Clinton Township (part 1 of 18)

Introduction

Less than nine centuries since, the historic period of the Western Continent - the new world - was ushered in. Let us pause a moment and recall the achievements of the actors in the great drama of discover}', settlement, colonization, and nationality. With our own territory extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the great cool lakes to the broad warm gulf, it also embraces a separate territory bordering the Frozen Ocean and clasping hands with the great Asiatic Continent, almost linking that continent with British North America. With an area of more than three and a half million square miles, it embraces a population of more than 50,000,000 human beings, which number is annually augmented by accessions from all quarters of the globe. This domain comprises all varieties of climate, soil, productions, rivers, lakes, and natural scenery, and forms the material for many States yet to form, which under the indissoluble bond of union now existing will make of all a Nation, under a government the best the world has ever seen, with institutions of which the race may be proud, and in the enjoyment of liberties of which the old world has never even dared to dream. "A government of the people, for the people, and by the people," it has become the model to which all governments are slowly but steadily fashioning themselves. "Westward the star of empire took its way," until in the new world was solved the great problems of government, of liberty and equality, for these institutions have been found equal to any test, and able to resist every strain. Resting upon intelligence, its superiority has been demonstrated, its adaptation to the wants of man attested until it gives promise of a solution of the great problem of the social, political, and civil destiny of man.

But all this is the growth and development of less than three centuries, and a review of that period, extending from savagery to enlightenment is the task we undertake. What is the story of the years ?

Discovery

Nearly nine centuries ago, Eric the Red, a Norwegian sailor,* settled in Iceland, from which he navigated the seas, until discovering Greenland, he concluded to make it his home. His son Lief, fired by ambition, purchased a vessel, and undertook a voyage of discovery. With a stout little craft, sometimes moved by wind and again by oars, just such a vessel as the sea-kings of Europe used, he prepared with twenty-five men to make a voyage of the unknown sea. He had prevailed upon his father to become the commander of the expedition, but on the way to the vessel the animal ridden by Eric stumbled, and the old navigator thinking it an ill omen said, " I do not believe it is given to me to discover any more lands, and here I will abide."

In the summer of 1002f Lief and his companions sailed southwesterly, until they saw land, flat along the shore, with snow-capped mountains at a distance from the sea. Farther south they found another country of heavy timber and no mountains. Here they rested a few hours, and t A Norse navigator, Herjulfson, sailing from Iceland to Greenland in the year 986 was driven by a storm to Newfoundland or Labrador, but after being driven about at length reached Greenland, without having landed in the new country of which he related marvellous stories.

again sailed southward. The next land was gently hilly and mostly wooded, with a northern shore sheltered by an island. Here small but delicious fruits were found in abundance, and some burnt wood and bones of fishes were the only traces of human beings. Finding a harbor at the mouth of a river, their vessel was carried by the tide into a bay, where they landed, and finding a delightful climate, the woods abounding with deer and the waters with fish, they concluded to spend the winter. A German of the company discovered an abundance of delicious grapes, and the country was then named Vineland by Lief.

On returning to Greenland in the spring they found Eric had recently died, and Lief being the eldest son came in possession of the estate and patriarchal office, nis younger brother, Thorwald, then obtained the vessel, and with thirty companions visited Vineland, and passed the winter in the huts built by his brother. In the spring part of the company explored the coasts, but repaired to the old quarters in Vineland to pass the winter. Explorations were made the following summer, until on the high land bordering an inlet Thorwald determined to make his abode. Natives were discovered here of dusky color and small stature, resembling the Esquimaux of Greenland. Some of those found in canoes were made prisoners, and cruelly murdered by the Northmen. One escaped, who fled to his people and aroused them against the Northmen. The savages approached in canoes, and, surprising the company of Thorwald, a fight ensued, in which Thorwald was mortally wounded, while his companions escaped. The chief was buried on the promontory which he had chosen for a home. His survivors passed the winter in fear of the savages, and in the spring returned to Greenland.

Eric's third son, Thorstcin, hearing of the death of his brother, sailed for Vineland with twenty-five companions and his young wife Gudrida, to whom he had been married only a few weeks. They were driven upon the desolate shore of Greenland, where they suffered dreadfully until spring. Thorstcin and many of his companions perished by contagion, and the young wife with a few of the company remained to carry home the body of her husband.

During the next summer a rich young Norwegian, named Thorfin, visited Greenland, wedded Gudrida, and in company with five other young men and their wives sailed for Vineland to plant a colony. They landed near the spot where Lief had passed the winter, and founded a colony, with which Thorfin and Gudrida remained about three years, when they sailed for Norway. After several voyages they settled in Iceland, living in unrivalled style until the death of Thorfin. Gudrida then went with her son, who was born in Vineland, on a pilgrimage to Rome, where she related her adventures to Pope Benedict, and returned to enter a convent. Her son Snorre became master of his father's estate and the ancestor of a long line of descendants, one of whom was Albert Thorwaldsen the great Danish sculptor. Thorfin's colony was joined by two brothers, Helgi and Fiombogi, with thirty followers. They were Icelandic chieftains who fitted out the expedition in Greenland, and permitted Freydisa, the daughter of Eric, to accompany and share the profits of the voyage. As she was deceitful and of a fiery temper, it was hoped by Lief and his family she would permanently remain in Vineland, but she soon became such a firebrand in the colony, that finding her life in peril she returned to Greenland.

Such is the story of the Icelandic chronicles. Where was Vineland? The stony land with snow-capped mountains was doubtless Labrador, while the flat, wooded land was as undoubtedly Newfoundland. The lime given of the rising and setting of the sun at the winter solstice, indicates a point between Boston harbor and Narragansett Bay as the site of Vineland. The best informed students believe Thorfin and Gudrida landed and lived on Rhode Island, and that the mysterious stone tower at Newport was built by these Norwegian colonists. No positive traces of the colony are found after the departure of Freydisa. The sagas and eddas of Iceland give glimpses of it for a few years, but even these allow it to fade nway. They do tell 11 s that Gndlief traded between Iceland and Ireland about the year 1030; that while sailing westward a strong wind swept his ship to the southwest; that after many days he and his crew saw land, and on entering a harbor were made prisoners by a dark-colored people who came from the woods in great numbers. Taken to the forest they were met by a white chieftain, who addressed them in Icelandic, procured their release, and advised them to depart at once as the dark natives were cruel to strangers. He refused to tell his name, but inquired about Snorre and other persons of Iceland. He then took a gold ring from his finger, and requested Gudlief to present it to Thurida, the sister of Snorre. Gudlief did as requested, and it was believed the white chief was Bjorn, a famous Icelandic bard, who had been a lover of Gudrida, and left his country in 998.* Tradition speaks of other voyages to the new world; one by Prince Madoc of Wales, which lays claim to the chronicles of that country for its foundation. It has been believed by some students that Madoc, a son of Owen Gwynneth, became disgusted with domestic contentions about the rightful successor to his father, and went on a voyage of discovery during the reign of Henry the Sec.ond of England, and going westward from Ireland discovered a fruitful country in 1H0. After his return he sailed for the same land with ten ships and a colony of men, women, and children, and was never heard of afterward. It has been observed by travellers that light-colored Indians were met by them who had many Welsh words in their language. Humboldt gave the tradition a hearing, and Southey made it the theme of a poem. The Norsemen found the land peopled by a race of savage dwarfs or Esquimaux, and here America passed from view, and lay hidden from the gaze of Europeans for a period of nearly three hundred years. During that period mighty changes had occurred in Europe. Wonderful intellectual, moral, and physical activity manifested itself about the middle of the fifteenth century. Trade was linking Europe in- bonds of mutual sympathy and interest, when the printing press appeared to revolutionize society and inaugurate the era of scientific research and maritime discovery.

Lief Erickson came to the American continent at the midnight of the world; Columbus came at the first faint gleam of the dawn. With the revival of learning, which the crusades were chiefly instrumental in producing, a knowledge of the theories and demonstrations of the Arabian astronomers concerning the globular form of the earth came to Europeans. Intelligent mariners convinced the Genoese merchants of the truth of this theory, but the clergy opposed it with vehemence, until the clash of Reason and Faith produced two hostile parties arrayed in bitter controversy. Reason triumphed, and the Genoese merchants furnished ships for the navigators to go westward in search of India.

