f:.n^;y).- W''^ M2/. /"^^ Hi ftSM ^\V:'r>^^ijMn^y?Iv^^,4^ ^^M tOii ^ ^:&m aass_E-/^ Booki^iZ^ //■ y A FAMILY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, FROM THE DISCOYERY OF THE AMERICM CONTIOTINT TO THE PRESENT TIME. BY BENSON j:^lossing, ll.d., AriBOB OV "PIOTOBIAl ITELD-BOOK 07 THE EETOLUTION," OF THE "WAB OP 1812," AND Of •' IHB UlVilj WAB ; " " HISTOEI OP THE XnaiED STATES FOB SCHOOLS ; " " IIVEB or ZUINSNT AMBBICANS ; " " BOUX OP WABHINOTON," SHO., SXO, ILLUSTRATED BY FOUR HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS. PUBLISHED BY HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT. Copyright, 1875 and 1881, by BENSON J. LOSSING, LL.D. CLt.Vt.l.?iiu> FUU. Li3. APR 8 1940 PREFACE. This work liaa been prepared with great care, for the purpose of supply- ing a want long felt by the reading public, and especially by Heads of Fam- ilies. Every important event in the history of the United States, from the Aboriginal period to the present time, is presented in a concise, but perspic- uous and comprehensive manner, without giving those minute and often tedious details, which are valuable to the student, but irksome to the common reader. The History of our Republic is herein popularized, and adapted to the use of those who may not find leisure to peruse more extensive works upon the subject. The materials have been drawn from the earlier, most elaborate, and most reUable historians and chroniclers of our continent. The work is constructed upon a new plan, which, it is believed, will be found to ";;^ be the most acceptable yet offered to the public, for obtaining, with facility, and fixing in the memory, a knowledge of the great events of our truly won- derful history. And having visited a greater portion of the localities made memorable by important occurrences in our country, the writer claims, in V- that particular, an advantage over his predecessors in this special field, for ^ he has been able to correct errors and give truthfiil impressions of things and \ events. An endeavor has also been made to show the cause of every import- ant event, and thus, by developing the philosophy of our history, to make it more attractive and instructive than a bald record of facts. And wherever ^ the text appeared to need further elucidation, additional facts have been given ^ in foot-notes. — The arrangement of the work is new. It is in six Periods, each com- ^i mencing where the history naturally divides into distinct epochs. The first Period exhibits a general view of the Aboriginal race who occupied the con- tinent when the Europeans came. The second is a record of all the Discov- eries and preparations for settlement, made by individuals and governments. The third delineates the progress of all the Settletnents until colonial gov- ernments were formed. The fourth tells the story of these Colonies from their infancy to maturity, and illustrates the continual development of Dem- ocratic ideas and Republican tendencies which finally resulted in a political confederation. The fifth has a full account of the important events of the War for Iridependence, and the sixth gives a concise history of the Re- public from its formation to the present time. The Supplement contains X yi PREFACE. the Articles of Confederation and tlie National Constitution. The former shows the final result of the efforts of the people of the Colonies, who had struggled together for general independence, to form a national organiza- tion, but which signallj' failed, because in that League of States the suprem- acy of each was recognized, and the vitality of unity, which is essential to the existence of a nation, was wanting. The National Constitution is given in Its original form, and with all of the amendments since adopted, accom- jianiod by explanatory notes. The Supplement also contains a brief outline History of the Progress of the Xation, in all its aspects, during the first one hundred years of the existence of our Republic. The system of concordance interwoven with the notes throughout the entire work, is of great importance to the reader. When a fact is named which bears a relation to another fact elsewhere recorded in the volume, a reference is made to the^Ja^e where such fact is mentioned. A knowledge of this relationship of separate events is often essential to a clear view of the subject, and without this concord.ance, a great deal of time would be spent in searching for that rclationsliiji. "With the concordance the matter may be found in a moment. Favorable examples of the utility of this new feature may be found on page 289. If strict attention shall be given to these references, the whole subject ■will be presented to the mind of the louder in a comprehensive aspect of unity not to be obtained by any other method. Tlie engravings are introduced not for the solo ])nrpose of embellishing the voluni.', but to enhance its uiility as an instructor. Every picture is intended to illustrate a fact, not merely to beautify the page. Great care has been taken to secure accuracy in all the delineations of men and things, so that they may not convey false instruction. Geographical maps have been omitted, because they must necessarily be too small to be of essential service. History may be read for the purpose of obtaining general infor- mation on the subject, without maps, but it should never be studied vf'iihout. the aid of an accurate Atlas. The author has endeavored to make this work essentially a Family IIiSTOKV, attractive and instructive ; and the Publishers Iiave generously co-worked with him in producing a volume that may justly claim to be excellent in every particular. With these few observations conccrnin'r the general plan and merits of the work, it is presented to the public, with aE entire willingness to have its reputation rest upon its own merits, B. J. L. The Ridge, Dover, N. Y., ILLUSTRATIONS. STEEL plates; 1. PORTimT OF WASHryGTOS Frc>nti3pie< 2. Db Soto on the Mississippi to face iisge 3. Governor Cakvkr and Maesasoit " " 4. Death of Wolfk " " 2i 6. Washington at Kip's Bay. " " 2 6. Jones BOASDiNa tub "Sesafis". ** ** 3i 7. Washington rbsionimo his Commibsiox to fac« page 35? 8. Hull's Surrbsder •* " 410 9. Japanese Embassy , •< '• 512 10. Grant and Pkmberton " '< 546 11. Farhagut in the Rigolng of the Habtfobd,. " " 110 12. Portrait o» Abraham Lincoln " " 72* ENGRAVINGS ON "WOOD. 1. Sionx IndlflQS 9 2. Portrait of Red Jacket. 9 3. A Wigwam 13 4. Waniptim 13 5. Iniitim Hieroglyi>hic8. 13 6. Indian Weapons , 14 7. Calumeta 14 ». Inilhin Burial-place 15 9. Indian Trttiim 15 10. Profileof Black Hawk IS 11. Uncas'3 Moniiineiit 21 12. Portrait of S. Kirkland 25 13. Southern Indiana SO 14. Columbus before the Council S4 15. Portrait of Vespucci 34 1 6. North man 34 IT. Norman Sbip 35 IS. Old Tower at Newport 35 1 9. Portrai t of Col umbiia 36 20. Portrait of Isabella S3 21. The Fleet of Columbus 39 22. Banner of the Expedition 40 33. Balboa 42 24. Portrait of De Soto - 44 25. Portrait of Cabr.t 4d 26. Portrait of Verazaui 47 27. Cartier'a Shi p 4S 2S. Arms of France 4S f?i. French Nobleman, 1540 49 30. Raleiijh'a Expedition 53 . 31. Pnrtrait of Raleigh 55 32. Rjile'eh's Ships 55 33. Enirlish Gentleman, 15S0 57 34. Portrait of Henrj* Hudson 59 35. The Half-Moon 59 36. Building Jamestown 61 37. Portrait of Captain J. Smith 61 3S. Portrait of Pocahontas. 66 39. Seal of New Netherlaud 73 40. A Puritan 75 41. The Mayflower 77 42. Governor Carver's Chair 79 43. Portrait of Lord Baltimore ^ SI 44. Hooker 'a Em igr 1 tion 83 45. First Meet: ne;- House in Connecticut 86 46. Portrait of Rn^er Wiltiama ; 90 47. Portrait of William Penji 95 4S. The Aasemblv House...: 97 49. Oiilethorpe, at Savannah 101 50. Eiubarkaiion of the Pilgrims li«4 51. Portrait of Oglethorpe. li>4 52. Church Tower at Jamestown. 112 53. First Colony Seal, Massaclmaetta 117 54. Portrait of John Winthrop 117 55. First Monev Coined in the United States 12-2 56. Portrait of King Philip 124 57. Palisaded Buil6foDiea of Wa«hlD|fton *"* (7} 295. portrait of L«otiidaa Poik B7i 296. Fnrt lUtUraa Ua 297. FortPlckoDi Si 293. PorlrnU of a F. Dopont * ' u* 299. Port Rovai Ferry... Sa 30^1. Fori L./av«tt«... !;.!..": . .* 686 301. Portrnilof C. WUkoi. " 5^8 803. P^>rlrallof W. aSeward. '. " B88 303. P'Ttrsit of A, E. Buro.lde fiflfl 304. Portrait of S. A. Curlli. ...M..... HI 805. Texoa KaD|;er 503 306. Purtraitof R W. Ilallock !.....'!!"; S» 307. ViowBtFort l>r.nel»on KM 303. P.^rtrallof Lewis WaJlaea. "[, 597 3U9. Island Number Ten Ug 310. Portraitof U.S.Grant ""', $01 311. Burning horMs at Sblloh (03 312. Purlrait of Beoursgard 604 313. A Mortar Boat....* /"./"/.,.[[.[' m 314. Portrait of O. M. MitcLeL 008 ifI5. Colyer'i Hea.i-QuRrt«r> '."* ft)! 316. Fort PulaakI breached 608 317. Portrnilof D. D.Porter '„ 609 318. Ram Manawas , 610 319. The Laveeat NowOrleani. '. 611 J20. Portraitof G. B. McClellaa. 611 321. Monitor and Merrimack 614 322. Portraitof J. E. Johnston 611 3-.'3. Portrait of T. J. Jackion 6I7 324. View on the Chickabomloy «M 326. Harriaon Mansion 69i 8^6. Thoroughfare Gap 69S 327. MoDuineut at Groveton 696 323. Portraitof Philip Kearney 627 829. linttle-Fleld of South Mountain 628 330. AntieLun Battle-ground 630 331- KruilerlckBDurt-oa fire 681 332. ViewntNMhvllte. ^39 333. Portraitof D.C.BuelL '. 633 33rtrait of General Taylor. r_ ■ _ if Henrv Cla 265. Portrait c 496 S64. Portraitof Henry Clay. 265. Portraitof Millard Fillmore ou» 1375, Iranklln BalUa^rround. «66. Portraitof p.ir.iel Webster iOS 1376. Portraitof J. A. Vinilo' 362. P.>rtrftilof G. H. Thorn aa. 666 358. Tho Chattanooga. , 667 854. Pulpit Rock 669 355. Miisionoriee' Ridge. 669 356. Portrait of J. LongttreeL 670 857. A ParrottOun 673 358. Torpedo 673 3:9. Tlio. Swamp Angel 674 36a Fort do Ruiay 671 3C1. Nrwtra. 639 362, Rod River Dam (8» 863. Place where Se.igwick waa killed 690 364. Portraitof P. H, Sheridan 6?5 365. Pontoon Bridge 6M 366. BelloUla....: 6j.« 86T. Tho Butler Medal 696 868. Viewat CadarCrnek t•f^ 369. Portrait of W. T. Sherman. 693 370. Kenee«w Mountain JyO 371. Portrait of J. B. Mood 100 an 'a Quarters In Atlanta 7fi2 373. Sherman'* Quartort in Savannah. 703 374. The Albemarla 704 S&1. Portrait of Joseph Smith 604 1377. Blockaxie-Ri 264. Mormon Fmigration 506 - - - ion Umigr lilofS.F 470. P'lrtraitof E. K. Kane 509 571. P"rtrait of Franklin Pierce 618 S73. Portraitof Santa Anna 514 S73. An Ocean Steamship 515 274. Crystal Palace, New York 516 S7J. Portraitof lames M. Mamn 692 S74w Portrait of James BuchatuD 631 t77. Portraitof John Slidell 535 *7)5. South Carolina Institute 540 t7». "Wi^wi tm Palinctti 706 708 70« i^t. Portrait .jflclTerson Davk... ^2. Portrait of Robert Anderson 878. Portrait of C. I. Vallandlgbam 711 879. Interior of F.