LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, COPYRIGHT OFFICE. No registration o - f title of this book as a preliminary to copyright protec- tion has been found. Forwarded to Order Division .MAE 16 ISIO (Date) (Al>r. 5, 1901—5,000.) Class r^ Book X-- Decisive Dates in Illinois History A Story of the State Told in a Record of Events which have Determined the History of Illinois and of the Nation With Thirty Illustrations By Lottie E. Jones Author of Library Method Applied to State History 1909 LLINOIS PRINTING COMPANY DANVILLE, ILLINOIS [COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY LOTTIE E. JONES] Raceivad from Copyright Omc®, UR IGlSlt IN LOVING MEMORY OF MOTHER MRS. CHARLOTTE JONES WHOSE PATRIOTISM AND LOYALTY TO OUR COUNTRY HAS BEEN THE INSPIRATION TO ALL MY HISTORICAL RESEARCH DECISIVE DATES IN ILLINOIS HISTORY AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT. In making this compilation of events and influences which have determined the history of Illinois, I have freely taken from many sources and am indebted to many authorities. I have endeavored to give due credit for all material used and have added a brief bibliography that probably covers any further authority which has even indirectly influenced statements made. I desire to more fully acknowledge specific aid which I have derived from the Publications of the Illinois State Historical Society, particularly from the con- tributions of Clarence Walworth Alvord, of Dr. Snyder, of H. W. Beckwith, of Stuart Brown, of Daniel Berry M. D. and of J. O. Cunningham. I am also indebted to Olde Ulster, Vols. I. No. 1, II. No. 4, and IV. No. 1, for matter concerning the Silver Covenant Chain. At this same time, I would mention the work of John Moses, Illinois Histori- cal and Statistical, in two volumes, which I have frequently quoted. I desire also to acknowledge here my obligations to the Illinois State Historical Society for use of many valuable cuts; to Judge Walter B. Douglas, President of the Missouri State Historical Society, for the same favor, and to the Chicago Historical Society, to A. C. McClurg and to Harper and Bros. for permission to reproduce and use pictures belonging to them. For all this aid I am, gratefully, The Author. CONTENTS Page Introduction — Prehistoric Illinois 7 Date I. 1673 — Discovery 17 Interim— 1673-1759 39 LaSalle Expedition ■*! Forts Creve Coeur and St. Louis 42 Colonial Days '^^ Date II. 1759 — The Silver Covenant Chain 51 Interim— 1759-1778 83 The Story of Pontiac 85 End of the Period of Romance 87 British Domination 88 Date III. 1778— The Conquest of the Northwest. . 94 Interim— 1778-1818 105 Illinois a County of Virginia 107 The Indiana Territory 1 1 1 The Territory of Illinois 113 The Fort Dearborn Massacre 115 Date IV. 1818— Extension of Northern Boundary . 119 Interim— 1818-1824 125 Pioneer Life • ■ • l^' Date V. 1824 — Defeat of Convention to Amend Constitution 135 Interim— 1824-1858 145 The Black-Hawk War 147 Anti-Slavery Influences in Illinois 149 Date VI. 1858— The Lincoln-Douglas Debates 151 Conclusion — The Commercial Era 167 Addenda — The Governors of Illinois 171 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page The Pierre Menard House Frontispiece The Monk's Mound 11 Louis Joliet 21 Father Jacques Marquette 23 LaSalle's Monument 39 Starved Rock (Site of Fort St. Louis) 43 Piasa Bird 65 Tablet to Pontiac 83 Indian Trail 87 Father Pierre Gibault 101 Arthur St. Clair Ill Kaskaskia 127 Old Court House at Kaskaskia 127 Tavern at Kaskaskia 129 Fort Dearborn Massacre (Tablet) 113 Kinzie House and Fort Dearborn 115 Fort Dearborn Massacre (Monument) 117 Map Showing Extension of Northern Boundary 119 Nathaniel Pope 123 Edward Coles 137 Morris Birkbeck 143 The Hargrave House 141 Black-Hawk Rock 145 Monument at Stillman Valley 149 Shabbona 147 Abraham Lincoln 155 Gen. John M. Palmer 157 Governor Wm. Bissell 159 Stephen A. Douglas 161 The Wigwam 163 PREFACE. ILLINOIS, now truly the " heart of the nation," has a proud present day, a promis- ing future and an interesting past. Its past, reaching back nearly as far as does that of the states on the Atlantic coast, has its period of romance, its period of telling events, and its period of commercial achievement, all of which are fraught with interest. There are five events in the history of Illinois, which have proven strong factors in determin- ing the history of the nation. So important are these events, that the years in which they occur, may be called Decis- ive Dates. These years are 1759, 1778, 1818, 1824 and 1858. They lie within the hundred years between about the middle of the eight- eenth and the nineteenth centuries. In 1759, the Indians from the Illinois Country agreed to the compact already existing between the Iroquois and the English this compact hav- ing come to the English as an inheritance from the Dutch. This agreement withdrew their support from the French at the time when it was needed to sustain New France in America. 1 2 Preface The direct result of this " being bound by the Silver Covenant Chain," as the Indians called the agreement, was the supremacy of the^ Anglo-Saxon over the Gaul in the New World. In 1778, George Rogers Clark made his con- quest of the Northwest by capturing Kaskaskia and St. Vincent in the Illinois Country, thereby restricting Great Britain's domain to the terri- tory north of the Great Lakes rather than the Ohio River. This restriction made it possible for the states to preserve their dearly-bought independence. In 1818, Nathaniel Pope had the northern boundary of Illinois extended and secured a coast line on Lake Michigan, also Chicago in Illi- nois, and fifty miles of territory out of which fourteen counties were created w^hich domin- ated state politics and decided national affairs in 1860. In 1824, the question of Illinois being made a slave state was settled for all time by the defeat of the convention to amend the state constitution. Illinois as a slave state would have materially changed the history of the United States. In 1858, the Lincoln-Douglas debates marked an era in the history of the union. We do well in this compilation to preface Preface 3 these dates with the one of 1673, because that year marks the beginning of authentic history of lUinois — it is the date of its birth. Ahhough it matters little to the world and has had insignificant effect upon subsequent history of the state or nation, that the French discovered the Illinois country in the seven- teenth century, yet this date is not without significance. There is little reason to think that the Missis- sippi valley would have attracted colonization from any other European power for a century after the time of the discoveries by the French. England had enough space along the Atlantic coast for the time being to colonize; Holland was comfortably settled on the Hudson river and had no desire to push into the wilderness of the west; while Spain, in seeking wealth through the finding of precious metals, was led to the mountains rather than to the fertile plains, and went further and yet further west. So it was that France, and France alone, must colonize the Illinois coimtry if it was to be done for a hundred years to come. Yet the fact remains that the discovery and subsequent hundred years of occupancy by France was without particular influence upon the history of Illinois. 4 Preface. The strongest searchlight thrown upon that period, fails to reveal any event of special im- portance. It was the period of romance. There have been many important events in Illinois history since 1858. In the better per- spective of coming years there may be, here or there, one which will prove of more than local interest, and perhaps even of national import- ance and merit the record as a decisive date, but in the light of today none such can be dis- cerned. In the following pages a story of the State has been attempted to be told by a record of these years connected with each other by brief state- ments of less important incidents. This plan has been followed for two reasons, first: to give due importance to these events, and second, to present them in such a way as to make a connected story which interests the reader. As far as possible, the matter has been given at first hand, and Marquette, Sir William Johnson, Clark and others have told their stories in their own words, credit being given them. So condensed a history must needs omit many details, but it is hoped Decisive Dates will arouse so deep an interest in the history of Illi- Preface S nois as that the reader may make continued research for himself. To aid in this research, a short bibliography is given. INTRODUCTION Prehistoric Illinois INTRODUCTION Prehistoric Illinois. ALTHOUGH authentic history of Illinois does not begin until the day in June, 1673, when Joliet and Marquette as- cended the Illinois River yet there are such indisputable evidences of life within the area now known as the state before this event that the time previous to the Seventeenth Century is fraught with interest. For a record of conditions and events before the coming of the white man, we must look to the legends of the Indian, to the relics of a long gone and vanished race, or read it from the great book opened only to scientific re- search. Geologists are able to turn the "leaves of sandstone and limestone" and show us wonder- ful pictures. The first picture of Illinois is a vast sea of salt water with tiny forms of animal life, these followed by the shell fish, all working to form the foundation of physical Illinois. Another is the sea flowing away and the plant life appearing, to afterward be again covered by the returning sea. These pictures are repeated again and again, while layer after Introduction • 9 layer was formed, until a great plain of solid rock was made. The next picture in this wonder book is the vast glacier coming down from the North with its load of ground-up rock substance de- positing it as clay. We call this the picture of the Ice age, and in it we first see human life in this section of country. These Ice people are supposed to have been very like the Eskimo as they are now known. They may have been the ancestors of the Mound Builders. No one can know anything definite about them, for neither the wisdom of the Geologist, nor traditions, can give us any authentic information on the subject. Here and there a stone implement is dug up out of the soil and it brings a tale of a human hand which used it thousands of years ago. There are other interesting pictures for the Geologist to show. The change in the contour of the land after the melting ice has formed the channels of waterways and their correspond- ing elevations — the slowly drained country — the final surface of the land as prairie, marsh and upland covered with green grasses, shrubs and trees, all these come to view as the ages roll by. 10 Introduction The Indians who were found by the white man had many legends, but none which told of people living here before their own race. They had nothing to account for the strange mounds which were found along the banks of the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois and rivers of less importance. But these mounds have been excavated by the white man and from their contents the theory has been established that the time between the supposed possession of the land by the Ice Folk and the coming of the red- man was not devoid of human life in the "Mis- sissippi valley, but that a race of people of perhaps higher civilization than the American Indian lived in this region before his coming. These people have been given the name of Mound Builders. From the pottery, metal plates, and implements of labor found in these mounds, the people were no doubt skilled in the arts of peace, rather than being a war-like race, such as the American Indian. Large fragments of pottery have been found in the Illinois SaHnes which tend to prove the people who once lived there to have distinctly differed from the American Indian, both in skill and appearance. This fact is suggested by the decoration on the pottery found. Introduction 11' A curious mound was found where the city of Rockford now stands called the Turtle Mound. It has never yielded anything of particular value and is supposed to mark the southern limit of some race or family. The most interesting of Illinois mounds is located in St. Clair County about three miles north of East St. Louis. It is one of the well known Cahokia mounds. This is known as the Monks Mound because of the fact that at one time there was a monastery of Trappist monks located upon its summit. It is the largest of all known mounds. Numer- ous smaller mounds are located near to it. The Monks Mound is oblong in shape. It is 1080 feet long, 710 feet wide and occupies sixteen acres. This mound has for some time been owned by a family who guards the secret it may hold most jealously. It is not tilled as is the land adjoining it, nor is any one permitted to make excavations to learn what may be foi.md under the soil. Excavations were begun here at one time and human bones of unusual size together with pottery were found. These bones cnmibled upon being exposed to the air. Whether more light could be thrown upon the life and habits of these little known mound 12 Introduction builders by excavating the Monks Mound and those near by, remains to be seen. Who these mound builders were, whence they came and whither they went is a problem which never has been and may never be solved. Nothing definite is even known concerning the time they lived here. The American Indian, whom the first white explorer found, knew nothing of them. No Indian legend accounted for the mounds. Whether the Mound Builders were identical with the semi-civilization of South America^ of the Aztecs of Mexico, or whether they were a different race yet than they, can not now be de- termined. There is much evidence in southern Illinois of the abode, at one time, of the so-called Stonegrave People. There is no reason how- ever to think they were the same as the Mound Builders. These people buried their dead in graves lined and covered with thin flagstones. This custom gave them the name by which they were known. Their old graves are to be found in Georgia and thence in a north west direction through southern Illinois and across the great river into what is now the state of ^ Missouri. Hammered copper plates have been found in these graves which are quite nearly like the art Introduction 13 of Central America and suggests there may be some close relationship between the people. Many hold to the belief that the Mound Builders were, after all, the same race as the American Indians. But all that can be known has had to have been literally dug out of the ground, and at best, must ever remain a matter of conjecture. The descendants, if any, of the Mound Builders, unless they really are the American Indians, are not known. Whether they were or were not the same race as the American Indians, all trace of their identity has entirely disappeared. The origin of the American Indian has never been satisfactorily determined. No more is known of him before the fifteenth century than is of the "Ice Folk," the "Stonegrave People," and the "Mound Builders." The records of the sixteenth century show little knowledge of the natives of the Mississippi valley, nor, until three quarters of the seven- teenth century was passed, can there be found anything upon which to base theories of whence they came. The seventeenth century deter- mined the Colonization of America. The location of a country, its natural re- sources, its means of access and its climate, are all factors in determining its colonization. 