to the best advantage. By this map, a copy of which has been published in this country, Lake Erie is located with considerable accuracy, " with a river flowing into it from the southwest, for a distance, clearly representing the present course of the Maumee, from the site of Fort Wayne to the Lake. The St. Mary's and St. Joseph's are not delineated, showing that their courses had not yet been explored."

This, with other facts already shown, must establish beyond successful con¬ troversy, the very early visitation of this country by white men of careful and painstaking observation and of extensive research.

Aboriginal History Introductory

In considering the question who were the original inhabitants of the region of country subsequently known as the valley of the Kekionga, it is, perhaps, of ' little consequence to the casual reader whether they were white or copper-colored, civilized or barbarian in their habits and instincts. Yet, in this day of ethnological inquiry, the historian, though his field be a local one, is expected to reflect what- I ever light the developments of the age may have brought forth in that regard. It 1 is not in accord with the spirit of inquiry to ignore the investigation and and dis¬ pose of the issue without comment. That this country was inhabited by a race of people possessing a higher order of intelligence and mechanical skill than is generally awarded to the Indians, so called, is, perhaps, unquestioned. The evi¬ dences of this superiority exist in forms, more or less distinct, in every locality.

In numerous localities within the territory of Indiana, prehistoric remains are con¬ spicuous, attracting the attention of archaeologists to an investigation of them as a means of determining the identity of the people cotemporaneous therewith. Of these remains, Allen County has her share, as the article discussing that topic in another part of this work will sufficiently disclose. With all the developments thus far made, the question who the Mound-Builders were, whence and when they came, and what was their history, is yet unanswered. True, many conject¬ ures, more or less plausible in their method of presentation, have been brought forward in the elaboration of opinions upon that subject. It is not, however, the province of this work to enlarge the field of discussion, proposing, rather, to direct the attention of the interested reader to the cumulative arguments of specialists.

Passing, then, to an examination of the traditional and historical evidences at command pertinent to the Indian race, a wider field opens up, inviting atten¬ tion. At the time when the existence of the American continent was made manifest to the civilized world, it was peopled by a race who. in the absence of a more appropriate name, were called Indians, because of their fancied resemblance to the inhabitants of the Eastern Indies, and, perhaps, for the more significant reason that they were found in the course of travel incident to the discovery of a more direct route to the Indies and China, which seems to have been the impel¬ ling motive of the early voyageurs from the Old World. Assuming that Columbus and his successors were the first discoverers of the continent, our knowledge of these aboriginal inhabitants will date from that period ; hence, what may have occurred, and to which attention may occasionally be directed, anterior to that date, should be considered only in the light of tradition, as, indeed, many other incidents must be which come, sometimes, in the character of deductions from well-established facts.

Upon the first introduction of Europeans among the primitive inhabitants of this country, it was the prevailing opinion of the former that this vast domain was peopled by one common family, of like habits and speaking one language. Observation, however, soon discovered the error, at the same time establishing the fact of a great diversity in their leading characteristics, physiological development and language, this diversity sometimes arising from one cause and sometimes from another, and has, within the past century especially, been the subject of extensive ethnological investigations and speculations. These investigations, in many instances, have elicited facts of vast moment in considering conditions from causes before unknown to science.

In a brief review of this subject, the reader's attention will be directed to an examination of such of the features of the investigation as pertain to the tribes and families of the Indian race, who have, in times past, inhabited the immediate territory of Allen County, or whose history becomes incidentally connected there¬ with. Before approaching this, however, it would be well to note some of the radical divisions into which the race has been separated by common consent. The principal of these divisions is now known as the Algonquin, or Algonkin, which embraces, among others, the Miamis, claimed to be one of the most perfect types, and, indeed, one of the most numerous in past ages. Next to the Miamis, if not entitled to rank first, is the Delawares, or Lenni Lenapees, and the Shawanoes. The Miamis were sometimes known as the Ornes, Omamees and Twatwas. Next to these were the Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas and Piankeshaws, who collectively were known as the Illinese or Illinois Indians. Then the Ottawas, the Chippewas and Mississauger were interchangebly known as the Nepersinians, Nipissings, Ojibwas, Santaux and Chibwas. Alter these were the Kickapoos or Misscoutins ; the Pottawatomies or Poux, and the Sacs and Foxes. The Munsees was another name for the Delawares. This is the classification given by Schoolcraft, and is probably the most accurate.

