\ o.o^ ^"^ x^ / <^% Vt^^^^^ V^\ ^^*^^ ^ :*/ .f' "-^x. 4 o . °* 1 .^.?<, MOORE, ANDERSON, & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. THREE GREAT TEMPTATIONS! Second Thou.sand in One Month ! ! ! THE THREE GREAT TEMPTATIONS OF YOUNG MEN— With several Lectures addressed to Business and Professional Men : By Samuel W. Fisher. 1 vol. 12mo., pp. 336. $1. CONTENTS. The Sirens, The Slayer of the Strong, The Wine-cup, The Play-house, The Card-table, The Web of Vice, The Christian Latvyer, The Path of Infidelity, The Mosaic Law of Usury, Commercial Morality. "A WORK of unusual attraction. We know not where to have seen these suhjects so im- pressively, yet SO properly and guardedly examined. Far above common-place specimens. They expose dangers of terrible imminence, and urge persuasions of incomparable impor- tance, in a way that offends not the taste, yet reaches the heart and engages the thoughts." N. T. Evangelist. "Able and often eloquent. * * * A work which may well be put into the hands of youth just entering upon life." — N, T. Observer. " Wk shall put the book by upon one of the choice shelves of our private library." — Bos- ton Congregationalist. " The author's style is not less clear and forcible than ornate and eloquent." — Detroit Herald. "Characterized by earnestness, eloquence, and adaptation to the end had in view." — N. T. Recorder. "Paints in vigorous language the horrible consequences of vice." — Boston. Post. " We would that every young man in the land could be persuaded to read it carefully." — Louisville Recorder. " Dr. Fisher has spoken honestly and boldly. * * * Characterized by great energy of thought, a free and copious style, and by a spirit of high Christian philanthropy." — Puritan Recorder. " Has proceeded boldly where most public teachers are too timid to venture, and his manly plainness is also marked by prudence and time delicacy." — Preshyterian oftlie West. " Written in a style most inviting to youth and worthy of a very wide circulation." — Oincinnati Cli. Herald. " Will do much good to that great class of young men who, reared in the country, are daily transferred to the cities and make up their effective population." — Worcester (Mass.) Palladium. " Mr. Fisher speaks pointedly and plainly. Let young men listen and \ea,Tn."— Philadel- phia Presbyterian. " Worthy of an attentive perusal." — Philadelphia Observer. " The man, who sits down to the perusal of this volume, must rise up wiser and better, if there be any virtue in good counsel beautifully and touchingly given," — Madison Cour'r. " The style is bold, manly, and vigorous, and in some portions very beautiful. * * * Jq the name of the young men of our cities, we thank Dr. Fisher for preparing and sending forth so timely a volume." — Presbyterian Herald. " The teachings of the excellent preacher will be regarded as unfashionable, and so they are, but their value is no less certain, and their practical workings cannot but be vastly beneficial to the tone of society."— iV. F. Daily Times. MOORE 8c ANDERSON'S PUBLICATIONS P U L T E'S HOM--, same pen," — Phil. Chronicle. PRO CEEDINGS HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OP OHIO. Agreeably to the request of the members of the "Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio," held May 24th, 1852, ISTelson Cross, Esq., reported on the "History of the Discovery of the Valley of the Missis- sippi." Mr. Cross, at the conclusion of his report, says: "From a careful review of Mr. Hart's work, and a com- parison of its leading points with other histories, I am of the opinion that the facts which the author has therein presented, may in the main, be relied upon as true; and much credit is due to him for his industry and care in gathering together so much valuable information concern-, ing the Discovery and Colonization of the Mississippi Yalley. "More recent discoveries have rendered it certain that in ages gone by there existed in the Great West an un- known and extinct race, traces of which have been found along the Yalley of the Mississippi, bearing conclusive evidence of a high degree of art and civilization. "What a field is here presented for speculative inquiry, inquiry wdiich, unfortunatel}^, must always be sjyeculative. They have had their day and generation ; have lived, flourished, decayed, and passed away, leaving behind no monument to tell of their faded glory, save the tombs of the departed. "Like ourselves, they had home, country, friends, affections, hopes, and aspirations, but failed to perpetuate even a name. Would that some worthy hand might be inspired to lift the oblivious curtain which wraps their past history, and unveil to us the secret of their lives, that we might profit from its admonition." HISTORY VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI ADOLPHUS M. HART, AUTHOR OF "ASMOS, OR 'tIS SEVENTY YEARS AND MORE;" "LIFE IN THE FAR west;" "notes and incidents OF AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY," ETC. ETC. CII^CINNATI: MOORP], ANDERSON, WILSTACH & KEYS, 28 WEST FOURTH STKFJ-IT. NEW YORK : NEWMAN & IVLSON. 1853. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1852, by MOORE, ANDERSON, WILSTACH & KEYS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Ohio. CINCINNATI: C. A. MORGAN & CO., STEREOTYPERS, HAMMOND ST. PREFACE. In the month of February last, the writer published, in St. Louis, the ** History of the Discovery of the Valley of the Mississippi," which comprised an accurate account of the dis- covery and colonization by the French of the country West of the Alleghanies, up to the passing of the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle in the year 1748. Believing that the narration of the " leading events" in Western History, subsequent to that period, would render the work more interesting, the author directed his attention to the task of compiling, from the numerous pamphlets on the shelves of several Historical Societies in the W^est, and a few manu- scripts to which he was permitted to have access, a brief and succinct statement of the most important facts in the History of the Valley of the Mississippi. Some of these have become exceedingly scarce, and while the information contained in them is of surpassing interest to the student of Weslern History, it is almost inaccessible to him. How far the author has succeeded in compiling a work, from the materials at his command, which will be acceptable to the inhabitants of the Valley of the Mississippi, he leaves for them to determine, availing himself of this occasion to thank them for the kind manner in which they received the small portion of the work heretofore pubhshed. Cincinnati, Nov. 30, 1852. TO THE EETEEEM) SiLiTTEL SBTPSOX WrX)D, MASTER OF ARTS, OK THE UNIVEESITY OF C.\iIBEII»GE, EXGLAXD, AM) EECTOE OF THE PARISH OF THREE RIVERS, IX THE PEOVIXCE OF CANADA, Cb.is tDark IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED AS A TOKEN OF THE AFFECTION AND ESTEEM OF HIS OLD FRIEND AND ?Ul?lL, THE AUTHOR. HISTORY VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI Thebe are many historical associations, which cluster around the ancient denizens of Canada, in their efforts to colonize this section of the American continent, and to rescue it from the savage tribes who wandered in its path- less deserts. Canada was the gateway, through which the pioneers of civilization entered, to disclose to the world the rich and exhaustless treasures of the West, or rather it may be likened to the portal of a mansion, through which admission was gained to the inner cham- bers, ornamented with every production of nature, and disclosing to the view, in their gaudy array, pictures, which had never been dreamt of, in the wildest efforts of the human imagination. The poor and ignoble Colonist, who emigrated in the seventeenth century, from the hills and valleys of his native country, with his ax in his hand, and his gun on his shoulder, to clear the forest and drive away the red-man from those paths which had been familiar to him from his infancy, exhibits to the view of the philanthropist of the present day, an exam- ple of courage and energy, of fortitude amidst danger, and of heroism in his trials, which marks not the course of the modern adventurer. Changeable as are the cir- (13) \ 14 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY ciimstances of human life, the Canadian colonist remains at the present day, as unchanged as ever. Ko longer is he required to wage an exterminating warfare, against the aboriginal tribes of the country, no longer does he hunt " the wild beast from his lair," but now, with his bible in one hand and his ax in the other, religion goes hand in hand with civilization, and wherever one sees the boundaries of the primeval forest receding from his view, there he observes the glittering spires of the Parish Church, reflecting the rays of the sun in the firmament of heaven, and betokening the soothing influence of reli- gion, over a moral and an industrious people. Nor can we withhold our meed of praise from those French missionaries, w^ho took their departure from Que- bec, and traveled amongst all the Indian tribes, from Hudson's Bay, on the one hand, to the countries along the shores of the Mississippi, on the other. History has commemorated in bright and glowing colors, whatever events transpired, during the march of the crusaders to rescue the Holy Land from the power of the Saracen; and here the valiant warrior and hero was accompanied by armed hosts, bent on achieving their object and having the means to do so ; but with the missionary who stepped beyond the bounds of civilization, and wandered through trackless deserts (his only compass, the hlazeed bark of the pine-tree ; his only food, the fortiiitous product of the chase), history has not done justice to the noble philanthropy by which they were animated, nor to their ardent devotion for the progress of science and religion, amongst the benighted nations of the earth. The cross was the emblem of both the Crusader and the mission- ary, but there must have been something sad and touch- ing, in the eifect, which this religious emblem produced on the minds of the Savages, in the midst of the somber OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 15 and silent forests of the Xew World, when it conld dis- arm their fierce hearts and render them sensible to the liveliest feelings of emotion. There must be something soothing in religion, when it could mollify the wild pas- sions of man, in the savage state, and make him succumb to its influences. It was owing to the existence of these feelings that the French missionary was able to estab- lish those friendly relations, which were afterward en- tertained toward him, by the denizens of the forest. The religious doctrines which he inculcated, contributed to draw closer the ties which connected him with his neophytes. Hence the facilities which he had, to pene- trate from one cabin to another, from one nation to ano- ther, even in countries the most distant. "Whether we regard their efibrts as connected with the cause of sci- ence or religion, or as tending to develop to the inhabi- tants of Europe an example of energy and activity in the cause of human civilization, the French Missionary of the seventeenth century will always be an object of in- terest to the student of American history, and will al- ways be considered, as having contributed his share in the regeneration of the aboriginal tribes of this Conti- nent, from the galling chains of superstition and igno- rance. The warriors and statesmen of the reign of Louis the Fourteenth fade into insignificance, when put in com- parison with what the genius of a Colbert and a Talon planned, or what the energy and activity of an Allouez and a Marquette accomplished. "Do you not know," said the interpreter of an Indian tribe to these mission- aries, " do you not know, " said he, " that these distant nations never spare strangers ; that the wars which they carry on, infest their frontiers with hordes of robbers ; that the grand river (meaning the Mississippi,) abounds in monsters, who devour men and animals, and that the 16 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY excessive heat there causes death ? '* "We know that, " said they, "we know all, but by the decree of Provi- dence, we have been appointed, as humble missionaries, in the service of God, to disseminate His holy doctrines amongst countless tribes, in the deserts of America, and with His will, we shall do our duty. " Long before what is now known as " the West, " was discovered, several missionaries had penetrated beyond the hunting-grounds of the Ottawas and the Abenakies, and had established themselves along the borders of Lake Huron. The Fathers Breboeuf, Daniel, Jogues, Kaim- bault and several other members of their order, had estab- lished villages along the shores of that Lake, amongst others. Saint Joseph, Saint Michael, Saint Ignace and Sainte Marie. The latter, placed at the outlet of Lake Superior into Huron, was for a long time the central point of the various missions, in that distant part of the country. Later, in the year 1671, the scattered tribes of the Hurons, fatigued of wandering from country to country, fixed themselves at Michilimackinac,* a place situated on the shores of Lake Superior. This was the first establishment founded by a European, in the State of Michigan. The Indians who were found there, re- ceived from the French the name of " Sauteurs, " or " Leapers -' on account of their proximity to the Falls of Sainte Marie, known as the " Saidt Sainte Marie.''^ These Indians belonged to the Algonquin Tribe. In the space of thirteen years (from 1634 to 1647), this extensive territory was visited by eighteen French missionaries, beside others attached to their ministry, * The name of this locality is derived from a small Island formerly celebrated in those Countries, from the height of its banks, which might be seen, at a distance of twelve miles. It is situated at the junction of Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior. OF TPIE MISSISSIPPI. 17 who, animated by zeal in the cause of civilization, lent their services to their clerical brethren, in order to reclaim these savages from the depths of ignorance and supersti- tion into which thej had cast themselves. The Five Nations, comprising the Iroquois, one of the fiercest tribes that inhabited those countries, were located to the north of Cataraqui, between the River Ottawa and Lake Ontario, but nearer the latter, and the travelers had to pursue their route across that part of the country which was watered by the tributaries of the Ottawa, the river Akuanagusin, marked on the old charts, being one of those tributaries. At that period, the South of Lake Erie, beyond Buffalo was almost unknown to either the voyageurs or the missionaries. It might be interesting to particularize those sections, on the borders of Lake Erie or Oswego (as it is marked on an old chart, in the possession of the writer), which were then inhabited by the Indian tribes, but the geographers of those days in Europe do not seem to be very remarkable for accuracy in fixing the localities of Indian settlements. Fort Sandoski, (Sandusky,) now the termination of a Rail- road, connecting Lake Erie with the Ohio, is marked on this map, and the euphonious appellations of Tus- carora, Mingos, Kittawing, Schohorage, Fort Mohican and the Cross of Holfway, need only be mentioned, as indicating those parts of the Western States, now teeming with millions of human-beings, devoted to the arts of agriculture and commerce, and supplying the world with the products of a soil, which a bounteous Providence has given them, to promote the prosperity and happiness of their fellow-men. In the year 1640, the Fathers Chaumonot and Breboeuf, completed the survey of the valley of the Saint Lawrence, from the foot of Lake Superior to the Ocean. About this period the 18 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY two missionaries Charles Raimbault and Isaac Jogues left Canada, to visit Lake Huron, and after a pleasant vojage, in which they were struck with the picturesque- ness of the scenery along the shores, and amongst the islands of Lake Huron, they arrived in seventeen days at Sault Sainte Marie, where they met with a friendly reception from about two thousand Lidians, assembled there. As they advanced on their journey, the bounda- ries of the American Continent seemed to recede from them, and they learnt the names of numerous Indian tribes, who it was said, inhabited the South and West, and amongst others, the " Sioux," whose hunting-grounds were situated at a distance of several leagues from Lake Superior. They heard also, of several tribes of war- riors, who lived by the products of the soil, but whose race and lano;uao;es were unknown to them. — ''Thus," observes an American author, " from the religious zeal of the French, a cross was erected on the borders of Sault Ste. Marie, and on the confines of Lake Superior, from whence they saw the lands of the Sioux, in the valley of the Mississippi, five years, before Elliot of New England had addressed even a single word to the Indians, who were but six miles from the harbor of Boston. " It may be said, that at this period (1646), the safety of the French possessions in America, depended chiefly on the efibrts of the missionaries to preserve peace, which they succeeded in doing with all the neighboring Indian tribes, with the exception of the Iroquois. The small French Colony, on the banks of the Saint Law- rence, situated at such an immense distance from the mother country, with limited resources, and scarcely food to eat would have been annihilated had it not been for the friendly alliance, which these missionaries had been OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 19 able to contract with the native tribes. The Five Na- tions had already boasted, that they would soon drive Montmagny* and the French to the sea, from whence they came. But the bravery and the courage of these men, who, with the breviary hanging around their necks, and the cross in their hands, penetrated the innermost recesses of the forest, gave these people a lofty idea of the power and the resources of the nation, to which they belonged. There they w^ere, from the shores of Hudson's Bay, to the gulf of Saint Lawrence and the forests of Michigan, engaged day and night, in the ac- complishment of their high and lofty purposes, animat- ing, encouraging, and rewarding those, who were dis- posed to be friendly with them, and intimidating those, whose hostility they were menaced with. Brought up to a life of strict austerity, accustomed to that self-de- nial, which was enjoined by the sect to which they be- longed, the terrors of a violent death, at the hands of ruthless savages could not deter them from fulfilling the solemn trust, which had devolved upon them, and that very confidence which they had in the holiness of their cause, enabled them the more readily to accomplish their duty. Providence smiled benignantly on their efforts, for had it not been that the tribes, whose alliance was courted by the French, feared the hostility of the Iro- quois, in all probability they would have rejected the overtures of the missionaries and preferred w^ar to peace. In the year 1659 (as is related in the narrative of the Missionaries), two young voyageurs^ or travelers, led by curiosity and the spirit of adventure, joined an Algon- quin tribe, and spent the winter on the shores of Lake Superior. With their eyes fixed on the immense sol- * Governor of l^ew France or Canada. 