14 Introduction The eastern coast of the New World was naturally the first attraction to settlers from the Old World. Those from France settled along the St. Lawrence River, and followed the course of the rivers toward the west. It was late in the seventeenth century that the country of the mini, the territory now the common- wealth of Illinois, was discovered, explored, and to a limited extent colonized by France. This was the first knowledge the civilized world had of the Mississippi valley. The com- ing of the two Frenchmen, Marquette" and Joliet, down the Mississippi River and into the mini Country in 1673, was the discovery to the world of the great water-way and fertile valley of the new continent, through resources of which the promise of the New World was to be made good. Two strong motives led the French into the wilderness. One was the fur trade and the other was the love of their church, which sent them as missionaries among the American Indians. Wherever a trading-post was located, a mission was established. The priest with his altar on his back went side by side with the explorer and the trader. This was the case from the time of the building of Quebec, the Introduction IS first permanent settlement in New France, by Samuel Champlain in 1608. When, a half century later, knowledge of the great water-way through the center of the con- tinent came, it was the explorer, the priest and the trader who went into the new country of the mini. America is the only country conquered by the cross rather than the sword. Freedom to wor- ship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, brought the Puritan to the eastern coast. A desire to save the souls of the red men, led the Jesuit priests into the wilderness of the Mississippi valley. Jacques Carter, a Frenchman, discovered the St. Lawrence River in 1535. This gave France a claim to the region drained by this river to which the name of New France was given. Settlements were made at Nova Scotio (or Acadia as it was then called) but they proved weak and until in 1806, when Samuel Champlain founded Quebec, New France was not very promising. The wisdom of selecting the site of Quebec for a colony was proven by its ad- vantage in the fur trade. Montreal, although located by Champlain, was not built for a quarter of a century after Quebec was settled. These colonies carried on so profitable a trade 16 Introduction in furs, that they grew rapidly and from them explorers, traders and missionaries pushed north and north-west with such energy that within another quarter of a century, trading posts and missions were established as far west as Sault Ste. Marie and Michilimakanac. Other than these missions and trading posts, there were no white men west of the Allegheny Mountains up to the discovery of the Mississippi River in 1673. Date I. 1673 Discovery Date I. 1673 EIGHT years previous to this date, Father Claude Allouez was sent to the region of Lake Superior to restore the mission which had been established years before at the cost of Father's Menard's life. Father Allouez went beyond the site of the old mission, how- ever and built his chapel of bark at Chequa- megon Bay calling it La Pointe du Esprit or Mission of the Holy Ghost. A trading post was soon established here which was sustained by the Indians from the south and west who came from long distances. Among them were Pottawattomies, Sacs and Foxes, Miamis and the Illini whose hunting grounds lay on both sides the Mississippi river which, as yet, was an undiscovered country to the whiteman. These Indians doubtless brought tales of the great river but it was left for the successor of Father Allouez to call the attention of the civilized world to the possibili- ties of this great water way and the Illini country.* Three years later Father Allouez was re- moved from this mission to be located elsewhere, 19 20 Decisive .Dates and Father James Marquette was sent to La Pointe du Saint Esprit. It is from a letter written by Father Mar- quette, while at this mission, to his Reverend Father Superior, preserved in the Relations for 1669 and 1670, that first mention is made of any knowledge of the Mississippi River. In this letter Marquette says: "When the Illini come to the Point, they pass a great river which is almost a league in width. It flows from north to south and is so great a distance that the Illini, who know nothing of the use of the canoe, have never as yet heard tell of its mouth. They dwell to the east-south-east of this river. They gather corn twice each year. A nation they call Chaouanon* (Shawnees) came to visit them the past summer. The young man who has been given to me to teach me the language, has seen them. They had to journey across the land for thirty days before arriving at the Illini country. It is hardly probable that this great riverf discharges itself in Virginia. We are more inclined to believe that it has its mouth in California." { The probable value of this great water-way, as yet unknown to the white man, made the exploration of the river imperative. The re- ports of the length of this river and the fertile Courtesy oj Chicago Historical Society Louis Joliet Discovery 21 land through which it flowed, reached the ears of those in authority at Quebec and Paris, at- tracted their interest and they deemed it ex- pedient to explore it to its mouth and to learn more of the country of the Illini. To this end Sieur Louis Joliet was commissioned to go upon such an expedition, and Father Dablon ap pointed Father Marquette to accompany him. Sieur Joliet was " a man of great experience in these sorts of discoveries and had already been almost to that great river, the mouth of which he promises to see," writes Count Fronte- nac, the Governor of Quebec, to M. Colbert, Minister of the Navy at Paris.* Joliet had discovered Lake Erie. He was a man of learning, having been educated for a priest, but his love of adventure had proven stronger than his love of study, and his interest in Indian affairs deeper than either, so that life in the wilderness had lured the man from the cloister. His temperament and natural tastes contrasted, yet harmonized with those of Father Marquette, and made them staunch friends, and well adapted to together undertake this ex- pedition. Jacques James Marquette was a devout and zealous Jesuit priest who makes record that he "was enraptured at the good news of 22 Decisive Dates seeing my designs on the point of being ac- complished, and myself in the happy necessity of exposing my life for the salvation of all these nations, and particularly for the Illini, who had very earnestly entreated me to carry the word of God to their country."! Taking three Indians, two to act as oarsmen, and one as guide, these two men embarked in two canoes to make a most perilous journey. They left the Mission of St. Ignatius at Mich- ilimakanac. on the I7th day of May, 1673. Marquette himself, had two years previous to this time, estabhshed this mission, when he left the mission at La Pointe du Saint Esprit. It was the year following the time he wrote the letter telling of reports concerning the Mississippi River, that he established the Mission of St. Ignatius. This Mission of St. Ignatius was not on the island of Mackinaw, but on the point of land to the west of the island, extending from the north shore into the strait. The place is now called Point St. Ignace. This exploring party crossed Lake Michigan to the mouth of the Fox River. They ascended the stream as far as it was navigable, thence carried their canoes across to the Wisconsin River. This portage, or carrying-place, is now Courtesy oTClncafco Historical Society Father Jacquks MARgii-TXE Discovery 23 marked by Portage City in Wisconsin. Rowing with the current, down the Wisconsin River, they, in due time, found themselves entering the Mississippi River with, to use the words of Marquette himself in his Journal, "a joy that I cannot express."* They descended as far as forty-one degrees, twenty-eight minutes north latitude. This journey had taken them eight days. Here they, to quote further from the Journal of Marquette, t" perceived footprints of men by the water-side, and a beaten path entering a beautiful prairie. Concluding that it was a path leading to some Indian village, we resolved to go and reconnoitre; we accordingly left our two canoes in charge of our people, cautioning them to beware of a surprise; then M. Jolly et and I undertook this rather hazardous discovery for two single men, who thus put themselves at the mercy of an unknown and barbarous peo- ple. We followed the little path in silence, and having advanced about two leagues, we dis- covered a village on the banks of the river, and two others on a hill half a league from the former. "Then, indeed, we recommended ourselves to God with all our hearts, and having implored his help we passed on undiscovered, and came 24 Decisive Dates SO near that we even heard the Indians talking. We then deemed it time to announce ourselves, as we did, by a cry which we raised with all our strength, and then halted, without advancing any farther. At this cry the Indians rushed out of their cabins, and having no reason to distrust us, seeing we were but two and had made known our coming, they deputed four old men to come and speak to us. " Two carried tobacco pipes well-adorned and trimmed with many kinds of feathers. They marched slowly, lifting their pipes toward the sun as if offering them to it to smoke, but with- out yet uttering a single word. They were a long time coming the little way from the village to us. Having reached us at last, they stopped to consider us attentively. " I now took courage, seeing these ceremonies, which are used by them only with friends, and still more on seeing them covered with stuffs which made me judge they were allies. I, therefore, spoke to them first, and asked them who they were. They answered that they were the mini (Illinois), and in token of peace they presented their pipes to smoke. "They then invited us to the village, where all the tribe awaited us with impatience. These pipes for smoking are all called, in this Discovery 25 country, calumets, a word that is so much in use, that I shall be obliged to employ it in order to be understood, as I shall have to speak of it frequently. " At the door of the cabin in which we were to be received, was an old man awaiting us in a very remarkable posture, which is their usual ceremony in receiving strangers. He was standing w4th his hands stretched out and raised toward the sun, as if he wished to screen himself from its rays, which, nevertheless, passed through his fingers to his face. "When we came near him, he paid us this comipliment: 'How beautiful is the sun, O Frenchman, when thou comest to visit us! All our town awaits thee, and thou shalt enter our cabins in peace!' He then took us into his cabin where there was a crowd of people, who devoured us with their eyes, but kept a profound silence. We heard, however, these words occasionally addressed to us, 'Well done, brothers, to visit us!' As soon as we had taken our places they showed us the usual civility, which is to present the calumet. You must not refuse it unless you would pass for an enemy, or at best for being very impolite. It is, however, enough to pretend to smoke. While all the old men smoked after us to honor us, some came to 26 Decisive Dates invite us, on behalf of the great sachem of all the mini, to proceed to his town, where he wished to hold counsel with us. We went with a good retinue, for all the people who had never seen a Frenchman among them, could not tire looking at us; and they threw themselves on the grass by the wayside, they ran ahead, then turned and walked back to see us again. All this was done without noise, and with marks of a great respect entertained for us. " Having arrived at the great sachem's town, we espied him at his cabin door between two old men ; all three standing with their calumets turned to the sun. He harangued us in a few words, to congratulate us on our arrival, and then presented us his calumet and made us smoke; at the same time we entered his cabin where we received all their usual greetings. " Seeing all assembled and in silence, I spoke to them by four presents which I made. By the first, I said that we marched in peace to visit the nations on the river to the sea ; by the second, I declared to them that God, their creator, had pity on them, since, after they had been so long ignorant of him, he wished to be- become known to all nations; that I was sent on his behalf with this design; that it was for Discovery 27 them to acknowledge and obey him; by the third, that the great chief of the French in- formed them that he spread peace e\-erywhere, and had o\ercome the Iroquois; lastly, by the fourth, we begged them to gi\'e us all the in- formation they had of the sea, and of nations through which we should have to pass to reach it. " When I had finished my speech, the sachem rose, and laying his hand on the head of a little slave whom he was about to give us, spoke thus : 'I thank thee. Black-gown and thee, French- man,' addressing M. Jolly et, 'for taking so much pains to come to visit us. Never has the earth been so beautiful nor the sun so bright, as to-day, never has our river been so calm, nor so free from rocks, which your canoes have removed as they passed, never has our tobacco had so fine a flavor, nor our corn appeared so beautiful as we behold it to-day. Here is my son that I give thee that thou may est know my heart. I pray thee take pity on me and all of my nation. Thou knowest the Great Spirit who has made us all ; thou speakest to Him and hearest His word ; ask Him to give me life and health, and come and dwell with us that we may know Him.' Saying this, be placed the little slave near us 28 Decisive Dates and made us a second present, an all-mysterious calumet, which they value more than a slave. By this present he showed us his esteem for our Governor, after the account we had given of him. By the third he begged us, on behalf of his whole nation, not to proceed farther on account of the great dangers to which we ex- posed ourselves. " I replied that I did not fear death, and that I esteemed no happiness greater than that of losing my life for the glory of Him who made us all. But this, these poor people could not understand. "The council was followed by a great feast which consisted of four courses, which we had to take with all their ways. The first course was a great wooden dish of sagamity — that is to say, Indian meal boiled in water and seasoned with grease. "The master of ceremonies with a spoonful of sagamity, presented it three or four times to my mouth, as we would do with a little child; he did the same to M. Jollyet. For the second course, he brought in a second dish containing three fishes ; he took some pains to remove the bones, and having blown upon it to cool it, put it in my mouth as we would give food to a bird. For the third course they produced a Discovery 29 large dog which they had just killed, but, learning we did not eat it, withdrew it. Final- ly, the fourth course was a piece of wild ox, the fattest of the portions of which were put in to our mouths."