It was at this period that Christopher Columbus, by birth a Genoese, appealed to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain for sufficient patronage to enable him to fit out an expedition to make a westward search for India, ne was successful through the sympathy of Isabella, and on Friday, August 3, 1492, set sail from Palos with three vessels, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina, carrying with him letters from the Spanish sovereigns to the Grand Khan of Tartary. Days and weeks passed by until the discovery of land on the night of October 11. On the next day the vessels were laid to, awaiting the dawn. Wooded shores were in view ; the perfume of flowers was wafted by the land breeze, and birds of gorgeous plumage hovered about the vessels. It was the triumph of Columbus, for as Mr. Irving has said, "The great mystery of the ocean was revealed." At sunrise Columbus and his companions landed from small boats, and found a number of men and one woman, with skins of

" We are here on historical ground. By the critical and highly praiseworthy efforts of Prof. Rafn and the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Copenhagen, the sagas and documents in regard to the expeditions of the Norsemen to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Vineland, have been published and satisfactorily commented upon The discovery of the northern part of America by the Norsemen cannot be disputed. The length of the voyage, the direction in which they

While the Caliphate of Bagdad was still flourishing, .... America was discovered about the year 1000 by Lief, the son of Eric the Red, at a latitnde of 41|° north." dark copper color, watch their movements for a time, and then flee in alarm to the deeper shades of the forest. These inhabitants had watched the approaching ships from dawn with awe and apprehension, believing them to be monsters of the sea. When they saw the white men come ashore, in dress of gaudy colors, with shining lace and glittering armor, they supposed them to be superior beings whose abode was the skies. The Europeans, too, were astonished at the naked people with dusky skins, painted in a variety of colors and devices. The men were without beards, and both sexes wore long black hair falling about the shoulders and bosoms in profusion. By degrees the alarm of the savages gave way, and they approached the Europeans, giving signs of amity and good will. They were the natives of San Salvador, but Columbus, believing he had reached an island of Farther India, called the inhabitants Indians, a name since applied to all the natives of America.

The Indians

We have already adverted to great ciianges having occurred in Europe during the period intervening between the discoveries of Lief and Columbus, the Cabots, and Vespuccius. As great changes had evidently occurred among the nations of North America. The weak bands of dwarfed Esquimaux found by the Norsemen had evidently given way before the stronger, hardier, and nobler race encountered by the Europeans. The weak Esquimaux were either annihilated or driven to the frozen regions of the north, and abundant evidence existed showing great migrations had occurred from part to part of the continent, in which half civilized barbarians were expelled from fertile districts by savages, while savage regions had in turn been colonized by sun worshippers from Central and South America, whose art remains tell of a rude civilization. It is certain that in South America native empires flourished which would compare favorably with those of the Eastern world. From the Rio Grande to the Isthmus of Panama an empire flourished whose people and rulers displayed many of the nobler virtues, some of the civilized arts and sciences, and whose laws evinced as profound respect for the great principles of morality as those of the most civilized nations of Europe. That empire was exerting a softening influence among the rude tribes of the north, when the civilized murderers and robbers from Spain, under Cortez, made their appearance, overturned the empire, and extinguished the light whose glimmerings were visible in the darker regions of the north. Professedly Christian themselves, they barred the advance of a civilization which was more practically Christian than that of the conquering robbers.

Such were some of the changes, some of the advances made by the savages of the western world before their contact with Europeans. Traced from the civilization to which they were capable of rising back to barbarism, their origin fades away until it is lost in the long night of human ignorance. On numerous facts and discoveries, as numerous theories o.f their origin have been founded. Remains of fortifications, idols composed of clay and gypsum, and a Roman coin have been discovered. Again, a Persian coin was. found in Ohio ; a piece of silver, dated in the year 600, in New York, and split wood and ashes thirty feet below the surface in the same State. A finely-gilded silver cup in an Ohio mound, and two ancient swords, a helmet and shield bearing Greek inscriptions carrying them back to the time of Alexander the Great in a tomb of South America, are some of the facts on which stand different theories of the origin of the western nations. One theory claims they came from Phoenicia, another from Egypt, another from Hindoostan, and again from China. Then comes another theorist, who insists and demands that we believe them the descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel," without pausing to show us that any of those tribes were lost instead of being amalgamated by merging with other nations.*

* James Adair, after residing among the Indians for forty years, published a work in 1775, in which he advocates a Jewish descent, on the grounds of the following facts and characteristics of the Indians : -

1. Their division into tribes. 2. Their worship of Jehovah. 3. Their notion of a theocracy. 4. Their belief in the ministration of angels. 5. Their language and dialect. 6. Their manner of counting time. 7. Their prophets and high priests. 8. Their festivals, fasts, and religious rites. 9. Their daily sacrifice.

Again, it is maintained they are the products of nature, and had their origin on the continent where found, and this has the traditions of the natives on its side. " The land you sleep on is ours; we sprang out of the earth like the trees, the grass, and the flowers," said a Micmac chief in Nova Scotia to Colonel Cornwallis of the British army. "My father is the sun, and the earth is my mother. I will recline upon her bosom," said Tecumseh at the great council of Vincennes, as he seated himself upon the ground. Some of these theories are evidently strained, while many of the resultant conclusions are far fetched or even fanciful. Biology and ethnology have wandered back and back along the lines of man's descent, until they find themselves surrounded by savagery and barbarism on every hand. Still they have not despaired, but with a courage born of a love of truth and knowledge are groping slowly along in the midst of that darkness which envelops the origin - not of the American Indian alone - but of the whole human race. Searching unremittingly without a theory to sustain or a creed to Bupport, we may expect honest enthusiasm and research to increase the knowledge of all, rather than labor for the support of a theory too soon embraced by either the few or the many.

Turn, then, from the question of their origin, wrapped, as it is, in the mantle of antiquit}', and view them from the standpoint of their condition at the advent of the whites. Let us look at some of their characteristics, customs, and modes of life. At the period of discovery, or during the fifteenth and sixteenth' centuries, the natives of the present domain of the United States would appear to have all sprung from the same' original stock, except, perhaps, a few tribes along the gulf coast. With broad faces, they had prominent cheek bones, dark, .heavy eyes, Jet black hair, and skin of a dark copper color. A hundred dialects were spoken, but these all obtained from a common root. Of taciturn disposition, they possessed great fortitude and would endure great suffering without an exhibition of emotion. With a simple form of government, their laws were so generally observed that transgressions were exceedingly rare. Their theology was as simple as their government, for they simply believed in a great Good Spirit and a great Evil Spirit, each supreme in its sphere, and then deified the sun, moon, stars, (ire, water, wind, and every object or natural agency which appeared superior to themselves. Their only written language was rude picture writing on rocks, bark of trees, or skins of animals. Historical records and legends were transmitted from the memory of father to son, and so on down the ljncal generations. Their dwellings were huts made of poles leaning to a common centre, and covered with bark or the skins of beasts. The men engaged in war, hunting, and fishing, while the women, true to all primitive ideas of their station, were fit only to perform all drudgery in common with that of the household. They bore all burdens during journeys, erected the tents or wigwams, prepared the food and clothing, wove the bed mats, and planted, cultivated, and gathered the crops of corn, beans, and tobacco wherever these were cultivated. In winter the skins of animals served the purpose of clothing for men and women alike, while in summer the men wore only a wrapper about the loins. They were sometimes tattooed in imitation of some object, and coloring matter being injected in the punctures rendered the ornamentation permanent. They generally ornamented their persons by the use of the claws of bears, the pearl of shells, and the plumage of birds. Their money was little shell tubes, fastened to belts or strung on thongs of deers' hide, and called wampum. These collections were used in trade, in treaties, and as tokens of friendship. Their weapons were bows and arrows, tomahawks or hatchets, war clubs, and scalping knives. Shields of bark and corselets of hide were sometimes worn for protection. The civil governor of a tribe was called a sachem, and the military leader a chief. Proud and haughty, they had great respect for personal dignity and honor, until it was offensive to ask a chief or sachem his name,

10. Their ablutions and anointings. 11. Their laws of uncleanness. 12. Their abstinence from unclean things. 13. Their marriages, divorces, and punishment of adultery. 14. Their severe punishments. 15. Their cities of refuge. 16. Their purifications and ceremonies preparatory to war. 17. Their ornaments. 18. Their manner of curing the sick. 19. Their burial of the dead. 20. Their mourning for the dead. 21. Their raising seed to a departed brother. 22. Their choice of names adapted to their circumstances and the times. 23. Their own traditions - the accounts of English writers and the testimonies which the Spanish and other authors have given concerning the primitive inhabitants of Peru and Mexico.

because it implied he was unknown. " Look at the papers which the white people keep most carefully" (land cession treaties), "they will tell you who I am," replied Red Jacket the great Seneca leader.

With these elevated conceptions of the dignity of the men, they yet degraded the women to the condition of abject slavery. They were at best but mere beasts of burden or objects of convenience. They were not permitted to participate in the national sports or amusements, and cbuld only sit about the fires as silent witnesses of the war dances or the horrid orgies after victory. The husband held absolute control of the destiny of the wife, even holding her life in his power, until she was deprived of all those associations and refining influences which give society the beauty, charm, and sanctity of refined womanhood. The mental status of the Indian was everywhere the same. His body was subjected to his will, and taciturnity was judicious where a sharp weapon was the immediate answer to an unguarded or insulting word. Physical endurance was a virtue, and insensibility to fear or pain was indicative of sturdy manhood. Surprise or suffering must not produce a tremor, as the blanched cheek indicated weakness or cowardice. Thus the nerves and muscles were schooled until steeled against pain or fear they became the servants of the will. "Coward!" exclaimed Pontiac when he saw one of his warriors startled by the discharge of English musketry at Detroit, and instantly cleaved his head with a tomahawk.

The mind of the Indian revealed something of a poetic cast, for with a simple language he would adorn whole ideas with poetic beauty. His forms and figures of speech supplied the lack of words. Still it may be well to observe that the speeches of the chiefs or sachems come to us in the phraseology of an interpreter.