20 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY itudes of the "West, and wondering what people inhab- ited those forests, they heard with avidity the glow- ing accounts, by the Huron tribe, of those " Sioux, " war- riors and they resolved to visit them. They met on their route with scattered tribes, who had been dispersed by the Iroquois, and they at length arrived in the coun- try of the '' Sioux, " who, to their surprise, tendered to them the hand of fellowship. They were a numerous tribe, being divided into forty companies, and their man- ners, while they were unlike those of the Algonquins and Hurons, were calculated to impress the minds of the travelers with a favorable opinion of~them. The Histo- rian of New France, states, " that they had an excellent disposition, treated their prisoners with less cruelty than other nations, and had some knowledge of the existence of a Divinity. " These two intrepid adventurers re- turned to Quebec, in 1660, escorted by sixty Algonquin canoes and Canadian boats, laden with furs and peltries. They confirmed the accounts which two other French- men, who had gone four years before, as far as Lake Michigan, brought back with them, of the numerous tribes who wandered in those parts, and of the Kristinos, "whose cabins were raised high enough to enable them to see the Great Lakes." In the year 1660, Father Mesnard went mth the Al- gonquins to preach the Gospel to the Ottawas and other tribes, on the shores of Lake Superior. Fie remained about eight months, in a bay which he called Sainte The- resa, probably the bay of Kiwina, on the south side of the Lake, where he subsisted for some time, on acorns and the fruit of wild plants. Invited hence by the Hu- rons, he took his departure for the bay of Cha-gouia- migong or Saint Esprit, on the Western side of the Lake, whither the Iroquois did not resort, on account of the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 21 distance and the scarcity of provisions. While Mes- nard's comjpagnon de voyage (fellow- traveler), was occu- pied in repairing the canoe, he went into the woods and never re-appeared. This Priest had a great reputa- tion amongst the savages, for the sanctity of his clerical office, and a few years afterward, his soutane (a garment worn by Priests), and his breviary were found amongst the " Sioux, " who preserved them as relics, and held them in great veneration. The Indians generally were remarkable for their carefulness in preserving whatever belonged to these faithful missionaries, for four or five years after the death of the Fathers Breboeuf and Gar- nier, whom the Iroquois assassinated, a missionary found in the possession of those barbarians a testament and a prayer-book, which had belonged to them. The old chro- niclers, such as Charlevoix, Champlain and others do not mention, that they preserved any other articles, belonging to the persons they murdered, but the books they had with them. These untutored savages regarded these books in the light of their better spirits, by whose direc- tions these missionaries had been led onward, in the paths of usefulness they were following. OHAPTEK II. We have thus far traced the early discoveries in the West, which did not at the period we mentioned (1660), extend beyond the hunting-grounds of the " Sioux. " But vague suspicions were then entertained of the extent of the country, or the existence of a great River in the West, and the accounts which they received from the Sioux were so uncertain, that there was little in- 22 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY ducement for renewed exertions. However, we are about reaching a period (1665), when the spirit of adven- ture was again in the ascendant, among the old French Colonists of America, and when their progress in making discoveries in the West is to be regarded with increased interest. Hitherto we have been narrating the attempts of a few voyageurs and missionaries, to penetrate the depths of the American forest, and when we consider the almost insurmountable obstacles, which they encoun- tered and the melancholy fate which many of them met with, at the hands of their ruthless enemies, we cannot withhold from them our meed of praise for the magnani- mity they displayed and the heroism they manifested. But at this period, it pleased Divine Providence to bring other actors on the scenes, other men, who with all the self-devotion and courage, which were found in those who had preceded them, combined qualities, which suited them better for the task they had to perform. Previa ously to the year 1605, it was religious zeal, which prompted men to risk their lives, in exploring the wild- erness, the propagation of their faith, and the know- ledge of God, were surely objects holy enough, to engage their attention, but now, to these powerful motives was joined the love of science and the desire to enlighten Europeans, as to the extent of the American Continent and the resources and capabilities of this extensive country. It was in this year, that Father Allouez, a man who may be justly regarded as the pioneer among the discoverers of the West, combining great mental en- ergy, with a steadfastness of purpose, for which he was remarkable, was sent from Canada to explore the regions about Lake Superior. As he approached that vast In- land Sea, and observed the Islands which dotted its surface, the fertility of its shores, and the gorgeousness OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 23 and picturesqiieness of its scenery, there was something in it dazzling to his imagination. He gazed with won- der at the numerous objects which struck his attention, and to a mind bent on the pursuits of science, they were doubly interesting. To his zeal for religion, and untir- ing exertions in the cause of human civilization, are we indebted for the first Christian chapel, which was erected in the solitudes of the West. After a short sojourn at Sainte Theresa, he arrived at Cha-gouia-migong, or Saint Esprit, which had been visited by Father Mesnard in 1660. Here, in what is now known as the northern part of Wisconsin, at a spot which was not far from the source of the Mississippi, was raised the first Temple in the Western wilderness, in which prayers were ofiered up by the humble missionaries of God, to give them strength and confidence in their holy undertakings, and to vouch- safe to them His protection in the numerous trials they had to undergo. Father Allouez preached in the Algonquin language to twelve or fifteen tribes, who understood that idiom. His reputation spread abroad, and the warriors of different nations left their hunting grounds to visit the white man. The PouUouatamis^ from the borders of Lake Michigan, the Outagamis and the SaHs from the deserts of the East, the /Sluux from the West, the E/ristinas from the swampy forests of the North, and the Illinois of the Prairies, all vied with each other in their eagerness to see and hear the white man, to learn his discourse and admire his eloquence. It was on one of these occasions, that the Sioux informed Father Allouez, that they pro- tected themselves from the inclemency of the weather, by covering their huts with the skins of wild animals, and that they inhabited vast Prairies on the borders of a great rivei\ which they called " the Mississippi. " 24 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY It was thus, that the French had the first idea of the ex- istence of a great river, the discovery of which w^as to immortalize Joliet and his companion. During the sojourn of Allouez in the country, he pur- sued his researclies among the Indian tribes toward the North, where he discovered the Nipissings, whom the fear of the Iroquois had driven to that distant region. He entered into friendly communications with them, and after having traveled two thousand miles, in these ex- tensive forests, suffering hunger, want and fatigue, he di- rected his steps homeward, overjoyed with the result of his expedition. To his discoveries, and the informa- tion, w^hich he imparted to the French Government, was the world indebted for the origin of that expedition, in which a French Priest and a Canadian merchant dis- closed to the inhabitants of Europe the existence of a river which to geographers had been hitherto unknown, and which flow^ing to the ocean, was destined to bear on its waters the products of a country, unecjualed on the face of the globe, for its richness and fertility and affording to the people of the old w^orld, a home and an asylum, where they could end their days in peace and happiness. Historians of modern times have done justice to the energy and activity of Joliet and Marquette, and the people of these Western States have erected monuments to their memory, and named towns and villages, in honor of them, but do we not see the hand of Divine Provi- dence pointing to the spot where was to be consumma- ted the regeneration of the human race, directing these hardy adventurers, as instruments in its service, to avail themselves of the time, and the occasion, w^hich w^ere most favorable for the accomplishment of its wise pur- poses : never before, had the Indian tribes been brought OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 26 to such a state of submission to their European neigh- bors, as they were at that period. Even the Iroquois, the fiercest of all the tribes that wandered about the American forests, were on friendly terms with the neigh- boring savages, and peace and unanimity seemed to reign in their councils. This was a most auspicious period for making further discoveries, and the French Govern- ment took advantage of it. Allouez, Marquette and Dablon made themselves more celebrated for their scientific discoveries, than for their services in the cause of religion. The latter was the originator of an expedition in search of the Mississippi ; his curiosity had been excited by the glowing descriptions he had heard of the magnificence of the country border- ing on its waters, and in 1669, he resolved to undertake the journey. But his apostolical labors having interfered with the execution of his design, we hear nothing of the result of this expedition, excepting that he reached a tract of country, which was not far ofl' from the source of the river. Between 1670 and 1672, Allouez and Dablon pursued their journey as far as Wisconsin and the northern part of the State of Illinois, visiting the Mascoutins (sup- posed to be tire worshipers), the Kickapoos, and the Outagamis, on the border of Fox river, (riviere aux Ken- ards) which takes its source to the east of the Mississippi. The brave and intrepid Dablon had resolved to penetrate, if possible, as far as the ocean, and endeavor to seek out a passage to the countries beyond it. Hitherto, Canada had been governed by officers appoint- ed by the French government, under the name of Gov- ernors and Intendants, some of whom had accepted the of- fice, more from considerations of pecuniary interest, arising out of the profitable nature of the fur- trade, than from any 3 26 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY other motive ; but at this period such men as Colbert and Talon ruled the destinies of the New World ; they were men whose minds, imbued from their infancy with a love of science and a desire for the progress of the human race, who saw at once the advantages which would arise if the discoveries in the "West were pushed forward with energy. There were few men like Talon, for enterprise and activity of mind. Shrewd, calculating, and a close observer of what was occurring around him, he grasped at the idea of the glory which awaited him should he succeed in his endeavors. His administration of the government of the French Colonies in America would be crowned with suc- cess, if, while he was at the head of it, the wealth and commerce of his country could be increased by the dis- covery of the Mississippi. These were objects dear to his heart; but there were others which were dearer to him. It was the desire to extend the bounds of civiliza- tion, to aid in the development of the resources of this vast countr}^, to forward navigation, and promote the sci- entific knowledge of his fellow-countrymen. Under his administration commerce had revived, emigration had increased, and the Indian tribes had learned to respect the power and authority of the French government. Such was the character of the French Governor, under whose auspices the first expedition started from Quebec, which was successful in discovering the Mississippi. Some writers say that Marquette was the originator of the i^roject, others attribute it to the genius and foresight of Talon ; however that may be. Talon selected Joliet, a merchant residing in Quebec, who had previously traveled amongst the Ottawas, and a man of great experience, energy, and activity, to accompany the French missionary in his voyage of discovery. They left Quebec in the year 1673, and reached Fox river in safety. They re- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 27 mained some time at Sainte Theresa, where they were received with every mark of distinction. They asked for two guides, and their request was readily granted. 'No other European had ever wandered in that direction be- yond the precincts of the village. On the 10th June, 1673, they took their departure from Sainte Theresa, ac- companied by five other Frenchmen, and the two Indians, who acted as guides. They carried their bark canoes on their shoulders, to make the short jportage (a word in the French language which signifies a carrying-place) which separates the source of Fox river from the river Wiscon- sin, which flows to the west. It was at this point that the two guides, becoming alarmed at the danger of the enterprise, abandoned their fellow-travelers, and left them "in an unknown country in the hands of Providence," floating down a river, in the midst of the profound soli- tude which surrounded them. At the expiration of seven days they entered the Mississippi, of which they had heard so much, and such was their joy at the discovery, that they fell down on their knees and thanked God that he had brought them to their point of destination. A feeling of awe and solemnity came over them as they sailed down that majestic river, and eveiy step they took they were struck with the magnificence of the objects which surrounded them. In the midst of the silent forests of the New "World, with buoyant hopes, and hearts untrammeled by the cares and sorrows of more busy life, they proceeded on their journey, in the expectation of soon finding an outlet to the ocean. Nor were they greeted, at the commencement of their voyage, with the sight of a human being ; there was no sign of any habitation, nothing to indicate the probability of their vicinity to the abodes of man. Save the aquatic birds, that dipped their beaks in the waters, and the howl of 28 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY some ferocious animal prowling for food, there was no indication of animal life. They had proceeded about sixty leagues without meeting with any person, when all at once they observed some footsteps on the sand, on the right bank of the river, and afterward a footpath, lead- ing to a prairie. They paused ere they incurred the risk of meeting with an unknown tribe in the midst of the forest. Yet they had a mission to fulfill, an object to accomplish. The pause was of short duration. Joliet and Marquette hazarded the interview. Taking the foot- path, they walked six miles, when they reached a settle- ment on the river Moingona, or the river des Moines of the French. They halted and cried out with a loud voice. Four old men came forth from the village, bringing with them the calumet of peace ; they received the strangers with distinction. " We are Dlinois," said they, " we are men, be welcome to our cabins." In the language of one of our most favored historians, " it was the first time that the soil of Iowa was trodden by the feet of white men." The Indians, w^ho had heard of the French, had long desired their alliance, as they knew they were the enemies of the Iroquois, who were about making predatory excur- sions in their own countr}''. The latter had inspired such a degree of terror in the breasts of all the Indian tribes, that the Illinois, like the others, courted the alliance of the French, who had been able to resist their aggressions and thwart their efforts to subdue the neighboring tribes. Joliet and Marquette, with their companions, having remained a few days the guests of this friendly people, and having accepted a grand feast which had been pre- pared for them, took their departure, very much to the regret of their new allies. The chief of the tribe, fol- lowed by several hundred warriors accompanied them to OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 29 the river side, and as a memorial of tlieir friendship, pre- sented Marquette with a cahimet, ornamented with fea- thers of different colors, which they assured him would be a safe passport among all the neighboring nations. Our hardy adventurers proceeded on their journey, and arrived in a short time at the junction of the Mis- souri (marked on the old charts ^^ PehitanoiiV) with the Mississippi ; they passed the Ohio, or la helle riviere^ as it was afterward called by the French, the borders of which were then peopled by the Chouanons, or Chaunis. The aspect of the country was changed ; instead of ex- tensive prairies, they saw nothing but dense forests. They found also another race of men, whose language they were unacquainted with ; they had left the lands of the great Huron and Algonquin families, bounded by the Ohio to the north, and were now entering the hunting- grounds of the Mohilien tribe, of whom the Chickasaws formed part. The Dahcotas, or the Sioux, inhabited the western borders of the Mississippi. Thus the French required interpreters on both sides of the river, where two languages were spoken, differing from those of the Hurons and Algonquins, with whose dialects they were acquainted. They continued to descend the Mississippi, till they reached Arkansas river, near the 33d degree of latitude, a tract of country which, it is said, had been visited by the celebrated Spanish traveler, De Soto. The calumet, which had been presented to Joliet and Marquette, was very serviceable to them, as it w^as readily received by this barbarous people as an emblem of peace, and insured to our travelers a favorable reception wherever they went. The Indians sent ten men to escort them to the village of Arkansas, situated near the mouth of the river, where they were met by the chief and other warriors, who gave 30 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY them shelter and food. What struck the attention of Joliet was, that they appeared to be a richer tribe than the others they had encountered, and that they had with them several implements — amongst others, steel axes, which they must have obtained in their forays into other settlements. He concluded they could not be at a very- great distance from the Spaniards and the Bay of Mex- ico. The heat of the climate afforded additional evidence of their being far to the southward ; they were in a country where abundant rains supplied the w^ant of snow, found in more northern latitudes. Joliet and Marquette having discovered that the river Mississippi did not discharge itself into the Pacific, but took a southerly course, and having been disappointed in not finding an outlet to the ocean, their provisions being scanty, and with few per- sons to prosecute their voyage, they resolved on return- ing and communicating to the government the result of their discoveries. They journeyed homeward by the Illinois river, and arrived safely at an Indian settlement, now the site of Chicago. In passing through this ten-itoiy, now one of the most populous and thriving States in the West, they were struck with its great natural advantages, with the fertility of its soil, the beauty of its scenery, and even with the plumage of its wild birds. Marquette, in his journal, which has been preserved, says, ''they discov- ered the most fertile country in the world, watered by fine rivers, woods filled with the choicest vines and apple trees, extensive prairies, covered with the buffalo, tlie deer, w41d fowl of every description, and even jparrots of a particular kind.''^ Such was the rhapsody in which this discoverer of the Mississippi indulged, in his descrip- tion of a country which, at the present day, seems des- tined to occupy the proud position of being the granary OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 31 of America, whicli, for its agricultural capabilities and other resources, is the haven of hope to thousands of the bonded slaves of the old world, and where are the homes and fire-sides of the best citizens that America possesses. All this country was then inhabited by the Miami s, the Mascoutens, or fire- worshipers, the Potawatomies, and the Kickapoos. AUouez and Dablon had already visited a portion of it. On his return from the Missis- sippi, Marquette remained with the Miamies, to the north of the river Illinois. Joliet proceeded immediately to Quebec, to communicate the intelligence of the discovery to Talon, who, he found, had gone to France. Marquette remained two years amongst the Miamies, and in the year 1675 took his departure for Mackinaw, at the head of Lake Michigan. On the journey, he disembarked from his canoe at the outlet of a small river, on the eastern side of the Lake, for the purpose of raising an altar and cele- brating mass, after which, having requested his compan- ions to wait for him a few minutes, they retired to a place at a short distance from him, and on their return they found him dead. Like Mesnard and others who had preceded him, the discoverer of the Mississippi found his grave in the wilds of the West. He was buried in silence at the outskirts of a forest, near to the spot where he met with his death. History does not mention that France rewarded the exertions of its adventurous colonists by any signal mark of distinction. Joliet and his companions were suflfered to remain in obscurity, but if their own country neglected its faithful servants, the people of America have erected monuments to their memory in the magnificent cities, towns, and villages which they have dotted over the surface of the country they discovered. Their works of art and their progress in science will forever distinguish 32 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY that section of America, the early discovery of which was owing to the zeal of a French missionary and the intrepidity of a Canadian merchant. The news of the discovery of the Mississippi created a great sensation in the colony. The boundaries of the American continent, comprising snch a vast extent of country, were then known to extend toward the sea, and although they were satisfied as to the course which the Mississippi took, they did not doubt that they should find the ocean to the westward of the territories they had discovered . These researches had contributed to the glory of France ; they had added luster to the events of the reign of Louis the Fourteenth ; the cause of science had been greatly promoted by the exertions of its navigators ; further scope had been afforded to the studies of its geo- graphers and naturalists, yet the discoveries were not complete. Until they had traced the course of the Mis- sissippi, and had re-commenced the voyage at the point where Joliet and Marquette abandoned it, and were satis- fied that the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, it could not be said that they had completed their task, in the exploration of the great American continent. CHAPTEE III. In the year 1667, there emigrated from France to Canada, a young man by the name of Eobert Cavalier de La Salle; ambitious, intrepid