* After a stay of a few days Joliet and Mar- quette took their leave of the Illini and con- tinued their way. Meeting several adventurers where the calumet, given them by their Illini friends saved their lives, they journeyed on down the river seeking its mouth. The civilized world at that time was divided in theories regarding the extent and direction of this great river. Some held it emptied into the Atlantic Ocean, flowing through Virginia, others that it flowed into the South Sea (as the Pacific Ocean was called) with its course through Cali- fornia, and yet others that its course was, as it ■ is, southerly and its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico. The principal object of the expedition under- taken by Joliet and Marquette was to settle this dispute. About half a league from the Akansea (Arkansas) river, they met natives who told them that the mouth of the Mississippi River was but a ten days journey distant. They also learned of the dangers ahead, not alone from the natives but from the Spaniards, who at best would likely take them 30 Decisive Dates prisoners. So it was Joliet and Marquette to run no further risks of losing to the world the knowledge of the country they had already gained, and figuring that they were within two degrees of the Gulf of Mexico, began retrac- ing their way. When they had come as far north as the mouth of the Illinois River, Marquette was found too ill to proceed. Here they learned from the natives of a shorter route than the one they had taken in coming from Lake Michigan, and they ascended the Illinois River. The day in the latter part of July this year of 1673, in w^iich they began their ascent of the Illinois river, marks the begin- ning of authentic history of Illinois. A de- scription of the land they found, with its wealth of plant and animal life as seen by these men reads like a fairy tale. The long stretch of prairie over which the eye roamed to the sky-line, with its waving grass, presented a picture as beautiful and as awe- inspiring as must have been the outlook to the Pilgrims in mid-ocean, or the first sight of the Great Lakes to the white man. The soft sun- shine, the gentle breeze burdened with the fragrance of innumerable flowers, the gay Discovery 31 winged insects, the water-fowl, the singing birds, all lent charm to the scene. The buffalo and deer, not yet having been taught to fear the white man, came to the river's brink to satisfy their thirst. Indeed it was a goodly land to look upon. Marquette says, "We had seen nothing like this river for the fertility of its land, its prairies, wood, wild cattle, stag, deer, wild cats, swan, ducks, parrots, and even beaver; its many lakes and rivers. That on which we sailed (the lake of the Illinois) is broad, deep and gentle, for sixty-five leagues."* Here where the river widened into the lake they found a village of Kaskaskia Indians. This town Marquette records as composed of seventy-five cabins. This was the first, the original Kaskaskia. The village was on the wide bottom directly south of what is now Utica, in LaSalle County. This is on the north side of the Illinois River. The Indians took kindly to Father Mar- quette's teachings, and exacted a promise from him to return. This he did the next year and established there the Mission of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. This mission was sustained, although Marquette died upon his second return journey, and to-day, after 32 Decisive Dates even the second Kaskaskia has been destroyed and the third been built a Httle further down the island in the Mississippi River, this mission still exists, the sole tie binding the present to the far-away past. Father Claude Allouez came to Kaskaskia the year following the death of Marquette, and reports three hundred fifty-one cabins. This was perhaps the largest Indian village in the country.* The name for the mission is explained by the fact which is recorded by Marquette, that the day Joliet arrived with orders from the Gover- nor to make their journey, was the one on the Calendar of the Church to be observed as "the day of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, whom I had always invoked since I had been in this country, to obtain of God the grace to be able to visit the Nations of the River Mississippi. I therefore put our voyage under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Immaculate, promising that if she did us the grace to discover the Great River, I would give it the name of the Conception ; and that I would give that name to the first mission I should establish among these New Nations, "f He made good his promise, both as regarded the river and the mission, but the latter alone Discovery 33 retains the name The name he gave the river was never recognized. This is but one of the attempts to change the name of the Mississippi River which failed. Nine years after Mar- quette attempted to give it a new name, La Salle named it the Colbert, and a hundred years later, the King of France named it, in his grant to M. Crozat, as the river St. Louis, but the Indian name remains and shall always remain. The word Mississippi is a combination of two Algonquin words, "Missi," which means great and "sepi" meaning a river. No better name could be chosen. Marquette promised the mission on his first trip to Kaskaskia, and returned the following year to officially establish it. He sojourned but a short time at Kaskaskia because of rapidly failing health. He made an effort to reach the St. Ignatius Mission but had not strength to complete the journey. He died on the l)anks of a small stream on the eastern side of Lake Michigan — a desolate spot in the wilderness. Late in August, 1673, Marquette and Joliet parted company, the one to return to Mich- ilimakinac to await orders to establish his promised mission among the Illini, and the other to return directly to Quebec. (3) 34 Decisive Dates When Joliet reached the rapids in si.sjht of Montreal, his boat was capsized, and he but just escaped death. The Httle Indian slave whom he had fetched from the first village of the mini where he and Marquette had met such a hearty welcome, was lost, together with the maps and other valuable papers which Joliet had carefully prepared. Joliet never returned to the Illinois Country. That his verbal report of this country was a glowing one, is testified by Count Frontenac, who, writing from Quebec, November 14, 1675. to M. Colbert, Minister of the Marine at Paris, says: " Sieur Joliet has returned. He has discovered some very fine countries, and a navi- gation so easy through beautiful rivers that a person can go from Lake Ontario in a bark to the Gulf of Mexico, there being only one carry- ing-place (around Niagara Falls), where Lake Ontario communicates with Lake Erie." * But the hope that the newly discovered great water-way through North America, should prove to be the short route to Cathay, had to be abandoned. The interest which the report of Joliet aroused crystalized into the ambitions and great plans of La Salle, who with his faithful Discovery 35 Tonti came into the country of the IlHnois five years later. Some admirers of La Salle have claimed for him the discovery of the country of the mini previous to the coming of Joliet and Marquette. They say that by following the course of the Ohio River (which he discovered) to its mouth, he went thence up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Illinois River, ascended this for some distance, and La Salle, not Joliet and Marquette, was the real discoverer of the Illinois Country. But this claim lacks proof, and there is no reasonable doubt that the natal day of Illinois was the July day in 1673, when Joliet and Marquette ascended the Illinois River. Notes and Explanations Page 19 *The French came into the northern part of America when the St. Lawrence river was dis- covered by Jacques Cartier in 1534 but New France was not established until seventy four years later, when Samuel de Champlain built Quebec. In the demands of the fur trade and in answer to the spirit of adventure which was common, these hardy Frenchmen pushed into the western wilder- ness even as far as the region of the Great Lakes. Their route was necessarily through Canada because of the hostility of the Iroquois to the French. This hostility was an inheritance from Champlain whose hastily given service to the Algonquins made the Iroquois the everlasting enemy of the French people. Wherever the trader and explorer went, he was accompanied by the priest so that, by a little after 36 Decisive Dates the middle of the seventeenth century, missions were estabhshed even so far as Lake Superior. Jean Nicolet was sent on an embassy to the Winnebagoes, near the head of Green Bay, to secure their fur trade at Quebec, in about 1634. The first missionary penetrating the wilderness thus far was Father Menard who in 1665 lost his life in service for the native redmen. It was in 1671, two years before the expedition of Joliet and Marquette that formal possession of ' ' Sainte Marie du Sault, as also Lakes Huron and Superior, the Manatonlin Island and all the countries, lakes, rivers and streams contiguous or adjacent thereto," was taken in the name of the king of France by the deputy of Sieur de St. Lusson Jean Talon, the intendant of New France. So it is that the existence of the Mississippi river must have been vaguely known to the French missionaries and traders sometime before it was discovered in 1673. Page 20 *This word in the Illinois tongue meant southern, or people to the south ; so termed because they lived to the south of the Illinois Country. fThe Mississippi. JParis Documents, vol. 9, p. 92. Page 21 *jesuit Relations, 1669-1670. Page 22 fMarquette Journal. Page 23 *Shea's Discovery and Exploration of the Missis- sippi. Quotation from Marquette's Journal. tFather Marquette's Original Journal. Page 29 *These extracts are from the original Journal of Father Marquette which was prepared for publica- tion by his superior. Father Dablon, and lay in manuscript at Quebec, among the archives of the Jesuits, until Dr. John G. Shea translated it and pub- lished it in his Discovery and Explorations of the Mississippi. This account differs, although not essen- tially, from Marquette's narrative sent the French government and printed at Paris by M. Thevenot in 1681 and called Receuil dc Voyages. This narrative, copiously quoted and duly credited in Beckwith's Historic Notes of the Northwest. These extracts are introduced here since no better words could be chosen to relate the experiences than those Father Marquette himself used. Discovery 37 Page 31 *Original Journal. Page 32 *"This name, Kaskaskia is an Algonquin word and has had a varied spelling. Marquette spells it Cachecachequia; AUouez spells it Kachkachkia; Membri spells it Cascaskias; Marest spells it Cas- casquas, and Charlevoix spells it Kaskasquias. Its equivalent in English has, so far as I know, never been determined. — Beckwith. fMarquette's Journal. Page 34 *Paris Documents, Vol. 9, p. 21. I mwu.titi iiiwumw iHii iv A S A 1. 1, E ' S M U \ L' M li .\ 1 INTERIM 1673-1759 La Salle's Expedition Forts Creve Coeur and St. Louis Colonial Life INTERIM 1673-1799 LA SALLE came into the country of the Illinois by way of the St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers, (that part of the Illi- nois River above the Des Plaines was called the Kankakee) and Kankakee portage. His ex- ploring party comprised thirty men, includ- ing the faithful Tonti and two priests, Father Membre and Father Hennepin. Reaching the Indian village of Kaskaskia where Marquette had established his mission four years before this time, they found it de- serted. The Indians were away on their annual hunt. Taking of the stores there found, and leaving value in presents. La Salle proceeded a little further down the river where he began the building of what proved to be but a temporary station hardly deserving the name sometimes given it of the first fort in the Illinois Country. To this he gave the name of Creve Coeur. Its site, after much dispute, has been marked as near what is now Wesley City. La Salle then returned to Quebec for help, leaving Tonti in charge of affairs in the country of the Illini. 41 42 Decisive Dates While gone, La Salle's men mutinied, destroyed his partially built ship, and abandoned and burned Fort Creve Coeur. La Salle returned to find even Tonti gone. Later he found him at Michilimakinac, and together they descended the Mississippi River to its mouth, where, in the name of his king and for his church. La Salle took possession of the river and its valley. He subsequently fortified the Rock in the Illinois River, just a little above the Indian vil- lage of Kaskaskia, to which he gave the name of Fort St. Louis and which was the first per- manent settlement in the country of the Illini. Some confusion has arisen concerning the loca- tion of Fort St. Louis. This comes about in part because it is known to have been near Kaskaskia, and the first Kaskaskia which was near Fort St. Louis was removed some twenty years later, to near the mouth of the Kaskaskia (Okaw) River, not far from which the Spanish settlement (which grew into the present city) of St. Louis was located. To add to this con- fusion, Fort St. Louis is not now known by that name, but is called Starved Rock. Custom has given this rock in the river a name which perpetuates the passing of the Indian La Salle's Expedition 43 instead of having it known by the name of Fort St. Louis, which would have emphasized the coming of the white man. A seventeenth century French settlement attached itself about the fort on the Illinois River, and had it not been for the untimely death of La Salle, the fate of New France in the Illinois Country, near a hundred years later, would have been different. La Salle left Fort St. Louis in charge of Tonti, and returned to France, thence to bring a colony to near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The ships carrying this colony somehow missed the mouth of the Mississippi, and the unfortu- nate Frenchmen landed on the coast of what now is Texas, where they wandered, enduring inexpressible hardships. Attempting to return to Fort St. Louis and secure aid from Tonti, La Salle was foully murdered by his own men who, because of their hardships, had grown dissatisfied. Describing the tragedy, Father Douay, who was one of the party, closes with an eulogy of La vSalle in these words: "Thus died our commander; constant in adversity, intrepid, generous, engaging, dex- terous, skillful, capable of everything. He who for twenty years had softened the fierce temper of countless savage tribes was massacred by the 44 Decisive Dates hands of his own domestics whom he had loaded with caresses." With all his aspirations, spite the honors oft- times heaped upon him and the deserved praise he has received, the life of La Salle is a tragedy, a "tale of disappointment, suffering, failure, treachery, and ignoble death." Repeated raids of the Iroquois into the Illini Country greatly reduced their numbers; thriving settlements along the lower Missis- sippi drew interest down the river; the line of travel changed to the Mississippi route, making the early abandonment of Fort St. Louis a natural consequence. These conditions working together induced the removal of the Kaskaskia tribe and others of the Illini to near the mouth of the Kaskas- kia River, and the transfer of the settlement in the Illinois Country from what is now La Salle County to that part of the state on the Missis- sippi River near what was later known as the American Bottoms, and is now known as Ran- dolph and St. Clair counties. There, early in the eighteenth century. Fort Chartres was built and Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher, and other French towns were located. There the new Kaskaskia, the well-known Kas- Colonial Like 45 kaskia, the town which for a hundred and thirty years reflected the Hfe of the people of Illinois, was built. So interwoven is it into every event of Illinois history to nearly the middle of the nineteenth century, that the story of Kaskas- kia* is the story of Illinois. During the first half of the eighteenth century the colonies in the Illinois Country were the centre of New France in America. These have well been called the "halcyon days for New France in the Illinois Country." With the government at Quebec or at New Orleans, the power of New France in the Illini Country could well afford to ignore the claim of both England and Spain to the same territory. "Nature offered her gifts with bounteous hand." * "The history of a single voyageur and hunter will be enough to make a type of old Kaskaskia. Take Jules for the type. He may have come to Mobile as a soldier under Iberville, and con- cluded to remain after his term of enlistment had expired ; he may have accompanied Phillippe Renault. It is more likely that Jules was a Canadian born in the woods and accustomed to the birch canoe since infancy. The birch canoe was the great carrier of the wilderness, the 46 Decisive Dates Frenchman's steamboat. * * * Jules was light-hearted and gay. He was simple and temperate. He was placid as he smoked in his red cap by some cottage door; then he would be excited, raving, weeping, threating in the crowd. The merriest of mortals, he was one of the hardiest and also the handiest. He could swim like an otter, run like a deer, paddle all day without resting; and while he paddled he sang or told stories, and laughter was his dear companion. He could imitate the Indian yell, mimic the hissing rattlesnake, could skin a deer, and scrape a fiddle. Here at Kaskaskia where nature had been bountiful, he could raise corn for sagamiti and hominy. Here the maple yielded him sugar. Here was cotton for garments and wheat for flour. Around him were fertile grassy prairies for cattle to grow fat upon. Wild grapes, plums, persimmons, and cherries in abundance for his use, and pecans, acorns, hickory nuts, hazel and walnuts for his swine. Here were buffalo, elk and deer for hides and food. The rivers were full of fish, while the forest abounded in fur-bearing animals whose skins he might acquire and sell. Jules decided to settle here and marry — a French woman, if possible, and if not, an Indian Colonial Life 47 maid. At Kaskaskia he could find these, with music and dancing and a glass of domestic wine to complete his enjoyment. He could live in elegant ease on what he could farm and shoot. He could cut his own lumber, make his own mortar, get a lot near others of his kind and procure a deed for his cornfield, with a right of common for wood and pasture. Here he had no taxes. Here he had a mild paternal government. He could make one voyage each year, of three or four months dur- ation. Here he was lazy when the mood suited, and happy always; with Priest Father to give him consolation on the doorstep of death and bury him with the rites of the church."