While the Indians exhibited many of the nobler traits of human nature, yet generally speaking they were cruel and relentless savages, even at the time of English settlement. Still some few notable exceptions were found in the nations which formed the Iroquois Confederacy, and occupied the present State of New York, and some of the tribes in the milder climate of the Gulf.

The Iroquois Confederacy deserves more than a passing notice. Composed of five large families, each wearing the dignity and title of a nation, and named respectively, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas; they were subdivided into tribes, each having a symbol or coatof-arms, such as the bear, the wolf, or the eagle. This confederacy occupied a belt of country extending across tho State of New York and from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, between the Adirondacks and Catskill Mountains. The form of their government excited the admiration of Europeans on account of its wisdom and strength, by whom they were styled the "Romans of the New World," because of many things held in common with the Romans, especially in military affairs. Here, as in old Rome, the soldiers were honored above all other citizens, until the warriors were possessed of all power. All action on the part of the civil authority, cither of a nation or of the confederacy, was subject to review by the warriors, who called councils a9 they saw fit to pass upon any public measure. The civil authorities paid such deference to the military that they generally withheld decisions until the warriors could be consulted. Each nation being divided into several tribes, there were thirty or forty sachems in the league. These again had inferior officers under them, so that the civil power was widely distributed. Offices were conferred for merit, and held during good behavior. The confidence and esteem of the people were the only rewards sought by either civil or military officers. Each nation was a republic, independent touching its own domestic administration, but bound to all by tics of interest and honor. Each had a voice in the General Council, and possessed something of a veto power as a guarantee against dentralism. The chief magistrate had power to "light the great council fire" - convene the council - by sending a messenger to the sachem of each nation with a summons to attend the council. He had a cabinet of six councillors, who exercised advisory powers. In council he was the presiding officer, but had no power to control military affairs or dictate the internal policy of a nation. Public opinion was the only despot possessing coercive power. Even in these councils women had a voioe, for although they refrained from making speeches, the elderly women had a right to sit in council and exercise a negative or veto power on the subject of a declaration of war or a cessation of hostilities.

women were treated with such consideration. The military leaders, like the civil officers, derived their authority from the people, and the army was composed of volunteers alone, for no conscriptive power existed anywhere. Custom bound every able-bodied man to do military duty, and he who shirked was branded a coward, and everlastingly disgraced by the only despotic power - Public Opinion. The army ranks were ever full, the war dance and amusement assemblies serving as recruiting stations, whereat the veteran warriors, painted and decorated, sang wild, weird songs of brave deeds while they danced in frantic measures about the public fires. Freedom was apparent everywhere, for so deep was their reverence for the inalienable rights of man that they abhorred slavery until it was too odious to even practise toward their captives of war.

This confederacy was probably formed about the beginning of the fifteenth century, and strengthened by union they had grown greater, and were constantly extending the boundaries of their empire. Like all unlettered nations, with an unrecorded history and obscure origin, they tinted their traditions by the supernatural and miraculous. It is the same old, old story, old as tradition, and chimerical as a dream.

The teeming East is the mother of historic myths, in which figure the divine grandeur of the founders of nations. Hear the same story floating down the years, borne by the breezes from Central Asia, from Paradise, from Eden, and from the garden, whispering of the root of languages, the germ of religion, and the basis of laws So, too, we find it illustrated in Hiawatha, the founder of the Iroquois Confederacy. Their tradition relates that this personage came from the serenity of the skies, and took up his abode with the Onondagas, then the most favored of the Five Nations of tiic Iroquois Confederacy'. The Onondagas occupied a central position, the Mohawks and Oneidas being on their east, and the Cayugas and Senecas to the west. Hiawatha taught them the beauty of friendship and good-will, and the advantage of the cultivation of the earth and fixed habitations. He was revered as the incarnation of wisdom, and was yet among them when fierce warriors came down like an icy blast from the land north of the great lakes, slaying every human being in their path. Hiawatha advised these nations to call a council of wise men to effect a confederacy to oppose the onslaught of the furious enemy from the north. His advice was heeded, and the chief men of the Five Nations, attended by their women and children, gathered on the bank of Onondaga Lake, and to each representative of the different nations was assigned a particular position and title. Here the dignified Mohawk met the fiery Seneca, and all awaited the presence of Hiawatha, who finally came across the lake in a mysterious canoe, accompanied by his beautiful daughter. As he and his child landed, and were ascending the shore, a strange sound was heard, resembling the rushing of the wind. In the distant sky a white speck was seen, which grew larger as it approached, in swift descent, the spot where was gathered the great assembly. As it neared the multitude it assumed the shape of a bird, and threatening to fall upon the council ground the people all fled except Hiawatha and his daughter. "Stand still, my child, it is cowardly to fly from any danger. The decrees of the Great Spirit may not be averted by flight," were the words in which he addressed his daughter. As he finished speaking, the bird, an enormous white heron, with extended wings, fell upon the child with such force as to crush her to the earth. So violent was its fall that its head was buried in the ground, and both bird and child perished. Hiawatha showed no sign of emotion ; - not a muscle was moved by the awful calamity, but he calmly beckoned the warriors who came forward and plucked the white plumes of the dead bird, and each placing one on his head wore it as a commemorative decoration. This plume became the national ensign and memento of the origin of the union. On the removal of the body of the bird, no trace of the child was found. Hiawatha was moody for a time, but the people waited in silent reverence until he aroused himself, and proceeded to the discharge of duty. At the head of the council, guiding its action, he was seated on a mossy stone, clad in a wolf-skin mantle and a tunic of soft fur hung from his waist. He was without ornaments, but upon his feet were rich moccasins, while on his head was a cap formed of a band of soft deerskin covered with the plumage of various birds. Near him sat the chief warriors and councillors of the tribe, who joined in the brief debates and listened to the wise words of Hiawatha.

After hearing the discussion, he arose and addressed the assembly by nations, pointing to each as he spoke. "You (Mohawks) who are sitting under the shadow of the Great Tree, whose roots sink deep into the earth, and whose branches spread wide around, shall be the first nation, nearest the rising of the sun, because you are warlike and mighty. You (Oneidas) who recline y r our bodies against the Everlasting Stone, emblem of wisdom that cannot be moved, shall be the second nation, because you always give wise council. You (Onondagas) who have your habitation at the foot of the Great Hills, and are overshadowed by the crags, shall be the third nation, because you are all greatly gifted in speech. You (Cayugas) the people who live in the Open Country and possess much wisdom, shall be the fourth nation, because you understand better the art of raising corn and beans, and making houses. You (Senecas) whose dwelling is the Dark Forest nearer the setting sun, and whose home is everywhere, shall be the fifth nation, because of your superior cunning in hunting. Unite, you five nations, and have one common interest, and no foe shall disturb or subdue you. You, the people, who are as the feeble bushes, and you who are a fishing people (Delawares from the sea-shore) may place yourselves under our protection, and we will defend you. And you of the south and west may do the same, we will protect you. We earnestly desire the alliance and friendship of you all. Brothers, if we unite in this great bond, the Great Spirit will smile upon us, and we shall be free, prosperous, and happy. But if we remain as we are, we shall be subject to his frown. We shall be enslaved, ruined, perhaps annihilated. We may perish under the war storm, and our names be no longer remembered by good men, nor repeated in the dance and song. Brothers, these are the words of Hiawatha. I have said it. I am done."

The confederation was formed the next day, and the mission of Hiawatha was accomplished; so after further advice he announced his purpose of returning to his divine habitation. In the presence of the silent multitude he entered his mysterious canoe, when suddenly the air filled with music like the warbling of birds, and the canoe rose in the air higher and higher, until lost to view in the blue depths of the sky.

Atatarho, an Onondaga chief who was eminent for valor and wisdom, was chosen sachem of the confederation. When a delegation of Mohawks approached him to notify' him of the honor, he was found seated in grim solitude in the dark recess of a swamp, smoking his pipe, with drinking vessels about him made of the skulls of his enemies. The delegation could not go near him, as he was clothed with hissing serpents - the emblems of wisdom. While standing at a distance their leader approached, and made known their errand. Atatarho then arose and accepted the honor, the serpents were transformed into a mantle of bear's skin, and following the delegation the president of the league went to the council and declared his willingness to do the desires of the sages and warriors of the confederated nations.

From that time forward the Iroquois Confederacy was invincible, until the craft and power of the white man first paralysed and finally destroyed it.

When permanent settlements were undertaken by the whites early in the 16th century, the dusky inhabitants, as already observed, were found speaking about one hundred different dialects, although there were but eight radically distinct nations. These were known as the Algonquins, Huron-Iroquois, Cherokees, Catawbas, Uchees, Natchez, Mobilians or Floridians, and Dakotahs or Sioux. The term Algonquin was applied by the French to a large collection of tribes north and south of the great lakes, who spoke different dialects of the same language. They occupied the territory now comprised by Canada and New England, part of New York and Pennsylvania, all of Now Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, eastern North Carolina above Cape Fear, a part of Kentucky and Tennessee, and all north and west of these States east of the Mississippi River.