Another division, the Hurons, Huron-Iroquois or Wyandots, embraced nearly all the remaining tribes, with whom we are interested at this time. Of this division the Hurons, better known now as the Wyandots, enter more especially into the history of this locality. The other divisions occupied territory so remote, that a reference to them separately would be unnecessary, further than by occasional incidents connecting them with those already noted.

The Algonquins

as a family, have been migratory in character, for, says Schoolcraft, " we find some traces of this language in ancient Florida. It first assumes importance in the sub-genus of the Powhattauese circle in Virginia. It is afterward found in the Nanticokes; assumes a very decided type in the Lenni Lenapees, or Delawares ; and is afterward traced, in various dialects, in the valleys of the Hudson and Con¬ necticut, and throughout the whole geographical area of New England, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia."

" The term [Algonquin] appears to have been first employed ,as a generic word by the French, for the old Nipercinians, Ottawas, Montaghies and their conquerors, in the valley of the St. Lawrence. It is applied to the Salteurs, of St. Mary, the Maskigoes of Canada, and, as shown by a recent vocabulary, the

Blackfeet of the Upper Missouri, the Saskatchawans, the Pillagers of the Upper I Mississippi and the Crees or Kinistenoes of Hudson's Bay. Returning from ! these remote points, where this broad migratory column was met by the Athapasea group, the term includes the Miamis, VVeas, Piankeshaws, Shawanoes, Pot- ' tawatoinics, Sacs and Foxes, Kickapoos and Illinois, and their varieties, the Kaskaskias, etc., to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi." From this it will be seen that branches of this original family have extended to a large proportion of the territory now occupied by the United States and British America

Intellectually considered, the Algonquins occupy a position far above medi¬ ocrity, surpassed only by the Dakotas and Iroquois, the latter standing in the first rank, the cranial measurement showing an average internal capacity of eighty-eight and a half cubic inches, the D.ikotas eighty-five and the Algonquins eighty-three and three-fourths inches, with a facial angle of seventy-seven degrees, while that of the Iroquois is only seventy-five and the Dakotas seventyseven degrees. The Miamis, as a distinct branch of the Algonquin family, has an average facial measurement of seventy-six degrees and an internal cranial capacity of eighty-nine cubic inches. In point of intellectual activity, also, the Miamis will compare favorably with the highest types of the Algonquin or other i families, as a comparison of individualities will sufficiently establish.

The language of the Algonquins is euphonious and expressive, having a great variety of vowel sounds capable of numerous and extremely nice and regu¬ lar modifications. In proof of this, it is said that ''each of the seventeen primary syllables may be changed fifteen times, showing the possible number of elementary syllables which are employed to be 255, a fact significant of the capacity of the language." It is said, too, to be in a peculiar sense a language of pronouns. Originally there were but three terms answering to the three per¬ sons - I, thou or you, and he or she. While these terras distinguish the first person with sufficient clearness, yet they convey no idea of sex. To obviate this difficulty, another class of pronouns is brought into requisition which should be suffixed to verbs ; but, since the language is without auxiliary verbs, their place is supplied by tensal syllables, which extend the original monosyllables into tri¬ syllables. By this and similar means, the primary defects in the structure of the language are amply supplied, and. hence, may be said to be prolific in forms of expression, but frequently indirect and circuitous.

Aside from the distinctive individualities just noticed, there are few physi¬ cal peculiarities which characterize the .Mgonquin from the other Indian families of North America. " All possess, though in various degrees, the long, lank, black hair, the heavy brow, the dull and sleepy eye, the full and compressed lips ! and the salient but dilated nose."

" A similar conformity of organization is not less obvious in the cranial structure of these people. The Indian skull is of a decidedly rounded form. The occipital portion is flattened in the upward direction ; and the transverse diam¬ eter, as measured between the parietal bones, is remarkably wide, and often exceed the longitudinal line.' The forehead is low and receding, and rarely arched as in the other races - a feature that is regarded by Humboldt, Lund and other naturalists as characteristic of the American race, and serving to distinguish it even from the Mongolian The cheek-bones are high, but not much expanded ; the whole maxillary region is salient and ponderous, with teeth of a correspond¬ ing size and singularly free from decay."