* The strenuous life of the twentieth century American citizen was unknown. The freedom of the pioneer was enjoyed with no thought of a citizen's responsibility. The problem of securing food, shelter, and clothing was easily solved, for each man's garden was a part of the common, while his cow was fed without cost to him from the common pasture. All of this was supplemented with the berries, nuts, and other wild fruit which was his for the taking. The houses were easy to construct, and the dress consisted of homespun, or tanned skins. 48 Decisive Dates the product of the flax, the cotton plant, the flock, and the chase. No taxes to pay, and the desire and opportunity for unhmited fun— what more could one ask? Such was the life of the more lowly Kaskaskian. It must not, however, be assumed that high breeding, fashion and wealth were altogether lacking. The best blood of old France was found in these towns in the Illinois Country. These well-born Kaskaskians surrounded them- selves with what elegancies they could bring from France or Canada. They had good homes and life was made easy for them by their large number of slaves. In taste and manners so refined were some of them, that a social function at the home of a Bauvais, or a Charleville, or a Viviat, a LaChauces or a Sancier, whether in Kaskaskia or Cahokio, would have done credit to the salons of Paris itself. Such were the conditions of life in the French colonies in the Illinois Country up to the time of the struggle called the Seven Years, or the French and Indian War, which conflict deter- mined the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon in the New World. Interim 49 Notes and Explanations Page 45 *Kaskaskia remained the capital of the Illinois county of Virginia, tmtil the territory was organized under: the government of the United States as the Northwest territory with its capital at Mariette, Ohio. Kaskaskia remained an important town during the years Illinois was a part of the North- west territory, and later as a part of the Indiana territory. When the division was made and the Illinois territory created, Kaskaskia again be- came its capital. The young commonwealth had Kaskaskia as its capital until it was moved up the river to Vandalia. Kaskaskia was built so near the river that in time, it suffered from the fact. But it was not until in the eighties that the Mississippi washing its way into the Kaskaskia channel cut through the town and made it an island in the great river. Those living in Kaskaskia sought safer homes, while the state removed the cemetery to the opposite blufTs at Fort Gage. A noble shaft has been erected to the memory of those buried in the new cemetery Avhich over-looks all that is left of the once proud and important Kaskaskia, the spot so filled with romance that is dear to the hearts of all those who know its story. Page 45 **Alvord in Virginia series Vol. I, Col. 111. Hist. Lib. gives clear idea of life in French towns in 111. during this period. See p. XIV-XXV. Also Stuart in Old Kaskaskia Days and Ways. Pub. No. 10, 111. Hist. Library. Page 47 *Stuart in Old Kaskaskia Days and Ways. Pub. 10, 111. Hist. Library, p. 132. Date II. — 1759 The Silver Covenant Chain Date II. — 1759 [To appreciate the significance of this date it is necessary to understand conditions in Europe and this country in the early part of the seventeenth century.] THE four, at that time, great powers of Europe, were colonizing America more than a half century before the Illinois Country was known. New England was getting a foothold on the eastern coast; New France was established in Quebec and Montreal, and other points along the St. Lawrence River, reaching into the wilder- ness of what is now Canada and along the northern shores of the Great Lakes ; New Neth- erlands was planted along the Hudson River ; and New Spain was flourishing in South America, Mexico, New Mexico, and toward the Pacific Coast. From the time of the discovery of America, Spain had been more active in explorations than had any other nation of the Old World. During the sixteenth century she discovered, conquered, and, in a way, colonized a large portion of inland America; at least, she laid claim to the domain from Colorado to Buenos Ay res, extending from sea to sea. S3 54 Decisive Dates Spain made permanent settlements in what is now known as Florida and New Mexico, years before New England, New Netherlands, and New France were es(tablished. But Spain's object in exploring America, itself defeated her permanent possession of the land. She came to America for wealth, not to establish homes. In her insatiate search for gold, she pushed to the north and northwest, leaving fer- tile plains for rocky mountains which might hold the coveted treasure. The Spanish domains at the beginning of the seventeenth century comprised not only Spain proper, but a large part of the Netherlands ad- joining Holland and portions of Italy in Europe, together with that part of America claimed by rights of discovery. The West Indies, together with immense provinces in South America, were hers by right of conquest and occupancy, as well as discovery. So too were Florida and Mexico and New Mexico ; Spain was a power to be feared. But her claim to North America as far as forty degrees north latitude was not considered valid by all the European powers. Indeed, Great Britain completely ignored any right of Spain above thirty -four degrees north latitude, and so made her grants of land. i The Silver Covenant Chain 55 By reason of the discovery, early in the seventeenth century, of the Hudson River by Henry Hudson, while in command of a Dutch vessel seeking the much-desired new quick route to the Orient, the valley drained by this river became the property of Holland. It was speedily occupied by the thrifty people of that country. The influence of the Holland Dutch in the making of American institutions must not be estimated by the limited extent of their posses- sions and duration of time of ownership com- pared with that of England, France, and Spain. Their political authority was quickly absorbed by the power of Great Britain, and New Nether- lands ceased to exist, yet the Dutch from Holland have determined much of American history. The history of Illinois is incomplete without the important part Holland played at one stage of its development. By right of discoveries of Cabot, England held a just claim to North America. Upon the strength of this claim, at the beginning of the seventeenth century Great Britain made grants of land in the New World to two companies. These grants extended from thirty -four degrees to forty-eight degrees north latitude, inclusive. The east and west limits were the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 56 Decisive Dates It will be remembered that Spain claimed all land as far as forty degrees north latitude, be- cause of the discovery of Columbus and the decree of the Pope. So it was the grant made the London Company included six degrees already claimed by the other nation. This claim of Spain may have directed explorers from both England and France to the New World to the north of forty degrees north lati- tude, yet it seems that England forgot it when asserting her claim to the territory. If the claim of Spain directed the French ex- plorers whose efforts resulted in the discovery of the St. Lawrence River to the north of forty degrees north latitude, the valuable fisheries and fur trade held their interest and deter- mined the location of New France in America. Quebec, Montreal, and other smaller colonies on the St. Lawrence made good trading posts from which the earnest and loyal Frenchman pushed his way into the wilderness, carrying the interests of his church and his king. The right of Spain in the New World as far as forty degrees north latitude, was recognized in the grant of land made by the king of France in 1603 to De Chartres and afterwards transferred to De Monts. This grant extended across the continent, including the territory between forty The Silver Covenant Chain 57 and forty-six degrees north latitude. The grant of land made the London Company by Great Britain early in the seventeenth century, it is plain, ignored the claim of Spain to the terri- tory included between thirty-four and forty degrees north latitude since its southern limit was thirty-four degrees north latitude. At the same time the grant made the Plymouth Company about the same date, by Great Britain ignored the grant of De Monts, between forty and forty-six degrees north latitude, since forty-eight degrees was the northern limit named in this patent. In this way Great Britian, in the early seven- teenth century, disputed claim to the territory between thirty-four and forty-eight north lati- tude, while the strip down the Hudson belonged to the Dutch, undisputed save by the native savage. Later in the century. La Salle's bold explora- tion of the Mississippi River to its mouth, and formal taking possession of its valley in the name of the king of France, further compli- cated and confused the rights of the European powers. Spain claimed the Mississippi valley because De Soto, a Spaniard had long before this dis- covered the lower Mississippi River. This had 58 Decisive Dates less effect than would seem worthy the fact since Spain had failed to further explore and colonize the region. So it was that the middle of the seven- teenth century found the eastern coast of America a New England; along the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River to the Gulf, a New France; the West Indies, South America, Florida, Mexico, New Mexico, and toward the western coast, a New Spain; and along the banks of the Hudson River, a New Netherlands. So much for the white man in America at the middle of the seventeenth century. But the real owners of the soil were the American Indians. What of them? They were the people the white men found, they were the original in- habitants. The transfer of ownership was effected in different ways. The English generally com- pelled the relinquishment of the Indians' claims, by force. The French secured it by sharing their life and agreeing upon equal division. The Dutch gained their end by purchase, giving the equivalent value. The Spanish resorted to force or trade, as their whim directed. There were two great families of the Indian race located east of the Mississippi River, known The Silver Covexant Chain 59 as the Algonquins and the Iroquois. The Creeks and Seminoleswere further to the South- east, and were not known in the country of the Illinois. The early explorers found the Algonquins the most numerous, but later the Iroquois, domi- nated them. The Iroquois were at home in central New York. They were, however, con- stantly going into the lands of other tribes and making war upon them. The results of these raids were usually the subjugation of the at- tacked tribes, to the end that they paid tribute to the Iroquois. Each year an Iroquois chief would go among the tribes thus subjugated, and collect the tribute. The insolence upon the part of the collector on such an occasion, beggars description. Champlain found the Algonquins when he first came to the St. Lawrence River. They were friendly to the white man. When they asked Champlain's help in a war which was as usual, going on between them and the Iroquois, Champlain gave them aid. He taught them the use of the white man's weapons, and him- self led the victorious Algonquins in a decisive battle on the lake now bearing his name. The result was the undying hatred of the Iroquois 60 Decisive Dates not alone for Champlain but for every French- man as well. This hatred barred the way of the French from going westward across the Iroquois country and by way of the Great Lakes, and at the same time protected the Dutch and English colonies from the French. The same reason that made it impossible for the French on the St. Lawrence to overcome the colonies on the coast, sent them west by way of the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. On the other hand, because of this impulsive act of Champlain, the French gained the never-ceasing friendship of the Algonquins and made it possible for Joliet and La Salle and other Frenchmen to abide in the country of the Illinois. The Iroquois had not always been the domi- nating tribe among the American Indians. The Adirondacks were the original family from which the various tribes of the Algonquins sprang. The word in the Iroquois tongue for Algonquins is Adirondacks. Long before the arrival of the Europeans in America, the Iro- quois were under subjection to the Adirondacks, so it is said. The principal villages of the Iroquois were on the north shore of Lake Ontario, where they made the planting of corn their business. The The Silver Covenant Chain 61 Adirondacks despised them for doing a work fit only for women. At one time, however, game being very scarce, the Adirondacks induced some of the young men of the Iroquois to help them hunt. These young men soon became quite expert in hunting, so much so indeed, that the Adirondacks grew jealous, and one night murdered all the Iroquois young men they had with them. To the surprise of the Adirondacks, the Iro- quois determined upon revenge. They had hitherto looked upon the Iroquois as women. So it was the Adirondacks forced the Iroquois to leave their country and fly to the south shore of the lake. There they made war upon the "Satanas" (Shawnees),* a tribe of the Adiron- dacks. The Iroquois subdued the "Satanas," and drove them from their country, f After this, the Iroquois grew more and more a war- like people. Notwithstanding their war-like impulses, the Iroquois lived more the life of the white man in cultivating the soil and establish- ing permanent homes than did the other indians. The Algonquins, unlike the tribes