The Algonquin nation embraced the Huron-Iroquois, who occupied parts of Canada, New York, Pennsy'lvania, and Ohio, with a few scattered families in Virginia, North Carolina, and the Iroquois confederacy of the State of New York.

The Cherokees inhabited the fertile upper region of Georgia, and were called the mountaineers of the South, being also the most formidable foe of the conquering Iroquois.

The Uchees were the remnant of a powerful people, and lived in the beautiful region of Georgia between the present sites of Augusta and Millcdgeville. They claimed to have descended from a people more ancient than any of their neighbors, and preserved traditions telling of migrations from a far-away country.

The Natchez occupied the territory east of the Mississippi reaching northward from the site of Natchez along the Pearl River to the headwaters of the Chickasaw, and claimed to be an older nation than the Uchees. Like all the Indians of the gulf region, they were fire and sun worshippers, and offered sacrifices to these deities.

The Mobilians or Floridians occupied a large territory bordering along the Gulf of Mexico. It extended along the Atlantic coast from the mouth of Cape Fear to the extremity of the peninsula of Florida and westward to the Mississippi River. Their jurisdiction extended up that river to the mouth of the Ohio. The nation was divided into three confederacies, known as the Creek, Choctaw, and Chicasaw.

Under the title of Dakotalis or Sioux a vast number of tribes west of the Mississippi River have been grouped. They spoke dialects of the same language, and were by the French explorers regarded as one nation. They have been arranged in four classes, namely:' the Winnebagoes, Assinniboins or Sioux proper, the Minetarecs, and the Southern Sioux. At this period they were not stationary or fixed residents of a domain, nor was there any semblance of a national government except that of the Iroquois confederation. They had wandered about for centuries, and yet they were not strictly a nomadic people. Neither were they agriculturists, but like primitive man they were hunters and fishers, who depended upon the chase and hook for employment and sustenance.

Turn now to a hasty glance at the Indians of the lower gulf region, whose hue of skill, features, and texture of hair resembled that of the natives of the north, but whose habits of life were modified and softened either by descent, or contact with the tribes of Central and South America. The men were well proportioned and active, while the women were smaller, well formed, and often beautiful. In cold weather the men wore a mantle made of a sort of cloth manufactured of the inner bark of beech and interwoven with hemp. This was thrown over the shoulder, leaving the right arm exposed, while around the loins was encircled a short tunic. The richer men wore mantles of feathers of every hue, or the skins of fur-bearing animals with deer-skin tunics wrought in colors, and moccasins of the same material. The women of the higher class, during the cooler season, wore a garment of cloth or feathers or fur wrought like the mantles of the men. This was folded closely about the body, and fell gracefully below the waist. Their heads were always uncovered, while the men wore skullcaps of cloth ornamented with sea shells, claws of beasts, or strings of pearl. Pearl pendants were sometimes suspended from the ears. In summer the only clothing of both sexes was a drapery of what is called Spanish moss, gathered from the trees. This was fastened at the waist and fell below in graceful negligence. The chiefs, prophets, and other principal men and their wives painted their breasts in stripes of white, yellow, and red, while some tattooed their bodies. The spacious houses of the chiefs stood upon large mounds that were ascended by steps of wood or earth. The dwellings were built of timber, often in the form of a pavilion with a broad piazza. They were covered with palmetto leaves or thatched with straw. The winter houses were daubed with clay. Their weapons were string bows and arrows and javelins. The arrows were made of dried cane tipped with buck-horn and pointed with flint or fish-bones, and were carried in a quiver made of the skin of the fawn. The warriors all wore shields in battle, composed of wood, split cane, or alligator or buffalo hide. On the left arm was a small bark shield to protect it from the rebound of the bowstring. Another weapon was a short sword made of hard wood. If a chief wished to make war, he sent a party by night toward the enemy's town to stick arrows in the ground at the cross-paths or other conspicuous places, and from these arrows suspended long locks of human hair as tokens of scalping ; then assembling his painted warriors, after wild ceremonies he would take a vessel of water and sprinkle it about, saying, "Thus may you do with the blood of your enemies then raising another vessel, he would pour the water upon the fire, and as it was extinguished he would say, "Thus may you destroy your enemies and bring home their scalps." After battle the bodies of captives were cruelly mutilated. Their scalps were placed upon poles in the public square, where the people danced about in celebration of the triumph, as they sang or rather chanted wild songs of joy.

Ilunting, fishing, and the cultivation of rich lands were the chief employments of the people. Ilemp and flax were both known and cultivated. The women assisted in the fields, which yielded large returns for the labor bestowed. The productions were stored in granaries of stone and earth covered with mats. Salt was obtained by evaporation. Pottery was made and used for kitchen service, some of which was skilfully and even beautifully formed. They were skilful artisans, as shown by their arras, canoes, and ornaments. Fortifications with moats or ditches were constructed which evinced something of military skill. Some of their temples were grand and imposing, with steep roofs of split cane matting closely interwoven. At the entrances, or within, some of the temples, were wooden statues of persons entombed in the sacred place. Rich offerings of pearls and deer skins were seen in these edifices, all dedicated to the sun, the great and good God of their theology. That theology was very simple. The sun was the supreme deity, while the moon and stars were venerated as a little inferior to the sun. In all invocations the appeals were made to the sun : " May the sun guard you!" "May the sun be with you!" being usual forms of invocation.

Their funeral ceremonies were peculiar. The body of a chief or prophet was embalmed in a certain manner, and placed in the ground in a sitting posture. Food and money were placed in the grave, a conical mound raised over it, and at the foot of this was a paling of arrows stuck in the ground. Around the tomb the people gathered and kept up a continual howling during three days, after which appointed women visited the tomb .three times a day for a long, indefinite period. A chief was not only a magistrate but a high priest as well, and so was held in high veneration. To him, murderous sacrifices of the first born male child were made in the presence of the agonized mother, while a group of girls danced about the sacrificial altar, singing wild, wierd, and piercing songs.

Such is a view of the Indians with whom the Spaniards first came in *- contact, and it is these with tho Iroquois Confederacy of the north which form the two exceptions to the general character and habits of the dusky nations of North America. View them as you will, they were still the children of Nature struggling to a higher life, throwing aside a little savagery; practising a little more morality, and recognizings little higher standard of humanity as the ages swept around.

They were savages, and yet witli all their barbarities and horrid rites, at some period, in some manner, a faint gleam of civilization broke upon them, and continued its softening influences until something of civilization was attained in Mexico and South America. These in turn sent forth gleams of light which were dissipating something of the darkness which overspread the great tribal land of the north. That ray had burst forth along the gulf shores, but shed its greatest lustre upon the Iroquois Confederacy, which, in many respects, might challenge comparison with the leading governments of the old world. It recognized the man, but knew no tyrant. It built up a powerful democracy, while tho old world was rearing new despotism upon the ruins of old tyrannies. The Europeans, with their boasted excellence of government and religion, had nothing to do with the founding of this Indian republic. It enjoyed more civil rights and breathed more religious freedom in a day than Europe had ever dreamed of in a century. Tho western world has ever been the productive garden of liberty, and neither tyranny nor bigotry flourish on its soil. They are exotics, which wither, and droop, and die before the free breezes, under the free light, and above the free land of the western world.

Let us look forward to a period of greater classification and detail, and view the Indian at a later period, when, through contact with different tribes, Europeans were able to make completer statements touching the different tribes, their languages, customs, traditions, sachems, chiefs, and modes of life. Their foot-prints are discernible over a whole continent, down a long descent of years, giving evidences by different characteristics and remains, of different conditions and different degrees of improvement. They displaced the wild and harmless Esquimaux, and then submitted to changes which gave promise at times of trans- forming their customs, habits, religion, government, and their very natures. - That innovation was slowly sweeping from the south, and making inroads which gave promise of radical improvement. At this stage the whites stepped upon the scene, and with a banner of civilization in one hand they with the other wielded a sword which swept before it a Mexican civilization superior to that represented by the invader's flag, stained, as it was, with human blood.

Let us first introduce the different tribes found by the British over a century ago, and trace them to their connections with the local tribes with which our counties have to deal.

Indian Nations Explanations Op Figures

t There i3 a nation of Indiana-settled southwest of Lake Superior called by the French La Sail (now known as Sioux), who, by the best account from French and Indians, are computed ten thousand fighting men. They are spread over a large tract of country, and have forty odd villages ; in which country are several other tribes, who nre tributaries to the Lasues, none of whom, except a few, have ever known the use of firearms - as yet two villages.

In 1794 a treaty was made with the American Indians, and the following tribes, with the number of fighting men, was obtained at that time, and is worthy of being preserved in connection with the foregoing subject: -

Habits And Implements

Let us cast a glance at the customs aud habits of the modern Indians as prevailing during the settlement of the western sections long after the period of discovery. We find them the descendants of the tribes which occupied the sea-coast at the period of colonization, and were driven westward before the advancing outposts of English settlement. Before the influences of civilization 'they have faded away, until their name is almost forgotten in localities where years ago they were the "rightful lords," and absolute possessors of the soil. Whole tribes have dwindled away or disintegrated, until only a remnant may be found incorporated with other bands or tribes.