and daring, he came to New France with a two-fold object in view, that of mak- ing a fortune and acquiring a brilliant reputation. He had been educated by the Jesuits, under whose care he had been placed from his infancy. Brought up to that OF THE MISSISSIPPI. " 33 life of austerity and self-denial which was practiced by that religious order ; having all the enthusiasm and cour- ageousness for which they were remarkable, he wanted only the opportunity to distinguish himself, and to prove to the world the indomitable courage with which he was possessed. With a cultivated mind and enlarged ideas, having a perfect knowledge of human nature, and being acquainted with the character, object, and pursuits of the Indian tribes in alliance with France, La Salle was well qualified for the performance of the most arduous duty. He listened with attention to Joliet's account of his expe- dition to the Mississippi; his mind was entranced at the glowing descriptions of that traveler ; his heart rebounded with joy at the prospect of the glory which awaited him ; with the glance of an eye, he observed the immense field which should occupy his future labors; his plans were already formed, that project, on the success of which, he based his ideas of fortune and future reputation, and which he pursued with such indomitable energy and such incredible perseverance, even to the day of his death. He had come to Canada with the intention of making discoveries in the north or west, and endeavoring to find out a passage to Japan or China, but being poor, and this enterprise requiring considerable means to enable any person to undertake it, he remained for several years in a state of obscurity. At length his talents and energy struck the attention of the Count de Frontenac, and a new era was dawning upon him. Encouraged by Courcelles and Talon, on his arrival in Canada, he had established a small ofiice {comptoir^ where he dealt with the Indians, at a place situated about eight miles from Montreal, to which, it is supposed, the name of La Cliine was given, in satirical allusion to the folly of his undertaking to discover a north-west passage 34: HISTORY OF THE VALLEY to China. AYhen the news of the discovery of the Mis- sissippi reached Canada, La Salle was, as before men- tioned, at Quebec. Availing himself of the excited state of the public mind, caused by this event, he communi- cated his plan to the Count de Frontenac. He flattered himself, that in proceeding toward the source of the newly-discovered river, he might find a passage to the ocean; at all events, the discovery of the outlet of the Mississippi would not be attended without glory and advantage to him. Desirous of availing himself, at the same time, of the opportunity it would afibrd him to extend his commercial engagements, he wished to become possessed of Fort Frontenac, an important place of busi- ness in carrying on the fur trade. Strongly recommended by his protector, the Count de Frontenac, he went to France: the Marquis de Seignelay, who had replaced his father, the great Colbert, as Minister of the Marine, received him well, and granted him all he desired. The king of France conferred on him a patent of nobility, conceded to him Fort Frontenac, on condition that he should rebuild it in stone, and gave him permission to carr}^ on his commercial pursuits, and continue the dis- coveries which had been already commenced. This con- cession was equivalent to an exclusive grant to trade with the Five Nations, and it was highly advantageous to La Salle. On the 14th of July, 1678, La Salle, animated with lively hopes, and his heart filled with joy, took his depar- ture from Eochelle, in France, bringing with him thirty men, mariners and workmen, anchors, sails, and other equipments for the vessels which he intended to build to navigate the Lakes. On his arrival at Quebec, he left without loss of time for Cataraqui (now Kingston, in Canada West), taking goods with him to traffic with the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 35 Indians. He displayed his usual energy in preparing Lis outfit. As early as the 18th November, but four months since his departure from France, the first sloop which was ever seen on Lake Ontario, sailed out of the harbor of Cataraqui, with its sails spread to the breeze, laden with merchandise and the necessary materials to construct a fort and a vessel of larger size at Niagara, where he intended to establish another trading-post for trafficking with the Indians. This first voyage on the w^aters of Lake Ontario was attended with success. When they arrived at the head of the Lake, the Indians were struck with astonishment at the appearance of the vessel ; they gazed with admi- ration at its structure, its equipments, and the skillful manner in which it w^as navigated. Great as was their astonishment, it did not surpass that of the Europeans at the sight of the stupendous cataract of Niagara ; they had heard from a distance the sound of its waters, rush- ing over a precipice of one hundred and sixty feet in height, and as they approached the falls, they realized what they had never pictured in their imagination ; they gazed with wonder at the sight of a river rushing over such a precipice into the foaming abyss below, and they were startled at the view of this new feature in the scenery of the great Western World. La Salle caused the cargo of the sloop to be disem- barked and transported to the head of Lake Erie, where he commenced the construction of a fort and a vessel. But while the savages observed the progi^ess of the fort toward its completion, they began to fear and to murmur. In order not to excite the hatred of these barbarians, La Salle contented himself with converting it into a dwell- ing, surrounded by simple palisades, which he intended to use for a store. In the winter, a workhouse was 36 HISTORY OP THE VALLEY erected at some distance above the falls, for the purpose of enabling him to complete the vessel of sixty tons, which he was about building. This work was executed under the immediate superintendence of the Chevalier de Tonti, and as this nobleman was the first architect of a vessel to ply on the waters of Lake Erie, his name and services should not be forgotten. He had been recom- mend to La Salle by the Prince de Condi, an Italian by birth ; he had in his youth engaged in the Sicilian wars, and had the misfortune to lose one of his hands from the bursting of a shell, which he supplied by an iron hand, which he usually covered with a glove. From this cir- cumstance, the savages feared him a great deal, and gave him the appellation of the L'on-armed De Tonti. He was very useful to La Salle, to whom he was always sin- cerely attached. There was a work published under his name, on the history of Louisiana, which he afterward disavowed. The activity of La Salle increased as the realization of his designs became the more probable. In the winter he sent De Tonti and the Franciscan Hennepin, since celebrated for the publication of his travels in America, as an embassy to the Iroquois, whom he wished to enlist in favor of his enterprise; he himself afterward visited them, as well as many other nations, with whom he i wished to establish commercial relations. I La Salle was the first European who founded Niagara, and built a vessel on Lake Erie. He called it the " Grif- fon," after the name of a ravenous wild bird, common in that country. The vessel was launched in the river Niag- ara, in the year 1679, in the midst of general rejoicings amongst the French, the discharge of artillery, and the singing of the Te Dewn^ — not however without the expression of the superstitious belief of the savages, who, OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 37 on seeing the vessel sailing on the water, exclaimed, " Otkon^'' " Otkon^'' significant of their astonishment at what the French could do, and implying that they were "extraordinary spirits." On the seventh of August of the same year, the Grif- fon, armed with seven pieces of artillery, laden with arms, food, and merchandise, and carrying thirty-two men and two missionaries, entered Lake Erie in the midst of the thunder of the artillery and musketry, the sound of which was re-echoed back from the long ranges of forest on the borders of the Lake. La Salle, triumphing over the envy of his enemies and the almost insurmount- able obstacles to his enterprise, arrived safely, after a few days' passage, at Detroit, the sight of which was pleas- ing to his companions. They were delighted with the appearance of the country, and stood for hours admir- ing the beauty of the scenery in this favorite locality. "Those," says Hennepin, " who will have the happiness to possess at a future day, the lands of this agreeable and fertile country, will be under lasting obligations to those travelers who first showed them the way and crossed over Lake Erie, after a hundred leagues of dangerous naviga- tion." The words of this intelligent traveler have be- come true; the people of America owe a debt of the deepest gratitude to all who were instrumental in discov- ering this fertile country, and rescuing it from the abori- ginal tribes who first occupied it. The normal occupiers of the soil were at first repulsed by the genius and the energy of their Erench invaders ; it was afterward left to the valor and achievements of American soldiers to expel them from their strongholds, in order to make way for that progressive civilization which Providence had or- dained should take place in the wilds of the west. On the 23d of August, La Salle, after passing through 38 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY a small lake, opposite Detroit, to which he gave the name of St. Clair, entered Lake Huron and arrived in five days at Michilimackinac, having been exposed to a violent hurricane on the voyage. On his arrival at this trading- post, the Indians ran away from fright, on seeing the vessel on the water, carrying its large white sails, and approaching toward them ; when they heard the noise of the cannon, it was with difficulty they could be restrained from launching forth into the most violent expressions of terror and consternation. The French chief, dressed in a scarlet mantle, orna- mented with gold lace, and followed by a guard of armed men, disembarked from the Griffon, to hear high mass celebrated in the chapel of the Ottawas ; he was received with every mark of distinction, and the Indians, in a short time, became reconciled to the strangers, and joined in rendering them homage. The Grifibn proceeded on its voyage, and in the early part of the month of September, cast anchor in the Bay des Puans^ on the western shore of Lake Michigan. This was tlie destination of the travelers, so far as they could proceed by water, and make use of their vessel. La Salle had come to this trading-post to collect the furs which had been brought here from the interior, and hav- ing laden the Griffon with them, he dispatched her for Niagara, Avith the ''richest cargo that had yet been borne on the waters of Lake Erie." The Griffon sailed on the 18th of September, and was never afterward heard of. The loss amounted to not less than fifty or sixty thousand francs, and was seriously felt by La Salle, who had intend- ed to dispose of these furs and discharge his pecuniary obligations in Canada. La Salle, after the departure of his vessel, continued his route as far as the village of Saint Joseph, on the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 39 borders of LaKe Michigan, whither, according to his directions, the Griffon was to return, after its arrival from Niagara. He was accompanied by several men of differ- ent trades, with arms and merchandise. Having reached this village, he erected a house and fort in its neighbor- hood, for the safety of his effects, and also to serve as a retreat for his men. He gave it the name of Fort Miami. This fortification was raised on the summit of a hill in the form of a triangle, watered on two sides by a river known as the Miami,* and defended on the other by a deep ravine. He carefully surveyed the entry of the river, in the expectation of the return of his vessel, on the safety of which, depended in a great measure, the success of his enterprise and the probability of his speedily entering on the prosecution of his discoveries. He sent two experi- enced men to Michilimackinac to pilot it up the Lake, but having waited a considerable time, and hearing no ac- counts, he began to apprehend that some accident had happened to her. Although he was disconcerted at this unexpected delay, the winter being near at hand, he re- solved on making an excursion amongst the Illinois, and leaving ten men to guard the fort, he left, accompanied by De Tonti, Hennepin, with two missionaries, and about thirty followers. He followed the course of the river known then as the Miami, and after considerable fatigue and danger, arrived, toward the end of December, in an Indian village situated on the borders of the river Illinois, in that section of country, which at the present day, bears that name. The tribe was absent on the hison chase, and the village completely deserted. * There were several small streams, marked on the old Charts, to which che name of Miami was given. The writer believes this to have been che river Chicago. 40 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY The French descended the river and did not meet with the Illinois Indians, until they arrived at Lake Peoria, called Piiniteoni by Hennepin, where there was a nu- merous assemblage of them. These savages, being of a quiet and peaceable disposition, received them with gener- ous hospitality and rubbed their legs (according to the custom of the tribe, with strangers who had come from a distance) with bear's grease and the grease of wild bulls, which they considered had a wonderful effect in restoring activity to limbs that had become torpid, from a long march in the forest. La Salle made them presents and contracted a friendly alliance with them. It was, with great pleasure, that that nation understood, that the French had come to establish colonies in their territory. Like the Hurons, they were exposed to the invasions of the Iroquois ; the French would therefore be powerful allies, to resist with them the encroachments of their artful and relentless enemies, while in their turn, La Salle could reckon on them as his best and most faithful friends. Thus an alliance was proposed and accepted between these untutored savages and their European brethren, which had the most salutary consequences, and was as lasting as any which they were able to contract with these roving savages, in the American forest. The Illinois made their cabins in a peculiar manner ; they were con- structed of the bark of trees, doubled and sewed together to make them more durable. They were of large stature, strong, robust, skillful in the use of the bow and arrow, but some French writers represent them as a wandering, idle people, having no courage, guided by no moral re- straints, and without any respect for their chiefs. They were not acquainted with the use of fire-arms when the French first came amongst them. Already, La Salle's men began to murmur, and said, OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 41 that as they had heard no news of the Griffon, that vessel must have been lost ; many of them became discouraged, and six deserted during the night. His undertaking, which, at the commencement, was begun under such fa- vorable auspices, was now threatened with an untoward result. What was he to do ? For some time he had met with almost insurmountable obstacles, his men were de- serting him, and others who remained, were only induced to do so by the promise of their return to Canada, in the spring, should circumstances not be more favorable to them. In this emergency, and in order to occupy the minds of the men and arouse them from the state of lethargy into which they had thrown themselves, he resolved on employing them in the erection of a fort, on a height of land which he found at a short distance from the Lake, and which he named Fort " Crevecoeur," or the Fort of the Broken-heart, to indicate his evil destiny, and the anguish and remorse under which his mind la- bored. There is a spot which bears also this name, in the State of Missouri ; it may have probably been the scene of other disasters to some of these hardy adven- turers, for if they did not leave their bones to bleach on the sands of the forest, at least many of them returned broken-hearted to their homes, after havino; endured all the pangs of want and misery, within the recesses of this newly-discovered country. La Salle gave orders for the construction of a boat to descend the Mississippi, and while the men were occu- pied in completing these works, becoming impatient at hearing no news of the Griffon, and being in want of materials to construct his boat, he adopted the almost desperate resolution of returning on foot to Fort Frontenac, a distance of twelve or fifteen hundred miles, in order to procure the means of prosecuting his voyage. Before his 4 4:2 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY departure, he instructed Hennepin, when he reached the Mississippi, to ascend that river as high as possible, toward its source, and examine the tract of country to the North, and after having given the command of the fort to De Tonti, he himself commenced his long journey for Cataraqui, on the second of March, 1680, armed with a musket, and accompanied by four Frenchmen and an Indian.* Hennepin had left Fort Crevecoeur on the 29th of February ; he descended the Elinois river as far as the Mississippi, traveled about the country, and afterward ascended the river as high as the Falls of Saint Anthony, and fell into the hands of the Sioux. During his captivity, these barbarians amused themselves in making him write several words of their language, which he had begun to study. They said it was only putting hlach uj^on vjhite^ and when they saw him consult the vocabulary, wdiich he had written of the terms of their peculiar language, they remarked amongst themselves, " that lohite thing must he a spirit, as it teaches him to understand all that we say.'''' It is a singular fact, but one which w^e see recorded on the pages of almost every work on the aboriginal tribes of America, that whatever appeared to them as out of the ordinary course of things, they immediately attributed it to the agency of a spirit, thus testifying to their belief * Charlevoix, in following the description given under the name of De Tonti, has fallen into several errors i-especting La Salle's expedition to the river Illinois, which may be easily detected. Hennepin, an ocular witness, is the best authority in these matters, corroborated, as many of his statements are, by the letters and relations of Father Zenobe Mambre. See his " Premier etablissement de la Foi dans la nouvelle France." Many English writers, who follow Charlevoix, have been incorrect in their descriptions of this voyage. The description as given in the text, approaches nearest toward the correct one. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 43 in supernatural agency, and possibly, as some may sup- pose, in the existence of a Divinity. At the expiration of several months, the savages per- mitted the three French captives to return amongst their companions, after exacting a promise from them that they should come back the following year. One of the chiefs traced the route which they should follow, on a piece of bark ; and this map, says Hennepin, was as useful to them, as if they had had a compass to guide them in their travels. They reached the mission at Lake Michigan by the river Wisconsin, which flows into the Mississippi and Fox river, which runs to the eastward. Such was the expedition of Hennepin, who w^as the first traveler who ventured as high up the river as the Falls of Saint Anthony, and was the first to discover that the Missouri was a large river, running through that tract of country which now bears its name. On his return, as he approached the river Wisconsin w^here it joins the Mis- sissippi, he was astonished to meet with a number of traders, conducted by a man of the name of De Luth, who had been traveling for some time in that distant region. CHAPTER lY. While Hennepin was exploring the Upper Mississippi, La Salle's afiairs grew worse at Crevecoeur, where De Tonti was in command. But in order to understand the nature of the difficulties which surrounded him, and the almost insurmountable obstacles he had to contend with, we must take a glance at his position in Canada, where his enemies were at work to undermine his projects. Some English writers, in describing La Salle's charac- ter, have been guilty of imputing the most sordid motives 44: HISTORY OF THE T ALLEY to him in prosecuting his discoveries, but cotemporaneous French ^\Titers have done justice to him, in believing that he was actuated by a love of science, and a desire to promote the amelioration of his race. On his arrival in Canada, as I have already remarked, without fortune, but with great ambition, and the strongest recommendations to persons in authority, whose friendship he cultivated, he very soon became an object of special favor with many who were acquainted with him, while his projects, con- nected with the discovery and colonization of the country, being looked upon with disfavor by others, and especially by the traders {traitans)^ excited their envy and jealousy. They thought that the exclusive grant which La Salle had obtained from the Count de Frontenac, would interfere with their business, and prevent them from trading in furs in the West, and they availed themselves of every occasion that presented itself, to thwart his projects. There were two classes of persons whose enmity he had incurred, the merchants and the coureurs de hois^ or small traders, who traveled in the woods to deal with the Indians. While he was at Crevecoeur, on the Illinois, awaiting news of the safe arrival of the Grifibn, his creditors in Cataraqui seized every thing he had left behind him, in payment of his debts, and thus injured his credit with those persons, who might have been of service to him, aiM on the other hand, the coureurs de hois, or small traders, were doing everything in their power to predispose the savages against him, and to induce his men to desert from his employment, so that his enter- prise might fail.