further to the south, had no special religion. They had a general belief in " good and bad spirits," and the necessity of appeasing the latter by all sorts of 62 Decisive Dates gifts and various offerings. Generally speak- ing, they took kindly to the teachings of the French priests and would, in most cases, be guided by them. The Indians found in the Illinois Country by Joliet and Marquette, were all tribes of the Algonquins. The principal confederacy was that of the Illini, which consisted of five tribes : the Peorias, the Kaskaskias, the Cahokias, Tamarois, and the Michiganians. The names of these tribes have been given to towns and rivers in the state, so that their habitat is easily determined, while the name of the confederacy has been impressed upon the principal river and the state itself. The Indians of the confederacy of the Illini, who were the first known occupants of the territory now known as the state of Illinois, were not a war-like people. They were not even a courageous people. They are recorded as being lazy and vicious. They were "mild and docile enough, but they were cowardly, treacherous, fickle, deceitful, thievish, brutal, destitute of faith or honor, addicted to gluttony, and not a whit less haughty or self complacent because of the fact that the Canada tribes despised them on account of their vices." | The Silver Covenant Chain 63 "Their villages," says Father Hennepin,* "are open, not enclosed with palisades, because they have no courage to defend them; they would flee as they heard their enemies approach- ing." Up to the time of the coming of the white man, their weapons were the bow and arrow and the club. Their arrows were pointed with stone, and their tomahawks were made of stag horns cut in the shape of a cutlass and termi- nating in a large ball. In the use of the bow and arrow, all writers agree that the Illini excelled all neighboring tribes. For protection against the missiles of an enemy, they used bucklers composed of buffalo hides stretched over a wooden frame. In form the Illini were tall and lithe. They were swift runners. The women, beside cultivating the soil, did all the household drudgery, carried the game and made the clothes. The garments were made from buffalo-hides and from the soft wool that grew upon these animals. Both the wool and hides were dyed with brilliant colors, black, yellow or vermilion. In this kind of work, the Illini wo- men were greatly in advance of the women of other tribes. Articles of dress were sewed together with thread made from the nerves and tendons of deer, prepared by exposure to the 64 Decisive Dates sun twice in every twenty-four hours. After this the nerve and tendons were beaten so that their fibres would separate into a fine white thread. The garment worn by the women was some- thing Hke a loose wrapper. Beneath the wrap- per were petticoats, for warmth in winter. They wore a head-dress for ornament, rather than use. Their feet were covered with mocca- sins, and leggins decorated with quills of the porcupine stained in colors of brilliant con- trasts. Ornaments fashioned from clam-shells and other hard substances, were worn about their neck, wrists, and ankles. Their food consisted of the scanty products of their fields, and principally of game and fish, of which there was in their country a great abundance. Father Allouez, who followed Father Marquette to the mission at Kaskaskia, stated there were fourteen varieties of herbs, and forty-two varieties of fruits in that locality which they used for food. Their plates and other dishes were made of wood, and their spoons constructed out of buffalo bones. The dishes for boiling food were earthen, sometimes glazed.* Spite of all records of limited good qualities on the part of the Illini Indian, it must not be The Silver Covenant Chain 65 forgotten that their loyalty to the French was enduring. The friendship between the two races never was lessened, and when in the course of events, the French were no longer in authority, the children of the Illini Indian were taught to love the Gaul. It was not the Illini, but the "tribes as far west as the Illinois River" (the Illini had before this been removed beyond and below this point) , that deserted the French in the decisive time of the Seven Years' War, and it was the confidence and love the Illini had for the French represented by Father Gibault, which insured George Rogers Clark's success in his conquest of the Northwest. The Illini became less and less hardy and fewer in numbers owing to their habits of idle- ness and vice and their inherited tendencies to disease as well as the raids made on them by their enemies during the hundred years subse- quent to the coming of the white man to the Illinois Country. When Pontiac met his death at the hands of one of the tribe, the hatred felt toward all of them by other tribes was increased. A strong confederacy of tribes was formed about this time (1760) called the Penotomy. There were several decisive battles fought by the Penotomies and the Illini. It is said one was (5) 66 Decisive Dates at Blue Island, another on the Des Plaines near where the city of Joliet now stands, and another on the site of Morris in Grundy County. In all of these, the Illini suffered defeat. Tradition says they were driven ahead of their relentless foes to the Rock in the Illinois River which had eighty years before this been occupied as Fort St. Louis. This refuge proved a trap for the Illini since it shut them in by their enemy, and their fate was absolute starvation. This gave the Rock its present name. A few escaped and made their way to St. Louis on the Mississippi. In 1830, the Illini confederacy had lost its iden- tity being known only as Peoria and Kaskaskia tribes. Twenty years later there were but one hundred sixty-five in it at Quapau, I. T. Du- Cogne, their last chief, boasted that his tribe had never shed the blood of a white man. The constant raids of the Iroquois upon the Indians of the Illinois Country in the seventeenth century, is no doubt explained by M. Du Chesneau, in a memoir on the western Indians, dated at Quebec, September 13, 1681, t in which he says: "Their (the Iroquois) true motive was to gratify the English at Manette (New York) and Orange (Albany), who by means of presents, engaged the Iroquois in these expeditions, the object of which was to The Silver Covenant Chain 67 force the Illinois Indians to bring their bea\'er to them, so that they may go and trade it afterwards to the English; also to intimidate the other Indians and constrain them to do the same thing." That the efforts of the Iroquois to subdue the western Indians were not without the support of the English for their advantage in the ex- tension of the fur trade, note that reply of the Go\'ernor of New York to an appeal made from the Senecas, one of the tribes of the Iroquois, for aid some twenty years later, in a w^r waged by the Miamis against them. " I should think it prudence and good policy in you to try all possible means to fix a trade and correspond- ence with all those nations by which means you would reconcile them to yourselves, and with my assistance, I am in hopes that in a short time they might be united with us in the covenant chain, and then you might without hazard, go into their country, which I understand is much the best for beaver. / should think myself obliged to reward you for such a piece of service, and will always use my best efTorts to preserve you from all your enemies."* This communication was made the year preceding that in which the Sachems of the Iroquois conveyed to William III, king of Great 68 Decisive Dates Britain, their beaver hunting-grounds north- west and west of Albany, including a broad strip on the south side of Lake Erie, all of the present states of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and Illinois "as far as the Illinois." The country of the Illini at the time of its dis- covery by Marquette and Joliet, extended as far east as the "ridge that divides the waters flowing into the Illinois from the streams that drain into the Wabash above the head-waters of Saline Creek," but the Iroquois had driven them west of the Illinois River, and the year before the date of this cessation, they had moved their principal village to the south and w^est of the river. The year following this cessation, Fort St. Louis was abandoned, and protection to the Illini tribes east of the Illinois River ceased. This purchase of lands of the Northwest by the English from the Iroquois, was little bene- fit further than to give the "color of title" Great Britain flaunted with so much pride. The strength of the English with the Indians, lay rather in a treaty which came as an inheritance from the Dutch. This treaty was called the Silver Covenant Chain. The Hudson River was discovered in 1609, and immediately colonized. "The Dutch took an The Silver Covenant Chain 69 early advantage of the opportunity the river afforded for trading for furs. Traders were at work where Albany now is, as early as 1610. Christiaensen built a rude fort four miles below Albany in 1613, which he named Nassau. Here Jacob Eelkens was in command, and here in 1618 he negotiated a treaty with the Indians which secured their alliance with the Dutch during their whole possession, and to which the English fell heirs. This treaty was still in force when the war of the Revolution began."* In their poetic use of language, the Indians called this treaty the "Silver Covenant Chain," which bound them to the interest of their white brothers. It was never broken. When the Dutch surrendered to the English, the treaty was transferred to them, and always re- mained intact. This treaty was made on the banks of what is now Normans Kill, a small stream which empties into the Hudson River four miles south of Albany. The place is better known through the song of Hiawatha, as "The Vale of Tawasentha, The green and silent valley, By the pleasant water-courses." It was here that the chain was forged which was destined to decide the fate of nations and de- 70 Decisive Dates termine the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon in the New World. The Dutch in America, through this treaty, decided the governing power of the continent. For because of this treaty, as it will later be shown, the British found it possible to destroy the power of the French in America forever. Frequent reference is made to this Silver Covenant Chain in writings prior to the war of the Revolution. The answer to the appeal of the Seneca chief quoted above, for aid, shows the high value put upon this treaty by the British. Every effort was made to extend this compact to the western Indians. Had the French not come into the Illinois Country in the latter part of the seventeenth century, this alliance might have been made. On the other hand, had it not been for the strength of the Silver Covenant Chain whose "links were never permitted to rust," the French priests with their evident personal interest in all the redmen, would sure- ly, spite of Champlain's act, have won even the Iroquois to espouse their cause. The constant effort of the French was to "break the chain," and as constant an effort of the British was to lengthen it until it bound the tribes of the west- ern Indians. The Silver Covenant Chain 71 * Sir William Johnson was made Commissioner of Indian Affairs in America by Great Britain about 1750. He had great influence over the Indians and managed them wisely and well. He urged the extension of this treaty to the Indians of the West. In a letter written to the Lords of Trade at London, dated March 6, 1756, he says of the Indians: "It gives me the most solid pleasure that I can, with the greatest truth, assure your Lordships, that the Six United Nations (the Iroquois), give us the strongest intimations of sincerity and fidelity * * * They seem solicitous now to enlarge their confederacy by bringing in the western Indians, which I have been advising them to do these several years." * A meeting of Indian chiefs was called later at Onondago, at which there were some Shawnee and Delaware Indians. Others came, and two days later met with the Shawnees and Dela- wares at Sir William Johnson's house, where they formally joined the alliance and "were bound with the Silver Covenant Chain " in the interests of the English. This council was held but just before the loss of Oswego during the French and Indian \\'ar. After this defeat, the future looked gloomy to the English. Sir William Johnson writes that 72 Decisive Dates this "unfortunate revolution in our military affairs entirely disconcerted all my measures. Under these circumstances, I judged the most prudent step I could take would be to summon a meeting of some of the chiefs of each nation as soon as possible at my house in order to know their positive determination and what part they proposed to act."* The result of this meeting was the urgent wish expressed to the Lords of Trade for a change in the plans of the campaign. Again Sir William writes: *"If an at- tempt upon Niagara through Lake Ontario should be a part of the plan of operations for this year, and that our preparations for it are projected with judgment and carried on with vigor, I am persuaded I could join His Majesty's troops that way, with the main body of the warriors of the Six Nations together with many others of their Allies and Dependents, and that by taking proper measures, I could prevent many, if not most, of those northern and west- ern Indians who form the Ottawa Confederacy, from joining the French against us." Later it is recorded that at a conference held in the spring of 1759, "a number of (Genesee) Indians were present who brought word that 'as soon as the waters were navigable, the Indians as far west as the Illinois t were com- The Silver Covenant Chain 73 ing to meet Sir William Johnson.'" They ar- rived shortly afterward. At this conference, ten and more nations agreed to bind themselves • with the Silver Covenant Chain. / It was in the July following, that a siege of three weeks ending in a severe conflict, re- sulted in the loss of Fort Niagara to the French, and complete victory to the English forces. The connecting link of French military posts between Canada and Louisiana was effectually broken forever. It was the promise of the victory on the Plains of Abraham. To understand how influences from the Illinois Country occasioned defeat we must know cause of the war which had been waging ■" for a half-dozen years. It echoed the war in Europe between France and Great Britain, yet came directly because both nations dis- ' puted rights to the fur trade west of the Allegheny Mountains. It has been seen that the territory between the thirty-ninth and forty-eighth degrees north latitude was claimed by three of the great European powers. As the years passed, the fur trade of this section was desired by both the French and the English. To make their claim stronger, Great Britain purchased the land of this sec- tion from the Iroquois Indians, who held the 74 Decisive Dates right to make this sale because of conquest. The purchase was made early in the eighteenth century, but the deed of transfer was ignored by the French who came into the disputed country and built forts. To further possess this country, the Virginia Colony organized the Ohio Company with an idea of colonizing the territory north and west of the Ohio River. The government of France was vainly urged to send colonists to possess the same territory. Colonization did not follow from either source. The French made good their claim by sinking plates at the mouths of rivers. To stop this, the Governor of Virginia sent young George Washington from Williamsburg to carry a message to the French, remon- strating against their actions. He brought back in return a message of refusal to with- draw troops from the disputed country. A regiment of six hundred men was organized and sent to drive the Frenchmen out of the country. Meanwhile the Ohio Company sent thirty men to build a fort at the point of the con- fluence of the Allegheny and Monongehela rivers. They had not progressed far when a party of French and Indians attacked and ex- The Silver Covenant Chain 75 pelled them. These completed the fort and called it Fort DuQuesne, in honor of the Governor General of Canada. Not knowing the fort was occupied by French instead of English, the Virginia troops pressed forward toward it. On the way, one company under the command of George Washington, then a young man hardly in his twenties, met and attacked a company of French soldiers under the command of Jumon de Villiers, and killed the commanding officer. His brother, Neyon de Villiers, was of the garrison at Fort Chartres on the Mississippi River, in the Illinois Country. Hearing of his brother's death. Cap- tain de Villiers asked and received permission to take troops to the relief of Fort DuQuesne. With his soldiers from the Illinois Country, de Villiers went to the rescue and compelled the return to Virginia of Washington and his troops, and the agreement of the English colony not to erect any establishment west of the mountains for a year. This is the first record of the bravery of the Illinois soldier, but by no means the last. The soldiers from Illinois carried supplies to Fort DuQuesne, making the trip by way of the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Ohio, thence up that stream. 