Still their habits are largely the same as when first seen and studied by Europeans. The indolence of the men was proverbial, throughout the years, for labor was ever degrading to them and belonged only to the women. The only elevated pursuits of the men were war, fishing, and the chase. True, they sometimes assisted in forming canoes and building houses, but the heavy labor devolved upon the women still. All outdoor drudgery belonged to them in common with household duties.

Patience, fortitude, and equanimity arc strongly developed traits of the Indians. The most sudden and unexpected misfortune is borne with calmness and fortitude. No word, no change of countenance was permitted to reveal the tempest within the soul. Let him fall into the hands of an enemy, and see a cruel death stare him in the face, he still eats and drinks with as much cheerfulness as is shown by his captors. So during sickness or under pain their resolution rises to a grim but sturdy fatalism.

fill to the old. Of cool and deliberate temperament they reflect before speaking, and in council every man is heard in turn according to his age, his wisdom, or his services. These determine the rank, and this determines the order of speaking. While one is speaking the others preserve a death-like silence. The young men attend the council for instruction in the history of the nation and its warlike achievements as they are recounted by the orators.

They all believe in a Deity, hut their religion is clouded by superstition. The "Good" and "Evil" Spirits govern Nature, which is their mother, having sprung from her bosom, to which, after subsisting upon her bounty for a time, they know they will return. The Great Spirit is every where, but has his immediate habitation on the Island of the Great Lakes. They recognized inferior spirits still superior to man and worthy of invocation. The Evil Spirit they believe to be ever inclined to wrong or mischief, and, as he bears great sway, he must be placated, and so becomes the principal object of their devotion. To him their petitions flow, humbly begging him to do them no harm; while the Good Spirit, being of a beneficent character, is entreated to bestow blessings, and frustrate the bad designs of the Evil Spirit. "May the Great Spirit favor you with' a prosperous voyage; may he give you an unclouded sky and smooth waters by day, and make you lie down by night on a beaver blanket and enjoy uninterrupted sleep and pleasant dreams, also may you find continued security under the great pipe of peace," was the prayer uttered by an Ottowa chief as he saw Major Carver take his departure in a canoe. To obtain the favor of the Great Spirit it was necessary'to become a distinguished warrior, hunter, or marksman. The priests often made pretensions to revelations of future events, and were thus authorized to command the action of the tribe. It was also part of their duty to unfold religion and interpret dreams. The next world was represented as abounding in all desirable things, and wherein the desires of all the senses would be fully gratified.

They have great regard for the dead, as part of the burial service consists in depositing with the deceased such articles as he most used or to which he was most attached during his life. These articles were usually his bow and arrows, pipe and tobacco, as these would be needed in the spirit land. While the mother mourns the loss of a child, the neighbors make presents to the father, which he reciprocates by giving a feast. Each band has a civil officer, styled the sachem, and a military leader, called the chief. The former is chosen for his wisdom, and the latter for his valor. The chief was entrusted with military affairs, but exercised no civil authority, this being entrusted to the civil ruler, who affixed his own signature and that of the tribe to all treaties and land conveyances. Still the Indian considers himself free, and never dreamed of renouncing his liberty. His rulers, or rather his leaders, were his own creation, and a command or positive injunction by them he treated with absolute contempt.

Their Great Council was composed of the heads of tribes, and those whose merits had elevated them to a like rank. A council house was erected in each town, where councils convened, ambassadors were received, songs were sung, and the dead commemorated.

A chief seldom spoke at the general councils, as he usually entrusted his sentiments to another person, called his speaker or orator, this being a recognized class in all the tribes. Their manner of speaking was natural and easy, although often impassioned, their words strong and expressive, and style bold and figurative. When business of great consequence was to be transacted, a feast was appointed for a certain occasion, and at this almost the whole nation would participate. Songs and dances were a recognized part of these assemblies, as also of all others.

A national war is acted upon and entered into only after a solemn deliberation. An assembly of sachems and chiefs deliberate upon it, and consider it in all its bearings. It was in these councils that the women of the Iroquois Confederacy, or the " Five Nations," exercised a voice and vote. The presiding sachem proposed the subject of deliberation, and, lifting a tomahawk, asked, "Who among you will go and fight this nation? Who among you will bring captives from them to replace our deceased friends, that our wrongs may be revenged, and our name and honor maintained as long as the rivers flow, the grass grows, or the sun and moon shall endure?" One of the principal warriors would then harangue the assembly, and then addressing the young men would inquire who would go with him to fight their enemies. On such occasions they usually had a roasted deer, and as the warriors consented to fight he would cut a piece of meat, saying as he ate it, "thus will I devour our enemies." After these ceremonies the dance commenced, accompanied by the singing of war songs, and those relating to their conquests, their courage, or their skill.

Originally wampum was only a string of shells, gathered from the sea or lake coasts, but at a later period it consisted of a small bead of white and black shell, which was highly esteemed by them, and served the purposes of currency.

The calumet or pipe of peace was of great significance. The bowl was made of a soft red stone, which was easity hollowed, and very highly prized. The stem was of cane or a light wood painted in different colors, and adorned with the feathers of birds. The calumet was used to smoke tobacco or some herb when an alliance or other solemn engagement was formed. To smoke this pipe was the most solemn oath, and its violation was the most infamous offence, deserving of punishment in the future world.

The tomahawk deserves notice, as it was of much importance both as an instrument of use in peace and a favorite weapon in war. It is a very ancient weapon, antedating the use of iron and steel. A hatchet finally substituted it, but the tomahawk, like the pipe, still had deep significance in public transactions. It was formed somewhat like a hatchet, with a long handle and ornamented by painting and feathers.

Each tribe has its peculiar symbol, which is generally an outline of an animal, - those of the Five Nations being the bear, wolf, otter, tortoise, and eagle. When going to war they cut off all their hair, except a spot on the crown, and even plucked out their eyebrows. The lock of hair left on the crown was braided full of beads and feathers all twisted together. The}' painted themselves red as low as the eyebrows, suspended ornaments from the ears, and beads from their noses. On the way to war they sang the wild war songs, and were followed by the women, who carried the baggage, but who returned before the commencement of the action.

It will not be necessary to speak more fully at this place of the customs and implements, as they will appear clearly illustrated by the different incidents connected with the wars, treaties, and chiefs of various tribes to be detailed in the following pages. Let us first consider some of the treaties between the whites and the Indians.

Indian Treaties

It is not our intention to investigate the claims of France to all the lands between the Allegheny and the Rocky Mountains, because Marquette in 1673 and La Salle in 1679 urged the immediate occupation of that vast and fertile region of this extensive domaiu upon the King of France; nor to the Kings of England because their subjects had made discoveries on the western continent and claimed the same by right of discovery, as their royal proclamation of October 7, 1763, boldly proclaimed.

We look upon our country from an American standpoint, claiming that on the 4th of July, 1776, our forefathers renounced their allegiance to the King of Great Britain, fought for their inalienable rights, and triumphed over his armies. We then assumed that we were a free and independent people, and upon this as the corner-stone established a republican government - each State claiming the right of jurisdiction over the district of territory embraced within its respective charter.

Several of these States held large portions of western unappropriated lands, and each and all finally believing (after the Indian titles were exhausted) that they should lie appropriated for the benefit of all, as each State in proportion to its population had spent money and shed blood ; new States were organized out of the said territorial lands and placed on an equality with the thirteen original States.

We may mention that a treaty was entered into between Sir William Johnson and the Six Nations of Indians on the 24th of October, 1768, at Fort Stanwix, which was attended by representatives from the colonies of New Jersey, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, by Sir William Johnson and his deputies, by the agents of those traders who had suffered in the war of 1763, and by deputies from the Indian nations referred to. At that meeting the line was established beginning on the Ohio at the mouth of the Tennessee (or Cherokee) River, thence up the Ohio and Allegheny to Kittanning, thence across to the Susquehanna, whereby the whole country south of the Ohio and Allegheny to which the Six Nations had any claim was transferred to England. By this treaty rests the title by purchase to Kentucky, Western Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania, and the authority of the Six Nations to sell that country rests on their claim by conquest. *

A treat}' was made at Fort Stanwix October 27, 1784, by Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee, representing the United States, with the Sachems and Warriors of the Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, and Tuscaroras, by which the Six Nations ceded to the United States all claims to the country west of a line extending along the west boundary of Pennsylvania from the month of Oyounayea to the River Ohio. The most distinguished chiefs were Cornplanter and Red Jacket.

A treaty was also concluded at Fort McIntosh , near the mouth of the Beaver River, Pennsylvania, January 21, 1785, by Geo. Rogers Clark, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee, with the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa nations, by which the boundary line between the United States and the Wyandot and Delaware nations was declared to begin "at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, and to cxtdnd up said river to the Portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum, thence down that branch to the crossing-place above Fort Lawrence, then westerly to the Portage of the Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French in 1752, then along said Portage to the Great Miami or Omie River and down the southeast side of the same to its mouth ; then along the south shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cuyahoga River where it began."

The Indian title to a large part of the country within the limits of Ohio having been extinguished, legislative action on the part of Congress became necessary before settlements were commenced ; hence Congress had surveys made and sold portions of laud to which the Indian title had been extinguished.