-rt Kt»her tjj SSO. Inl«ri..r of Fori euadman. 717 861. Capit-l at Richmond ;i» SS2. McLcan'i iJoute ISO 883. portrait of A. Johiieon. 121 184. Davit'* Pri«on, FortreM Monro* , TJ9 Tho Cupii"! at Waihlngton 731 3KS. The Senate Chamber, in which President JohnMB wu triad. 733 887. Porlraltof Jottnh R. Ilawley T46 , ,,. . --- , W8. Seal of Centennial CommiBilon. 147 .1 (^hicago 543 «S9. Cf^nlenolal Medal 147 l'-^*'*:--- M« '3W. Portrait of Rutherford B. Hmf SO .. K3 8«t. Portrait of Jam*i A Garfleld 7^6 •• 660 1399. Portraitof Ch.»t«r A. Arthor 749 HISTORY THE UNITED STATES. FIRST PERIOD. THE ABORIGINALS. CHAPTER I. ^jj^ RED JACKET. Evert cultivated nation had its heroic age — a period when its first physical and moral conquests were achieved, and when mde society, with all its impurities, was fused and refined in the crucible of f)rogre3S. When civilization first set up its standard as a permanent ensign, in the western hemisphere, northward of the Bahamas and the great Gn^i and 10 THE ABORIGINALS. the contests for possession bon;an between the wild Aboriginals, who thrust no spade into the soil, no sickle into ripe harvests, and those earnest delvers from the Old World, who came with tiie light of Christianity, to plant a new empire, and redeem the wilderness by cultivation — then commenced the heroic age of America. It ended when the work of the Revolution in the cijihteonth century was accomplished — when the bond of vassalage to Great Britain was severed by her colonies, and when thirteen confederated States ratified a Fed- eral Constitution, and upon it laid the broad foundation of our Republic' Long anterior to the advent of Europeans in America, a native empire, little inferior to old Rome in civilization, flourished in that region of our Con- tinent which now forms the south-western portion of our Republic, and the adjoining States of Central America. The Aztec Empire, which reached the acme of its refinement during the reign of Montezuma, and crumbled into frag- ments beneath the heel of Cortez, when he dethroned and destroyed that mon- arch,' extended over the whole region from the Rio Grande to the Isthmus of Darien ; and when the Spaniards came, it was gradually pushing its conquests northward, where all was yet darkness and gloom. To human aj)prehension, this people, apparently allied by various ties to the wild nations of North America, appeared to be the most efficient instruments in the hands of Provi- dence, for spreading the light of dawning civilization over the whole Continent. Yet, they were not only denied this glorious privilege, but, by the very race which first attempted to plant the seeds of European society in Florida, and amon, v' - — — i , , ,. i of poles covered with mats, skins, or bark of trees ; and allrf their domestic arrangements -y^ --|^^- ^^^^ ^,,, ,f .^ones, \^' 't^b ":' ^^ZX7^^ food laHheir clothing and shells, and bon s w th wh ch tUcy p p ^^^_ ,^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ :rrr:\f :;L t;tuS.lo, and bear gener.ly roasted upon the points of sticks; sometimes boiled in water heated by hot ston s and always eaten without salt. Their dress m summer w s a slight covering around the loins. In winter they were dad in the skins of wild beasts," often profuse y ornamented ; ith the claws of the bear, the horns of the buffalo, the feathers tLr%^^y^^^^- -^^ of sh,lH fastened n Mts or strun- in chains, and called wampum.' It was upon belts or « ^>^"» ^ ^ ^^^^^ ,f friendship or alliance, Teul—Jrrr'of public transactions in the hands of a chief. There was no written language in all the New World, except rude hieroglyphics, or picture writings. The history of the nations, consisting of the records of warbke achievements, treaties of alhance, and deeds of great men, was, in the form ot traditions, carefully handed down from TVAJIPUM. Wampum INDIAN HIEBOOLYPHICS.' '^S^' . Th,v -..., w,. .!« .M.. .< tb. a»r, ft, en., ..d ft. b..r, pr.p«.4 wift ft. te on ; sometimes of the buifalo al^o. Weatem tribes, and ia manufactured, = Wampum ia yet in use. as ^'^^^y'^T^f^TZreo^lM^oounties of New Jersey. It is we believe, as an article of commerce on the sea shore ol o°^° g. ^ ,^„,3 -^ drilled in it, made of the dear parts of th'^.^rr^i'T known 11 the ^^13 produced by friction. They are and the form, which ia that of *e bead now known as the O^ie p ^.^ ^^^^.^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ about half an inch long, general y disposed m ^'t^^ff if^'^^^tg f„ three of the black beads, valued, when they become a circulating '".«^'"";^'^i^ t°^ 'I^S a P nny, three pence, a shQling, or sbc'of the white. They were stmng i" P'^^^ *« j^^P" / f,t£m of white was worth and five shilUngs, of white; and double that i^ontin mac^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^._^^^ ^^ .bout two doUars and a hall; and black about five ^''^^^''-^^'^^^^^ ^ ^u of wampum, our war for independence. The engraving sho«9 ^ Pa^ o^ ^ 'f^^^ ^^ ^^^ and left— -no with a 3 This is part of a record of a war expedition. J' « ng""'^ °"^°^ ''^he one without a head, gunandthootherwithahatchet-deuoepriaone^takcnbyaOT^^ ^ ^l^^^^^j Sd holding a bow and arrow, denotes that one w^s k't^d.^^^^^J^^ ^.■,,^ ,Uie companions, ^oTefb^r STl'Js! ^tiS^nunci^held b^y ^ chie. of the Bear and Xui.. tribes, Sted by rude figurek of these animals on each side of a fire. Tin: AHor.ioi N'ALS. IXDIAX WEAPON'S.-' CALUJIETS. iirtti practiced among them, sudi iis ni;ikiiig 'wampuui, constructing bows, arrows, ami spears, preparing matting ami skins for ilomostic use, and fashion- ing nido personal ornaments. Individual and national pride prevailed among the Ahoriginuls. They were aml)itious of distinction, and therefore war was the chief vocation, as wo have said, of the men.' Tiiey generally went forth in parties of ahout forty bowmen. Sometimes a half-dozen, like knights- errant,' went out upon the war-path to seek renown in combat. Tlieir weapons were bows and arrows, hatch- ets (tomahawks) of stone, and scalping-knives of bone. Soon after they became acquainted with tlie Euro- peans, they procured knives and liatehets made of iron, and this was a great advance in the increase of their power. Some wore sliields of l)ark ; others wore skin dresses for protection. They were skilU'iil in stratagem, and seldom met an enemy in open fight. Ambush and secret attack were their favorite methods of gaining an advantage over an enemy. Their close personal encounters were fierce and bloody. They made prisoners, and tortured them, and the scalps' of enemies were their trophies of war. Peace was arranged by sachems" in council ; and eaeii smoking the same " pipe of peace," called calumet,' was ft solenm jdedgo of fidelity to the contract. With the Indians, as with many oriental nations, women were regarded as inferior beings. They were degraded to the condition of abject slaves, and they never engaged with the men in their amusements of leaping, dancing, target- shooting, ball-playing, and games of clianee. Tliey were allowed as spectators, witli their cliildren, at war-danoes around fires, when the men recited the feats of their ancestore and of themselves. Marriage, among them, was only a tem- porary contract — a sort of purchase — the father receiving presents from the ' It wiu« olTi'iisivo to a diiof or warrior to ask him liis namo, beonuso it iniplieil tliat lii.s brave deeds wore iniknown. Rod .Tiu-kot, tho (treat .Seneca chief (wlioso portrait is at the lieail of this chaptor), was iviked liis name in covn-t, in comiiliauce with a le^tal form. He was very indi|fiiant, nnd replied, "Look at tlie papers whieli tlie wliite people ke"p tlie most cari'fullv" — llaiid cession treaties) — "they will tell you who I am." Red .Jacket was born near Geneva, New York, about nflO, and died in ISSO. lie was the last givat chief of tho Seiiecas. For a biographical skctcli of him, see Lossing's " Kminent Americans." ' Knights-errant of Europe, si.x hundred years ago, were men clothed in metal armor, who went IKim country to country, to win fame by pei-sonal combats with other knights. They also engaged in wars. For about three hundred years, kniglits-errant and their exploits formed the cliicf amusement of the courts of E\irope. It is curious to trace the eoimection of the spirit of knighthood, as cxliibiled by tho one hundred and thirty-live orders that have existed, at various times, in the Old World, with some of tho customs of the rudo Aboriginals of North America ' n, bow and arrow ; ^, a war club ; c, an iron tomahawk ; d, a stone one ; «, a scalping- knife. • They seizeii au enemy by tho hair, and by a skillful use of the knife, cut and tore flxim the (op of the head a large portion of the skin. • Sachems were the civil heads of nations or tribes; rti>(5» were military leaders. • Tobacco was in general use among the Indiana for smokitii/. when the white men camo. The more filthy pnu-tice of chewing it was inventoii by tho white people. Tho calwiKt was made of pipo-clay, and w'as often oruamouted with feathers. 15 TIIK ABORIGINALS. UUlllAl.-rl.ACF. ,1 n .,■ ^vlu. .'ouorallv, after being fondloa and hasW, in exchange for the chu.ghle . >, . - ^^^. ^^ ^^^^^^^^,^^.^ ^^^,.,,^,,,_ , favored Cor . few •-'»»'\7; Jf!"^: ^e^^^^^^^^^ th.n at pleasure; and best The men had the nght to take ^vives a ^^_.^^ .^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^igh polygamy was not ve^Y -unon ^^^ ^,;':;;::, ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^, ^,^^,,, obie^^iouaide. Evevy ud.an m.gl.t^ - ^^^^oi^ if she proved untaithl^d and maintain. The husband nngh put h. v ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ endearments to hiu. The affecfous were ruled y cv^to. ^.^ .^.^^^^ ^^^.^^^^ ^^^^^ ,,a attentions toward .o^J^^ i .sentiment of eonjugal love w,. ^vholly unknown among the Indians ya ^^^^ ,^,,^^^^.^ ^^^^^ ,^o ^t iays wanting, and ^^^^^^ ;Zt beity, i^.r they had but eoeiety to eall for woman's ^f '""S q^^J i,l of their dead, fewlocalattachments, except fo. he bu. ^^^^.^ ^^^^^.^^^ eeremomes From the frozen North to t^^^ ^lop vl . ^^ ^.^^^^^^^,^^ .,^ ^^,„^_ and methods of burial were «;"';1- ; '' J/ „^. ,,,ed ^ ^ , upon sticks, in the bottom of ^^ ;*^^;"^^,,,Ahem tknn in a sitting posture, o> ^^^ ^^^, „f the reach of wdd beasts i" _ ' ,^ j^. and food, were Juried w.th them, to b us ^^^^ long journey^to the 7";;^^-^,^ ^^^^^learly and doctrine of the ^^^^^'^^l"^^^ ,,i,.itual, but as forcibly taught, not as ^ ^tn.eUvcly q _^^^^. ^,^^,^^ g.-aves they possessing the two-fold nature ot «>„ "^ ,j^^ ^.,., then.. The Algon- kised mound, and I'^^^^t ^.Xbc^ f-eral pyre, ibr several niglr^ quins, especially, always ^'^''^^ " '^^^^^,1,^ and enjoy the respect paid to the z;'''S:T:^r^::!^-^^ ^f .