76 Decisive Dates As the war progressed, there was a great demand in the army of the French for increased number of soldiers. The English navy cut off , most of the reinforcements from France, while the English, on the contrary, were constantly receiving troops from the mother-country. Every effort was made north of the Ohio River, by the French, to stir up the Indians to help in the preservation of the Northwest for the joint occupancy of the Gallic and native American races. In the spring of 1759, while Sir William Johnson was holding the Council and Conference of Indians at his House in far away New York, which resulted in the transfer of the allegiance of the Indians "as far west as the Illinois," from the French to the English, Mons. de Aubry, Commandant at Fort Chartres in the Illinois Country, was raising troops to take east with him. Four hundred men started with him in bateaux and canoes down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio, which they ascended as far as the mouth of the Wabash. They could go no further up the Ohio River, since the English were in possession of its headwaters. Ascending the Wabash River to the Miami villages near the present site of Fort Wayne, The Silver Covenant Chain 77 they made the portage, and passing down the Maumee, they entered Lake Erie. They were constantly reinforced by bands of different tribes, of Indians, and by Canadian miHtia, as they passed the several posts, until there was an army of sixteen hundred men. Of these there were six hundred Frenchmen and one thousand Indians. Before Aubry reached Presque Isle, he was joined by other bodies of Indians and Canadians from the region of the upper lakes. M. de Lignery had assembled the Ohio Indians at Presque Isle, and met him at Fort Machault, at the mouth of French Creek in Pennsylvania. Aubry's intention was to go down the river and retake Fort DuQuesne, or Fort Pitt, as the English called it. But letters received at Fort Machault changed his plans. The news that the "English had gone against Fort Niagara" determined Aubry to go to the rescue of that fort. His route was up French Creek, thence by portage to Presque Isle, and sailing along the shores of Lake Erie to Niagara. Sir William Johnson being informed of this ad- vance of the French army was prepared to meet them on the road between Niagara Falls and the fort. 78 Decisive Dates As the French made their appearance, they were seen to be marching along a path about eight feet wide and were in readiness to fight in close order and without ranks or files. The Indians of the English army advanced to speak to those of the French army. After this conference the Indians of the French army refused to advance under pretext that they were at peace with the Iroquois. Thus were the French abandoned by their chief force ! Utter defeat followed and a massacre ensued in which all the French officers were either killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. McCarty, the commandant at Fort Chartres, sadly said: "Niagara cost us the flower of our soldiers." The treachery of the savage allies of the French carried victory to the British. Sir William Johnson reported it in these words: — "To show your Lordships that my Labours have not been in vain, I now send duplicates (of former letter and treaty at Canajohary), it (the treaty) being concluded at a general con- vention of the Six Nations and the Allies (in the spring of 1759), after many Solicitations and interested Arguments Suggested to them by me, to join us against the Enemy which they did, last year to the amount of above a thousand fighting men at Niagara, from whence I sent The Silver Covenant Chain 79 them home laden with the spoils of the French ; and tho' the Enemy put me to a deal of trouble, when their army was near upon us, by sending some of the Indians under pretence of Parley with ours, but rather to inveigle and intimidate ours (?) / found means to retain even them who, though come into our camp under French in- fluence, / made them fight against their old friends.'' * Such was the result of the Indians from "as far as the Illinois" being bound by the Silver Covenant Chain in 1759. Had these western Indians remained as true to the moral obligation they had to the interests of the French as had the eastern Indians to the promise their fathers had made to Jacob Eelkins near a century and a half before this time, "the Chain" would never have drawn them away from their alliance to their friends, the French. If they had turned a deaf ear to the efforts of Sir William Johnson and refused to be bound by the Silver Covenant Chain, the war would probably have had a different ending — when end it did. The passing of New France in America would have been at least delayed, if not averted. The history of our State and our Nation would read other than it does now. 80 Decisive Dates Victory to the British at Niagara* was quickly- followed by victory at other points until upon the Plains of Abraham at Quebec, the "Lilies of France'" were displaced by the Dragon of St. George. The Anglo-Saxon race dominated the New World. Notes and Explanations Page 61 * Shawnee meant south. t See Beckwith's notes of the Northwest, p. 170. Page 62 J Charlevoiz's History of New France.Vol. 5 , p. 1 30. Page 63 * Hennepin, p. 132 (London Ed.) Page 64 * Beckwith's Historic notes of the Northwest, p. 108. Page 66 -j- Paris Documents, Vol. 9, p. 161. Page 67 * New York Colonial Documents, Vol. 4, p. 729. Page 69 * Qlde Ulster, Vol. 4, p. 3. Page 71 * Letter of Sir William Johnson, dated September 10, 1756, to the Lords of Trade at London, Hist. New York, p. 733. Page 72 * Letter dated May 17, 1759. t Although the expression "as far west as the Illinois" is usually considered to include the country of the Illinois, there is every reason to consider that here it means the river of that name. Since the tribe of the lUini had been moved beyond and below the river a half century before, an inference may be drawn that this tribe was not among the deserters. Page 79 * ^ letter written by Sir William Johnson to the Board of Trade at London, dated 5th of June, 1760. Page 80 * Many historians state that the Indians re- mained neutral during the Seven Years' War. Such was the case only during the first years of the war or until the British, at the suggestion of Sir William Johnson, made an attack upon Fort Niagara. Sir William Johnson had already persuaded the western Indians to be bound with the "Silver Covenant Chain." After this the red man was an ally of the British. The Silver Covenant Chain 81 tion^*'^' ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^*® explorers of the Mississippi River The noted strangely pictured rocks at different places Piasa along its way. Bird The most striking of these was the one on the bluff at the point where aftenvard the city of Alton was built. This represented the Piasa or Devil bird and might have been seen as late as 1856 when the State Prison was built there and they quarried the rock and destroyed this terror of the native Indians. There is a narrow ravine between the city of Alton and the mouth of the Illinois River through which a small stream runs to empty into the Missis- sippi. This is known as the Piasa. Near the mouth of this stream, blufTs of sandstone rise upon which the representation of the Piasa birds was made. No Indian could ever be induced to look upon these pictured rocks. Indeed they were horrible to see. The legend of the Piasa briefly told is this : ' ' Many thousand moons before the arrival of the paleface" a bird of such dimensions that he could easily carry off a buffalo, lived in the locality of these pictured rocks. At one time this bird tasted the flesh of an Indian and ever after, one of the Piasa birds would watch opportunity to dart upon an Indian and bear him off into one of the caves of the blufT to devour him. Hundreds of warriors were de- voured in this way and the bird became a terror to all Indians. At last, a great chief, Onatoga by name separ- ated himself from his tribe and fasted the length of a moon praying the Great Spirit to protect his children from the dread Piasa. On the last night of his fast, the Great Spirit appeared to Onatoga in a dream and told him to take twenty of his war- riors, to arm each with a bow and poisoned arrows and take them to the mouth of this cave. They must be concealed but another warrior must stand exposed to the sight of the Piasa and when the monster sprang at him the men must shoot at the bird. Onatoga chose to, himself, stand in full view as the prey of the Piasa. He so loved his people that he was willing to give up his life for them. When all were ready, Onatoga planted his feet firmly upon the earth and drawing up his manly form, he began chanting the death song of the Indian war- rior. A moment and the Piasa arose in the air and darted down upon the chief. But the monster (6) 82 Decisive Dates had no more than reached his victim when twenty arrows from twenty bows pierced its body in as many places and the Piasa expired while Onatoga remained unhurt. The Miamis had a tradition concerning the Piasa bird which accounted for their hatred of the Illini and the ultimate almost complete annihilation of that confederacy. In their tradition the Piasa showed great favor to the Michegannis when they met the Miamis in this Piasa canyon. This ill will caused by their defeat was handed from one generation to another until opportunity came to join their strength to the Penotomy confederacy which worked such disaster to all the tribes of the Illini. INTERIM 1759-1778 The Story of Pontiac End of the Period of Romance British Domination INTERIM 1759-1778 THE French colonies in the Illinois Coun- try, were the last to be transferred to the rule of Great Britain. This delay in which the flag of France defiantly fluttered in the Illinois breeze (the sole spot in the New World where it waved iinmolested) was owing to the interference of Pontiac, an Ottawa chief, who three times drove back the British that were coming to take legal possession of Fort Chartres. Major Robert Rogers was sent to tell the western forts of the surrender of Canada and the change in government at the close of the French and Indian War. He met Pontiac, a celebrated Ottawa chief, near what is now Cleve- land, Ohio. Pontiac stopped him, asking the reason of his (Roger's) coming into that country without his (Pontiac's) permission. He was informed of the change from French to English rule, and at last permitted Rogers to proceed. He even graciously accompanied him and averted a massacre of Rogers and his company, at the mouth of the Detroit River. But Pontiac 85 86 Decisive Dates was by no means won to the cause Rogers repre- sented. He hated the English. Pontiac comprehended the situation. He was a man of rare intelligence, and he correctly read the signs of the times. He saw the differ- ence between the English and the French ; that the one were settlers, the other but fur-traders, they were not seeking homes. He knew that English settlements in North America meant the destruction of his race. Pontiac made a plan to drive the English away. It was a desperate plan to save the coun- try to the red man, and it involved the effort of all the tribes of the Northwest, under the most absolute secrecy. The plan succeeded in so far as that no white man had the least idea of what was contemplated by the Indians. When the chosen day arrived, every garrison west of Fort Pitt, excepting that of Detroit, by either strategy or force, was captured by the Indians. But Pontiac planned without understanding the strength of the white man. Detroit held out for fifteen months against the Indians. Then the garrison was relieved by General Bradstreet. Pontiac gave up his plan of completely con- quering the white man. He crossed the prairies to Fort Chartres on the Mississippi. This fort The Story of Pontiac 87 was not surrendered to the English until two years after peace was declared, because of the fear Pontiac aroused. The cessation of hostilities on the part of Pontiac, and the transfer of Fort Chartres to the English, was at last secured through a conference, which George Croghan, Deputy Supt. of Indian Affairs, held with this great chief.