December 20, 1785, a treaty was to be held at Fort Penney, at the mouth of the Great Miami, but changed to Jan. 31, 1786, by George R. Clark, Richard Butler, and Samuel II. Parsons with the Delawares, Wyandots, and Shawnese.

In 1788 another treaty was made, by which the country was purchased from the mouth of Cuyahoga River to the Wabash lying south of a certain line mentioned in the treaty; in consideration of which the United States stipulated for the distribution of goods amongst the different tribes.

On January 9, 1789, a treaty was entered into at Fort Harmer between General Arthur St. Clair and the Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomics, and Six Nations, in which the treaty at Fort McIntosh was recited and confirmed. The treaty was as follows : -

"Beginning at the mouth of Cuyahoga River and running thence up the said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of Muskingum, thence down the said branch to the forks at the crossing place above Fort Lawrence; thence westerly to the portage on that branch of the Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French A. D. 1752; then along the said portage to the Great Miami or Omie River and down the S. E. side of the same to its mouth ; thence along the southern shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of Cuyahoga where it began. And the said Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, and Chippewa nations, for the consideration of the peace then granted to them by the said U. S. and the presents they then received, as well as of a quantity of goods to the valuation of $6000 now delivered to them by the said Arthur St. Clair, the receipt whereof they do now hereby acknowledge, do by these presents renew and confirm the said boundary line, to the end that the same may remain as a division line between the lands of the U. S. and the lands of said nations forever. And the undersigned Indians do hereby, in their own names and the names of their respective nations and tribes, their heirs and descendants, for the consideration above mentioned, release, quitclaim, relinquish, and cede to the said U. S. all the land east, south, and west of the lines above described, so far as the said Indians formerly

The treaty provided that the Indians may hunt upon lands. The U. S. reserve the reservations made at the former treaty of Fort McIntosh for trading posts, viz., six miles square at the mouth of the Miami River, six miles square at the portage upon that branch of the Miami which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French in 1752; six miles square upon the Lake Sandusky where the fort formerly stood; two miles square upon each side of the Lower Rapids on Sandusky River; "which posts and the lands annexed to them shall be for the use and under the government of the United States."

The boundary line was corrected, so as not to convey the idea that it would run "from the portage on that branch of the Miami which runs into the Ohio over to the river Auglaize, but on the contrary that it should run from the said portage directly to the first fork of the Miami River, which is to the southward and eastward of the Miami village, thence down the main branch of the Miami River to the said village, and thence down that river to Lake Erie and along the margin of the lake to the place of beginning."

On 3d August, 1795, a treaty of peace was held at Greenville between the United States and the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Chippewas, Pottawatomics, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankishaws, and Kaskaskias, by which the tribes were to receive twenty thousand dollars in goods at price cost, and a perpetual annuity of nine thousand five hundred dollars.

The boundary line established May 3, 1795, between the United States and the Indians began at the mouth of Cuyahoga River, and thence up the same to the portage, between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum; thence down the branch to the crossing place above Fort Lawrence; thence westerly to a fork of that branch of the Great Miami River running into the Ohio at or near which fork stood Loramie's store, and where commences the portage between the Miami of the Ohio and St. Marys River, which is a branch of the Miami which runs into Lake Erie ; thence a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash; thence southwesterly in a direct line to the Ohio so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of Kentucky or Cuttawa River.

As an evidence of the retaining friendship of the said Indian tribes they ceded to the United States the following pieces of land: "1. Six miles square at or near Loramie's store. 2. Two miles square at the head of the navigable water or landing on St. Marys River near Girtys Town. 3. Six miles square at the head of the navigable water of the Auglaize River. 4. Six miles square at the confluence of the Auglaize and Miami Rivers, where Fort Defiance now stands. 5. Six miles square at or near the confluence of the St. Marys and St. Josephs where Fort Wayne now stands or near it. 6. Two miles square on the Wabash River at the end of the portage from the Miami of the Lake, and about eight miles westward from Fort Wayne. 7. Six miles square at the Onatanon or old Weatowns on the Wabash River. 8. Twelve miles square at the British fort on the Miami of the Lakes at the foot of the rapids. 9. Six miles square at the mouth of the said river where it empties into the lake. 10. One piece six miles square upon Sandusky Lake where a fort formerly stood. 11. Two miles square at the lower rapids of the Sandusky River. 12. The post of Detroit and all the land to the northwest and south of it, of which the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English governments, and so much more land to be annexed to the district of Detroit as shall be comprehended between the river Rosene on the south, Lake St. Clair on the north, and a line the general course whereof shall be six miles distant from the west end of Lake Erie and Detroit River. 13. The post of Michilimacinac and all the lands on the island on which that post stands and the main land adjacent, of which the Indian title has been extinguished, and a piece of land on the main to the north of the island to measure six miles on Lake Huron or the strait between Lakes Huron and Michigan, and to extend three miles back from the water of the lake or strait, and also the island De Bois Blanc, being an extra and voluntary gift of the Chippewa nation. 14. Six miles square at the Chicago River, emptying in the southwest end of Lake Michigan where a fort formerly stood. 15. Twelve miles square at or near the mouth of the Illinois lliver emptying into the Mississippi River. 16. Six miles ' square at the old Piorias fort village near the south end of the Illinois Lake on said Illinois River."

The Indian tribes were allowed by the treaty a free passage by land and water, as one and the other shall be found convenient, through this country along the chain of posts hereinbefore mentioned. The United States relinquish claims to all Indian lands northward of the Ohio River, eastward of the Mississippi, westward and southward of the Great Lakes and the waters uniting them, according to the treaty between the United States and Great Britain in 1783.

The United States accepts the following tracts: 1. 150,000 acres near the rapids of the river Ohio, which has been assigned to Gen. Clark for the use of himself and his warriors. 2. The post of Vincennes on the Wabash River and the lands adjacent, of which the Indian title has been extinguished. 3. The lands at all other places in possession of the French people and other white settlers among them. 4. The post of Fort Mapac towards the mouth of the Ohio.

The boundaries of the land ceded were as follows: Beginning at the mouth of the Miami River of the Lakes, and running thence up the middle thereof to the mouth of the Great Auglaize River; thence running duo north until it intersects a parallel oflatitude to bo drawn from the outlet of Lake Huron which forms the river Sinclair; thence running northeast the course that may be found will lead in a direct line to White Rock on Lake Huron; thence due east until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Upper Canada on said lake; thence southwardly, following the said boundary line down said lake, through river Sinclair, Lake St. Clair, and the river Detroit into Lake Erie to a point due east of the aforesaid Miami River; thence west to the place of beginning.

The following lands were reserved for the use of the Indian nation: One tract of land six miles square, on the Miami of Lake Erie above Roche de Bocuf, to include the village where Tondaganie (or the Dog) now lives. Also three miles square on the said river (above the twelve miles square ceded to the United States by the treaty of Greenville) including what is called Presque Isle. Also four miles square on the Miami Bay, including the villages where Meshkemau and Waugau now live. Also three miles square on the river Raisin, at a place called Macon, and where the liver Macon falls into the river Raisin, which place is about fourteen miles from the mouth of the said river Raisin. Also two sections of one mile square each on the river Rouge at Seginsavius village. Also two sections of one mile square each at Tonquish's village, near the river Rouge. Also three miles square on Lake St. Clair above the river Huron, to include Machonee's village. Also six sections, each section containing one mile squnre within the cession aforesaid, in such situation as the said Indians shall elect, subject to the approbation of the President of the United States as to the places of location. If the reservation cannot be laid out in squares, then in parallelograms or other figures so as to contain the area specified, but not to interfere with any improvements of the French or other white people, or any former cessions.

Sept. 17, 1802, Gen. Harrison entered into a treaty at Vincennes with the various Indian tribes in regard to the boundaries of land. The boundary established by the treaty at Fort McIntosh was confirmed and extended westward from Loramie's store to Fort Recovery, and thence S. W. to the mouth of Kentucky River.

July 4, 1805, a treaty was held at Fort Industry between the United States and the Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, Munsees, Delawares, Shawnees, and Pottawotamies, by which the tribes were to receive sixteen thousand dollars and a perpetual annuity of one thousand dollars. The sum of four thousand dollars was secured to the President of the United States in trust for them by the Connecticut Land Company and the Proprietors of the half million of acres of land called " Sufferers' Land." The same Company and Proprietors secured to the President two thousand nine hundred and sixteen dollars and sixty-seven cents to raise an annuity of one hundred and seventy-five dollars, part of said amount of one thousand dollars. These were the covenants paid by the agents of the Western Reserve for the cession of their lands.

November 17, 1807, Governor William Hull of the Michigan Terri tory and Commissioners of the United States, and the several Indian nations northwest of the Ohio River, consisting of the Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandots, and Pottawattomics, formed a treaty, by which the United States gave them ten thousand dollars in goods, a perpetual annuity of two thousand four hundred dollars, and agreed to furnish two blacksmiths for ten years.