- h—tions dum. ti. burial, and they continued -^^l^^^^'^^'^l^'^^, religion was simple, with- Like that of the earlier nations of the '^'^^ ^ ^j^^,, j,,^ „o infidels out many ceremonies, ami -^^J^^i^:2n. u..od^ Indian faith- among them, ^^^f ^^'.^^fe ^ n the belief of all of the more advW a prominent tenet, at will be observed, 1 ^^^ .^^ ^^^^ ^^.^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ G,,^t oriental nations of antuiuity. ^^''H , g • j, . ^^^ the inferior was an Spirits: the one eminently great ^r.^s the Good bp r ^ ^^^^^_ Sil one. They also deified the sun - r C'su" elr 'to themselves, but tares. Thoy choso «omo »"« «f ';^,,?'J^e ani.nal for tl.u arms or symbo -, arose tho custom of havmR the ^t^'^^ " fT ,,,j, f,ve Nations («c pivf \2) ^.^^/'^V^ of a tribe, called Mum. For examiile, "i^h ot the t^ ^^^^^ ^,^^ ^.^^fc^ ^ I w^TlivU'led into several tr be^ WatM M° ''^j^,,, ,f t|,ese animals ^ ^ etc., and tboir rospeetivo Uwr^ ^^ I^, pclle, they sometimes sketctel -^^J Wb'en tbey fK^'of treaties with the wlute pc .p ^ ,_^^^ y^^ "^ .^^T'T outlines of their (oiums. I'J'O '^"^'^''"^ ; ' „., affixed by him to a deed ^SBion.the heraldic devices of modem times. wtm 16 THE ABORIGINALS. they never exalted their heroes or prophets above the sphere of humanity. They also aclored an invisible, great M;iater of life, in different forms, wliich they called Maiiitou, and made it a sort of tutelar deity. They had vague ide;is of the doctrine of atonement for sins, and made propitiatory sacrifices with great solemnity. All of thum had dim traditions of the creation, and of a great deluge which covered the earth. Each nation, as we have observed, had crude notions, drawn from tradition, of their own distinct origin, and all agreed that their ancestors came from the North. It can hardly be said that the Indians had any true government. It was a mixture of the patriarchal and despotic. Public opinion and common usage were the only laws of the Indian.' All political power was vested in a sachem or chief, who was sometimes an hereditary monarch, but frequently owed his elevation to his own merits as a warrior or orator. While in power, he was absolute in the execution of enterprises, if the tribe confided in his wisdom. Public opinion, alone, sustained him. It elevated him, and it might depose him. The office of chief was often hereditary, and its duties were sometimes exer- cised even by women. Unlike the system of lineal descent which prevails in the Old World, the heir to the Indian throne of power was not the chief's own son, but the son of his sister. This usage was found to be universal through- out the continent. Yet the accident of birth was of little moment. If the recipient of the honor was not worthy of it, the title might remain, but the in- Jlueiice piussed into other hands. This rule might be followed, with benefit, by civilized communities. Every measure of importance was matured in council, which was composed of the elders, with the sachem as umpire. His decision was final, and wherever he led, the whole tribe followed. The utmost decorum prevailed in the public assemblies, and a speaker was always listened to with respectful silence. We have thus briefly sketched the general character of the inhabitants of the territory of the United States, when discovered by Europeans. Although inferior in intellectual cultivation and approaches to the arts of civilization, to the native inhabitants of Mexico' and South America, and to a race which evidently occupied the continent before them, they possessed greater personal manliness and vigor than the more southern ones discovered by the Spaniards. They were almost all wanderers, and roamed over the vast solitudes of a fertile continent, free as the air, and unmindful of the wealth in the soil under their feet. The great garden of the western world needed tillers, and white men came. They have thoroughly changed the condition of the land and the people. The light of civilization has revealed, and industry has developed, vast tre;is- ures in the soil, while before its radiance the Aboriginals are rapidly melting like snow in the sunbeams. A few generations will pass, and no representa- tive C'f the North American Indian will remain upon the earth. • It was said of McGillivray, the half-brocd emperor of the Creeks, who died in 1793, that, not- withstanding ho called himself " Kinp of Isings," and was idolized by his people, " ho could neither restrain the meanest fellow of his nation from the commission of a crime, nor punish him after ha had committed it. lie might persuade, or advise — all the good an Indian liing or cliief uaa do, - ' Page 43. THE ALGONQUINS. 17 CHAPTER II. THE ALGONQUINS. The first tribes of Indians, discovered by the French in Canada, ' were in- habitants of the vicinity of Quebec, and the adventurers called them Mon- tagners, or Mountain Indians, from a range of high hills westward of that city. Ascending the St. Lawrence, they found a numerous trilje on the Ottawa River, who spoke an entirely different dialect, if not a distinct language. These they called Algonquins, and this name was afterward applied to that great collection of tribes north and south of Lakes Erie and Ontario, who spoke dialects of the same language. They inhabited the territory now included in all of Canada, New England, a part of New York and Pennsylvania, the States of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, eastern North Car- olina above Cape Fear, a large portion of Kentucky and Tennessee, and all north and west of these States, eastward of the Mississippi. The Algonquin nation was composed of several powerful tribes, the most important of which were the Knisteneau.K and Athapascas, in the far north, the Ottawas, Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes, Menomonees, Miamies, Piankeshaws, Pottowatomies, Kickapoos, Illinois, Shawnees, Powhatans, Corees, Nanticokes, Lenni- Lenapes, or Dela wares, Mohegans, the New England Indians, and the Abenakes. There were smaller, independent tribes, the principal of which were the Susquehannocks, on the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania ; the Manna- hoacks, in the hill country between the York and Potomac Rivers, and the Monocans, on the head waters of the James River in Virginia. All of these tribes were divided into cantons or clans, sometimes so small as to afford only a war party of forty bowmen. The Knisteneaux yet [1883] inhabit a domain extending across the con- tinent from Labrador to the Rocky Mountains, and are the hereditary ene- mies of the Esquimaux, their neighbors of the Polar Circle. The Athapascas inhabit a belt of country from Churchill's River and Hudson's Bay to within a hundred miles of the Pacific coast, and combine a large number of tribes who speak a similar language. They, too, are the enemies of the Esquimaux. The extensive domain occupied by these tribes and the Esquimaux, is claimed by the British, and is under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company. The orginal land of the Ottawas was on the west side of Lake Huron, but they were seated upon the river in Canada bearing their name, when the French dis- covered them. They claimed sovereignty over that region, and exacted tribute from those who passed to or from the domain of the Hurons.'^ They assisted ' Page 48. 2 Between the Ottawas and Hurons, was a tribe called Mississaguies, who appear to have left the ALGONQUINS, and joined the Five Nations, south of Lake Ontario. Remnants of this tribe are etill found in Canada. IS THE ABORIGINALS. the latter in a war with the Five Nations' in 1650, and suffered much. The Ilurons were almost destroyed, and tlie Ottawas were miieh reduced in num- \»ers. Some ot" them, with the Huron renuiant, joined tiie Cliippewas, and, finally, the whole tribe returned to their ancient seat [1G80] in the northern jiart of the Michigan peninsula. Under their great chief, Pontiac. they were confederated with several other Aloonquin tribes of the north-west, in an attempt to exterminate the white people, in 1763.- Within a fortnight, in the summer of that year, they took i)Ossession of all the English garrisons and trading posts in the West, except Detroit, Niagara,^ and Fort I'itt.' Peace was restored in 1764-5, the confederation was dissolved, and Pontiac took up his abode with the Illinois, where he was murdered.^ " This nnirder,'' says Nicol- let, " which roused the vengeance of all the Indian tribes Iriendly to Pontiac, brought about the successive wars, and almost extermination of the Illinois na- tion." His broken nation sought refuge with the French, and their dessendanta may yet [1883] bo found in Canada. Those two once powerful tribes, the Chippewas and Pottawatomies, were closely allied by language and friendship. The former were on the soutliern shores of Lake Superior ; the latter occupied the islands and main land on the western shores of Green Bay, when first discovered by the French in 17C1. These afterward seated tliemselves on the southern shore of Lake ^licbignn [I 701], where they remained until removed, by treaty, to lands upon the Little Osage River, westward of Missouri. They are now [1883] the most numerous of all the rt'iunants of the Ai-coxiiuix tribes. The Cliipjiewas and the Sioux, west of tlie Mississipi)i, were, for a long time, tlicir deadly enemies. The Sacs and Foxes arc really one tribe. They were first discovered by the French at the southern extremity of Green Bay, in 1680. In 1712 the French garrison of twenty men at Detroit, "^^ w;is attacked by the Foxes. The French repulsed them, with the aid of the Otfciwas, and almost destroyed the assailants. They joined the Kickapoos in 1722, in driving the Illinois from their lands on the river of that name. The Illinois took refuge with the French, and the Ivickapoos remained on their lands until 1819, when they went to the west l)ank of the Missouri in the vicinity of Fort Leav- enworth. The Sacs and Foxes sold their lands to the United States in 1830. Black Hawk, a Sac chief, who, with his people, joined the English in our second war with Great Brit- ain," demurred, and commenced hostilities in 1832.'* The In- dians were defeated, and Black Hawk,' with many of his war- , . !5L.\CK HAWK. riors. were made prisoners. Among the very few Indian tribes who have remained upon their ancient ' Chapter TIL, p 23. ' Pape 205. ' Page 200. < Page 198. 6 He w.Ls buried on tlie site of the city of St. Louis, in Missouri. " Neither mound nor tablet," BflTS Parkman, " marked the burial-place of Ponliae. For a mausoleum, a city has risen above the forest hero, and the race whom he hated with such burning rancor, trample with unceasing foot- steps over his forgotten grave." « Page 180. ' Page 409. ' Page 46.^. 