* After the English garrison had taken posses- sion of Fort Chartres, the surrounding French towns became almost depopulated. Many fam- ilies moved across the river to the vSpanish towns on the west side of the Mississippi. Those who did not move, although at heart remaining loyal subjects to the French Crown and clinging to their old customs, reluctantly took the oath of allegiance to Great Britain. New France in America had ceased to exist. Thus ended the period of Romance in Illinois history. It is the pen of the poet or novelist, or the brush of the artist that should be used to picture this period, the historian is out of place in re- cording cold facts in detail during the hundred years of Illinois under the French. This period has had little influence upon succeeding events; it made slight impress upon after his- tory. Yet it is a time fraught with interest and abounds in attractive events to one who looks 88 Decisive Dates into the past for something more than statistical records with which to account for, or prove the value of later history. It is the thread of gold to brighten a dull fabric, or the elusive fragrance which heightens the attraction of the rose. The passing years have obliterated all trace of life during this period. Another people have lived a different life in the land of the Gauls. A search for evidence of life of this hundred years is rewarded by the sight of an island in the river rapidly being washed away, with here and there a handful of old coin or some small piece of silver which has been dug out of the side of the bluff where the great Mississippi has, in its irony, cast it. The British domination of the Illinois Country lasted from 1765 (Pontiac kept the garrison at Fort Chartres from formal surrender for two years) to 1778. It was thirteen years of inac- tivity other than the constant inciting of the Indians to harrass the colonists in Kentucky and elsewhere on the Ohio River. These colonists had gone west in spite of the edict of the king of England made at the close of the Seven Years' War, that the Alleghany Mountains should be the western limit of colonization. The policy of Great Britain was against extended coloniza- tion of the West because of fear that the mother- British Domination 89 country could not control the colonists, but that they would do as they did very soon do on the eastern coast — declare their independence. The French subjects in the Illinois Country were discontented, and petitioned the king to be attached to the Province of Quebec. This was done in June, 1774. The act of British Parlia- ment which enlarged the Province of Quebec so as to include the Illinois Country, further pro- vided for the free exercise of religion in this Province, also that the ancient laws of the French be restored to them, particularly that trial by jury cease. This was the first con- sideration the French had received since the Treaty of Peace at Paris, eleven years before, at the close of the French and Indian War. It was not, however, their first petition. Three years before this time a mass meeting at Kas- kaskia is recorded as protesting against the tyranny of those placed in authority. At this meeting a demand to be granted in- stitutions such as those of the Connecticut colony, with a right to appoint their own gov- ernor and civil magistrates, was made. Since Connecticut was the only one of the English colonies which had preserved its ancient charter, there needs no stronger evidence that the French colonies of the Illinois Country, so lately put 90 Decisive Dates under the rule of Great Britain, were imbued with as earnest a desire for independence as were the English colonies along the coast, who were on the threshold of the War of the Revolution. The answer to the demand for institutions modeled upon those of Connecticut, was a decided refusal. Intercourse between these colonies on the Mississippi River and those on the Coast, was limited. The English soldiers at Fort Gage and Vincennes fostered a terror of the Americans in both the Frenchmen and the Indians. The former were discouraged in a knowledge of the methods of their eastern neighbors, and the latter were encouraged in all manner of cruelties perpetrated upon the frontiersman along the Ohio River and in Ken- tucky. Notes and Explanations Page 87 * Croghan and Pontiac met on the familiar trail which even yet may be discerned in the North Western part of Edgar County and after a confer- ence agreed upon a treaty of Peace when they reached Kaskaskia, whither they journeyed. A few rods south of this trail is situated the old spring which was used by the Indians and the early French Explorers. The old spring is now a well which overflows the year around. Mr. Geo. W. Brown, the Superin- tendent of Edgar County Schools plans marking this historic spot with a tablet to be inscribed : British Domination 91 "Nearhereon July 18, A. D. 1765, Colonel George Croghan, Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs, for the British Government, held a treaty of Peace with Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa and Leader of the Great Indian Confederacy. By the terms of this agreement, the Allegiance of the Indians was trans- ferred from the French to the English, thus secur- ing the eastern Mississippi valley for Anglo-Saxon civilization." After this treaty, made with Major George Grog- han, Pontiac went to St. Louis to live. One day he went to Cahokia against the advice of St. Ange, his friend. Here he was made drunk, and, at the instigation of an English merchant of St. Louis, was foully murdered by one of the Indians. Whether with good reason or not, the claim that it was an Indian of the lUini Confederacy called out all the enmity of all other tribes against every mini. St. Ange had Pontiac buried. It is in the rotunda of the hotel which covers the site of his burial place that the D. A. R. of St. Louis has placed the tablet to his memorv. Date III. 1778 The Conquest of the Northwest Date III. — 1778 IN the plans of the War for Independence, fought by the English colonists, the territory along the eastern coast alone seemed consid- ered of importance. The great extent of coun- try, formerly New France, which became British possessions at the close of the Seven Years' War, appears to have been underestimated. Yet what would have been the effect' upon this country, or upon the world, if, when the Revolutionary War was over, the Alleghany mountains or even the Ohio River, rather than the Great Lakes, had been the northern and western limits of the United States! The spirit of love of ad\'enture which brought the first settlers to Virginia, gave their children the desire to press on into the wilderness of the West in spite of the edict of the king to the con- trary. Beyond the mountains, they found and settled an Eden , for such the fertile land of Ken- tucky appeared to be. Virginia extended her territory south of the Ohio to the Mississippi River, and the county of Kentucky was a possession only limited in value because of the hostile Indians who lived or came into it. The 95 96 Decisive Dates Indian cruelties were increased through the in- fluence of the British garrison in the IlHnois Country. At last the policy of the British soldier's paying for scalps of the settlers on the frontier, made life in Kentucky so uncertain that help was asked from Virginia. But the county of Kentucky was a long way from Williamsburg, the seat of government of Virginia, and the militia, together with all possible volunteer troops, were all needed in the War of the Revolution, then being waged on the eastern coast. The gravity of the situation for the Kentucky pioneer, together with the im- portance of conquering the Northwest for the new nation, were apparent to George Rogers Clark, himself one of the pioneer settlers of Kentucky. Patrick Henry was the governor of Virginia. He was a relative of George Rogers Clark. It was a long, a hard and a hazardous journey from Kentucky to Williamsburg, yet Clark undertook it, and secured permission to raise troops to aid him in his plan of relief to the frontiersman, from not only the Indian enemies, but from those who were urging the Indians against the help- less settlers. After much difficulty, the troops were secured as volunteers. Clark started with them, ostensibly to protect the frontier, but he The Conquest of the Northwest 97 carried secret orders from Gov. Henry to cap- ture Kaskaskia. In a history of Indiana prepared by Judge John B. Dillon, in 1843, extracts are taken from the Manuscript Memoirs composed by George Rogers Clark, at the joint request of Presidents Jefferson and Madison. It is from this source that the extracts given here are taken. Through these extracts, we learn in the words of George Rogers Clark himself, how British Illinois be- came part of the new American Nation, and the Cross of St. George gave place to the Stars and Stripes, which have never been lowered. The trip down the Ohio was safely made as far as the island, now Louisville. They reached this place June 24, 1778. Learning that spies were kept below Kaskaskia, Clark decided to land and march overland to Fort Gage. The men who were not able to endure the fatigue of the march were left at the Ohio River. That gave Clark but four companies with which to undertake the capture of Kaskaskia. It was at this time that Clark received a letter from Colonel Campbell, dated at Pittsburg, which informed him of the treaty just made between France and America. This knowledge came at an opportune time, and Clark used it to advantage, not only in securing the good-will of (7) 98 Decisive Dates the French, but as well in gaining their influence over the Indians in behalf of the Virginians. Since they were to leave the Ohio at Fort Massac, they landed at an island at the mouth of the Tennessee River. There they captured a party of hunters coming down the river, from whom they received valuable information. These men were formerly from the East, and expressed happiness in the adventure of the Virginians. Since Clark had heard nothing from Kaskaskia for many months, it was well for him to learn that "the militia (at Kaskaskia) was kept in good order and spies on the Mississippi, and that all hunters both Indian and others were ordered to keep a good look-out for the rebels."* These hunters further told Clark "that if they (the British) received timely notice, they could collect all forces and give a warm reception, and that the people were taught to harbor a most horrid idea of the rebels, especially the Virginians."* Clark and his men concealed their boats in a little gulley a small distance from Massac and set out on their march. They "set out a northwest course. The weather was favorable. In some parts water was scarce, as well as game. Of course they suffered drought and hunger, but not to excess. "t The Conquest of the Northwest 99 On the third day the guide became confused and aroused Clark's suspicions. But he fortu- nately regained the trail with little delay. After many days' weary march "on the fourth of July," continues Clark in his Memoirs, "in the evening, we got within a few miles of the town (Kaskaskia), where we lay until near dark, keeping spies ahead, after which we com- menced our march, and took possession of a house wherein a large family lived, on the bank of the Kaskaskia River, about three- quarters of a mile above the town. Here we were informed that the people, a few days before, were under arms, but had concluded that the cause of the alarm was without foun- dation, and that at that time there were a great number of men in town, but that the Indians had generally left it, and at the present all was quiet. We soon procured a sufficiency of vessels, the more in ease to convey us across the river. "With one of the divisions, I marched to the fort, and ordered the other two into different quarters of the town. If I met w4th no resist- ance, at a certain signal a general shout was to be given and certain parts were to be immediate- ly possessed, and men of each detachment, who could speak the French language, were to 100 Decisive Dates run through every street and proclaim what had happened, and inform the inhabitants that every person that appeared in the street would be shot down. This disposition had its desired effect. In a very little time we had complete possession, and every avenue was guarded to prevent any escape to give the alarm to the other villages in case of opposition. Various orders had been issued, not worth mentioning. "I don't suppose greater silence ever reigned among the inhabitants of a place than did at this : not a person to be seen, not a word to be heard by them, for some time, but, designedly, the greatest noise kept up by our troops through every quarter of the town, and patrols con- tinued the whole night around it, as inter- cepting any information was a capital object, and in about two hours, the whole of the in- habitants were disarmed, and informed that if anyone w^as taken attempting to make his escape, he should be immediately put to death."* Thus it was that without a shot nor the shed- ding of a drop of blood, Kaskaskiaj on the Mississippi River was surrendered to the Ameri- cans and the vast territory hitherto claimed by Spain, settled by France, and possessed by Great Britain, became the property of Virginia, Courtesy oj the lllitiois State Hisioruai .>,i, ;, ;\ FATHER PIERRE GIBAULT. The Conquest of the Northwest 101 and shortly afterward was ceded to the United State. George Rogers Clark, who through tact and aid from Father Gibault, the priest of the Roman Catholic church, whose parish included all the French towns from Cahokia on the west to Post Vincent on the east, soon had the oath of allegiance from every citizen, and completed his conquest. His afterward brave capture of Fort Sack- ville (Post Vincennes) was but the necessary act in holding the territory. Father Gibault went to Vincennes and secured the allegiance of the people. General Hamilton was in com- mand of Fort Sackville, but was at that time absent in Detroit. Clark seeing the necessity of an American officer at Post Vincennes, sent Captain Helm to command at that post and also appointed him agent for Indian affairs in the Department of the Wabash. Captain Helm took command of the fort about the middle of August. Unfortunately Clark was given neither the men nor the authority to march against Detroit, and by the capture of its garrison to complete the conquest of the Northwest. It was in October of that year (1778) that the Assembly of Virginia passed an Act making the territory 102 Decisive Dates west of the Ohio River into a county of Virginia. But before this law could avail anything, General Hamilton collected an army of about thirty British soldiers, fifty volunteers, and four hundred Indians, and on the 15th of December passed down the Wabash River and took pos- session of Post Vincennes for Great Britain. Clark knew Hamilton would undertake to capture his forces, so he resolved to save them by himself capturing Hamilton. He sent some of his men whom he had re-enlisted, by boat down the Mississippi and up the Ohio and Wabash rivers, with instructions to their com- mander. Captain Rogers, to secrete himself a few miles below Vincennes, and prohibit any person from passing either up or down. With another part of his men he undertook the march across the country to Vincennes. Words are inadequate to express the hardships of that march. Across prairies, through swamps and marshes, which were flooded by continual February rains, with water waist-high or higher, the brave men followed their leader. Never was a commander taxed heavier to keep up the spirits of his men! Never was there a display of greater courage or more praise-worthy hero- ism. Because of his secrecy and rapid The Conquest of the Northwest 103 movements, Hamilton had no idea he had left Kaskaskia, when Clark surprised him at Vin- cennes. The town was only too glad to sur- render and the people assisted at the siege of the Fort. The result of this siege was that Hamilton and all his force were made prisoners of war. George Rogers Clark held military possession of the Northwest until the close of the war of the Revolution. The correspondence relative to the treaty of peace, held at Paris at the close of the war, shows the importance of Clark's conquest. The British insisted that the Ohio River should be the Northern boundary of the United States and the "American Commission- ers relied to sustain their claim that the lakes should be the boundary, upon the fact that General Clark had conquered the country, and was in the undisputed military possession of it at the time of the negotiation. This fact was affirmed and admitted, and was the chief ground on which British Commissioners reluc- tantly abandoned their claim."* Had the Ohio River been the boundary, with the British in possession of the territory now covered by the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, the struggling new nation would have been handicapped, and the 104 Decisive Dates United States have met a different fate. Such would have been the case had it not been for the effort of George Rogers Clark, who captured Fort Gage at Kaskaskia, Ju|y 4, 1778. Notes and Explanations Page 98 * Clark's Memoirs, t Clark's Memoirs. Page 100 * Clark's Memoirs. t It is now generally understood that the ' ' Fort Gage" where Clark "captured the Governor Mr. Rocheblave" was not the so-called Fort Gage which stood ' ' on the summit of a high rock opposite the village (Kaskaskia)" whose earth works are yet to be seen. This Fort Gage burned in 1766 and there is no record that it was ever re-built. The "Fort Gage" Clark did capture was the "stone house of the Jesuits" in Kaskaskia called Fort Gage in honor of General Thomas Gage. See Appendix Illinois Hist. Collections, Vol. I. Page 103 * Burnett's Notes on the Northwest Territory, p. 77. INTERIM 1778-1818 Illinois a County of Virginia The Indiana Territory The Territory of Illinois The Fort Dearborn Massacre INTERIM— 1778-1818. AFTER Clark's conquest of the Illinois Country, its future government became a matter of anxiety to him. In his mem- oirs he says: "I inquired particularly into the manner the people had been governed formerly, and much to my satisfaction, I found that it had been generally as severe as under the Militia law. I was determined to make an advantage of it, and took every step in my power to cause the people to feel the blessings enjoyed by an American citizen."