* They excited the Iroquois and Miamies * From the works of Le Clerc and Zenobe Mambre, two French authors of that period. " This enterprise, which ought to have been sustained by all those persons who were inclined to act for the glory of God, and the service of OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 45 to take up arms against the Illinois, his allies, and lost no opportunity to injure him in the estimation of the other tribes. Nothing could equal the activity of these traders ; they hated La Salle in consequence of the monopoly of the fur trade, which the Count de Frontenac had granted to him, and were determined, if possible, to drive him out of the country. They were constantly at his heels, or to use the language of the old French writers. Us le suivaient a la jpiste^ they secretly insinuated to the savages the most serious charges against him, and interposed every obstacle against the accomplishment of his designs. To this opposition in the interior of the country, were united the intrigues of the English, who were beginning to regard, with a jealous eye, the discoveries and spirit of aggran- dizement of the French in the West ; they therefore sent secret embassies to encourage the Ii'oquois to declare war against their French allies, in the valley of the Mississippi. Such w^ere the disadvantages under which La Salle labored ; and it is not surprising, that having to contend against such numerous and powerful foes, he was unable to execute but a part of the plans he had at first contem- plated ; it was quite enough to be obliged to overcome the obstacles which everywhere surrounded him in pushing his discoveries in the "West ; he was totally unpre- the King, was almost frustrated by the bad feelings which they had created in the minds of the Hurons, the Ottawas of the Isles, and neigh- boring nations, with whom La Salle had dealings. He found the fifteen men, whom he had sent in the spring of 1679, to Crevecceur, predisposed against him and seduced from his service ; a part of his property was dissipated, and De Tonti, far from being able to deal satisfactorily with the neighboring tribes, was very much inclined to doubt their fidelity." Other writers give different versions of De Tonti's conduct, but how- ever their statements may differ, there can be no doubt that La Salle's affairs at Crevecceur were, at this period, far from being iu a satisfactory condition. 46 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY pared for the opposition he met with in a quarter where he least expected it. However, De Tonti, who had been placed in charge of Fort Crevecceur, lost no time in visiting the encampment of the Illinois, and assuring himself of their friendly- assistance. Having been informed that the Iroquois wished to join the Miamies in an attack on them, he hastened to instruct his new allies in the use of fire-arms, so that they might be on a footing of equality with these nations, amongst whom musketry had been lately intro- duced. He also showed them the manner of fortifying their position, by erecting palisades, and built a fort on a rock, two hundred feet in height, protected by a river at its base. He was occupied with these labors, when nearly- all the men, whom he had left at Fort Crevecceur, becom- ing disheartened at the unfavorable turn which matters had taken, robbed the ammunitions and stores and deserted. There was no longer room for doubt. La Salle's enemies had succeeded in arming the Five Nations, who appeared on a sudden, in the month of September, 1680, in the territory occupied by the Illinois, and threw that weak and peaceful people into the greatest consternation. This invasion exposed the French to considerable danger. De Tonti hastened to interfere, and a truce was efiected, but the L'oquois, observing the fear into which they had thrown the Illinois, did not allow it to be of long duration ; they committed the most frightful ravages, dug up their dead, devastated their fields, and destroyed their habita- tions. The Illinois retreated beyond the Mississippi, roamed over the forest in scattered bands, in order to evade the vigilance of the Iroquois, and left the French in the midst of their enemies. De Tonti, having with him but five men and two Recollets,* resolved to abandon the * An order of Priesthood. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 47 country. The remnants of this small colony left Fort Crevecoeur in a bark canoe, without provisions, and depending on the chase for food during their journey homeward. "While they were descending the north side of Lake Michigan, La Salle was proceeding along the south shore, with a reinforcement of men, and materials for the con- struction of his vessel. He therefore found no person at the fort, which he had established on the river Illinois. This made him lose another year, which he spent in traveling amongst the neighboring tribes ; he visited a great number of the savages, amongst others, the Outaga- mies, and the Miamies, whom he succeeded in drawing away from their alliance with the Five Nations, who, it seems, after the departure of De Tonti, had driven a part of the Elinois Indians amongst the Osage tribe, beyond the Mississippi. He afterward returned to Cataraqui and Montreal, to put his affairs in order, which needed all his attention. He had suffered considerable losses.* How- ever, he succeeded in making a settlement with his creditors, to whom he gave permission to carry on trade in those immense possessions which had been granted to him by the Count de Frontenac, and received from them, * A vessel laden with twenty-two thousand livres' worth of goods suffered shipwreck in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence ; several bark canoes ascending the Saint Lawrence from Montreal to Fort Frontenac, were lost in the rapids. He said, that with the exception of the Count de Fronte- nac, it seemed to him that all Canada had conspired against his enterprise ; that they had seduced his men whom he had brought with him from France, of whom part had run away from him with his goods through New Holland, and that with regard to the Canadians who had come with him, that they had found means to disgust them, and detach them from his service. " In all his misfortunes," says a missionary, " I have never remarked in him the slightest change, always appearing perfectly calm and self-possessed, and I observed, he was more resolved than ever, to continue his work and prosecute his discoveries." 48 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY in return, forth er advances to prosecute his discoveries. He abandoned the extensive plan he had projected of establishing forts and colonies, at the different points on his route toward the sea. Apprehensive of further em- barrassments, he even gave up the idea of constructing a vessel, and availed himself of the Indian bark canoes to proceed on his voyage. He took his departure, accompanied by De Tonti, and Father Mambre, twenty-four Frenchmen, and eighteen savages of the Wolf and Abenaquis tribes, the bravest in America, and reached the Mississippi on the 6th of Feb- ruary, 1682. Like Marquette, he followed the course of the great river, without stopping to survey the adjoining country. He was enchanted with the mildness of the climate, and the beauty of the scenery along the shores of the Missis- sippi ; that feeling of sadness which had before subdued him, gradually wore off, and, as his prospects became brighter, his ideas of fortune and future greatness again returned to him. He saw the Arkansas and other tribes, visited by Marquette ; and as he drew near the South, met with a number of other nations, such as the Chickasaws, the Taensas, the Choctaws, and the Xatchez, rendered so celebrated by the writings of Chateaubriand, and other travelers. Being obliged to stop several times, he did not arrive at the outlet of the river until the 9th of April, when he first saw the ocean spreading its wide waters around that beautiful country, rendered so pleasing by its warm, tropical climate. Like Marquette, and the other travelers w^ho had preceded him, he gave vent to the liveliest feelings of emotion; a cry of enthusiasm and of triumph was wrung from his heart ; at length he had reached the point of his destination ; the object of his most anxious desires for years had been attained ; he stood OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 49 on that soil which he claimed as a noble conquest for his country. He solemnly took possession of that part of the valley of the Mississippi for France, and gave it the name of Louisiana, in honor of Louis the Fourteenth, of which New Orleans, the capital, was founded by one of the countrymen of La Salle. Thus the discovery of the Mississippi was completed by the French from the Falls of Saint Anthony to the sea, a distance of more than eighteen hundred miles. La Salle then retraced his steps, and dispatched Mam- bre to France, to render an account to the king of the result of the voyage. This Franciscan monk embarked on board of a vessel which had been sent from France to Canada to bring back the Count de Frontenac, and which sailed from Quebec on the 17th of November. La Salle himself remained the following summer and winter among the Illinois, and in the vicinity of Lake Michigan, to form new establishments and trade with the Indians. Having afterward heard of the evil disposition toward him of the new Governor, M. de la Barre, he resolved to go to France to counteract the effects of the report which that functionary had sent to the government, relative to his discoveries in the West. De la Barre had wiitten to the ministry that it was owing to the imprudence of La Salle that war had been declared by the Five Nations against the French, and that the colony might be at- tacked before he had time to place it in a state of defense. He wrote again, after the discovery of the outlet of the Mississippi, that Mambre, who had just arrived in Que- bec to go to Europe, would not communicate anything to him about La Salle's expedition ; that he did not believe that much faith could be attached to what the Franciscan said, and that La Salle himself appeared to have ulterior designs in view, which could not meet with their ap- 5 60 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY proval ; that he was in the vicinity of the bay of Lake Michigan, with about twenty vagabonds, French and savages, where he set his sovereign at defiance, pillaged and robbed the people of his nation, exposed them to the incursions of the Iroquois, and made use of all this vio- lence under the pretext that he alone was entitled to the right to trade with the Indians in the countries which he had discovered. From these false representations, made by the Gov- ernor to the French ministry, followed by the seizure of Forts Frontenac and St. Louis in Illinois, La Salle left Quebec in the month of November, 1683, to repair to France, for the purpose of laying his case before the French ministry, and proving his fidelity to the crown. La Salle's arrival in France w^as most opportune. It was at the period when Louis the Fourteenth was at the height of his glory, and was acknowledged as the most powerful prince in Christendom. The conqueror of com- bined Europe, he had dictated terms to the vanquished at the Congress of Nimegue, in 1678. Everything seemed to favor the designs of this ambitious monarch. The discovery of the Mississippi lent additional interest to the events of his reign ; and while he rejoiced at the glory which he had acquired in arms, he was not insensible to that which he had gained as being the monarch under whose reign La Salle had been able to do so much for the promotion of science. It was not, therefore, surprising that La Salle's enemies were thwarted in their designs to injure him, and that he himself was received with great favor by his sovereign, as being the discoverer of the outlet of the Mississippi, and the one who had procured for him this new acquisition of territory. Although Colbert had descended to the grave, the im- pulse which he had given to commerce, to industry, and OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 61 colonization, had survived him, and the French people learned with a feeling of pride of the extension of territory in the interior of America. M. de Seignelai (Colbert's successor), after having held a conference with our trav- eler, w^hom he heard with a great deal of interest, per- ceived that M. de la Barre had been led into error. He could refuse nothing to La Salle, who had endowed France with one of the finest countries in the world, and the king, as well as the minister, gave him permission to establish colonies in America. Appreciating these marks of favor on the part of his sovereign, and sensible how much they would tend to dispel the prejudice existing against him elsewhere, he set about making preparations for a new enterprise, in which he had already secured the favorable co-operation of government. Ferdinand de Soto, the associate of Pizarro, whose name has become renowned in the history of Spain, had done nothing more in 1539 and '40 than travel over the interior of the country from Florida to Arkansas. The object of his expedition was to ascertain whether there existed any gold or silver mines in that section of Amer- ica, and having failed to discover any, he was about re- turning when he met with his death at Ked river, in the year 1512. Moscosa, his lieutenant, replaced him, and marched with three hundred and fifty men toward the west ; but on his reaching the mountains he changed his course to the south, and embarked on board of a vessel to return to his country. IN'either De Soto nor Moscosa had visited the country w^ith a view to its colonization ; and there is nothing but vague traditions existing of their travels in the southern part of this continent. There is a work in the Spanish language, written by Garcilasso de la Yega, of which a translation has been made by R. Richelet, entitled, " History of the Conquest of Florida, 52 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY by Ferdinand de Soto ;" but it contains no information of the existence of any colony established by the Span- iards in the valley of the Mississippi.* CHAPTEK Y. We have seen the favorable reception which Louis the Fourteenth gave La Salle, when, in 1683, he informed him that he had lately acquired such a vast accession of territory on the American Continent. There were no favors which that proud and ambitious monarch did not lavish on the discoverer of the outlet of the Mississippi. He was received at court with all the honors paid to the princes and nobles of the land, his name was on every one's lips, and there was no praise which he did not re- ceive. It must have been gratifying to La Salle, when he remembered the misfortunes of his early days, and all the trials he had gone through, and when he recalled to mind the aspersions of his enemies, to find himself the recipient of royal favors, and the object of the benevolence of that monarch under whose auspices he had first com- menced his undertaking. He proposed to Louis the Four- teenth to unite Canada with the country on the borders of the Gulf of Mexico, and to extend his sovereignty from the shores of the Saint Lawrence to the outlet of * This work was in the library of the Legislative Assembly in Canada, which was destroyed by fire in tlie month of April, 1849. With the ex- ception of Zenobe Mambre's work, all the works herein mentioned were found in that collection. The destruction of that library, unequaled by any on this continent, — and, as regards its works on American History, by any throughout the world, — was an event which will forever be de- plored. The collector of the works, a gentleman of distinguished literary attainments, had visited every book-mart in Europe to attain the object he had in view. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 63 the Mississippi. This project was readily countenanced by the king, and he gave La Salle instructions to proceed immediately to colonize Louisiana. Four vessels were 23laced at his disposal ; the Jolly carrying thirty-six can- nons ; the Belle^ six cannons ; the Aimable^ a vessel of three hundred tons, and a transport. Two hundred and eighty persons embarked on board these vessels, amongst whom there were a hundred soldiers, mechanics, volun- teers, and eight missionaries. On the 24th July, 1684, this little squadron, under the command of M. de Beaujeu, left Rochelle, in France, on its voyage of discovery. Scarcely had they set sail, when a misunderstanding arose between De Beaujeu and La Salle. This gave rise, as it would appear, to a lengthened controversy, in which both parties appealed to the French ministry. Mr. Sparks, in the 11th volume of his valua- ble work on American biography, has given the substance of De Beaujeu's letter to the authorities in France, but as the details of this quarrel would be uninteresting, they are here passed over. In consequence of these misunderstandings, it seems, they committed an error in navigating the vessels, and went out of the proper course; instead of being at the east, they were far to the west of the outlet of the Missis- sippi, and on the 14th of February, 1685, landed in St. Bernard's Bay, now called Matao:orda, in Texas, at a dis- tance of a hundred and twenty leagues from the river they were in search of. To add to La Salle's difficulties, the commander of the Aimahle^ on entering the bay, struck his vessel on a rock, some authors say designedly,* others accidentally. However this may be, the Aimable was shipwrecked and the whole cargo was lost, and La Salle *Joutel, JOURNAL HISTORIQUK DU DERNIEE VOYAGE DE FEU M. DE LA SaLLE IN 12mo., Paris, 17J3. 54 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY was deprived of tlie use of nearly all his munitions of war, mechanical implements, and other articles which were necessary to commence operations for the establishment of a colony in an uncultivated and distant country. De Beaujeu, instead of punishing the commander, received him on board of his ship, to protect him from La Salle's vengeance. There seemed to be a fatality attending this enterprise from its commencement to its termination. De la Barrels opposition to it, followed by the confiscation of La Salle's property, the aspersions cast on his character, and the injury that was attempted to be done to him in France, all was discouraging to him, and when to this was added the conduct of De Beaujeu toward him, it cer- tainly appeared as if the fates were against the successful completion of his projects. De Beaujeu endeavored to aggravate the hardships of La Salle's condition; he re- fused him all succor or assistance ; he would not give him any of the materials that were on board his vessel to re- place those which had been lost ; and on the 14th of March, 1685, finally abandoned the young colony, consisting of one hundred and eighty persons, on an inhospitable shore, in a distant country, suiTOunded by savages, and exposed to the most imminent danger. They immediately began to cultivate the ground and to erect a fort to protect them against the incursions of the Indians. When it was nearly completed. La Salle as- cended the Riviere aiix Yaclies^ to a distance of about two leagues from the bay, where he commenced the erec- tion of another fort, which he called Saint Louis, in honor of the King, who had bestowed on him so many favors. Placed on a height of land, the view from the fort extend- ed over the whole surrounding country. Llowever, when the buildings were almost finished, the people began to complain ; the grain, which they had sown became parched OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 55 from the iutensity of the heat, or was destroyed by wild animals from the adjoining forest; the mechanics knew but little of their trades, and the works were suspended from the want of men to complete them ; the people grew exas- perated from the evils they suffered and broke out into open mutiny, which was only allayed by the interference of Joutel^ the author of the best account we have of this unfortunate expedition. Some of the men were seized with sickness and died, while others, threatened with a hostile attack from the Indians, complained that La Salle did not bring them out of the country. He alone, of all the colonists, concealed his fears, and never lost that equa- nimity for which he was remarkable; in the midst of all his difficulties, he preserved a calm and serene coun- tenance; he never gave vent to a thought w^hich might have the effect of discouraging his men, but on the con- trary, applied himself with assiduity to the completion of the work, and was himself foremost in carrying it on. The resources of his genius seemed to increase with the obstacles he had to surmount ; his temper, naturally kind to his inferiors, became severe as it was necessary to repress their insubordination, and he punished the slight- est faults with the greatest rigor. There hardly ever escaped a word of kindness or consolation from his lips, toward those who were suffering with the greatest pa- tience. A deep sadness came over the spirits of the colonists. They felt indifferent at everything that occur- red, and disease having again spread its ravages amongst them, about thirty of them surrendered life, without even a feeling of sorrow. The character of La Salle contrib- uted greatly to his misfortunes. His pride disdained any interference witii him. Any other person less capable, perhaps less just than him, but more insinuating, might have succeeded where he failed. 