9 This picture is from a plaster-cast of the face of Black Hawk, taken when he was a prisoner in New York, in 1832. See page 463. THE ALGONQUINS. 19 territory, during all the vicissitudes of their race, are the Menomonees, who were discovered by the French, upon the shores of Green Bay, in 1699. They yet [1883] occupy a portion of their ancient territory, while their southern neighbors and friends, the Winnebagoes, have gone westward of the Mississippi.' The MiAMiES and Piankeshaws inhabited that portion of Ohio lying be- tween the Maumee River of Lake Erie, and the ridge which separates the head waters of the Wabash from the Kaskaskias. They were called Twightwees by the Five Nations, and English. Of all the Western tribes, these have ever been the most active enemies of the United States. '-= They have ceded their lands, and are now [1883] far beyond the Mississippi. The Illinois formed a numerous tribe, twelve thousand strong, when dis- covered by the French. They were seated upon the Illinois River, and consisted of a confederation of five families, namely, Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Tamaronas, ISIichigamias, and Peorias. Weakened by internal feuds, the confederacy was reduced to a handful, by their hostile neighbors. They ceded their lands in 1818, when they numbered only three hundred souls. A yet smaller remnant are now [1883] upon lands west of the Mississippi. It can not properly be said that they have a tribal existence. They are among the many extinct commun- ities of our continent. The once powerful Shawnoese occupied a vast region west of the AUeghan- ies,' and their great council-house was in the basin of the Cumberland River. At about the time when the English first landed at Jamestown* [1607], they were driven from their country Ijy more southern tribes. Some crossed the Ohio, and settled on the Sciota, near the present Chilicothe ; others wandered eastward into Pennsylvania. The Ohio division joined the Eries and Andastes against the Five Nations in 1672. Suffering defeat, the Shawnoese fled to the country of the Catawbas, but were soon driven out, and found shelter with the Creeks.'^ They finally returned to Ohio, and being joined by their Penn- sylvania brethren, they formed an alliance with the French against the En- glish, and were among the most active allies with the former, during the long contest known in America as the French and Indian War. They continued hostilities, in connection with the Delawares, even after the conquest of the Canadas by the English. "> They were subdued by Boquet in 1763,' and again by Virginians, at Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kenawha, in 1774.^ They aided the British durmg the Revolution, and continued to annoy the Americans until 1795, when permanent peace was established.' They were the enemies of the Americans during their second war with Great Britain, a part of them fighting with the renowned Tecumtha. Now [1883] they are but ' The Winnebagoes are the most dissolute of all the Indian remnants. In August, 1853, a treaty- was made with them to occupy the beautiftil country above St. Paul, westward of the Mississippi, between the Crow and Clear Water Rivers. ' Page 408. 'The Alleghany or Appalachian Mountains extend from the Catskills, in the State of New York, in a south-west direction, to Georgia and Alabama, and have been called " the backbone of the country." Some geographers extend them to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. ' Page 64. ' Page 30. • Page 203. ' Note 7, page 205. ' Note 4, page 237. ' Page 374 20 THE ABORIGINALS. a miserable remnant, and occupy lands soutli of the Kansas River The roud from Fort Independence' to Santa Fe passes through their territory. - The PowiiATANS constituted a confederacy of more than twenty tribes, in- cluding the Accohannocks and Accomacs, on the eastern shore of the Chesa- peake Bay. Powhatan (the father of Pocahontas^), was the chief sachem or emperor of the confederacy, when tlio English first appeared upon the James River, in 1G07. lie had arisen, by the force of his own genius, from tiie po- sition of a petty chief to that of supreme ruler of a great confederacy. He gov- ernetl despotically, for no man in his nation could a]iproach him in genuine ability as a leader and counselor. His court exhibited much barbaric state. Through fear of the English, and a selfish policy, he and his people remained nominally friendly to the white intruders during his lifetime, but after his death, they made two attempts [1622, 1G44J to exterminate the Englisli. The Powhatiins were subjugated in 1644,^ and from that time they gradually di- minished in numbers and importance. Of all that great confederacy in Lower Virginia, it is believed that not one represent;itive on earth remains, or that one tongue speaks their dialect. On the Atlantic coast, south of the Powhatans, were the Corees, Cheraws, and other small tribes, occupying the land once inhabited by the powerful Hat- teras Indians.^ They were allies of the Tuscaroras in 1711, in an attack upon the English,' suffered defeat, and have now disappeared from the earth. Their dialect also is forgotten. Upon the great peninsula between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, were the Nanticokes. They were early made vassals, and finally allies, on com- pulsion, of the Five Nations. They left their ancient domain in 1710, occu- pied lands upon the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania, until the Revolutionary War commenced, when they crossed the Allcghanies, and joined the British in the west. They are now [1883] scattered among many tribes. The Original People,'' as the Lenni-Lenapes (who are frequently called Del- ' United States fort on the Missouri. Santa Fe is in New Mexico, 765 miles south-west of Fort Independence. 2 One of the most eminent of tlio Shawnoe chiefs, was Cornstalk, who was generally friendly to the Americans, and was always ready to assist in negotiating an honorable peace between ihem and his own people. But he cordially united with Logan, the Mingo chietj against the white people in 1174 ; and during the same battle at Point Pleasant, his voice, stentorian in volume, was frequently heard, calling to liis men, "Be strong! be strongi" Ho made his warriors light withovit wavering, and actually sunk his tomahawk deep into the head of one who endeavored to escape. He was murdered by some exasperated soldiers at Point Pleasant. When ho perceived their intent, he calmly said to his son, wlio had just joined him, " My son, tlie Great Spirit has seen fit that we rfionld die together, and has sent you hither for that purpose. It is His will; let us submit." Turning to the soldiers, ho received the fatal bullets, and his son, who was sitting near him, was shot at the same time. The celebrated Tecunitha — meaning a tiger crouching for his prey —who endeavored to confederate all the Western tribes in oi)position to the white people, was also a Shawnoe chief. See page 408. ' Pago 66. * Page 108. s This tribe numbered about three thousand warriors when Raleigh's expedition landed on Roanoke Island in 1584; when the English made permanent settlements in that vicinity, eighty years later, they were reduced to about fll\cen bowmen. ^ Page 168. ' This name has been applied to the whole Ai-noNQmN nation. The Lenni-Lenapes claimed to have come from beyond the Mississippi, conquering a more civilized people on the way, who inhabited the great valleys beyond the Alleghany Mountains. THE ALGONQUINS. 21 awares) named themselves, comprised two powerful nations, namely, the Minsi and the Delawares proper. The former occupied the northern part of ^eyr Jersey, and a portion of Pennsylvania, and the latter inhabited lower New Jer- sey the banks of the Delaware below Trenton, and the whole valley of the Schuylkill The Five Nations subjugated them in 1650, and brought them under degrading vassalage. They gradually retreated westward before the tide of civilization, and finally a portion of them crossed the Alleghanies, and settled in the land of the Hurons,' on the Muskingum, in Ohio. Those who remained in Pennsylvania joined the Shawnoese;^ and aided the French against the En- dish during the French and Indian War.^ In 1768, they all went over the mountains, Tnd the great body of them became friends of the British during the Revolution They were at the head of the confederacy of Western tribes who were ..'ushed by Wayne in 1794,^ and the following year they ceded all then- lands on the Muskingum, and seated themselves near the Wabash. In 181J, they ceded those lands also, and the remnant now [1883] occupy a territory north of the Kansas River, near its mouth. The MoHEGANS were a distinct tribe, on the Hudson River, but the name was -iven to the several independent tribes who inhabited Long Island, and the country between the Lenni-Lenapes and the New England Indians.^ Of this family the Pequods,^ inhabiting eastern Connecticut, on the shores of Long Island Sound, were the most powerful. They exercised authority over the Montauks and twelve other tribes upon Long Island. Their power was broken by the revolt of Uncas against his chief, Sassacus,' a short time before the ap- pearance of the white people. The Manhattans were seated upon the Hudson, in lower Westchester, and sold Manhattan Island, whereon New York now stands to the Dutch.^ The latter had frequent conflicts with these and other River 'Indians.' The Dutch were generally conquerors. The Mohawks, one of the Five Nations," were pressing hard upon them, at the same time and several of the Mohegan tribes were reduced to the condition of vassals oi that confederacy. Peace was effected, in 1665, by the English governor at New York. In the mean while, the English and Narragansets had smitten the Pequods," and the remaining independent Mohe- gans reduced to a handful, finally took up their abode upon the west bank of the Thames, five miles below Norwich,'^ at a place still known as Mohegan Plain. Their burial-place was at Nor- wich and there a granite monument rests upon the grave of _^^____ Uncas. The tribe is now almost extinct—" the last of the Mo- tracis- MONCMEXT. jijcans" wlll soon sleep with his fathers.' ■Page 23. ' Page 19. » Fourth Period, Chap. XII. 'J^'f.Vz^ : s ?^o .' S: ^:. -. pai: f.. ;. no. . S "l prelnt and partook of a cold coUation prepared for them by a lady of that eity^ The ^°fi'°t^^ leaders amon- the New England Indians known to history, are Massasoit, the father of the re- nowned King PhUip, Caunbitant, a very distinguished captain; Hobomok; Canomcus; M.anto- noZh; Ninilret, his cousin; King Philip, the last of the Wampanoags; Canonchet, and Anna- nt-an. We shall meet them in future pages. 