* To this end, he caused a "court of civil juris- diction to be established at Cahokia, elected by the people." t The date of the earliest paper which has been preserved issuing from the court at Cahokia, is October 29, 1778. The last direct petition to Clark that exists is dated August 27, 1778. Therefore, it must be con- cluded that the courts were established between the last of August and the last of October, 1778, and the first election in Illinois was held sometime during the Fall of 1778. Clark soon discovered this plan enabled him to support, from their own choice, almost a 107 108 Decisive Dates supreme authority over the people. In proof that this government was a good, one, he further records the fact that "there was an appeal to myself in certain cases, and. I believe that no people ever had their business done more to their satisfaction than they had. through the means of these regulations."* Before the beginning of the new year, the legislature of Virginia had passed a bill provid- ing for the government of this new country which was claimed as the Illinois County of Vir- ginia, naming the county lieutenant as chief executive officer. Governor Patrick Henry commissioned John Todd to this office. Todd reached the Illinois County in May 1779, He found many difficult problems to solve. There were the two distinct races meeting at these towns, which by reason of inherited ideas of religion, government and social life largely differing, were far from easy to merge into the one people with the same ideals and desires. The French were Roman Catholics ; the Ameri- can frontiersman was, or his fathers had been, Protestants, and the Calvinistic and English- Catholic blood in their veins flowed hot and aggressive. The French was friendly to the Indian; these new people hated the Indians under all conditions. The French depended Illinois a County of Virginia 109 upon the law and respected it; the Americans were a law unto themselves. The government of Virginia had neither the interest in the new territory nor was there money to spare to sup- port the soldiers in the County of Illinois. The soldiers lacked the true idea of the rights of property and imposed upon the Frenchmen.* Again, the land was fertile and there was a threatened rush of settlers to pre-empt it, endangering to the Illinois county the fate of Kentucky with land speculation, law-suits, and anarchy. Another source of anxiety was the worthlessness of the paper money in circulation. All these combined to place the man who was at the head of the civil government in a position to be unconditionally blamed. Matters grew constantly worse, and Todd begged to be per- mitted to resign as early as the middle of August, but little more than five months after he came as county lieutenant to the Illinois County. He did not receive the desired permission at that time, but did leave the Illinois County in No- vember. How long after that he remained in the official position of county lietuenant, is not definitely known. He left Richard Winston, his deputy, during his ablence. One of the last official acts of Todd was to turn the government over to the military, with 110 Decisive Dates the result of suffering on the part of the inhabi- tants that drove many families to emigrate to the other side of the Mississippi River. Spite of all adverse conditions, the Virginians held the territory northwest of the Ohio for almost four years. This Northwest Territory comprised what now are the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Then came the readjustment at the end of the Revolutionary War. Massachusetts and Connecticut claimed the northern part of the Northwest Territory, upon the chartered state rights. New York claimed the territory because of the cession made by the Iroquois Indians, while Virginia claimed it be- cause of Clark's conquest. These conflicting claims caused much dispute upon the part of the states. Maryland, in particular, refused to agree to the Articles of Confederation until these states abandoned all claims to special owner- ship to the Northwest Territory, and it was made a part of the general government. The plea was that all had fought, first France, then England, and that all should have that terri- tory. This resulted in all the states relinquish- ing their rights. After all due cessions were made. Congress passed the ordinance of 1787, providing for the government of this territory. S; discovered coal, 129; life a tradedy, 44; untimely death influenced fate of New France, 43. La Salle County (see county). La Pointe du Esprit, Allonez's mission, 19. Law, first school mentioned, 216; with conipulsorj- clauses, 238; child labor, 243; general primary, 244; little ballot, 243 ; local option, 244; primary election, 243. Lincoln, Abraha'tn, brought home, 164; candidate for United States senator, 155; contrasted with Douglas, 160; Douglas debate, 162; lost speech, 158; nominated for president, 163; question asked Douglas, 161. Live Stock Commission, created, 235. Local Option Law, 244. Logan, John A., brave soldier, 21S; choice for president, 234. London Company, claims shared with other nations, 56. Lords of Trade, letter written to, 71. Lovejoy, Elijah P., the abolitionist, 150; killed at Alton, 195. Lovejoy, Owen, at Bloomington convention, 157. M. Madison County (see county). Mariette, Ohio, seat of government of northwest territorv, 111. Marquette, Rev. James Father, ascended Illinois River, 8 letter to his Rev. Father Superior, 20; appointed by Father Dablon to accompany Joliet, 21; established mission, 41; Indians found, by 62; followed to mission by Father Allonez. 64; boundary of country as found by, 68. Massac Fort, starting point for Clark's march, 98. Massac Rebellion, mentioned, 200. Massacre, Fort Dearborn, (see Dearborn and Fortj, Fort Niagara, mentioned, 78. Matteson, Joel A., tenth governor, 204; unexpected condi- dacy for U. S. senator, 225. Maumee River, mentioned, 77. McCarty, commandant at Fort Chartres, 78. McLean, John, candidate for congress, 142; of the pro- slavery party, 174. 270 Decisive Dates McLean County (see county). McKendree College, incorporated, 195. Menard, Rev. Father, established mission on Lake Superior, 19. Menard, Pierre, first Lieutenant-Governor, 174; residence, frontispiece, 242. Miami Indians, foot note, 81; at Fort Wayne, 114. Miamies, went to trading post at La Pointe du Esprit, 19. Michigan, mentioned, 68. Michiganians , mentioned, 62. Michilimacana, mentioned, 16; Joliet and Marquette left mission, 22; Marquette to return to, 33. Mission, Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary, .31; La Pointe du esprit or the Holy Ghost. St. Ignatius, 22. Mississippi River, mentioned, 14; first mention of, 20; mouth but ten days distant, 29; name never changed, 33; La Salle's colonv missed mouth, 43; Indians escaped to, 66. Missouri Compromise, repealed, 154. Mob Law, mentioned, 200. Mobile, mentioned, 45. Montreal, when built, 15 ; Joliet's boat capsized in sight of, 34; good trading post, 56. Morris, battle at, 66. Mound, Cahokia, 11 ; Monks, 1 1 ; Turtle, 11. Mormons, mentioned, 200. Mounds, origin unknown, 11. Mound Builders, origin entire conjecture, 16. Municipal Civil Service Law, adopted, 240. N. Nassau, N. Y., mentioned, 69. Nebraska Bill, mentioned, 134; Douglas supported, 162. New Design, mentioned, 150. New England, mentioned, S3 ; anti-slavery views from, 150. New France, mentioned, 15; could afford to ignore other claims, 45; mentioned, 53; became British possessions, 95. New Netherlands, mentioned, 53. New Orleans, seat of government of New France, 45. New Spain, mentioned, 53; boundaries of, 58. Index 271 Niagara, attacked, 72. Niagara Falls, Aubry met troops at, 77. Normans Kill, mentioned, 69. Normal School (see State Nonnal School), Eastern, 240; Northern, 240; Western, 242. Nortltern Illitjois, a wilderness, 113. Northwest, purchased from Iroquois, 68. Northwest rrrrttory, bounded, 110; Virginia ceded claim to, 138; division of, 139. O. Ohio, mentioned, 68. Ohio Company, mentioned, 74. Ohio River, mentioned, 35; northern boundary of United States, 95-103; George Rogers ("lark, trip down, 97. Ohio Indians, joined Aubry. 77. Ogle Coiinty, (see county). Oglesby, Hon. Richard J., fourteenth governor, 219; six- teenth governor, 227; twenty-first governor, 235. Okaw River, mentioned, 42. Onondaga, conference of Indians, at, 71. Orange, Albany, N. Y., 66. Ottawa, first Lincoln-Douglas debate held at, 160. Ottawa Confederacy, Indians forming, 72. Ottawa Chief, Pontiac, 85. P. Pacific Ocean, South sea, 29. Palmer, Hon. John M., lifteenth governor, 223. Paris, mentioned, 21. Peace Convention, reference to, 214. Peace Congress, mentioned, 225. Peoria, tribe of lUini, 62; mentioned, 66. Penitentiary, at Alton, 1S6; at Joliet, 209. Pennsylvania, French Creek in, 77. Penotomy, confederacy of Indians, 65. Penotomies, Indians of the Penotomy confederacy, 65. Piasa Bird, note, 81. Point St. Ignace, mission on Island of Mackinaw, 22. Pontiac, mentioned, 65; an Ottawa chief, 85. 272 Decisive Dates Pontiac's Conspiracy, to save America to redman, 86; treaty with Croghan, note, 90; death, note, 91. Pope, Nathaniel, delegate to congress for the lUinois territory, 121; bound the east and west, 123; led anti- slavery sentiment, 174. Pope County (see county). Portage, carrying place, 22; Aubry's route, 7 7. Portage City, Wisconsin, 23. Pottery, found in mounds, 10. Pottawatomie s, mentioned, 19; at Fort Dearborn, 116. Prairie dii Rocher, mentioned, 44. Presque Isle, route of Aubry, 77. Pure Food, legislation, 232. Prison Parole System, adopted, 240. Primary Election Laiv, 243-244. Q. Quebec, founded by Champlain, 15 ; Frontenac, governor of 21; Joliet returned to, 33; Frontenac, writing from, 34 La Salle, returned to, 41 ; made a good trading post, 56 province of, 89. Quincy, sixth Lincoln-Douglas debate had at, 162; John Wood put up first cabin, 213; soldiers' and sailors' home located, 235. R. Railroad Strikes, in parts of Illinois, 231. Randolph County (see county). Renault, Phillippi, mentioned, 45; brought African slaves to French settlements, 138. Republican National Convention, in 1884; in 1888 (see convention). Revolution, War of, mentioned, 69. Reynolds, Hon. John, mentioned, 148; fourth governor 187. Rock in Illinois River, 42; mentioned, 66. Rockford, mound found at site of, 11. Rogers, Major Robert, sent to tell of surrender of Canada 85. Romance, period of, 87. Russel Camp, organized at Edwardsville, 116. Index 273 5. Sachetn, of the lUini, 26. Sackville, Fort, (see Fort). Sacs, mentioned, 19. Sagamity, presented to Marquette, 28; com raised for, 46. Saline, pottery found in, 10; sale of land in saline reserve, 203. Salt Works, near Danville, 128; near Shawneetown, 140; Hargrave, general inspector of, 141. Sault Ste. Marie, as far west as, 16. School Law, women allowed to hold office under, 229; anti-trust, 238. Senecas, appeal from, 67. Seneca Chief, answer to appeal, 70. Seventeenth Century, French settlement, 43. Seven Years' War (see War). Shawnees, came to visit lUini, 20; Iroquois made war upon, 61; at Onondago, 71. Shawneetown, salt works near, 141; John McLean of, 142, Shields, Hon. James, mentioned, 155. Shurtleff College, incorporated, 195. Silver Covenant Chain, Indians' name for treaty, 69; strength of 70; nations bound with, 73; Sir. Wm. Johnson's use of (foot note), 80. Six United Nations, (see Iroquois), faithful to British, 71; troops of British joined to, 72; convention of, 78. Slaves, African, brought by Renault, 138. Slavery, African, extension of, 154. Slavery Question, all absorbing topic, 141. Slave States, to west and south, 153. Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, State, located at Quincy, 235. South Bend, direction of Spanish troops, 112. Smith, Joseph, killed by mob, 200. Soldiers' Orphans' Home, located, 222. Spain, permanent settlements made by, 54. Spanish Settlement, of St. Louis, 42. Spanish Domains, comprised, 54. Spanish Invasion, of state. 111. Springfield, the capital of state, 195. Starved Rock, in IlHni River, 42. State Board of Arbitration, established, 240. (18) 274 Decisive Dates State Board of Canal Commissioners , created, 229. State Board of Examiners of Architects, established, 242, State Board of Examiners of Horse Shows, 242. State Board of Education, the first, 209. State Board of Factory Inspectors, 240. State Board of Health, created, 231. State Board of Pardons, established, 241. State Bonds, called in, 232. State Commissioners of Gamine, 243. State Debt, provided for, 232. State Food Commissioners , established, 242. State Fair, first held, 206. State Flower, 244. State Game Warden, created, 235. State Historical Society, organized, 238. State Home for Juvenile Female Offenders, created, 240. State House, occupied, 229. State Horticultural Society, organized, 238. State Insurance Department, created, 240. State Mining Board, created, 233. State Normal Schools (see Normal School). State Superintendent Public Instruction, first appointed, 206. State Tree, 244. State Veterinarian, office created, 255. Steamboat, birch canoe, 46; on Illinois River, 186. Stillman, Maj., in command, 148. Storm-grave People, mentioned, 12. Stone Implements, dug out of soil, 9. 5^ Clair, General Arthur, governor of Northwest Terri- tory, 111. St. Clair County (see county). St. Ignace (see Point St. Ignace). St. Ignatius, mission of, 21. St. Joseph River, route of La Salle, 41 . St. Louis, Fort (see Forts), capital of Spanish territory, 111. St. Lawrence River, mentioned, 56. Index 275 T. Tatnarois, tribe of Illini confederacy, 62. Tanner, Hon. John R., twenty-fourth governor, 241. Tawasentha Vale of, chain forged here, 69. Tazewell County (see county), 129. Texas, La Salle's colony landed on coast of, 43. Thread, used by Illini women, 63. Todd, county Lieutenant of Illinois county, of Vir., lOS; resigned, 109. Tonti, mentioned, 35; one of La Salle's exploring party, 41; Sa Lalle returned to find him gone, 42; Fort St. Louis in charge of, 43. Towns, law for incorporating, 175. Township Organization, legislature adopted law, 203. Treaty, with Iroquois, 69; with Pontiac, notes, 90-91. Trumbull, Lyman, election of, 206; nominated by John M. Palmer, 224; was a democrat, 225. U. Union County (see county). University of Illinois, renamed, 23 5. Utica, mentioned, 31. V. Virginia, mentioned, 20; troops, 75; settlers, to, 95; early settlers of Illinois mosth^ from, 127; ceded claim to Northwest territory, 138. Vincent Post, mentioned, 101. Vincennes Post, General Hamilton took possession, 102. W Wabash River, mentioned, 68; improved navigation of, 175. War, for Independence, 95; of Rebellion, 216; of Revolu- tion, 96; seven years', 65-48; Winnebago, 185. War Claim, 243. Washington, George, sent to carry message, 74; company under his command killed de Villiers, 75. Washington County, (see county). Waterway, mentioned, 20. Wesley City, marked as site of Fort Creve Coeur, 41. 276 Decisive Dates Wigwam, Lincoln nominated in. 163. Williamsburg, George Washington sent from, 74; County of Kentucky a long way from, 96. Winnebago Indians, war with, 185.- Winnebago County, (see County) Wisconsin, making a state, 124 Wisconsin River, Joliet and Maiquette followed, 22. Wisconsi^i Territory, Governor of, efforts to restore boun- dary, 123. Wood, Hon. John, twelfth Governor, 213. World's Columbian Exposition, (see Columbian Exposition) Y Yates, Hon. Richard, thirteenth Governor, 215. Yates, Hon. Richard, twenty-fifth Governor, 242. fl^ X9 ^^^^