66 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY lu that part of the country where this colony was established (now Texas) the climate was warm, but salu- brious, the air pure, the sky serene, and it scarcely ever rained ; extensive plains were seen, divided here and there by rivers, lakes, and the most charming rural retreats ; the palm tree grew in the forests, which were filled with a species of leopards and tigers, the rivers were full of crocodiles, twenty feet in length, which chased away the fish ; the hissing serpent was concealed beneath the grass, in the prairies strewn with flowers, which attracted the attention of the French, and a multitude of savage tribes were roving through the forests ; thus, in the midst of all the allurements of this fine tropical climate, beguiled by the charming prospect around them, they had but to wander from the precincts of their habitations, and they were doomed to meet with death, where they had hoped to enjoy life. La Salle resolved to make further exertions for the dis- covery of the outlet of the Mississippi . He made a voyage to the Colorado, in which he lost several men, who were massacred by the Indians, or perished in the ship^vi'eck of the Belle^ the only vessel belonging to him which was left after the departure of De Beaujeu. He made another excursion among the Cenis* a tribe in the interior, which was not more successful, and out of twenty men who went with him, he brought back but eight. Owing to sick- ness, and the accidents which happened to them, there were also frightful ravages amongst his other companions. La Salle proposed to ask for assistance from the inhabi- tants of the West India Islands, and to travel about the gulf of Mexico till he found the Mississippi, but the loss ♦Charlevoix mentions, that the Clamcckts were the names of the sava- ges who lived on the borders of the sea, while the Cenis occupied the interior. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 57 of the Belle frustrated all his plans ; his resources failing him every day, and being distant two thousand miles from the habitations of civilized man, there remained no other recourse but to demand assistance from France by the way of Canada. He decided to go himself to Illinois, a step which would certainly have been unadvisable, had not his pres- ence been necessary in Canada to silence his opponents, who were always ready to cast aspersions on his conduct, whenever success did not attend him. He left on the twelfth of January, 1687, taking with him seventeen persons, and leaving twenty at Fort Saint Louis, includ- ing men, women, and children. Thus, at this period, the number of colonists was reduced from one hundred and eighty to thirty-seven. A Canadian of the name of Le Barbier was left in command of the fort. "We sep- arated," says Joutel, "one from another, with such sor- row and sadness, that it appeared as if we all had a secret presentiment we should never see each other again." The journey was slow and painful. On the 16th of March, while they were yet on one of the tributaries of Trinity river, a sanguinary tragedy occurred, w^hich seemed to complete the misfortunes which had already befallen this ill-fated expedition. Some of the men who accompanied La Salle, at the head of whom was Duhaut, being separated from the rest, had a quarrel with La Salle's nephew, named Moragnet; disheartened at their losses and privations, and incensed at the insolence of this man, they determined to kill him, and to dispatch at the same time his two companions, in case they should disclose their participation in the offense. But they had no sooner committed this triple assassination, than fear- ing the justice of La Salle, and carried away by their propensity to commit crime, they thought their vengeance 58 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY would not be satisfied as long as that chief lived ; his death was, therefore, resolved upon. In the meantime, La Salle, finding that his nephew did not return, a suspi- cion flitted across his mind that something wrong had occurred to him, and he asked if he had not had some difficulty with Duhaut. He left immediately to go and meet him. The conspirators having observed him com- ing at a distance, loaded their guns, crossed the river, and concealed themselves in the brushwood, lying in wait for him. The latter, on approaching their place of con- cealment, observed two eagles flying over his head, as if they were in the neighborhood of some prey ; he fired his gun. One of the conspirators came forth from his hiding- place, and on La Salle's approaching him, he asked him where was his nephew ? While he was giving a vague reply, a ball struck La Salle in the head, and he fell mor- tally wounded, without saying a word. The missionary Anastase who was near him, feared that he would under- go the same fate. La Salle lived about an hour after he had been wounded, and in shaking hands with Anastase, who was on his knees near him, indicated to him that he understood the w^ords which that pious missionary was addressing to him. He was buried on the spot where he was killed, in the midst of the forest, by that good priest, who planted a cross over his grave, in memory of one who had been to him a good friend and a kind compan- ion. Mr. Sparks places the scene of this bloody drama on the borders of one of the tributaries of the river Bra- zos, while other writers say it occurred in the vicinity of Trinity river. Tlie murderers laid hold of everything they could find and proceeded on their journey; some of their compan- ions with their hearts overburdened with grief, others with the deepest remorse and disquietude. The assassins OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 59 soon became disunited, and in a quarrel which they had, respecting the division of the property, Duhaut and the Surgeon Liotot, the two chief conspirators, met with their death from a pistol-shot, fired at them by their compan- ions. The savages looked with terror on these sanguin- ary scenes, perpetrated in the depths of the forest, by those very men who had come among them to inculcate peaceful doctrines, and to teach them how sinful it was to imbrue their hands in human blood. Soon after the com- mission of this last crime they separated. All those who were compromised in the murder, remained among the Indians, while the others, to the number of seven, viz: Joutel, Anastase, the Cavaliers, uncle and nephew, and three others, continued their journey, as far as Illinois, where they arrived at Fort Saint Louis, on the fourteenth of September, 1687. However sad was the fate of La Salle and his compan- ions, the small colony that had remained at Saint Ber- nard's Bay, met with even more dreadful disasters. A few days after La Salle left, the savages suddenly attacked the fort, and massacred all the inhabitants with the exception of five. They had sufiered all the pangs of want and hunger; they had been exposed to the attacks of hordes of ruthless savages, and gladly w^elcomed death as the means of averting their misery. The five persons who escaped fell into the hands of the Spaniards ; two or three of them were sent to the mines of Mexico, and the oth- ers, young men named Talon, were taken under the pro- tection of the viceroy of that country, and treated by him, with every mark of kindness. When they arrived at the age of manhood, they were placed in the Spanish navy, and after several engagements, in which they dis- tinguished themselves, returned to France, their native country. 60 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY Such was the unfortunate issue of an expedition which had inspired the greatest hopes, and which would have probably succeeded, had they confined themselv^es to pro- moting the objects they had in view at the establishment where they were at first located, without directing their attention elsewhere. Texas is one of the finest and most fertile countries in the world, but La Salle here commit- ted the same error he had fallen into in Canada, that of being accompanied by too many persons in his expeditions. The ruin of St. Louis was the necessary consequence of the disasters which befell this party. In order to promote its success, La Salle ought to have re- mained in his young colony, and given encouragement to settlements and the arts of agriculture. Some authors re- proach him for having lost sight of his first designs, in order to attempt the discovery of the fabulous mines of Sainte Barbe ; but there is nothing in Joutel, nor in Ze- nobe Mambre,* which would justify this assertion. f It would appear that the genius of this celebrated tra- veler was more adapted to establish a great commercial empire in those distant countries, than to found an agri- cultural colony. There was something grand and ma- jestic in his ideas, and the plans which he submitted to Louis the Fourteenth, were based on exact and profound calculations ; he was the precursor of Dupleix, * Christian Le Clere " First establishment of the Faith in New France." t On the contrary, instead of approaching the Spaniards, he went further from them. We read in Zenobe Mambre's work, " It was here, that La Salle changed his route from the North-East to the East, for rea- sons which he does not give us, and which we have never been able to penetrate." The Mississippi was to the East of him. There must be some error in this account from Zenobe Mambre, the words from " North- East to the East," ought perhaps to be read "From North-East to the West." His error consisted in not going to the East, where he would have discovered the outlet of the river. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 61 I have enlarged more on the result of this unfortunate expedition because it serves as a prelude to that which was afterward undertaken in Louisiana. The student of American history owes a tribute of respect to the memory of a man who sacrificed his fortune and his life, in the cause of French colonization in America; for if he did not establish, he at least greatly accelerated the estab- lishment of Louisiana, now the abode of so many of his countrymen, and one of the most flourishing parts of the Union. Every day adds also to the interest which is taken in the history of the fathers of the New World. As this continent becomes more inhabited, as these an- cient colonies, once so poor, so humble in their origin, are changed into States, into independent republics, the names of their founders acquire increased celebrity, and their actions may be regarded as the landmarks of histo- ry, behind which there is so much to interest the student in his researches for information, concerning the early discovery of this part of America. The foundation of a colony in Louisiana, like that of Canada, and the other French possessions in America was doomed to be accompanied by many vicissitudes and mis- fortunes. The experience of a century had not changed the policy of the government, the large and comprehen- sive principles of Colbert were forgotten, even at the time when it was first contemplated to found this establish- ment, and the penury of a nearly exhausted treasury in- duced the creating of a monopoly, where the enterprise ought to have received the attention, for it needed the un- divided energies of the Government. France at the pre- sent day is attempting to establish a military empire in Africa; it might learn a lesson from its experience in the colonization of this Continent. There were none of the elements of durability in either the policy she pursued or 62 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY the institutions she established in the New World. She placed her foot on American soil, in the hope of realizing money from the adventure; her objects were to promote commerce and increase her wealth ; she thought but little of the means of ensuring happiness to her children on this continent. By encouraging the arts of agriculture, she would be giving hope to the colonists that they would find a permanent home in the wilds of America, and this would thwart her schemes for aggrandizing herself by the monopoly of the commerce of the New World. She would not give them liberty, but preferred transplanting on this continent, the germs of that despotism that was crushing the energies of her people at home. Hence, her want of success, in making the colonists feel a permanent interest in the soil ; hence, from their love of liberty, and fear of despotism, they yielded, under the combined in- fluence of American valor and patriotism. From the plains of Abraham, in the frigid regions of Canada, to the rice and sugar plantations of Louisiana, there was not an inch of territory which she was not finally obliged to abandon, although she was the first to enter on the work of colonization and to obtain a temporary foothold in the country. CHAPTER VI. The war which was terminated by the peace of Ris- wick, had engrossed so much of the attention of the French, that they did not make any further attempt toco- Ionize cither Texas or Louisiana; but several French Ca- nadians, attracted by the beauty and fertility of the country, had established themselves during this period along the shores of the Atlantic and the Mississippi, and were the ancestors of many of those wealthy planters and I OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 63 merchants, who are now settled in the city of New Or- leans and the surrounding country. They had founded establishments in that part of Louisiana, and at Mo- bile, in order to be as near as possible to the French West India Islands, whither they resorted for purposes of com- merce.* But as soon as peace was re-established on a solid and permanent basis, the French Court bestowed its attention on the affairs of the New World. The Spaniards, who at all times looked upon America as their exclusive patrimony, had regarded La Sailers enterprise with much envy, and they learned the news of his death and the dispersion of his companions without manifesting any emotion. They knew it would afford them the opportu- nity of taking quiet possession of the country and driv- ing away the French forever. After having visited dif- ferent parts of the coast, for the purpose of selecting a convenient locality for a settlement, they established themselves at Pensacola, at the western extremity of Flo- rida, where the}^ had remained for a short period before D'Iberville arrived. On his return from Hudson's Bay in 1697, this cele- brated traveler proposed to the French Ministry to re- sume the projects which they had some years before contemplated with respect to Louisiana. M. de Pont- chartrain readily accepted his offer, and gave him two vessels, with which he set sail from Rochefort in France, in the month of October of the following year, and more successful than La Salle, he found the outlet of the Mis- sissipi, the search after which had occupied a part of the lifetime of his predecessor. Having on his return been named Governor-General of that extensive country, he went there in the year 1699, with a number of colonists. *Le Page Dupratz's work on America, published in Paris in 1758. 64 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY He presented himself before Fort Pensacola, and asked permission to disembark, which the Spaniards refused. He continued his route toward the West, and in March 1669, entered the mouth of the Mississippi, which he ascended to the settlement of the Outmas^ a tribe estab- lished above the place now known as Donaldsonville, who delivered to him a letter from De Tonti, addressed to La Salle, whom he had wished to meet in the fall of 1685. D'Iberville returned, and disembarked his small colony in the Bay of Biloxi, situated between the river and Pen- sacola. Here they suffered much from the heat of the climate, and there was nothing in the appearance of the country to attract their attention ; its dry and arid soil they judged unfit for agriculture; and they concluded that D'Iberville selected the locality as being so well adapted to establish commercial relations with the neigh- boring Indians, the Spaniards, the French West India Islands, and with Europe. On his return from France, in the year 1700, D'Iber- ville was apprised that the English, coming from the sea, had appeared in the Mississippi, w^hile others, com- ing by land from Carolina, had advanced as far as the territory of the Chickasaws, on the river Yazous.* The attention of this nation was attracted toward Louisiana by the treasonable conduct of Father Hennepin, f who, in dedicating a new edition of his travels in America to King William the Third, wherein he described La Salle's discoveries as his own, invited that Protestant monarch to take possession of the country, and to propagate the * The CaroHnas, North and South, are marked on the old French charts as having the Mississippi for their western boundary. t The King of France issued orders to arrest this monk if he presented himself in Canada. (Documens de Paris.) OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 65 gospel among the Indians.* William, therefore, dis- patched three vessels, laden with Huguenots, to com- mence the colonization of the Mississippi; but D'lber- ville was beforehand with them. They then went to the Province of Panuca, to concert measures with the Span- iards to drive away the French from Biloxi. This pro- ceeding was, however, ineffectual. f They met with hardly any opposition on the part of the Spaniards; and from the friendly relations which subsisted between these nations at the commencement of the century, the Eng- lish were foiled in their efforts to bring about a state of hostility between them. After the revocation of the edict of Nantes a large number of Huguenots had established themselves in Virginia, and along the coast of America. They had acquired considerable property in Carolina; and Massa- chusetts had given them the right of representation in the Legislature. They established niany towns, which are now in a flourishing state. These unfortunate exiles, who could never forget their native country, had peti- tioned Louis the Fourteenth for permission to settle under his protection in Louisiana. They assured him that they would ever be faithful subjects, and would de- mand nothing more than liberty of conscience. They said that if he acceded to their wishes, they would leave in considerable numbers, and aid in developing the re- sources of that flourishing country. Louis the Four- * There is a curious passage in the abstract of a Memorial to King William, presenting the claims of the English to a part of the valley of the Mississippi (to be found in the Appendix to Coxe's Coralana, p. 86), in which the New Englanders claimed a right to the territory, on the ground of discovery in the year 1678. Coxe's Coralana was published in 1722. t Universal History, XI, 278. 66 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY teenth, who became more religious as his years advanced, refused their prayer, ''' The king," says Pontchartrain, " did not expel the Protestants from his kingdom to erect a republic in America." They renewed their demand under the regency of the Duke of Orleans, but that licentious prince gave them the same answer as his pre- decessor. In speaking of the Huguenots, the circum- stance of their arrival in America may be mentioned in connection with the discovery of the West. They were a hardy and energetic race of men : suffering from re- ligious persecution, and escaping from the flames of religious warfare which were kindling in their native country, they emigrated to America, appreciating the value of civil and religious liberty. Foremost in every work for the advancement and amelioration of their race, they prosecuted science for the blessings it w^ould confer on mankind, and thus contributed in no slight degree to facilitate the labors of those who were making researches in America. Nor were they behind-hand in the strug- gles which tlieir adopted country was afterward engaged in with the parent State. The}^ voluntarily came for- ward, and rendered essential service to America when she stood most in need of it. " The remembrance," says an American writer,* " of the distinguished services which their descendants rendered to our country, and to the cause of civil and religious liberty, ought to increase our respect for the French emigrants, and our interest in their history. Mr. Gabriel Manigault, of South Caro- lina, gave the country which had offered an asylum to his ancestors two hundred and twenty thousand dollars, * Memoir of the French Protestants who settled at Oxford Massachu- setts, A. D. 1686 ; with a sketch of the entire History of the Protestants of France, by A. Holmes, D. D., Corresponding Secretary. Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; Vol. II, of the 3d series. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 67 to carry on the war of Independence. lie rendered this service at the commencement of the contest, when no one could say whether it would terminate in a revolution or a revolt. Of the nine chairmen of the old Congress, who directed the afiairs of the United States during the war of the Revolution, three were descendants of French Protestant refugees, viz : Henry Laurens of South Caro- lina, John Jay of New York, and Elias Boudinot of New Jersey." We left D'Iberville engaged in establishing his small colony in the Bay of Biloxi, near Pensacola. He un- dertook a short voyage up the Mississippi as far as Natchez, where he contemplated fixing the site of a town ; but he returned to Biloxi, where he established his head- quarters. M. De Sau voile was named the commandant of this fort. Dlberville wrote to the French ministry that men of experience in the afiairs of America were of opinion that Louisiana would never become important, in a commercial point of view, unless they established free trade with the merchants of the kingdom. The govern- ment restricted commerce with Louisiana, as it was gen- erally believed at that period that great value was to be attached to the pearl fisheries, and the skins of the hisons and other wild animals, and that the trade in these ar- ticles would greatly enrich the public treasury. The rumors that prevailed in France respecting the existence of gold and silver mines to the west of the Mississippi, led the government to indulge in the most sanguine hopes that the country would prove the richest portion of the French domains. This, therefore, induced the ministry to create monopolies which they could at all times regu- late, rather than throw open the commerce of Louisiana to the enterprise and industry of its people. D'Iberville sent M. Leseur, his relative, to take possession of a cop- 68 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY per mine on Green river, to the north-west of the Falls of Saint Anthony. This undertaking was soon aban- doned, on account of its being carried on so far in the interior. With regard to the pretended mines of gold and silver, which excited much more attention in Europe than in America, they were so many idle delusions which seized hold of the public mind for the moment, but which vanished as soon as the uncertainty of their existence became known. Not that there were no mines to the west of the Mississippi, but they had not tJien been dis- covered. With many, the search after gold was the only object they had in view in coming to the New World ; but their hopes were doomed to be disappointed, and their labors resulted in shame and ruin. Such were the frequent attempts made by a Portuguese fugitive, named Antoine, who had escaped from the mines of Mexico, and who had made several fruitless searches in the soil of Louisiana. They resulted in nothing else than to bring the French himters after gold nearer and nearer to the sources of the rivers emptying themselves into the Mis sissippi, and which took their rise in the neighborhood of the liocky Mountains. In their wanderings they had traversed the country bordering on the banks of the Red river, the Arkansas, and the Missouri, and the coveted riches which they idly fancied were emboweled in the earth fled before them as so many mirages of the desert. To wdiat reflections do these unsuccessful attempts of the French give rise ? Had they discovered the existence of the gold, which is now known to be to the w^est of the Mississippi ; had they the most distant idea of the ex- istence of that wealth which is now within the limits of our Government, what an impetics would it have given to the cause of French colonization in America ? Thousands would have left their native countrv and settled themselves OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 69 on this Continent, attracted by that golden meteor which they saw in the distance, and which they were so eagerly in search of. Instead of shedding their blood on the battle fields of Duquesne and Monongahela, in the hope of sustaining a feeble sovereignty in the New World, they would have fought with desperation, knowing the value of the prize they were surrendering. But the French was not the nation which Providence had ordained should become the inheritors and the possessors of this soil. The glorious deeds of our ancestors, in ejecting the French from America, were begun amongst the mountain passes of the AUeghanies. They were consummated in the war for Independence. Divine Providence, in rewarding those who were not engaged in a searcJi after gold^ but who were battling in the cause of human liberty and civiliza- tion on the plains of Cerro Gordo and Buena Vista, opened to their view those objects which the French had searched for in vain — those mines of gold which they had so long coveted, but which they never could obtain. In the year 1701, D'Iberville commenced an establish- ment on the river Mobile, and M. de Bienville, his brother, since in command of the colony, after the death of De SauvoUe, removed the inhabitants from the sandy plains of Biloxi to this more favored locality. The river was only navigable for boats of light draught, and the soil which it watered, was only adapted for the cultivation of tobacco, but, " according to the system that then prevailed, of fixing the colony near the mouth of a river," they wished to be within a short distance of the Island of Dauphine, or the Massacre, as it was called, in order that they might have the advantage of a harbor, from whence, as at Biloxi, they might trade with the Spaniards, the French West India Islands, and with Europe. Mobile soon became the chief place of residenc, (phef-Ueu)^ of 70 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY the French. On his fourth voyage to Louisiana in the following year, D'Iberville caused barracks and stores to be constructed, and under the management of its first founder, the Colony advanced by degrees, in population and resources, until the death of D'Iberville, which occurred in the year 1706. D'Iberville expired, with the reputation of being one of the bravest and most skillful officers in the French Navy. Born in Canada, of an ancient Norman family, he had enlisted, almost from his boyhood, in the service of his country. He had passed his apprenticeship in arms, in the wars which the French carried on against hostile Indian tribes, in which the most essential qualifications in the French officer was the possession of extraordinary physical force, and the most daring intrepidity, and in which the officer, as the soldier, was alike accustomed to lengthy marches in the thickest forests, at all seasons of the year. Depending on the chase for food, and handling his gun as he would his ax, and his paddle as his sword, he was brought up to a life of the severest privations ; " not to fear a ball, if it should strike him in the midst of the forest, nor to attack the most savage Indians in an ambuscade ; nor to storm a fort, by a sharp escalade, and without artillery." D'Iberville excelled in this difficult and sanguinary mode of warfare. He was no less distinguished as a mariner, and had he remained in France, would have reached the highest grades in his profession. He engaged in a number of combats on the sea, sometimes against superior forces, and he was always victorious. He twice carried on a most desolating war against the English possessions in Newfoundland, and took its capital ; he conquered Pem- aquid in Acadia ; subdued the territory around Hud- son's Bay ; founded Louisiana, and terminated a most glorious career before Havana in 1706, then serving as OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 71 commander-in-chief of the French squadron.* Having been attacked with the yellow fever, liis health for the last three or four years of his eventful life, had become seri- ously impaired. The "colonies," (says Bancroft), "and the French Navy, lost in him a hero worthy of their regret." He was a man wdiom nature had endowed with the necessary qualifications to go through the difficult duties he had to perform. The Marquis of Denonville, who appreciated his talents, had recommended him to the French Court. In 1702, Louis the Fourteenth, who en- couraged the young French nobility in Canada, raised him from the grade of a captain of a frigate, to that of commander of a man of war.f His death was a loss for Louisiana, for it is to be presumed, that had he lived longer, the colony would have made considerable progress ; but that illustrious mariner, whose authority was so great, being dead, a long period elapsed before a new Governor arrived from France. Two years after the death of D'Iberville, M. Diron d'Artaguette came to Louisiana, in the capacity of Com- missaire-ordoniiateuT^ an office which corresponded with that of Intendant in the old French colonies, investing him with civil and military authority. Some authors mention that D'Artaguette was named Governor, but this is an error. This new functionary worked with little success to put the colony in a better condition, and the inhabitants had long complained of the hardships they * The work of Le Page Dupratz. + Gazette of France of the 15th July, 1702. Historical notes and manuscripts of M. A. Berthelot, Esquire. The historical manuscripts in the possession of the family of the late Amable Berthelot, Esq., member of the Canadian Parliament, are of considerable interest, and have not yet been published. Jacques Viger, Esq., late Mayor of the city of Mon- treal, Canada, is also in possessson of manuscripts of great value relating to the early history of America. 72 HISTOEY OF THE VALLEY had to undergo. Neither the soil nor the climate was adapted for agricultural or industrial pursuits, and they wished to return to their native country. However, they entertained quite a contrary opinion in Europe of the capability and resources of Louisiana ; and notwithstand- ing France was then engaged in a most disastrous war, her possessions in America continued to attract a great deal of attention. In the course of this war, the island of Dauphine suffered much from the depredations of cor- sairs and pirates ; and in the year 1711, they caused a damage to the colonists, which w^as estimated at eighty thousand francs. D'Artaguette was not the m^an who ought to have been chosen to direct the affairs of the colony at that critical period. He was weak-minded and vacillat- ing, and his conduct was in striking contrast with that of D'Iberville, who infused a spirit of energy and determin- ation amongst the people. ^'A colony (says Raynal*) founded on such an uncertain basis, could never prosper." The death of D'Iberville had spread consternation amongst them, and having lost their leader, they were thrown into a state of despair. The colonists thought they were about being totally abandoned by France, and sought other localities where they hoped to find better means of living. Toward the end of the year 1711, there were but twenty- eight families remaining, and these were reduced to a state of the greatest misery. The French possessions in America were in the state in which they are herein described, when in the year * The Abbe Raynal, whose work on the " History of the two Indies" excited such attention at the time of its publication, and increased his reputation as an author and a statesman. His " Essay on the American Revolution," is justly esteemed as a master-piece of fine writing and pure philosophy. This work contributed much to enlighten the public mind in Europe, as to the true character of the contest between the colonies and England. Many passages in it are truly eloquent. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 73 1712, Crozat demanded and obtained from the King of France the monopoly of the commerce of Louisiana for a period of sixteen years. CHAPTEK YII. It is necessary, that we should direct our attention to what was occurring in the North -Western portion of the continent, before we refer to any other matters connected with tiie colonization of the southern part of America. Mr. Bancroft says,* that before 1693, the Reverend Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois, and became the founder of Kaskaskia, though it is not known in what year it was established. This presumption is founded on the contents of a letter written by the Rever- end Gabriel Marest, dated ^^Aux Kaskaskias^ autrement dit V Immaculee Conception de la Salute Vierge^ le 9 Novemhre^ 1712, in which mention is made of there hav- ing been for some years, an establishment at this point. He further states, that soon after the founding of Kaskas- kia, Cahokia and Peoria were established. These state- ments are repeated in '' Perkins's Annals of the West,"f and the authority on which they are based seems to be taken from a work published in Paris in 1781, ' Lettres Ed'ifiantes^ 328, 339, 375. I have not seen any account in the French histories of the establishment of any place as a permanent settlement before that of tho Forts Mia- mi and Crevecoeur, and in an old map in my possession, which was published in France after the year 1738, de- scriptive of America while in the occupation of the Indi- an tribes, I observe a river marked on this chart, as run- Bancroft, vol. 3d, 195. t Perkins's Annals of the West, page 55. 7 74: HISTOKY OF THE VALLEY. ning in a South -Westerly direction from Detroit, and named the "River St. Jerome, by which the Canadians come from Quebec,'' {Riviere St. Jerome jpar ou les Ca- nadiens vienntnt de Qiiebeo). The outlet of this river is at a place called " Fort Staquado^^' on the Ohio, which if it be the Wabash, as I am inclined to believe, this Fort must have occupied the site at the junction of that river with the Ohio. The Canadians generally followed the course of the rivers, and the geographer, by indicating the river St. Jerome as the course which they took, it is rather singular, if it be the Wabash, that they should not have established themselves along the shores of that river and the Ohio, and the southern branch of the Mississippi, before they ascended as high up the river as the present sites of Kaskaskia and Cahokia. These latter settle- ments are not marl^ed on this old charts and although the geographers of that period may not have been very remarkable for accuracy in describing the country, never- theless, I am inclined to entertain doubts, whether other places were not established before the Canadians had settled either in Kaskaskia or Cahokia. In my opinion. Fort Crevecceur,* near Peoria, Illinois, might claim the honor of being the first permanent settlement of the " white men " in * Some writers, among others " Coxe's Coralana," at page 32 of his work, says, that Fort Crevecceur was built on the south-east bank of the river Illinois; others locate it differently. In the historical view of Peo- ria, pul:>lished lately by S. Dewitt Drown, there is a plan of the Fort, which is located by the writer " at two or three miles east of Peoria." Like other matters of historical inquiry, relating to discoveries in the "West, such as the dates of the establishments of towns, villages, etc., nothing can be stated with certainty. In Mr. Drown's work, and the Rev. Mr. Peck's able sketches, which were concluded in the Republican of St. Louis on tlie 17th of August last, may be found much useful and valuable information. Judge Breeze's labors on this subject, and Mr. Primm's able address, are too well known to need any reference to them. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 75 the West ; for as we are informed, it was formed by La Salle ; its claims to precedence in this respect are better than those of either of the places which have been named. The matter is not of much importance, but as a historical fact, is worthy of further inquiry. The historian Hennepin had said, "that those who would have the happiness, at some future period, to pos- sess the lands of this agreeable and fertile country, would be under lasting obligations to those travelers who showed them the way, and crossed Lake Erie, after a hundred leagues of difficult navigation." These words had hardly been pronounced, when in June, 1700, M. de la Motte Ca- dillac, arrived at Detroit, with a hundred Canadians and a missionary, to form an establishment. The colonists were delighted with the beauty of the country and the mildness of the climate. In the language of the writers of that period, "Nature spread its charms over the face of that delightful country." With its surface slightly undulated by picturesque elevations, its green prairies, its forests of oak, and of maple, intermingled here and there with specimens of the wild acacia, its running streams, and the beautiful small islands dotted over the surface of its lakes, there was everything to attract the attention and enrapture the imaginations of the newly-arrived colonists, particularly after leaving the bleak hills and snowy vales of Canada, their native country. Even at the present day, the Canadians, in the midst of their more enterpris- ing brethren, still linger around the old homesteads of their ancestors, in that section of Michigan, and in the markets of Detroit, the old Canadian vehicles are to be found, in striking contrast with the more novel inventions of their industrious neighbors. About this period, 1701, the English colonists in Amer- ica were beginning to be alarmed at the important posi- 76 HISTORY OF THE A'ALLEY tion the French were assuming in relation to the affairs of this Continent. The latter power being in possession of Canada, and the country bordering on the Great Lakes, was the rival of England, whose colonies were situated near the seabord. The policy of the French government was to extend their sovereignty in the interior of Amer- ica, and they could only do so by cultivating the friendly feelings of the pow^erful Indian tribes who wandered over the country. It was a vast and gigantic plan which the ministers of Louis the Fourteenth had formed for the subjugation of this Continent. They contemplated the establishment of a chain of forts extending from Canada on the one hand, to Louisiana on the other, and with the Mississippi as their western boundary, they thought it would not be difficult to drive away the English and obtain exclusive possession of the country. At that period the British colonies did not exceed two hundred and twenty-live thousand in population ; they were scat- tered over an immense tract of country, from Massachu- setts on the one hand, to the Carolinas on the other, and there was no concerted plan of action between them. The 'New England states did not comprise much more than one hundred thousand men, many of whom were engaged in agricultural pursuits, whenever their enemies (the Indians) ceased from carrying on their predatory excursions, and afforded an opportunity of employing themselves in rural labor. The Ahenalds were then a powerful tribe, whose strongholds were situated on their northern frontier, and they gave the colonists quite suffi- cient trouble in resisting their encroachments, without interfering in the contests which were carried on between the French and tlie other tribes in the interior. Tliis led to that passive state in which the British colonists remained up to the period of the treaty of Aix- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 77 la-Chapelle, in 174S, when from their increased numbers and powerful influence, they Avere commencing to give another direction to affairs on this Continent. But four years had elapsed since the settlement of Detroit, when the flames of war were again kindled, and it required all the energy and activity of the Marquis de Yaudreuil, the Governor-General of Canada, to quell the turbulent spirit of the Iroquoise confederation. The latter were the complete masters of the country, and their alliance was courted by both the French and the English. During this period, and for a number of years, the cause of colonization was greatly impeded by these unremitting hostilities on the part of the Indian tribes. The history of this period is replete with accounts of the encroachments of the Indian tribes on the French possessions in the west, and of the measures which they adopted to repel them. The slightest cause w^as immediately seized hold of, to declare war between these numerous and powerful tribes and their weak enemies, the French. Several voyageurs from Canada traveled through the western country for purposes of trade, but we read of no further settlements in the west for a number of years. The historical records of this period, relating to the discovery of the west, are very incomplete, and it is only of late years that any attention has been bestowed on the subject. These re- cords consist almost exclusively of the '' Kelations of the Jesuits," several of whose works have only been lately discovered.* *Dr. O'Callaghan, author of the "History of the New Netherlands," and the compiler of several valuable State papers, relating to the History of New York, has lately published a list of the works which the Jesuits wrote on the early history of this country. This small publication has since been translated into French by Jacques Viger, Esquire, of Mon- treal, with several notes and corrections. It is a valuable compendium of the works of these writers. 