Iroquois

The grand Indiau confederacy known by the name of Iroquois, is said to have been composed of five of the leading nations inhabiting territory on th south of the St. Lawrence, or more receutly, perhaps, south of the line of lakelying between the territorial limits of the United States and British America. " The immediate dominion of the Iroquois - " says Bancroft, " where the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas were first visited by the trader, the missionary, or the war parties of the French - stretched, as we have seen, from the borders of Vermont to Western New York, from the lakes to "the head¬ waters of the Ohio, the Susquehanna and the Delaware. The number of their warriors was declared by the French, in 1660, to have been two thousand two hundred, and, in 1677, an English agent, sent on purpose to ascertain their strength, confirmed the precisi n of the statement. This geographical position made them umpires in the contest of the French for dominion in the West. Besides, their political importance was increased by their conquests. Not only did they claim some supremacy in Northern New England as far as the Kenne¬ bec, and to the south as far as New Haven, and were acknowledged as absolute lords over the conquered Lenape - the peninsula of Upper Canada was their hunting-field by the right of war; they had exterminated or reduced the Erics and the Conestogas, both tribes of their own family, the one dwelling to the south of Lake Erie, the other on the banks of the Susquehanna; they had tri¬ umphantly invaded the tribes of tin*. West as far as Illinois ; rheir warriors had reached the soil of Kentucky and Western Virginia ; and England, to whose alliance they steadily incliucii, availed itself of their treaties for the cession of territories, to encroach even on the empire of France in America.

" The Mohawks, sometimes called Wabingi, are said to have been the oldest of the confederacy, and that the 1 Onavauts' (Oneidas) were the first that joined them by putting themselves under their protection. The Onondagas were the next, then the ' Teuontowanos' or 'Sinikers' (Senecas), then the 'Cuikguos' (Cayugas). The Tuscaroras, from Carolina, joined them about 1712, but were not formally admitted into the confederacy until about ten years after that. The addition of this new tribe gained them the name of the Six Nations, according to most writers, but it will appear that they were called the Six Nations long before the last-named period."

The government of the Iroquois was of the republican form, a -confederation of bold tribes, guaranteeing to each tribe cantonial independence or sovereignty, while conceding general power, and at the same time awarding to each man and warrior his equal and individual rights, only subject to modification for the com¬ mon good. This model, it is said, furnished the elementary basis for the con¬ struction of the American Government, the copy, perhaps, being no more perfect, so far as equal rights and a jealousy of and verbal stipulations against hereditary immunities are concerned. So well assured were they of the permanent and practical value of their form of government, that it i9 stated to be " a memorable fact that the Iroquois were so strongly impressed with the wisdom of the working of their system of confederation, that they publicly recommended a similar union to the British colonies. In the important conference at Lancaster in 1774, Canassatego, a respected sachem, expressed this view to the Commissioners of Penn¬ sylvania, Virginia and Maryland. 1 Our wise forefathers,' he said, 'established union aud amity between the Five Nations. This has made us formidable. This has given us great weight and authority with our neighboring nations. We are a powerful confederacy, and, by observing the same methods our wise forefathers have taken, you will acquire fresh strength and power. Therefore I counsel you, whatever befalls you, never fall out with one another.' "

In his history of the Five Nations, Golden says they " consist of so many tribes or nations, joined together by a league or confederacy, like the United Provinces, and without any superiority of the one over another. This union has continued so long that the Christians know nothing of the original of it. The people in it are known to the English under the names of Mohawks, Oncydocs, Onondagas, Cayugas and Sennekas.

" Each of these nations is again divided into three tribes or families, who distinguished themselves by three different arms or ensigns - the tortoise, the bear and the wolf ; and the sachems or old men of these families put this ensign, or mark of their family, to every public paper when they sign it.

" Each of these natious is an absolute republic by itself, and every castle in each nation makes an independent republic, and is governed, in all public affairs, by its own sachems or old men. The authority of these rulers is gained by, and consists wholly in, the opinion the re-tt of the nation has of their wisdom and integrity. They never execute their resolutions by force upon any of their people. Honor and esteem are their principal rewards, as shame and being despised their punishments."

In short, all their actions are a reflex of the expressed will of the governed. Hence, in their warlike expeditions, the leaders moved as the sovereigns directed. Warlike expeditions were not commenced until the matter, after mature delibera¬ tion, had been fully determined upon. Then the whole nation, or confederacy, moved as by a common impulse, which accounts, no doubt, for their numerous successes. Their expeditions were directed, sometimes, against members of their own linguistic family, as in the case of the Eries and Wyandots, which were prosecuted with unrelaxing vigor.