22 THEABORIGINALS. The Aboriginals who inhabited the country from Connecticut to the Saco River, were called the New EN(iLANu Inhians. The principal tribes were the Narraganscts in Rhode Island, and on the western shores of Narraganset Bay : the Pokonokets and Wampanoags on the eastern shore of the same bay, and in a portion of Massachusetts ; the Nipmucs in the center of Massachusetts ; the Massachusetts in the vicinity of Boston and the shores southward; and the Pawtuckets in the north-eastern part of Massachusetts, embracing the Penna- cooks of New Hampshire. These were divided into smaller bands, having petty chiefs. The Pokonokets, for example, were divided into nine separate cantons or tribes, each having its military or civil ruler, but all holding alle- giance to one Grand Sachem. They were warlike, and were continually engaged in hostilities with the Five Nations, or with the Mohegans. The English and Dutch effected a general peace among them in 1673. Two years afterward [1675J, Mctacomet (King Philip) aroused most of the New England tribes against the English. A fierce war ensued, but ended in the subjugation of the Indians and };he death of Philip, in 1676.' The power of the New England Indians was then completely broken. Some joined the more eastern tribes, and others took refuge in Canada, from whence they frequently came to the border settlements on errands of revenge.' These incursions ceased when the French dominion in Canada ended in 1763.' When the Puritans came* [1620], the New England Indians numbered about ten thousand .souls; now [1883] probably not three hundred representatives remain ; and the dialects of all, excepting; that of the Narraganscts, are forgotten. Eastward of the Saco River were the Abenakes. The chief tribes were the Penobscots, Norridgewocks, Androscoggins, and Passamaquoddies. These, with the more eastern tribes of the Micmacs and Etchemins, were made nom- inal Christians by the French Jesuits ;' and they were all firm allies of the French until the conquest of Canada by the English, in 1760.' Most of the Abenakes, except the Penobscots, withdrew to Canada in 1754. A few scattered families of the latter yet [1883] dwell upon the banks of the Penob- scot River, and wanderers are seen on the St. Lawrence. Like other New England tribes, they are rapidly fading, and will, doubtless, be extinct before the dawn of another century. CHAPTER III. THE HURON-IHOQUOIS. We now come to consider the most interesting, in many respects, of all th& aboriginal tribes of North America, called Iroquois by the French. The pre- fix "Huron" was given, because that people seemed, by their language, to form ' Page 128. ' Page 130. • Pago 202. * Page 114 • Page 130. • Page 20.3. THE HURON-IROQUOIS. 23 a part of the IroquoiS nation, and like them, were isolated in the midst of the Algonquins, when discovered by the Europeans. The great body of the Iroquois occupied almost the whole territory in Canada, south-west of the Ottowa River, between Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron ; a greater portion of the State of New York, and a part of Pennsylvania and Ohio along the south- ern shores of Lake Erie. They were completely surrounded by the Algon- quins, in whose southern border in portions of North Carolina and Virginia, were the Tuscaroras and a few smaller Iroquois tribes.' The Hurons occupied the Canadian portions of the territory, and the land on the southern shore of Lake Erie, and appeared to be a distinct nation ; but their language was found to be identical with that of the Iroquois. The Hurons consisted of four smaller tribes, namely, the Wyandots or Hurons proper, the Attiouandirons," the Eries, and the Andastes. The two latter tribes were south of the lake, and claimed jurisdiction back to the domains of the Shawnoese.' Those "Romans of the Western World," the Five Nations, or Iroquois proper, formed a confederacy composed of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk tribes, all occupying lands within the present State of New York. They flmcifully called their confederacy the Long House. The eastern door was kept by the Mohawks ; the western by the Senecas ; and the Great Council fire was with the Onondagas, at the metropolis, or chief village, near the present city of Syracuse. The French, as we have observed, gave them the name of Iroquois ; the Algonquins called them Mingoes." At what time the confederacy was formed, is not known. It was strong and powerful when the French discovered them, in 1609, and they were then engaged in bloody wars with their kinsmen, the Wyandots.' i ' The Southern Iroquois were the Tuscaroras, Chowans, Meherrins, and Nottoways. The thre^ latter were upon the rivers "in lower Virginia, called by their respective names, and were knowL under the general title of Tuscaroras. " Neutral Nation. When the Hurons and Five Nations were at war, the Attiouandirons fled to the Sandusky, and built a fort for each of the beUigerents when in that region. But their neu- trality did not save them from internal feuds which finally dismembered the tribe. One party joined the Wyandots ; the other the Iroquois. 3 Page 19. < Mingoes, Minquas, and Maquas, were terras more particularly applied to the Mohawk tribe, who called themselves Kayingehaga, " possessors of the flint." Tlie confederation assumed tlie title of Aquinuschioni, " united people ;" or as some say, Konoshioni, "cabin builders." 5 The time of the formation of the confederation is supposed to have been at about the year 1539. According to their own ti'adition, it was about two generations before the white people canie to trade with them. Clarke, in his history of Onondaga county, has given, from the lips of an old chief of the Onondaga tribe, that beautiful legend of the formation of the great confederacy, which forms the basis of Longfellow's Indian Edda, " Hi-a-w.\t-h.\." Centuries ago, tlie story runs, the deity who presides over fisheries and streams, came from his dwelling-place in the clouds, to visit the inhabitants of earth. He was deliglited with the land where the tribes that afterward formed the confederacy, dwelt ; and having bestowed many blessings on that land, he laid aside his Divine character, and resolved to remain on earth. He selected a beautiful residence on the shore of Te-ungk-too (Cross lake), and all the people called him Hi-a-wat-ha, "the wise man." After a while, the people were alarmed by the approach of a ferociobs band of warriors from the country north of the great lakes. Destruction seemed inevitable. The inhabitants thronged around the lodge of Hi-a-wat-ha, from all quarters, craving his wise advice in this hour of great peril. After solemn meditalion, he told them to call a grand council of all the trilies. The chiefs and warriors from far and L\ar, assembled on the banks of Lake Oh-nen-ta-ha (Onondaga). The council-fire blazed three days before the venerable Hi-a-wat-ha arrived. He had been devoutly praying, in silence, to the Great Spirit, for guidance. Then, \vith his darling daughter, a virgin of' twelve years, he eniered ills white canoe, .and, to the great joy of the people, he appeared on the Oli-nen- 24 THE ABORIGINALS. In tlic year 1649, the Five Nations resolved to strike a final and decisive blow against their western neighbors, and, gathering all their warriors, they made a successful invasion of the Wyandot, or Huron country. Great num- bers of the Wyandots were slain and made prisoners, and the whole tribe was dispersed. Some of the fugitives took refuge with the Chippewas ; others fled to Quebec, and a few were incorporated into the Iroquois confederacy. Yet the spirit of the Wyandots was not subdued, and they claimed and exer- cised sovereignty over almost the whole of the Ohio country. They had great influence among the Algonquin tribes,' and even as late as the treaty of Greenville, in 1795, the principal cession of lands in Ohio to the United States was made by the Wyandot chiefs in council.' They, too, are reduced to a mere remnant of less than five hundred souls, and now [ISS:!] they occupy lands on the Neosho River, a chief tributary of the Arkansas. Being e.xccedingly warlike, the Five Nations made hostile expeditions against the New England Indians^ in the East, the Eries, Andastes, and ta-ha. A great shout greeted him, and as he landed and walked up the bank, a sound like a rusliing wind was heard ; a dark spot, every moment increasing in size, was descending from tlie clear sky. Fear seized tlie people ; but Hi-a-wat-ha stood unmoved. Tlio approacliing object was an immense bii-d. It c;ime swiftly to earth, crushed tlie darling daughter of Hi-a-wat-ha — was itself destroyed, but the wise man was unharmed. Grief for his bereavement prostrated him in the dust for three days. The council anxiously awaited his presence. At length he came : the subject of the peril from invaders was discussed, and alter deliberating a day, the venerable Hi-a-wat-lia arose and said : "Friends and Brothers — ^Tou are members of many tribes and nations. You have come here, many of you, a great distJinee from your homes. "We liave met for one common purpose — to pro- mote one common interest, and that is, to provide for our mutual safety, and how it shall best be accomplished. To oppose these foes from the north by tribes, singly and alone, would prove our certain destruction. ^ We can make no progress in that way. We must unite ourselves into one connnon band of brothers; thus united, wo may drive the invaders back ; this nmst be done, and we shall be safe. '■ You, the Mohawks, sitting under the shadow of the ' Great Tree,' whose roots sink deep into the earth, and whose branches spread over a vast country, shall be the first nation, because you are warlike and mighty. '• And you, Oneidas, a people who recline your bodies against the ' Everlasting Stone,' that can not be moved, shall be the second nation, because you give wise counsel. " And you, Onokdagas, who have your habitation at the ' Great Mountain,' and are over- shadowed by its crags, shall be the tliird nation, because you ai-e greatly gifted ia speech, and mighty in war. " And you, Catugas, a people whose habitation is the ' Dark Forest,' and whose home is every- where, shall be the fourth nation, because of your superior cunning in himting. "And you, Seneca.s, a people who live in the 'Open Country,' and jiossess much wisdom, shall bo the fifth nation, because you understand better the ait of raising corn and beans, and making cabins. " You, five great and powerful nations, must unite and have but one common interest, and no foe shall be able to disturb or subdue you. If we unite, the Great Spirit will smile upon us. Brothers, these are the words of Hi-a-wat-ha — let them sink deep into your hearts. I hav» said it." They reflected for a day, and then the people of the "Great Tree," the "Everlasting Stone," the "Great Mountain," the "Dark Forest," and the "Open Country," formed a league like that of the Amphyctioni of Greeco. The enemy was repulsed, and the Five Nations became the terror of the Continent. Then Hi-a-wiitha said, " The Great Master of Breath calls me to go. I have patiently waited his summons. I am ready — farewell !" Myriads of singing voices burst upon the cars of the multitude, and the whole air seemed filled with music. Hi-a-wat-ha, seated in liis wliite canoe, rose niiijestically above the throng, and as all eyes gazed in rapture upon the ascending wise man, he disappeared liirever in the blue vault of heaven. The music melted into low whispers, like the soft summer breeze ; and there were pleasant dreams in every cabin of the Five Nations on that blessed night, ' Page n. 2 Page 374, > Page 22. THE nURON-IROQUOIS. 