The several Indian nations northwest of the Ohio do give, grant, and cede unto the United States a tract of land for a road of one hundred and twenty feet in width from the foot of the rapids of the river Miami on Lake Erie to the western line of the common reserve, and all the land within one mile of the said road on east 'side thereof for the purpose of establishing settlements along the same. Also a tract of land for a road only, of one hundred and twenty feet in width, to run southwardly from what is called Lower Sandusky to the boundary line established by the treaty of Greenville, with the privilege of taking at all times such timber and other materials from the adjacent lands as may be necessary for making and keeping in repair the said road, with the bridges that may be required along the same. Lines to be run as the President of the United States shall deem advantageous.

September 29, 1817. Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, Esquires, Commissioners of the United States, entered into a treaty with the Sachems, Chiefs, and Warriors of the Wyandots, Senecas, Delawares, Shawnees, Pottawatomies, Ottawas, and Chippewas, at the Foot of the Rapids of the Miami of the Lakes.

Cession of Lands by the Wyandots: The Wyandot tribe of Indians cede to the U. S. the lands within the following boundaries: Beginning at a point on the southern shore of Lake Erie where the present Indian bou ndar}' line intersects the same, between the mouth of Sandusky Bay and the mouth of Portage River; thence running south with said line to the line established 1795 by the treaty of Greenville, which runs from the crossing-place above Fort Lawrence to Loramie's store; thence westerly with the last-mentioned line to the eastern line of the Reserve at Loramie's store; thence with the lines of said Reserve north and west to the northwestern corner thereof; thence to the N. W. corner of the Reserve on the River St. Marys at the head of the navigable waters thereof; thence E. to the western bank of the St. Marys River aforesaid; thence down on the western bank of the said river to the Reserve at Ft. Wayne; thence with the lines of the last-mentioned Reserve, easterly and northerly to the north bank of the River Miami of Lake Erie; thence down on the north bank of the said river to the western line of the land ceded to the U. S. by the treaty of Detroit in 1 807 ; thence with the said line south to the middle of the said Miami River opposite the mouth of the Great Auglaize River; thence down the middle of said Miami River southeasterly with the lines of the tract ceded to the U. S, by the treaty aforesaid so far that a south line will strike the place of beginning.

Cession of Lands by the Pottawatomies, Ottawas, and Chippewas. They ceded their lands as follows : Beginning where the western line of the State of Ohio crosses the River Miami of Lake Erie, which is about 21 miles above the mouth of the Great Auglaize River; thence with the western line of the land ceded to the U. S. by the treaty of Detroit, in 1807, N. 45 miles; thence west so far that a line south will strike the place of beginning; thence south to the place of beginning.

The Wyandot, Seneca, Delaware, Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Ottawa, and Chippewa tribes of Indians accede to the cessions mentioned in the two preceding articles by the U. S. paying a perpetual annuity to the following nations: to the Wyandots $4000; to the Shawnees $2000; to the Pottawatomies for 15 years $1300; to the Delawares $500; to the Senecas $500; to the Ottawas $1000; to the Chippewas $1000.

The United States was also to erect a saw and grist mill for the use of tne Wyandots, and provide one blacksmith for the Wyandots and Senecas, and one for the Indians at Hog Creek.

In addition thereto the United States paid for property injured during the war: to the Wyandots $4319.39; to the Delawares $3956.50; to the Shawnees under the treaty of Fort Industry $2500 ; to tha Senecas $4208.24 ; to the Shawnees $420 ; to the representatives of Hembis $348.50 ; to the Indians at Lewis and Scoutasks towns $1227.50.

Grants to the Wyandots in fee simple by patent. To Doanquod, Howoner, Rontondee, Tanyau, Rontayau, Dawatont, Mnnocue, Tauyaudautauson, and Haudaunwaugh, chiefs of the Wj'andot tribe, and their successors in office, chiefs of the said tribe, for the use of the persons and for the purposes mentioned in the annexed schedule, a tract of land 12 miles square at Upper Sandusky, the centre of which shall be the place where Fort Ferree stands, and also a tract of 1 mile square, to be located where the chiefs direct, on a cranberry swamp on Broken Sword Creek, and to be held for the use of the tribe.

Grants to the Senecas. To Tahawmadoyaw, Captain Harris, Isahownusau, Joseph Tawgyou, Captain Smith, Coffee House, Running About, ,and Wipingstick, chiefs of the Seneca tribe of Indians, and their successors in office, chiefs of the said tribe, for the use of the persons mentioned in the annexed schedule, a tract of land to contain 30,000 acres, beginning on the Sandusky River at the lower corner of the section hereinafter granted to Wm. Spicer; thence down the said river on the east side, with the meanders thereof, at high-water mark to a point east of the mouth of Wolf Creek; thence and from the beginning east, so far that a north line will include the quantity of 30,000 acres aforesaid.

Grants to the Shawnees. To Catewekesa or Black Hoof, Bjaseka or Wolf, Pomthe or Walker, Slieraenetoo or Big Snake, Othawakcseke or Yellow Feather, Chakalowah or The Tail's End, Pemthala or John Perry, Wabepee or White Color, chiefs of the Shawnee tribe residing at Wapaghkonctta, and their successors in office, chiefs of the said tribe residing there, a tract of land 10 miles square, the centre of which shall be the council house at Wapaghkouetla.

Grants to the Shawnees on Hog Greek. To Peeththa or Falling Tree, and to Onowaskemo or the Resolute Man, chiefs of the Shawnee tribes residing on Hog Creek, and their successors in office, chiefs of the said tribe residing there, a tract of land containing 25 square miles, which is to join the tract granted at Wapaughkonetta and to include the Shawnees settlement on Hog Creek, and to be laid off as nearly as possible in a square form.

Grant to the Shawnees and Senecas at Lewistown. To Quatawape or Captain Lewis, Shekaghkele or Turtle, Skilowa or Robin, chiefs of the Shawnee tribe residing at Lewistown, and to Mesomea or Civil John, Waukauwuxsheno or The While Man, Oquasheno or Joe, and Willaquasheno or When-you-are-tircd-sit-down, chiefs of the Seneca tribes of Indians residing at Lewistown, and to their successors in office, chiefs of the said Shawnee and Seneca tribes, a tract of land containing 48 square miles, to begin at the intersection of the line run by Charles Roberts in 1812 from the source of the Little Miami River to the source of the Scioto River, in pursuance of instructions from the Commissioners appointed on the part of the U. S. to establish the western boundary of the Va. Military Reservation with the Indian boundary line established by the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 from the crossings above Fort Lawrence to Loramie's store, and to run from said intersection northerly with the first-mentioned line, and westwardly with the 2d mentioned line so as to include the quantity ns nearly in a square form as practicable after excluding the section of land hereinafter granted to Nancy Stewart.

Reservations for the Ottawa*, but not granted to them. A tractofland on Blanchard's fork of the Auglaize River, to contain 5 miles square, the centre of which tract is to be where the old trace crosses the said fork ; and one other tract, to contain 3 miles square, on the Little Auglaize River, to include Oquanoxa's village.

The chiefs and their successors had power to convey and make partition of the same, but it required the consent and approval of the President of the U. S., or a person appointed by him. At the special request of the said Indians the U. S. agreed to grant by patent in fee simple to the persons hereinafter mentioned, all of whom are connected with the said Indians by blood or adoption, the tracts of lands herein described.

To Elizabeth Whitaker, who was taken prisoner by the Wyandots and has ever since lived among them, 1280 acres of land on the W. side of the Sandusky River, below Croghansville, to be laid off in a square form as nearly as the meanders of the said river will admit, and to near an equal distance above and below the house in which the said Elizabeth Whitaker now lives.

To Robert Armstrong , who was taken prisoner by the Indians and has ever since lived among them, and has married a Wyandot woman, one section, to contain 640 acres of land on the west side of the Sandusky River, to begin at the place called Camp Ball, and to run up the river, with the meanders thereof, 160 poles, and from the beginning down the river, with the meanders thereof, 160 poles, and from the extremity of these lines west for quantity.

To the Children of Wm. McCullock, who was killed in August, 1812, near Maugaugon, and who are quarter-blood Wyandot Indians, 1 sect., to contain 640 acres, on the west sido of Sandusky River, adjoining the lower line of Robt. Armstrong's, and extending with and from the said river.

To John Vanmeter and his Wife's Brothers. To John Vanmeter, who was taken prisoner by the Wyandots and who has ever since lived among them and has married a Seneca woman, and to his wife's 3 brothers, Senecas, who now reside on Honey Creek, 1000 A., to begin N. 45° W. 140 poles from the house in which the said Jno. Vanmeter now lives, and to run S. thence 320 poles, thence and from the beginning east for quantity.

To S. and J. Williams and R. Nugent. To Sarah Williams, Joseph Williams, and Rachel Nugent, late Rachel Williams, the said Sarah having been taken prisoner by the Indians and ever since lived among them, and being the widow, and the said Joseph and Rachel being the children of the late Isaac Williams, a half-blood Wyandot, \ sect, of land to contain 160 acres on the E. side of the Sandusky River below Croghansville, and to include their improvements at a place called Negro Point.

To Catharine and J. R. Walker. A Wyandot woman and John R. Walker her son, who was wounded in the service of the U. S. at the battle of Maugaugon in 1812, a section of 640 acres each, to begin at the N. W. cor. of the tract hereby granted to John Vanmeter and his wife's brothers, and to run with the line thereof S. 320 poles thence, and from the beginning west for quantity.