Auainst The Eries

The difficulties between the confederate Iroquois and the Eries grew out of the disposition to neutrality between fierce and powerful contending nations, and came about in this wise. In the year 1626, after the French had made rapid progress in their settlements north of the St. Lawrence, a great effort was made to civilize and Christianize the Indians of that region. At that time, the Eries were visited with this object in view, when their national peculiarity was first brought to notice. This characteristic caused them to be designated by the French as the Neutral Nation. When the neutrality spoken of was established, the Wyandots, otherwise known as the Hurons and the Iroquois, were at war. The settlement of Canada by the French, was the occasion of disagreement between these two fraternal branches of the great Indian family, and resulted in an open rupture of their former alliance - the Wyandots adhering to the French, and the Iroquois to the Dutch. ' In this feud of the Iroquois, the Algonquin tribes (Adirondacks). who were at war with them aforetime, were glad to make allies of the French and Wyandots. Between, the Eries occupied a geographical position on the banks of the Niagara. They had already, from propinquity and habits, formed a close alliance with an Algonquin tribe on the west and north of Lake Ontario, called Mississaugies. They were nearly related to the Wyandots and Five Nations. Neutrality was their only salvation. It was a delicate position, and required great wisdom to preserve it. Neuter nations, when the period for action arrives, are apt to offend both sides. It was certainly so with the Eries. They finally offended both the Wyandots and Iroquois ; but it was the latter who turned upon them with great fury and power, and. in a short and sanguinary war, extinguished their nationality." At first, however, the Eries were successful, by dint of superior bravery and management, but they were eventually overpowered' and defeated in the year 1653 ; at which time they ceased to be known as a dis¬ tinct nation. The eventual success of the Iroquois, in their fratricidal war with the Eries, Colden, in his history of the Five Nations, declares first inspired the confederates with courage -to successfully attack the Adirondacks ( Algonquins), the allies of the Wyandots. .

Subsequently, with the accumulating successes of the Iroquois, other Indian nations occupying adjacent territory were made to feel the power that subjugated the Eries and Wyandots. At the period of the aggressions just cited, the Andastes, inhabiting territory on the upper part of the Susquehanna River, were added to the conquests of the Five Nations. This occurred, from the best data at command, about the year 1676. Within twenty years afterward, the Lenni Lenapes, or Delawares, as they were generally known, a powerful nation, situated on the river of that name, were humiliated by the confederates, and deprived of their ancient position among the native races of America.

Thatcher [Ind. Biog., II, p. 38], speakiug of the conquests of the Five Nations, says : "They exterminated the Eries, or Erigos, once living on the south side of the lake of their own name. They nearly destroyed the Andcrstes, and the Chouanons or Showanons. They drove back the Hurons and Ottawas among the Sioux of the Upper Mississippi, where they spread themselves into bands, ' proclaiming, wherever they went, the terror of the Iroquois.' The Illinois, on the west, also were subdued, with the Miamis and the Shawanese. The Nipereiniaos of the St. Lawrence, fled to Hudson's Bay to avoid their fury. The borders of the Outaouis,' says an historian, 'which were thickly peopled, became almost deserted.' The Mohawk was a name of terror to the farthest tribes of New England. * * * Finally, they conquered the tribe of Vir¬

Prior to this time, the Iroquois had been engaged, frequently, in expedi¬ tions against the Algonquins and their allies, the French, with varied successes, snmetimes accomplishing by strategy what they failed to do by force. Defeats w. re not unfrequent, as the fortunes of war are sometimes adverse to apparently superior power in the execution of designs at variance with justice. During the progress of these early warlike manifestations, many minor elements of discord were permitted to enter into the management of the belligerent parties, which, though insignificant at first, grew to be the occasion of disastrous consequences. Among these, the advantages arising from the trade in furs, especially the beaver, which, being a source of extensive revenue to the parties engaged in it, excited first personal, then national jealousy, and finally war and bloodshed, involving not only the powerful tribes north and south of the St. Lawrence, but the French nation on the one band as the allies of the Algonquins, and the English with the Iroquois on the other, the sequel of which is yet to be seen.

Immediately following the French settlements in Canada, when trading-posts had been established, a desire to profit by the exchange of merchandise with the Indians for the furs and peltries which they had accumulated, was necessarily incident to the opportunities offered in that direction. As a consequence, there- i fore, the French, who seemed to exercise a more healthful influence over the natives, secured a monopoly of the trade in beaver, the staple article of commerce, and a feeling of jealousy was naturally engendered in the minds of the English i traders, moving them to the procurement of an alliance with the Iroquois, for ! counteracting effect with smaller tribes, in the interest of the French, by whom i their trade was controlled. Numerous instances have been brought to light, devel¬ oping a resort to means not. the most honorable to accomplish what had not by other methods been attained.