78 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY From the 3'ear 1714 to 1728, there was nothing inter- esting in the annals of military warfare in the west. In this year, however, the Canadians were again called to arms, and equipped an expedition which is worthy of being mentioned. In the long contests which ensued between the Iroquoise confederation and the French, there is nothing remarkable, excepting that the history of this period is replete with accounts of most sanguinary battles, of these being followed by truces, which, almost as soon as they were entered into, were again broken, and gave rise to scenes of the wildest disorder. Predatory excur- sions were made by roving Indians in the forest, into the settlements of the French at Detroit and Illinois, and it was difficult to exercise summary punishment on those offenders, who took refuge within the recesses of the for- est. But in the beginning of the year 1728, the Oiitaga- mis^ whose strongholds were situated on the shores of Lake Michigan, caused great annoyance to the French, by their frequent depredations and attacks on the settle- ment at Detroit. This nation was distinguished for its peculiar mode of warfare, and had become the object of the hatred of all the other tribes in the West. They were ferocious, cunning, and cruel ; they had resisted all at- tempts at overtures on the part of the French to enter into friendly relations with them, and although they suf- fered many defeats, no sooner were they dispersed, than they again appeared in increased numbers, and commit- ted gi-eat havoc and plunder. A military expedition was fitted out to reduce them to submission. It was placed under the command of M. de Ligneris, and consisted of four hundred and fifty Canadians, and seven or eight "We have also lately heard of the discovery of other " Relations " or accounts of their voyages in the West in one of the Libraries in Rome. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 79 hundred Indians. They left Montreal in the commence- ment of June, and proceeded by a northwardly course to the point of their destination. They arrived at Michili- mackinac on the first of August, and at Lake Michigan on the 14th of that month, after two months and nine days' traveling. After a few engagements with a tribe called "Les Malhomines, or Folles-avoines," in which they were successful, they proceeded to the villages and hunting-grounds of the Outagamis, which they found deserted, and after wandering about in those localities for a short time, they retraced their steps and returned home. It was during this expedition that the French directed their attention more particularly to further discoveries in the North -West. They had succeeded in tracing the course of the two great rivers, and of all the great Lakes in the northern part of the Continent; they had ascended the tributaries of the Mississippi, which take their sources in the Rocky Mountains ; they had even attempted to find a Xorth-Western passage to the Pacific ; but in this they did not succeed, although we read in the works of Lepage Dupratz, that an Indian of the name of Yazou had ac- complished the journey. The French had tried on sev- eral occasions to find a passage across the mountains to the ocean, but I do not find it recorded in any work to which I have had access, that they were successful in attaining their object. About this period (1729) the attention of the French government was directed to the prosecution of furtlier discoveries in America, and for a few years they made several fruitless attempts to engage navigators and traders to direct their steps North-West- erly, in the hope of finding the ocean. But few were found to undergo the dangers and perils of the journey, and it was only in the year 1738, that an expedition was formed, under the auspices of M. de Beauharnais, the 80 HISTOEY OF THE VALLEY governor, the object of which was to make further dis- coveries in the North-West. M. de Maurepas was fore- most in setting this enterprise on foot; he was the Min- ister of France at that period, and was evidently a man of great genius and learning, full of enterprise, and resolved to carry on with vigor the great work of explor- ation on this Continent. He chose M. de la Yerandrye to be the chief of the expedition. This man had neither the energy nor the ambition of Perrot or La Salle, but he had some experience in traveling in the forests, and a satisfactory result might have been expected from his labors. He left Canada in the year 1738, with orders to take possession of all the countries he might discover in the name of the French king, and to examine atten- tively wdiat advantages might be obtained from establish- ing a communication between Canada or Louisiana and the Pacific ocean. The government contemplated the extension of trading-posts to the Xorth-West as far as the ocean, and the acquisition of great wealth from the pel- tries and other products furnished by the Indians. At that period the attention of Europeans began to be directed toward the countries in the Korth-Western part of Amer- ica, and although their researches had not as yet proved ver}^ successful, they thought they would at no distant day realize the advantages which would arise from the discovery of this Continent, and the unbounded wealth which they fondly imagined was contained within the limits of the Western Hemisphere. They knew not to what point the boundaries of America extended, and as their bold and fearless adventurers had advanced within the recesses of the forest, they found there was no limit, no end to their journey; they were always proceeding in a westerly course, and yet they did not meet with the ocean ; it seemed to them as if this long-looked for object OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 8 J receded as they advanced ; that it was a mere dream of the imagination. Many of them retm^ned, disheartened, to their country, and abandoned the project, as one which was fraught witli danger and difficulties of no ordinary character, and which even if they succeeded in accom- plishing, would be attended with little benefit to them. M. de la Yerandrye passed Lake Superior, advanced toward the foot of Lake AYinnipeg, and then ascending the river Assinniboin, approached the Rocky Mountains, which he did not however reach, having become engaged in a war with the Indians, in which he lost several of his men, and becoming disconcerted at the difficulties which surrounded him, he abandoned the enterprise and returned to Canada. This traveler mentioned to the learned Swedish historian Kalm, whom he afterward met in the year 1749, that he discovered in the territory to the North-West, at a distance of nine hundred leagues from Montreal, massive stone columns of great height and durability, in some instances, one placed over the other, forming a kind of wall, and in others, consisting of one large block only; he does not mention that there were any superscriptions or words marked on these stones, with the exception of one of the size of about one foot in length, by about four or five inches in breadth, on both sides of which were some unknown marks, resembling letters, the meaning of which they did not understand. This small stone was afterward sent to the Secretary of State in Paris. Many of the missionaries whom Kalm saw in Canada assured him that the letters which were engraved on it resembled very much those which were in use among the Tartars ; and from this circumstance, and others which were afterward mentioned by other travelers, must have originated the belief, which was very generally enter- 82 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY tained in the commencement of the eighteenth century, of the existence of a great Asiatic emigration of tribes from Tartary, the progenitors of at least a part of the Indian tribes wandering over the continent. The late discoveries in Central America would also tend to fortify this hypothesis.* However it may be, it gave rise to some very learned disquisitions among the French and Spanish savans to account for the origin of our Indian tribes. The voluminous and elaborate works of De Pauw and Bailli d'Engel may be enumerated among the former, while the work of Gregorio Garcias, in folio^ " rig en de los Indios de el Nuovo Mundo et Indios Occidentales^''\ published in Madrid in the year 1729, may be mentioned among the latter. There has been no question, even in modern times, on which such a vast amount of learning has been expended, as that respect- ing the origin of the savage tribes of this Continent; and although volumes have been written on this abstruse sub- ject, we are j^et as much in the dark as ever as to the manner in which this Continent first became inhabited. The French gave the name of the Country of the Western Ocean, '''•Pays de la Mer de VOuest^^ to the territory discovered by M. de la Yerandrye, because they thought it was not far from the sea. They estab- lished a chain of small trading-posts, to keep the Indians under subjection, and to carry on their commerce in pel- tries. The post which was at the greatest distance from any settlement of the French, was called "Queen's Post." It was situated at about a hundred leagues to the west of Lake Winnipeg, on the Assinniboin river. Three other forts or posts were afterward erected to the west * P. F. Cabrera : " Description of an Ancient City, discovered in the Kingdom of Guateraala." Quarto. London, 1822. t Stephens's Travels in Central America. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 83 of Queen's Post, the farthest one being called Pascoyac, after the river of that name. Under the administration of M. de la Jonqniere an- other expedition was set on foot, having the same object in view. The French Intendant, Bigot, was then in Canada. For the purpose of trading with the Indians, as well as to make discoveries, he formed an association, which consisted of the Governor and himself, M. Breard, Comptroller of the Marine, Legardeur de St. Pierre, an officer distinguished for his bravery, and well liked by the Lidians, and De Marin, a sea-captain, held in great fear by the savages for the cruelty of his disposition. To the two latter was assigned the accomplishment of the objects of the Association. Marin was to ascend the Missouri, in order to discover if there was another river flowing to the ocean ; while St. Pierre was to take the direction of Queen's Post, and endeavor to meet his fellow-traveler at some point which was designated by them. The object which they had in view — to make scientific discoveries in the West — ^appeared, however, to be subordinate to that of amassing wealth from their voyage ; for they returned, after a short journey, bringing back with them a large quantity of peltries, the value of which was immense, and served to swell the coffers of the association. We read of no further discoveries in the North-Western part of this continent which are worthy of being men- tioned, unless it be those made by American travelers at a much later period, whose efforts in the cause of the colonization of the West yield only in interest to what the early pioneers accomplished in the discovery of the valley of the Mississippi. In the year 1735 the tocsin of war was again heard, and although hostilities did not commence until several 84 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY years after, preparations were being made by the two great antagonistic nations on tins Continent in tlieir struggle for ascendency. In this year (1735) M. de Yan KensaeUer, Patroon, or Lord of the Manor, in Albany, New York, paid a visit to the Governor in Canada, and informed him that there was a more favorable feeling existing between the people of that colony and those on the other side of the frontier, and deprecating (even if war should break out) any hostile proceedings between the French and the English settlers in that colony. In 1740 war between England and France appeared to be more imminent than ever ; and M. de Beauharnais, under orders from the French court, put the fortresses of Cham- bly, St. Frederick, and Niagara, in a state of defense. He also courted the alliance of the Indian tribes, whose assistance would greatly contribute to the success of his cause. Their assistance was very desirable, inasmuch as at that period (1741) there were upward of fifteen thou- sand able-bodied men, who were reckoned as warriors among the Indian tribes, from the territory occupied by the Abenaquis to the north to the Mobiliens and Choc- taws to the south. We shall now recur to wdiat was passing in the South- western portion of America, but before we conclude this part of our subject, we cannot but express our regret that the historical records, contained in the accounts of t\ie missionaries, relating to the discoveries in tlie North- West, are so unsatisfactory and incomplete that it is almost impossible to enter more extensively into the nar- ration of facts bearing on this interesting subject of inquiry. With further developments made in the works of the early missionaries (some in manuscript) which are now and then being discovered in the libraries on the Continent of Europe, no doubt most important informa- OF THE MISGISSIPPI. 85 tion will be obtained, and the labors of the student of the history of this period will be greatly facilitated.* CHAPTER YIII. "We have already mentioned that, in the year 1712, Crozat obtained from the French government the exclu- sive privilege of trading with Louisiana for a period of sixteen years. The crown of France was then engaged in hostile preparations for the part it was taking in the affairs of the Spanish succession, and but little attention was directed to the colonization of its territories in the southern part of this Continent. Government relied more on the energies of private associations, or individual enterprise, to carry out its plans for the development of the resources of this country ; and it was with this view that it delegated a part of its authority to a French mercliant, who had acquired a large fortune in his com- mercial undertakings, and who had already been of great service to the government in bringing into France a considerable quantity of the precious metals when her finances were being nearly exhausted, and she stood greatly in need of such assistance. This merchant was Crozat. He had been named secretary and counselor of the royal household, and held an important place in the department of finances. To the exclusive grant with which he had been invested of trading with the colony, * We read in the public journals a short time ago of the discovery of several old manuscripts of the missionaries in a library belonging to the Dominican Friars, in Rome. It would be worth while for any one to make further researches in the libraries in Continental Europe. He would no doubt obtain a mass of information which would be of great interest to the American reader. 86 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY was added the privilege of exploring and wording what- ever mines might be found, and Crozat set about the performance of his task with his mind intent on the great advantages which would spring from the enterprise. Louis the Fourteenth named M. de la Motte Cadillac Governor, in place of M. de Muys, who died on his way to America. M. Duclos had the office of commissaire ordonnateur (a commissioner with extended authority, but subordinate to that of the Governor), in the place of M. d'Artaguette, who had returned to France; and a Superior Council was established for three years, com- posed of these two functionaries and a clerk, with power to add to their number. This council was a general tribunal for civil and criminal matters, with an unlimit- ed jurisdiction as to the amount involved or the nature of the ofiense. Their proceedings were to be regulated by the customs of Paris.* M. de la Motte Cadillac dis- embarked in Louisiana in the year 1713, and in order to give him an interest in the commerce of the colony, Crozat had associated him as a partner in the concern. At that period Louisiana was only looked upon as a gi-eat entrejpot for commerce with the neighboring coun- tries, but little wealth was found within its borders, and the people were in a depressed condition, arising out of the difficulty of finding a market for their small surplus products. Crozat and Cadillac were alive to the emer- gency ; they loaded a vessel with difierent products for * The customs of Paris were certain traditionary regulations, which, from their antiquity, had obtained the force of law within the prevote or vicoMTE of the city of Paris, and were, I believe, reduced to writing under the reign of Charles the Seventh of France. They are to this day in force in the Province of Lower Canada, and form the whole of the municipal law of that country. They are justly esteemed as an ex- cellent legal code by both Frencli and English lawyers. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 8Y Yera Cruz ; but the Yiceroy of Mexico, acting under that exclusive commercial policy which was tlien in full vigor, issued an order to prevent the disembarkation of the cargo, and directed that the vessel should withdraw from the harbor. Notwithstanding the result of this first attempt, Cadillac was not discouraged, and resolved to make a trial by land. He chose M. Juchereau de St. Denis, an intrepid Canadian voyageur, who had been in Louisiana for about fourteen years.* This trav- eler made two voyages in Mexico, and after having encountered several adventures of a rather romantic character, he returned from his second journey in April, 1719, having accomplished but little during the excur- sion. While the Governor of Louisiana was seeking for a market for the surplus products of the colony, or the goods which he had brought with him from France, he also sent emissaries to trade with the Natchez and other tribes on the Mississippi, among whom they found several Englishmen from Virginia, who were estab- lished in that quarter, and w^ho had as much difiiculty in quelling the turbulent spirit of the Chickasaws as their own countrymen had in their previous relations with the Iroquois, or Five Nations. The same contest which had been so frequently witnessed between rival tribes in the north w^as now being carried on in the south ; and while some were friendly, and actuated by proper motives in their relations with the Europeans, others were found who w^ere inclined to pursue a con- trary course, and to visit the aggressions of their neigh- bors with unrelenting lury. On the one hand we find, about this time (1720), several tribes, with the Alaba- mous and the Choctaws, making excursions into the * Le Page Dupratz's work. 88 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY Carollnas, and committiDg the most frightful ravages ; while, on the other, the Natchez contemplated the de- struction of their French neighbors, which was only prevented by the energy and promptitude with which the Governor acted. It was on this occasion that the Natchez found themselves compelled to make amends for their conduct ; for, with the force which De Bienville, who was in command in this campaign, had with him, he made these savages erect a fort in the very midst of their village, to serve as a protection for those whom they had intended to destroy. It was the first act of humilia- tion to which the chief of the Natchez was obliged to submit ; and it must have wounded his pride to find himself reduced to such subjection, especially for one who pretended to be descended from the sun, and who bore the name as a mark of his superiority among the tribes, and as a reflection of the light of that great lumi- nary among the benighted nations of America. This fort, at Natchez on the Mississippi, was built on an eminence of two hundred feet in height, and was called Rosalie^ after the name of Madame de Pont char train, whose husband, being a minister of state, was the guard- ian and protector of the Lemoine family, from which De Bienville sprung. It was in the following year (1715) that M. de Tisne founded Natchitoches, now a rich and flourishing city on Red river, in Louisiana. Notwithstanding this success against the Indian tribes, Crozat's prospects in Louisiana were becoming every day more desperate; he had hardly been there four years, when he observed the little commerce, that he found on his arrival, in a languishing state. The monopoly with which the French King had invested him, seemed to crush all spirit of enterprise among the people, for be- fore his arrival, the inhabitants of Mobile, and of the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 0^ Island of Daiiphiny, exported provisions, timber, and furs to Pensacola, the Islands of Martinique, St. Do- mingo, and to France, and received back in exchange, the merchandise and other articles, which they required to trade with the Indians; but Crozat had no sooner exercised the exclusive privileges granted to hira by the French Government, than they were obliged to abandon this, their only source of trade, and hence, their de- pressed condition, a few years after his arrival among them. There w^ere no longer to be seen any vessels ar- riving from, or sailing to, the West India Islands, and Crozat prohibited all commerce with the Spaniards at Pensacola, so that they were restricted in the use of specie, which they obtained in the trade with them, and they were not allowed to traffic excepting with Crozat's agents, and at prices which were fixed by them. The price of furs was fixed so low, that they directed their attention to dealing with the Canadian traders, who gave them higher prices, and this hitherto profitable branch of Colonial commerce, which had enriched the people of Louisiana now sought out other channels, in which more remunerating prices could be obtained for these products. Crozat could not fail to perceive the altered state of aflairs in the Colony, and he addressed several remon- strances to the French Government, which met with no attention whatsoever. Having made heavy advances to promote the prosperity of the country, and finding all his endeavors to carry on a profitable trade with Mexico had failed, disconcerted with the state of apathy which seemed to exist among the Colonists, and alarmed at his future prospects, Crozat adopted the resolution of surrender- ing to the French Government, all the privileges which were granted to him by the Koyal Charter, which he ac- cordingly did, and thus this monopoly ceased, which was 8 90 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY certainly attended with very disastrous results to the Colony. 