25 Miamies in the West,' and penetrated to the domains of the Catawbas'' and Cherokees' in the South. They subjugated the Eries in 1655, and after aeon- test of" twenty years, brought the Andastes into vassahxge. They conquered the iliamies* and Ottawas^ in 1657, and made incursions as far as the Roanoke and Cape Fear Rivers to the land of their kindred in language, the Tuscaroras, in 1701/ Thirty years afterward, having been joined by the Tuscaroras, and the name of the confederacy changed to that of the Six Nations, they made war upon the Cherokees and Catawbas.' They were led on by Hi-o-ka-too, a Seneca chief The Catawbas were almost annihilated by them, after a battle of two days. So determined were the Five Nations to subdue the southern tribes, that when, in 1744, they ceded a part of their lands to Virginia, they reserved a perpetual privilege of a war-path through the territory. In the year 1712, the Tuscaroras having been signally defeated by the Carolinians,* came northward, and in 1714 joined the Five Nations. From that time the confederacy was known as the Six Nations. They were gen- erally the sure friends of the English and inveterate foes of the French." They were all friends of the British during the Revolution, except a part of the Oneidas, among whom the influence of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland'" wa& ' Page 17. 2 Page 26. 3 Page 27. < Page 17. s Page 17 6 Page 168. ' Page 17. « Page 168. 9 Page 192. 1" Samuel Kirkland was one of the most laborious and self-sacriflcing of the earlier missionaries, who labored among the tribes of the Six Nations. He was bom at Norwich, Connecticut, in December, 1741. He was educated at Dr. Wheelock's school, at Lebanon, where he prepared for that missionary work in which he labored forty years. His eBbrts were put forth chiefly among 26 THE ABORIGINALS. very powerful, in favor of the Republicans. The Mohawks were the most active enemies of the Americans ; and they were obliged to leave the State and take refuge in Canada at the close of the Revolution. Tlie others were allowed to remain, and now [1883] mere fragments of that great confederation e.xist, and, in habits and character, they are radically changed. The confederacy was forever extinguished by the sale of the residue of the Seneca lands in 1838. In 1715, the confederacy liumbered more than forty thousand souls ; now [18.s:i] they are probably less than four thousand, most of whom are upon lands beyond the Mississippi.' CHAPTER IV. THE CATATVBAS. In that beautiful, hilly region, between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers, on each side of the boundary line between North and South Carolina, dwelt tlic Catawb.\ nation. They were south-westward of the Tuscaroras, and were generally on good terms with them. They were brave, but not warlike, and • their conflicts were usually in defense of their own territory. They expelled the fugitive Shawnoese in 1672, ' but Avere overmatched and desolated by the warriors of the Five Nations' in 1701. They assisted the white people of South Carolina ag;xinst the Tuscaroras and their confederates in 1712;* but when, three years afterward, the southern tribes, from the Neuse region to that of the St. Mary's, in Florida, and westward to the Alabama, seven thousand the Oneidas ; and, during the Revolution, ho was active in restraining them from an .ilhance with the rest of the confederacy against tlie Patriots. He was exceedingly useful in trealy-making; for he had the entire conHdenee of the Indians. He died at Paris, in Oneida county, in February, 1808, in the 67th year of his ago. See Lossing's "Eminent .\mericans" for a more elaborate slietcb. ' The chief men of the Five N.vtioss, kuowu to tho while people, are Garangula, who was distinguished toward the close of the seventeenth century lor his wisdom and sagacity in council, and was of the Onondaga tribe. Logan, whose celebrated reply to a white messenger has been preserved by Mr Jellcrson, wits of tho Cayuga tribe. To the messenger he s;iid: ''I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hnngrj', and he gave him no meat ; if ever he came cold and naked and he clothed him not." Then speaking of the cruelty of the white people, who, in cold blood had munlered Ins lamily, ho said : "They have murdered all the relations of Logan — not even sparing my women and children. This called on me lor revenge ; I have sought it I have killed many. I have tiilly glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Xoi one!" Joseph Brant (Thayendanega), w.as the most celebrated of the Mohawk tribe ; and Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha), wtus a very renowned Seneca, greatly distinguished for his eloquence. Complanter, who lived till past a century in age, was .also a distinguished Seneca chief. Red .facket was very intemperate toward the latter part of liis life. On one occasion a lady inquired after his children. Ho had lost fourteen by consumiition. Bowing his head, he Siiid : " Red Jacket was once a great man, and in favor witli the Great Spirit. He was a lofty pine among the smaller trees of the forest. But after years of glory, he degra Page 204. ' Page 428. 3 A native Cherokee, named by the white people, Georpro Guess (Sequoyah), who was ignorant of every language but his own, seeing books in the missionary schools, and being told that the characters represented the words of the spoken English language, conceived the idea of forming a written language for his people. He first made a separate character for each word, but this made the whole matter too voluminoiis, and he formed a syllabic alphabet of eighty-Bve characters. It was soon ascertained that this was sufficient, even for the copious language of the Cherokecs, and this syllabic alphabet was soon adopted, in the preparation of books for the missionary schools. In 182G,"a new-spaper, called the Cherokee Phoenix, printed m the new characters, was established. Many of the native Cherokees are now well educated, but the great body of the natives are in ig- norance. * Note 4. page 32. THE MOBILIAN TRIBES. 29 CHAPTER YII. THE NATCHEZ. Op this once considerable nation, who inhabited the borders of the Missis- sippi, where a modern city now perpetuates their name, veiy little is known. When first discovered by the French, they occupied a territory about as large as that inhabited by the Uchees. It extended north-easterly from the Missis- sippi along the valley of the Pearl River, to the upper waters of the Chickasa- haw. For a long time they were supposed to belong to the nation of Mobilian tribes, by whom they were surrounded, but their language pi'oved them to be a distinct people. They were sun-worshippers; and from this circumstance, some had supposed that they had once been in intimate communication with the adorers of the great luminary in Central and South America, in many things they were much superior to their neighbors, and displayed signs of the refinement of a former more civiUzed condition. They became jealous of the French on their first appearance upon the Mississippi, and finally they con- spired, with others, to drive the intruders from the country. The French fell upon, and almost annihilated the nation, in 1730. They never recovered from the shock, and after maintaining a feeble nationaUty for almost a century, they have become merged into the Creek confederacy. They now [1S8.3] number less than three hundred souls, and their language, in its purity, is unknown. CHAPTER VIII. THE MOBILIAN TRIBES. Like the Algonquins and Iroquois nations, the Mobilian was composed of a great number of tribes, speaking different dialects of the same language. Their territory was next in extent to that of the Algonquins.' It stretched along the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, more than six hundred miles ; up the Mississippi as far as the mouth of the Ohio ; and along the Atlantic to Cape Fear. It comprised a greater portion of the present State of Georgia, the whole of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, and parts of South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The nation was divided into three grand confederacies of tribes, namely, Muscogees or Creeks Choctaws, and Chick- asaws. " Page 17. 30 THE ABORIGINALS. The Creek Confederacy extended from the Atlantic westward to the high lands which sep- arate the waters of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, including a great portion of the States of Alabama and Georgia, and the whole of Florida. Oglethorpes first interviews' with the natives at Savannah, were with people of this confederacy. SODTHERN INDIAN& ml_ ir c-. i ^ /-, • i Ihe xamassees, or bavannahs of Georgia and South Carolina, and the Seminoles of Florida, were of the Creek confederacy. The latter were strong and warlike. They were at the head of the Indian confederacy, to destroy the white people, in 1715.'^ When the general dis- persion followed that abortive attempt, the Yamassees took refuge with the Spaniards of Florida. Small bands often annoyed the white frontier settle- ments of Georgia, but they were not engaged in general hostilities until the Revolution, when the whole Creek confederacy^ took part with the British. The most inveterate and treacherous enemy of the white people, have ever been the Seminoles. Bands of them often went out upon the war-path, with the Yamassees, to slay the pale-faces. They joined the British in 1812-14; and in 1817 they renewed hostilities.* They were subdued by General Jack- son, and afterward remained comparatively quiet until 1835, when they agam attacked the white settlements.