The Iroquois, twenty years or more prior to the year 1683, having subju¬ gated all the neighboring tribes, turned their attention to trade with the English, the fur trade, especially in beaver, being better with the English than with the French, as claimed by the former; hence they sought, by every means at their command, to increase that trade. Thus actuated, they conceived the idea of des¬ troying the Outaouax (Ottawas), who, for more than thirty years before, had been allies of the French, and secured to them alone two-thirds or more of the trade in beaver that was annually shipped to France.

As a means in the accomplishment of their end, the Iroquois, as a pretext, raised an outcrj against the Outaouax, charging them with having been instru¬ mental, a few years before, in the murder of an Iroquois Captain at Michilimackinac, near an Outaouax fort. With that as an incentive, the whole Iroquois family was soon excitqd, and declared war against them with the expectation of readily subduing them by superior prowess, and thus intercept the channel through which the French had secured their large and lucrative trade in beaver, and take it themselves.

Calculating, also, that the Outaouax would be assisted by the Algonquins and Hurons, the Iroquois labored incessantly to win over the Hurons, who had formerly been subject to their influence, with the other Allies of the French, Scouebache and other Huron -traitors interesting themselves, also, to induce the Iroquois to make war against the French. Of all these strifes, the English appear to have been the fomenters, instigated by a desire for the advantages likely to result to them from the trade in that class of furs.

As early as 1681, it was the opinion that, if the Iroquois were permitted to proceed in their course, they would subdue not only the Ottawas, who chiefly supplied that department of the trade, the Hurons being already in subjection to them, but the Illinois, allies of the Ottawas, and thus render themselves masters of the situation, diverting the fur trade into English channels. [Col. Doc., IX. 165-2JU.]

It was apparent also, that, through the influence of the Iroquois, a half-ceutury later, the Hurons were ready to and would have massacred all the French at Detroit, had not a Huron squaw overheard the plans of the schemers and con¬ veyed the intelligence to M. de Langueil, Commandant at the post, who, being thus forewarned, made preparations too formidable to be readily overcome. The action of the Hurons in this instance, too, appear to have been the outgrowth of English influence, from like motives. These last occurrences were in 1746-17, the immediate pretexts for which are stated to have been the outgrowth of the intro¬ duction of certain English belts, by the Iroquois, among all the adjacent tribes susceptible to such influences.

The Miamis

Omces, Omamees or Twe Twees-Twa' Twas, next to the Delawares, per¬ haps. are entitled to be recognized as the leading branch of the Algonquin group. j tracing their individuality with the Ottawas and Nipersinians, from the country ; north of the river St. Lawrence, in the latter end of the sixteenth century, j when the French navigators and traders began first to establish posts as the ante¬ cedents of permanent settlements in New France. Whatever is true of their relationship to the parent stock, whether immediate or remote, it is a fact, never¬ theless, that many of the primitive characteristics of the generic group are pre¬ served in the Miami nation.

In common with the primitive Algonquins, the language of the Miamis, in comparison with the Hurons, " has not so much force but more sweetness and elegance. Both have a richness of expression, a variety of turns, a propriety of terms, a regularity which astonishes. But what, is more surprising is, that among these barbarians, who never study to speak well, and who never had the use of writing, there is not introduced a bad word, an improper term, or a vicious con¬ struction ; and even children preserve all the purity of the language in their common discourse. On the other hand, the manner in which they animate all they say, leaves no room to doubt of their comprehending all the worth of their expres¬ sions and all the beauty of their language."

In preparing for war, the Miamis have a custom, peculiar to themselves. Says Charlevoix : " After a solemn feast, they placed on a kind of altar, some pagods made with bear-skins, the heads of which were painted green. All the savages passed this altar, bowing their knees, and the jugglers led the van, hold¬ ing iu their hands a sack which contained all the things which they use in their conjurations. They all strive to exceed each other in their contortions, and as any one distinguished himself iu this way, they applauded him with great shouts. When they had thus paid their first homage to the idol, all the people danced in such confusion to the sound of a drum and a Cheahicoue ; and during this time the jugglers make a show of bewitching some of the savages, who seem ready to expire ; then, putting a certain powder upon their lips, they make them recover. When this farce has lasted some time, lie who presides at the feast, having at his side two men and two women, runs through all the cabins to give the savages notice that the sacrifices were going to begin. When he meets any one in his way, he puts both his hands on his head and the person met embraces bis knees. The victims were dogs, and one hears on every side the cries of these animals, whose throats they cut, and the savages, who bowl with all their strength, seem to imitate their cries. As soon its the flesh was dressed, they offered it to the idols ; then they ate it and burnt the bones. All this while the jugglers never cease raising the pretended dead, and the whole ends by the distribution made to these quacks of whatever is most to their liking in all the village."