To William Spicer, who was taken prisoner by the Indians and has ever since lived among them, and has married a Seneca woman, a section of land to contain 640 acres, beginning on the east bank of the Sandusky River 40 poles below the lower corner of said Spicer's cornfield, thence up the river on the E. side with the meanders thereof, 1 mile thence, and from the beginning east for quantity.

To Nancy Stewart, daughter of the late Shawnee chief Bluejacket, 1 sect, of land to contain 640 acres, on the Great Miami River below Lewistown, to include her present improvements ; £ of the said section to be on the S. E. side of the river and one quarter on the N. W. side thereof.

The Children of Capt. Logan. To the children of the late Shawnee chief Capt. Logan or Spamagelabe, who fell in the service of the U. S. during the late war, 1 sect, of land to contain 640 acres, on the E. side of the Great Auglaize River adjoining the lower line of the grant of 10 miles at Wapaghkonetta and the said river.

September 17, 1818, a supplementary treaty was entered into at St. Marys, Ohio, with the Wyandots, Senecas, and Shawnees, and an annuity of five hundred dollars was given to the Wyandots, one thousand dollars to the Shawnees, to the Senecas five hundred dollars, and to the Ottawas fifteen hundred dollars.

Sept. 1832, the Indian treaties were closed, which relinquished thirty millions of acres of land constituting the eastern portion of the' State of Iowa.

An act of May 26, 1824, by Congress, reserving to the Wyandot tribe a certain tract of land, in lieu of a reservation, made to them by treaty. That there be and hereby is reserved for the use of the chiefs and tribe of Wjmndot Indians, subject to the conditions and limitations of the former reservation, the northeast quarter of Sec. 2 in Tp. 2, and range

17 south of the base line of land in Delaware Land District in the State of Ohio, in lieu of one hundred and sixty acres of land on the west side of and adjoining the Sandusky River, and which was reserved by the supplementary treaty between the United States and certain tribes of Indians held at St. Marys, in Ohio, Sept. 17, 1818, on condition that the chiefs of the said Wyandot tribe first relinquish to the United States all the right, title, and claim of said tribe to the one hundred and sixty acres of reservation b}' said supplementary treaty.

Anthony Shane. To Anthony Shane, a half-blood Ottawa Indian, one section of land to contain 640 acres, on the east side of the river St. Marys, and to begin opposite the house in which Shane now lives; thence up the river, with the meanders thereof, 160 poles, and from the beginning down the river, with the meanders thereof, 160 pole3, and from the extremity of the said lines east for quantity.

J. McPherson. To James McPherson, who was taken prisoner by the Indians and has ever since lived among them, one section of land, to contain 640 acres, in a square form, adjoining the northern or western line of the grant of 48 miles at Lewistown, at such place as he may think proper to locate the same.

The Cherokee Boy. To Horonu the Cherokee Boy, a Wyandot chief, a section of land, to contain 640 acres, on the Sandusky River, to be laid off in a square form and to include his improvements.

A. D. and R. Godfrey. To Alex. D. Godfrey and Richard Godfrey, adopted children of the Pottawatomie tribe, and at their special request, one section of land, to contain 640 acres, in the tract of country herein ceded to the United States by the Pottawatomie, Ottawa, and Chippewa tribes, to be located by them, the said Alex, and Richard, after the said tract shall have been surveyed.

Yellow Hair. To Sawendebans, or the Yellow Hair, or Peter Minor, an adopted son of Tondaganie or the Dog, and at the special request of the Ottawas, out of the tract reserved by the treaty of Detroit in 1807, above Roche de Boeuf, in the village of the said Dog, a section of land, to contain 640 acres, to be located, in a square form, on the north side of the Miami at the Wolf Rapid.

Grants free from Taxes. The tracts herein granted to the chiefs for the use of the Wyandot, Shawnese, Seneca, and Delaware Indians and the reserve for the Orlanz Indians shall not be liable to taxes of any kind, so long as such land continues the property of the said Indians.

The Delawares. The Delaware tribe, in consideration of the stipulations herein made on the part of the United States, do hereby forever cede to the United States all the claim which they have to the thirteen sections of lands, reserved for the use of certain persons of their tribe, by the 2d section of the Act of Congress, passed March 3, 1807, providing for the disposal of the land of the United States between the United States military tract and the Connecticut Reserve and the lands of the United States between the Cincinnati and Vincennes districts.

To J. and S. Armstrong. The United States agree to grant by patent in fee simple to Zeeshawan or James Armstrong and Sanondoyourayguaw or Silas Armstrong, chiefs of the Delaware Indians, living on the Sandusky waters, and their successors in office, chiefs of the said tribe, for the use of the persons mentioned in the annexed schedule, in the same manner and subject to the same conditions, provisions, and limitations ns is hereinbefore provided for the lands granted to the Wyandot, Seneca, and Shawnee Indians, a tract of land to contain nine square miles, to join the tract granted to the Wyandots, of twelve miles square, to be laid off as nearly in a square form as practicable, and to include Capt. Pipe's village.

Grants to Ottawas. The United States also agree to grant by patent to the chiefs of the Ottawa tribe of Indians, for the use of the said tribe, a tract of land, to contain thirty-four square miles, to be laid out as nearly a square form as practicable, not interfering with the lines of tracts reserved by the treaty of Granville on the south side of the Miami River of Lake Erie, and to include Tushquegan or McCarty's village, which tracts, thus granted, shall be held by the said tribe upon the usual conditions of Indian reservations as though no patent were issued.

Supplementary Treaty to the Treaty of the Foot of the Miami of the Lake. Sept. 17, 1818, between Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur, commissioners, at St. Marys, with full power and authority to hold conferences, and conclude and sign a treaty or treaties, with all or any of the tribes or nations of Indians within the boundaries of the State of Ohio of and concerning all matters interesting to the United States and the said nations of Indians, and the sachems, chiefs, and women of the Wyandot, Lene, Shawnee, and other tribes of Indians, being supplementary to the treaty made and concluded with the said tribes and the Delawares, Pottawatomie, and Delaware tribes of Indians at the foot of the Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie, Sept. 29, 1817.

Grants in original treaty to he. considered reservations. It is agreed between the United States and the parties hereto, that the several tracts of land, described in the treaty to which this is supplementary, and agreed thereby to lie granted by the United States to the chiefs of the respective tribes named therein, for the use of the individuals of the said tribes, and also the tract described in the 20th article of the said treaty shall not be thus granted, but shall be excepted from the cession made by the said tribes to the United States, reserved for the use of the said Indians, and held by them in the same manner as Indian reservations have been heretofore held. But it is further agreed that the tracts thus reserved shall be reserved for the use of the Indians named in the schedule to the said treaty, and held by them and their heirs forever, unless ceded to the United States.

Additional reservations to Wyandots. It is also agreed that there shall be reserved for the use of the Wyandots, in addition to the reservation before made, 55,»>80 acres of land, to be laid off in two tracts - the first to adjoin the south line of the section of 640 acres of land heretofore reserved for the Wyandot chief, the Cherokee Boy, and to extend south to the north line of the reserve of twelve miles square at Upper Sandusky; and the other to join the east line of the reserve of twelve miles square at Upper Sandusky, and to extend east for quantity.

Reservation at Solomon's Town. There shall also be reserved for the use of the Wyandots residing at Solomon's Town and on Blanchard's Fork, in addition to the reservation before made, 16,000 acres of land to be laid off in a square form, on the head of Blanchard's Fork, the centre of which shall be at the Big Spring, on the tract leading from Upper Sandusky to Fort Findlay, and 160 acres of land for the use of the Wyandots on the west side of the Sandusky River, adjoining the said river, and the lower line of two sections of land agreed by the treaty to which this is supplementary to bo granted to Elizabeth Whitaker.

Additional reservation for the Shawnees and Senecas. There shall also be reserved for the use of the Shawnees, in addition to the reservation before made, 12,800 acres of land to be laid off adjoining the east line of their reserve of ten miles square at Wapaughkoneta, and for the use of the Shawnees and Senecas 8960 acres of land, to bo laid off adjoining the west line of the reserve of 48 square miles and Lewistown. And the last reserve hereby made and the former reserve at the same place shall be equally divided by an east and west line to be drawn through the same. And the north half of the said tract shall be reserved for the use of the Senecas who reside there, and the south half for the use of the Shawnees who reside there.

Reservation for the Senecas. There shall also be reserved for the use of the Senecas, in addition to the reservation before made, 10,000 acres of land to be laid off on the east side of the Sandusky River, adjoining the south line of their reservation of 80,000 acres of land, which begins on the Sandusky River, at the lower corner of Mr. Spice's section, and excluding therefrom the said Mr. Spice's section.

Land granted not to be conveyed without permission. It is hereby agreed that the tracts of land which by the eighth article of the treaty to which this is supplementary are to be granted by the United States to the persons therein mentioned, shall never be conveyed by them or their heirs without the permission of the President of the United States.

By this treaty of Sept. 17, 1818, an additional amount is given to the Wyandots of $500 forever, to the Shawnees $1000, to the Senecas $500, and to the Ottawas $1500.