^ They were subjugated in 1842, after many lives and much treasure had been sacrificed." A few of them yet [1883] remain in the ev^erglades of Florida, but a greater portion of the tribe have gone west of the Mississijipi, with the other iia-nibers of the Creek confederacy. The Creeks proper now [1883] number about fifteen thousand souls. The number of the whole confederacy is about twenty-four thousand. They occupy lands upon the Arkansas and its tributaries, and are among the most jieaceable and oider-loving of the banished tribes. Ill the beautiful country bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico, and extending west of tlie Creeks to the Mississippi, lived tlie Chootaws. They were an agri- cultural people when the Europeans discovered theui ; and, attached to lionie and quiet pursuits, they have ever been a peaceful people. Their wars have always been on tlie defensive, and they never liad public feuds with eillier their Spanisli, French, or English neighbors. They, too, have been compelled tc abandon their native country for the uncultivated wilderness west of Arkausab, between the Arkansas and Red Rivers. They now [1883] number about thirteen thousand souls. Thoy retnin their peaceable character in their new homes. The Chickasaw tribe inhabited the country along the Mississippi, from the borders of the Choctaw domain to the Ohio River, and eastward beyond the Ten- nessee to the lands of the Cherokees' and Shawnees.'' This warlike people were the early friends of the English, and the most inveterate foes of the French, 'Page 102. s Page 170. ' ThU confederacy now [1883] consists of the Creeks proper, Seminoles, Natchez, Hichittiea, and Alabamas. The Creeks, like many other tritjes, claim to be the Original People. * Page 448. ' Page 466. ' Page 468. ' Page 27. ^ Page 19. THE DAHCOTAH OR SIOUX TRIBES. 31 ■who had twice [1736-17-10] invaded their country. They adhered to the British during the Revolution, but since that time they have held friendly rela- tions with the Government of the United States. The remnant, about four thousand in number, are upon lands almost a hundred leagues westward of the Mississippi. Thus, with almost chronological brevity, we have given an outline sketch of the history of the Aboriginal nations with whom the first European settlers in the United States became acquainted. They have now no legal habitation eastward of the Mississippi ; and the fragments of those powerful tribes who once claimed sovereignty over twenty-four degrees of longitude and twenty degrees of latitude, are now [1883] compressed within a quadrangle of about nine degrees, between the Red and Missouri Rivers.' Whether the grave of the last of those great tribes shall be within their present domain, or in some valley among the crags of the Rocky Mountains, expediency will hereafter determine. CHAPTER IX. THE DAHCOTAH OR SIOUX TRIBES. The French were the earliest explorers of the regions of the Middle and Upper Mississippi, and they found a great number of tribes west of that river who spoke dialects of the same language. They occupied the vast domain from the Arkansas on the south, to the western tributary of Lake Winnipeg on the north, and westward to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. These have been classed into four grand divisions, namely, the Winnebagoes, who inhabited the country between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi, among the Algonquins f the Assinniboins and Sioux proper, the most northerly nation ; the Minetaree Group in the Minnesota Territory, and the Southern Sioux, who dwelt in the country between the Arkansas and Platte Rivers, and whose hunting-ground extended to the Rocky Mountains. The most uneasy of these tribes were the Winnebagoes, who often attacked the Sioux west of the Mississippi. They generally lived on friendly terms with the Algonquins, after their martial spirit was somewhat subdued by the Illinois, who, in 1640, almost exterminated them. They were enemies to the ' Mr. Bancroft [IT., 253] after consulting the most reliable authorities on the subject, makes the following estimate of the entire Aboriginal population in 1650 Algonquins, 90,000; Eastern Sioux, less than 3,000; Iroquois, including their southern kindred, about 17,000; Catawbas, 3,000, Cherokees (now more numerous than ever), 12,000; Mobihan tribes, 50,000; Uchees, 1,000; Natchez, 4,000— in all, 180,000. These were the only nations and tribes then known. With the expan.sion of our territory westward and southward, we have embraced numerous Indian nations, some of them quite populous, until the number of tlie estimate above givea has been almost doubled, according to the late census. ^ Page n 82 THE ABORIGINALS United States during the second war with Great Britain," and they confeder- ated with the Sues and Foxes in hostilities against the wliite people, under Black Hawk, in 1832.^ The tribe, now [1881] less than four thousaud strong, are seated upon the Mississippi, about eighty miles above St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota. Fear of the white peojjle k('eps them (juiet. In the cold, wet country of the North, the Assiniboins yet inhabit their na- tive land. Having separated from the nation, they are called " rebels." Their neighbors, the Siou.x proper, were first visited by the French in 1G60, and have ever been regarded as the most fierce and warlike people on the continent. They also occupy their ancient domain, and are now [1883] about fifteen thousand strong. Further westward are the Minetarees, Mandans, and Crows, who form the MiNETAREE Group. They are classed with the Dahcotahs or Sioux, although the languages have only a slight affinity. The Minetarees and Mandans num- ber about three thousand souls each. They cultivate the soil, and live in vil- lages. The Crows number about fifteen hundred, and are wanderers and hunters. The Mandans are very light-colored. Some suppose them to be descendants of a colony from Wales, who, it is believed, came to America under Madoc, the son of a Welsh prince, in the twelfth century.' There are eight in number of the Southern Sioux tribes, namely, the Arkansas, Osages, Kansas, lowas, IMissouries, Otoes, Omahas, and Puncahs. They are cultivators and hunters. They live in villages a part of the year, and are abroad upon their hunting-grounds during the remainder. Of these tribes, the Osages are the most warlike and powerful. All of the Southern Sioux tribes are upon lands watered by the Missom-i and the Platte, and their tributaries. CHAPTER X. THE EXTREME WESTERN TRIBES. Within a few years, our domain has been widely expanded, and in our newly-acquired possessions on the borders of Mexico and the Pacific coast, and the recently organized Territories in the interior of the continent, are numer- ous powerful and warlike tribes,^ of whom little is known, and whose history ' Page 260. s Page 287. ' It is .said that Madoc, son of Prince Owen Gwicrnedd, sailed from Wales, ^vith ten ships and- three hundred men, at about the year 1170, on an e.xplorint; voyasre, and never returned. Many learned conjectures have been expressed, .and among them the belief that the expedition reached the American continent, and became the progenitors of the Mandans, or White Indians, of our western plains, * The whole number of Indians within the present limits of the United States, in 1881, accord- hig to otficial estimates, was a little lees than 300,000. There are about 1 5.000 in the t^tates east- ward of the Mississippi, principally in New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin: the remainder, consi.st- iug of Cherokees, Choclaws. and Seniiuoles, being in North Uaroliiia. Mississippi, and Florida. The- THE EXTREME WESTERN TRIBES. 33 has no connection with that of the people of the United States, except the fact that thej were original occupants of the soil, and that some of them, especially the California and Oregon Indians, yet [1883] dispute our right to sovereignty. Of these, the Comanches and Apaches of California are the most warhke. The Pawnees upon the Great Plains toward the Rocky Mountains are very numer- ous, but not so warlike ; and the Utahs, among the Wasatch and neighboring ranges, are strong in numbers. Further northward and westward are the Blackfeet, Crow, Snake, Nezperces, and Flathead Indians, and smaller clans, with petty chiefs, whose domains stretch away toward the Knisteneaux and Esquimaux on the extreme north. These tribes are rapidly fading in the light of modern civilization, and are destined to total annihilation. The scythe of human progress is steadily cut- ting its swathes over all their lands ; and the time is not far distant when the foot-prints of the Indians will be no more known within the domain of our Re- public. In future years, the dusky son of an exile, coming from the far-off borders of the Slave Lake, will be gazed at in the streets of a city at the mouth of the Yellow Stone, with as much wonder as the Oneida woman, with her blue cloth blanket and bead-work merchandize is now [1883] in the city of New York. So the Aboriginals of our laud are passing away, and even now they may chant in sorrow : " We, the rightfial lords of yore, Are the rightM lords no more; Like the silver mist, we fail, Like the red leaves on the gale — Fail, like shadows, when the dawning Waves the bright flag of the morning." J. McLellan, Je. " I will weep for a season, in bitterness fed. For my kindred are gone to the hUJs of the dead ; But they died not of hunger, or hngering decay — The hand of the white man hath swept them away." Henrt Eowe Schoolcraft. number in Minnesota and along the frontiers of the Western States and Texas (most of them emi- grants from the country eastward of the ilississippi), is estimated at 80,000. Those on the Plains and among the Rocky Mountains, not within any organized Territory, at 50,000; in Texas, at •J.),000; in New Mexico, at 30,000; in California, at 78,000; in Utah, at 10,000; in Oregon and Washington Territories, at 20,000; — total, 308,000. For more minute accounts of the' Indians, see Heckewelder's "History of the Indian Nations:" Schoolcraft's "Algic Researches;" M'Kinney's "History of the Indian Tribes;" Drake's "Book of the Indians;" CatUn's "Letters and Notes;" Schoolcraft's "Notes on the Iroquois." To the Department of the Interior of the National Government is intrusted the administration of Indian affairs. At this time [1883] the stocks and bonds held by the Department in trust for the Indians, from the income of which annuities are paid to them, amount to more than three millions of dollars. „ AMb:Kllill \ Hsl'L L'CI. SECOND PERIOD. DISCOVERIES. CHAPTER I. SCANDINAVIAN VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES- One of the most iiiterestiiii:; of the un- solved problems of history, is that which re- lates to the allej;ed iliscovery of America hy marinei"s of nortli- ern Europe, almost five huudreil years before Columbus letl Palos, in Spain, to accomplish that great event. The tales and poetry of Iceland abound with intimations of sueh discoveries ; and records of early voyages from Iceland to a continent south- westwai-d of Greenland, have been found. These, and the re- sults of recent investigations, appear to prove, by the strongest circumstantial evidence, that the New England' coast was vis- ited, and that settlements thereon were attempted by Scandi- nanan navigjitors,'- almost five centuries before the great Genoese imdertook his first voyage in quest of a western passage to India. ' The States of our Union eastward of New York are collectively called New England. P. 7-4. ' The ancients called the territory wliioh conuiiiis modern Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Lapland^ Iceland, Finland, etc, by tlio generiil uamo of Scaudinaria, SCANDINAVIAN VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 35 The navigators of northern Europe were remarkable for their boldness and perseverance. They discovered Iceland in the year 860, and colonized it. In 890 they colonized Greenland, and planted colonies there also. There was traffic, friendly and lucrative, between the colonists of Iceland and Greenland, and the parent Norwegians and Danes, as early as the year 950, and no mar- iners were so adventurous as these Northmen. In the year 1002, according to an Icelandic chronicle, a Norwegian vessel, commanded by Captain Lief, sailed from Iceland for Greenland. A gale drove the voy- agers to the coast of Labrador. They explored the shores southward to the region of a genial climate, where they found noble forests and abundance of grapes. This, it is supposed, was the vicinity of Boston. Other voyages to the new-found land were afterward made by the adventurous Scandinavians, and they appear to have NORMAN SHIP. -perhaps far south as extended their explorations as far as Rhode Island- Cape May. It is further asserted that settlements in that pleas- ant climate were attempted, and that the child of a Scan- dinavian mother was born upon the shore of Mount Hope Bay, in Rhode Island.' In the absence of actual charts and maps, to fix these localities of latitude and longitude, of course they must be subjects of conjecture only, for these explorers left no traces of their presence here, un- less it shall be conceded that the round tower at New- port,'- about the origin of which history and tradition are silent, was built by the Northmen. The period of this alleged discovery was that of the dark ages, when ig- norance brooded over Europe, like thick night. Information of these voyages seems not to have spread, and no records of intercourse with a western conti- nent later than 1120, have been found. The great discovery, if made, was for- gotten, or remembered only in dim traditionary tiles of the exploits of the old " Sea-Kings" '^ of the North. For centuries afterward, America was an un- TOWER AT NEWPORT. ' The old chronicle referred to says that Gudrida, wife of a Scandinavian navigator, gave birth to a child in America, to whom she gave tlie name of Snorre ; and it is further asserted that Ber- tel Thorwalsden, the great Danish sculptor, was a descendant of this early wliite Americau. The records of these voyages were compiled by Bishop Thorlack, of Iceland, who was also a descendant I of Snorre. ' 2 Tliis structure is of unhewn stone, laid in mortar made of the gravel of the soil around, and oyster-shell lime. It is a cylinder resting upon eiglit round columns, twenty-three feet in diameter, and twenty-four feet in height It was originally covered with stucco. It seems to have stood there when the white people first visited Rhode" Island, and the Narraganset Indians, it is as- serted, had no tradition of its origin. There can be Httle doubt, all things considered, of its haring been constructed by those northern navigators, who made attempts at settlement in that vicinity. 3 This name was given to bold adventurers of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, who rebelled iigainst Gorm the Old of Norway, and Harold Fairhair of Denmark, their conquerors, forsook their country, settled upon the islands of the North Sea, and Greenland, and from thence went forth Mpon piratical expeditions, even as far south as the ple-isant coasts of France. They trafficked, a." well as plundered; and finally sweeping over Denmark and Germany, obtained possession of sonw 36 DISCOVERIKS. [1492. known region. It had no place upon maps, unle.ss as an imaginary island without a name, nor in the nio.st at-ute geojirapliical theorie.s of the learned. When Columbus coneeived the grand idea ot" reaching Asia by sailing westward, no whisper of those Scandinavian voyages was heard in Europe. CHAPTER IT. SPANISH VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. The first half of the fifteenth century was distinguished for great commer- cial activity. Sluggish Europe was just awaking from its slumber of centuries, and maritime discoveries were prosecuted with untiring zeal by the people inhabiting the great south-western peninsula covered by Spain, Portugal, and France. The incentives to make these discoveries grew out of the political condition of Europe, and the promises of great commercial advantages. The rich commerce of the East centered in Rome, when that empire overshad- owed the known world. When it fell into fragments, the Italian cities con- tinued their monopoly of the rich trade of the Indies. Provinces which had arisen into independent kingdoms, became jealous of these cities, so rapidly outstripping them in power and opulence ; and Castile and Portugal, in par- ticular, eni^iiged in efforts to open a direct trade with the East. The ocean was the only highway for such commerce, toward which the rivals could look with a hope of success. The errors of geographical science interposed great obsta- cles. Popular belief pictured an impassable region of fire beyond Cape Baja- dor, on the coast of Africa; but ))old navigators, under the auspices of Prince Henry of Portugal, soon penetrated that dreaded latitude, crossed the torrid zone, and, going around the southern extremity of Africa, opened a pathway to the East, through the Indian Ocean. The Portuguese court at Lisbon soon became a point of great attraction to the learned and advini- turous. Among others came Christopher Columbus, the son of a wool-carder of Genoa, a mariner of great experience and considerable repute, and tiien in the prime of life, In person he was tall and commanding, and, in manners, exceedingly winning and graceful, for one unaccustomed to the polish of courts, or the higher orders in society. The rudi- ments of geometry, which he had learned in the of the best portions of Gaul. They flnnlly invaded the Britisli Islands, and placed Canute upon the throne of Alfred. It was anioiij; tlieso people that cliivalry, as an institution, originated ; and back to those " Sea- Kings" wo may look for tlie hardiest elements of progress among the people of tlio United States. 1609.] SPANISH VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES. 37 university of Pavia, had been for years working out a magnificent theory in his mind, and lie came to Lisbon to seek an opportunity to test its truth. Fortune appeared to smile beneficently upon Columbus, during his early residence in Lisbon. He soon loved and married the daughter of Palestrello, a deceased navigator of eminence, and he became possessed of nautical papers of great value. They poured new light upon his mind. His convictions i-especting the rotundity of the earth, and the necessity of a continent in the Atlantic Ocean, to balance the land in the eastern hemisphere ; or at least a nearer approach of eastern Asia to the shores of western Europe, than geo- graphical science had yet revealed, assumed the character of demonstrated realities. He was disposed to credit the narratives of Plato and other ancient writers, respecting the existence of a continent beyond the glorious, but long- lost, island of Atlantis, in the waste of waters westward of Europe. He was convmced that Asia could be reached much sooner by sailing westward, than by going around the Cape of Good Hope.' He based his whole theory upon the fundamental belief that the earth was a terraqueous globe, which might be traveled round from east to west, and that men stood foot to foot at opposite points. This, it should be remembered, was seventy years before Copernicus announced his theory of the form and motion of the planets [lo-tS], and one hundred and sixty years [1633J before Galileo was compelled, befoi'e the court of the Inquisition at Rome, to renounce his belief in the diurnal revolu- tion of the earth. A deep religious sentiment imbued the whole being of Columbus, and he became strongly impressed with the idea that there were people beyond the waste of waters westward, unto whom he was commissioned by heaven to carry the Gospel." With the lofty aspirations which his theory and his faith gave him, he prosecuted his plans with great ardor. He made a voyage to Iceland, and sailed a hundred leagues beyond, to the ice-fields of the polar cir- cle. He probably heard, there, vague traditions of early voyages to a western continent,'' which gave strength to his own convictions ; and on his return, he laid his plans first before his countrymen, the Genoese (who rejected them), and then before the monarchs of England' and Portugal. The Portuguese monarch appeared to comprehend the grand idea of Colum- bus, but it was too lofty for the conceptions of his council and the pedantic wise men of Lisbon. For a long time Columbus was annoyed by delays on the part of those to whose judgment the king deferred ; and attempts were meanly and clandestinely made to get from Columbus the information which he pos- sessed. While awaiting a decision, his wife died. The last link that bound him to Portugal was broken, and, taking his little son Diego by the hand, he ' Tliis point was first discovered by Diaz, a Portuguese navigator, who named it Stormy Cape. But King Jolin, believing it to be that remote extremity of Africa so long sought, named it Cape of Good Hope. Vasco de Gama passed it in 1497, and made his way to the East Indies beyond. '^ His name was suggestive of a mission. Christo or Christ, and Colombo, a pigeon — carrier- pigeon. By this combination of significant words in his name, he believed himself to be a Christ, or Gi'spel-bearer, to the heathen, and he often signed his name Christo-ferens, or Christ-bearer, J Page 34. < Page 46 IHSCOVKIUKS. [ 1 102. departed on foot to l:iy liis ])i()|iositioii iH-forc Ferdiiiaiul and Isabella.' the nionarchs of Spain — occupants of the united thrones of Arragon and Castile. Very poor, and greatly di.spirite