'No sooner was this monopoly surrendered into the hands of the French Government, than another and a more exclusive one was established, certainly not more fortunate in its results, but exercising a more immediate and important bearing on the prospects and fortunes of the French Colonists in America. The establishment of the great "Western Company," which was to immortalize the name of John Law, and to connect it with schemes in- volving the ruin of many a family, was the next measure adopted by the French Government, with a view to promote the colonization of Louisiana. How far this was adapted to forward the objects for which it was established, has become matter of general history, and the failure of the scheme, while it was felt more seriously in Europe, operated greatly to retard the advancement of the French Colonies in America. The great '^Mississippi bubble" as it was called, was a plain, palpable failure, but as it had a wonderful effect, in directing public attention to the affairs of the New "World, its plan and ultimate opera- tion are worthy of being mentioned. A Scotch adventurer, by the name of John Law, being desirous of attracting public attention by some grand scheme, in which he was to take a prominent part, availed himself of the deplorable state of tlie French finances, to attain the object, which he had in view. Naturally of an ardent temperament and great genius, he had applied himself to the study of the science of political economy, and in the depressed state of financial afiairs in France, he conceived that that country was the fittest scene to commence his labors. Accordingly, hither he repaired, and with the sanction of the then Regent he began the establishment of a Bank, in the year 1616, consisting of a OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 91 capital formed of twelve hundred shares, at a thousand crowns {ecus) each. With the knowledge he had obtain- ed from his previous studies in a science, which had not then been dignified by the application of such minds, as Turgot and Smith, he appeared before the reigning monarch in France, as a person who could retrieve the country from all its embarrassments; and his schemes, plausible at first, w^ere received with great favor by the government. What an unexpected, and almost infallible remedy his project appeared to be, to sink the national debt of France, wdiich had increased to such an enormous sum, that the government was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the confidence of the people in its stability was all but lost ? The paper money, and the imaginary gold and silver mines of Louisiana, were to be the grand panacea for all the evils under which France labored. We can only account for the readiness, with which these schemes wxn*e adopted and so favorably received at the time, by the deplorable state to which France was reduced, and these illusions, which would have vanished at any other period as so many idle dreams of the imagination, w^ere eagerly seized upon by the King, the Ministers, and people, and even spread abroad, among neighboring nations. They only show how credulous is the human mind in moments of difiiculty and danger, and how easily the most hopeless project is adopted to afibrd relief to temporary evils. Such was Law's system, and such it turned out to be. Alluring in its prospects, and holding out hopes of the acquisition of enormous wealth, from the existence of fabulous mines of the precious metals along the shores of the Mississippi, thousands were found, who readily embarked in the undertaking, and thousands met w^ith a disastrous fate, involving their families and them- selves in ruin. To the acute and penetrating qualities of 92 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY Law's mind, he saw at once, that he might work on the foundation, which had been laid by other travelers and writers in America, and the superstructure which he raised, on which the too credulous people gazed with admi- ration, and which they thought would be enduring, w^as nevertheless doomed to fall to the ground with a crash, w^hicli 'would involve all in its ruins. Ponce de Leon had no sooner reached the shores of Florida in 1512, than he spread a report abroad, that the country was filled with precious metals. Neither Phi- lippe de Narvaez, nor Ferdinand de Soto had discovered any gold mines, although they had been for years in search of them. The French and the Spaniards had made many unsuccessful attempts to seek for riches in the bowels of the earth, and at this period, but vague suspicions were entertained in America, even among those who were most sanguine at first, of the existence of mines in Louisiana, or the colonies adjacent thereunto, but in Europe a contrary opinion had alwaj'S prevailed ; they fancied in their imaginations, that some day or other, the earth would yield up its wealth, and the people of Europe would be enriched by the enormous quantity of the precious metals, which would be brought from America. How idle the hope! how fatal the delusion' yet John Law found in the very existence of that belief, all the success which he expected from his visionary schemes. The new^ banking institution which he established, served as a means to prop up, for a time, the public credit, and it certainly did some good in meeting its obligations, and was a source of great convenience, but its operations were necessarily limited, and the thouglits of its projector were directed more than ever to the gold mines of Louisi- ana, and the wealth he expected in that quarter. In the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 93 year 1717, the "Western Company" {Comjpagyiie d^ Occident) was again re-established, with Law for its director, and Louisiana was ceded to the Company with otlier privileges, including the tobacco trade and the commerce w4th Senegal. From the unlimited terms of the charter, it was intended, as at first in Crozat's case, to be a monopoly, and it is impossible to say whether it was attended with advantage or disadvantage in the then state of the colony. In Crozat's case, it had certainly proved unsuccessful, but the Colony had become so re- duced, that scarcely anything could render the condition of the people v/orse. However it might be, the shares of the Western Com- pany were paid for in State notes (billets d^ Etat)^ which were taken at j?ar, although they were not worth more than fifty per cent, in commerce. In a moment, the capital of a hundred millions was taken up, each being anxious to be the holder of paper scrip, wdiich they ex- pected would be shortly paid in gold and silver from the mines of Louisiana. The creditors of the Government, who thought they were ruined by the enormous deprecia- tion of the national finances, eagerly laid hold of this speculation as their only means of safety. Rich men embarked nearly all their property in the undertaking, and men of all classes and ranks in society united in availing themselves of its probable advantages. Not satisfied with holding shares in this great Mississippi bubble, they directed their attention to acquiring landed estates in the South, and the people of France, Switzer- land and England vied with each other to send the greatest number of emigrants to the land of promise, where, after three years' service, to defray the expenses of the voyage, hopes were held out to them that they w^ould become proprietors, and have a permanent interest in the soil. 94 HISTORY OF THE VALI.EY In the meantime, the Governor and chief Commissioner of Louisiana had been removed from office, and M. de I'Espinay succeeded M. de la Motte Cadillac and M. Hubert took Duclos' place; some time after, M. de Bien- ville was appointed Commander-in-Chief of all Louisiana. The French then occupied Biloxi, the island of Dauphine, Mobile, jS'atchez, and Natchitoches on Red Eiver. They had also commenced establishments in other parts of the country. Biloxi had become the chief place of business, and the port of Isle Dauphine was abandoned for the more convenient location at Yessel Island, {Isle aux Yaisseaux). All these places were situated on or near the sea-shore, thus showing that the early settlers placed more dependence on the arts of commerce than on agri- cultural pursuits ; the country near Biloxi and the sea, being unfit fur such a purpose. At this period (1717), the attention of the colonists was directed to the choice of a location for a city, on the banks of the Mississippi, and they selected a spot on the left shore, about thirty leagues from the sea, which De Bienville had before sur- veyed, and which he thought was the most favorable location for a great commercial emporium. In that year, this military officer, with a few poor carpenters and other artisans, went there and laid the foundations of a city, w^hich, even to the present day, is the chief commercial metropolis of the South, and which he named New Orleans, in honor of the Duke of Orleans, then Regent of France. M. de Pailloux w^as named Governor of the place, and it was only in the following year (1718), that the first vessel arrived in the port of New Orleans, where they were surprised to find sixteen feet of water in the shallowest part of the Mississippi. It was not then gen- erally believed that the river was navigable so high up for vessels of a large class. It was only in the year 1722, OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 95 that the seat of Government was transferred to New Orleans, a delay which was partly attributable to the re- luctance of the colonists to lose sight of the sea, and to go into the interior of the country. The " Western Company" was no sooner in possession of Louisiana, than they began to organize a regular Government, and to encourage an extensive system of emi- gration, for the purpose of settling the country and working those mines, the produce of which, they expected would liquidate the national debt of France, which had increased to such an immense sum, that fears were enter- tained for the safety of the monarchy, and the stability of the empire. In the new administration, De Bienville was named Governor-General, and Chief Director of the affairs of the Company in America ; M. de Pailloux was appointed Major-General with M. Dugue de Boisbriand, as Commander in Illinois, and M. Diron, brother of the old Chief Commissioner, as Inspector-General of the military forces. Louisiana was ceded to the Company in the year 1717, and in the following spring, eight hundred colonists em- barked at Rochelle, on board of three vessels for that country. There were several gentlemen and old officers on board of these vessels, amongst whom was M. Lepage Dupratz, whose interesting memoirs of the history of the South and West have already been mentioned in this w^ork. These emigrants were dispersed in different sec- tions of the Colony. The gentlemen and officers had left their native country, in the hope of obtaining large con- cessions of land, wherein they wished to establish the feudal tenure, and to live as noblemen and lords of the manor, a system of seigniorial tenure which had been before introduced into Canada. Law himself showed the example ; he obtained a grant of land of four square leagues 96 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY in Arkansas, which was erected into a Ducliy, and he assembled fifteen hundred men, Germans and French, from the Provinces to inhabit the territory ; he intended also sending six thousand Germans from the Palatinate, to serve as vassals under this new tenure. But it was at this period (1720), that the edifice which he had erected with such care, fell to the ground ; \lie vast schemes he had formed for ameliorating the financial condition of France proved abortive, and there arose a storm in that country, and its colonies in America, which, as a whirlwind, swept everything before it, and involved the rich and the poor, the high and the low, the metropolitan and the colonist, in one common ruin, and shook the foundations of public and private fortunes, in the Old and the New Worlds. Its disasters fell heavily on Louisiana. The Western Company was still sending an immense number of emi- grants to America, and many were on their journey when the celebrated " Mississippi bubble ^' burst, and of course they were left without means to provide for their wants on their arrival in this new country. They w^ere disembarked on the sterile shores of Biloxi, after having suffered the fatigue of a long sea voyage ; and here they were left un- provided for, and without being able to obtain a livelihood. Kever before the year 1721, when this occurred, were the Colonists so numerous ; there were not sufiicient vessels at Biloxi to send them up the Mississippi ; provisions failed ; numbers were without food to eat, and more than five hundred died of starvation, of whom two hundred be- longed to Law's establishment. Fear and melancholy operated on the minds of the Colonists, disunion and discord followed in their train, and companies were formed, (a Swiss company in particular), who, with their ofiicers * Charlevoix, " Journal Historique. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 97 at their head, left the Colony in disgust and went over to Carolina. It was in consequence of these disasters that the Colon- ists made up their minds to abandon Biloxi, where they had met wdth nothing but misfortunes, and to select New Orleans as their place of residence. In a short time they became more reconciled to their embarrassments and privations, and set about looking for favorable locations where they might depend for awhile on the pursuits of agriculture and the chase for subsistence. It was in this manner that several settlements, now flourishing, were at first established. Had it not been for the disasters at Biloxi many years might have elapsed before the Colonists would have emigrated to the shores of the Mis- sissippi ; and, as it turned out, these new settlements progressively advanced until they became permanent places for business, and the centers of a large commer- cial and agricultural population. The historian of the Indies, the celebrated Abbe Raynal, who regards emi- gration on an extensive scale as the worst means for making a country thrive, views these gradual and pro- gressive movements as the certain indications of a well- founded prosperity, and of the rapid improvement of a new country. Beside the four or five principal towns established at different periods by the French, they laid the foundations of settlements at Yazou, Baton Rouge, Bayou-goula, Ecores-blancs, at Pointe-coupee, Black river, Pasca-goula, and even as far as Illinois. Most of these places continue to thrive, and are now important locations for business. Law's scheme had failed, and the political economists of Europe were engaged in disputes as to the wisdom of the plan he had formed for ameliorating the financial condition of France, amongst whom Raynal and Barbe 98 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY Marbois took opposite sides. The discussion was at- tended with very little benefit, inasmuch as the evils which sprung from the system were felt by the people, and were the best arguments to convince them of the utter absurdity of the project. At this crisis in the history of the New World events were transpiring in Europe which had an important bearing on the afikirs of America, and to these it will be necessary to direct our attention. CHAPTEK IX. In the month of August, 1718, the celebrated qua- druple alliance had been formed between the four great powers of Europe. The peace of Europe had been estab- lished, as it was supposed, on a solid and permanent basis, when, through the intrigues of the celebrated " Monk of Parma," Alberoni, the minister of Philip Y, the flames of war were again illumined on the European Continent, and France prepared for the contest with Spain. The circumstances which gave rise to this war partook somewhat of a romantic interest, and are de- tailed at length in the histories of that period. The ambitious designs of Alberoni had been frustrated by the discovery of secret dispatches in the possession of the Abbe of Porto-Carrero, who had been intercepted on his way through the mountain passes of the Sierra- Morena to confer with the Spanish minister. England had also taken umbrage at the proffered support which Alberoni had promised to the young pretender. Prince Charles, and, under color of being a party to the alliance, willingly united with France to crush the ambitious OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 99 projects of the cardinal-minister of Spain. M. de Ser- igny was sent to America, with three vessels, to take possession of Pensacola, a Spanish port, which was much needed by France on account of its proximity to Louis- iana, and its being so easily accessible for purposes of trade with the West India Islands. Don John Peter Matamoras was in command of the garrison. The place, being attacked by land by seven hundred Canadians, French, and Indians, under the orders of M. de Chateau- guay, and by sea by M. de Serigny, surrendered (1719), after a slight resistance, and the garrison and part of the inhabitants embarked on board of two French vessels for Flavana. On their journey thither they fell in with the Spanish fleet, which took possession of them, and carried them as prizes into the port which they had expected to enter as conquerors. The news of the surrender of Pensacola created a great sensation in New Spain and Mexico. The Yice- roy, the Marquis of Valero, dispatched a squadron, con- sisting of twelve vessels of war, and carrying eight hun- dred and fifty men, under the command of Don Alphonso Carrascosa, to invest the town. At the sight of the Spanish fleet a part of the garrison deserted to the enemy, while M. de Chateauguay was also obliged to capitulate. Some of those who had surrendered w^ere enlisted in the Spanish service, and a number of the deserters were treated with great severity by Carrascosa, who confined them for a length of time in the holds of the vessels. Don Matamoras was re-established in com- mand of the garrison at Pensacola, with sufiicient troops to defend the town in case of another attack. After this victory the Spanish Yiceroy resolved to drive away the French from their possessions in Amer- ica and dispatched Don Carnejo with a suflScient force 100 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY to effect this object. Don Carrascosa was sent round to the Island of Dauphine and Mobile with a similar pur- pose in view; but both these expeditions were unsuccess- ful, and the Spaniards suffered nothing but disasters. A detachment of troops, forming part of Carrascosa's command, was completely routed by M. de Yilinville, at Mobile, while Carrascosa himself was repulsed at Guil- lory, a small island near the Isle Dauphine, around which he had been reconnoitering, to attempt to gain a favorable opportunity to attack the French. The brave Serigny was his competitor on this occasion, and, with nearly equal forces, compelled the Spanish general to depart from the island. The French, having been successful in their hostile measures against the Spaniards, now became in their turn the aggressors. De Bienville again invested Fensa- cola by land, and the brave Count de Champmelin at- tacked it by sea. The combat was of short duration. Carrascosa had attempted to blockade the entry of the port with his fleet, and prepared for the contest. The French vessels poured a brisk cannonade into the sides of the Spanish frigates, and in a short time their flags were lowered, and the French were the conquerors. De Bienville continued firing upon the town during the whole of the night, and on the following morning it surrendered to the enemy. There were from twelve to fifteen hundred men made prisoners of war, among whom were several officers. The French dismantled a part of the fortifications, and left a small garrison in charge of the remainder. It was after the termination of this war that Louis the Fifteenth thought fit to commend, in praiseworthy terms, the conduct of those Canadians who had served in Lou- isiana. While the colonists who had emigrated from OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 101 France were always discontented at the state of things existing in that country, and were daily deserting to join the English in the neighboring colonies, the Cana- dians remained faithful adherents to the French crown in America, and were those on whom chief reliance was placed whenever it became necessary to assume a hostile attitude, either against internal or external foes. De Bienville, De Serigny, De St. Denis, De Yilinville, and De Chateauguay were Canadians by birth or by descent, and, as it has already been shown, distinguished them- selves on several occasions, at very critical periods, in the French colonial history of America, and were intrusted by the French government with high and commanding offices. Mr. Bancroft has paid them a well-deserved compliment in his work on the History of the United States, and other writers have united in giving them credit for the bravery they evinced on several very try- ing occasions, and for the intrepidity and daring they manifested, either as pioneers in clearing the forest, or as warriors on the field of battle. De Serigny was named captain of a French frigate, St. Denis was made a mem- ber of the order of St. Louis, and De Chateauguay was placed in command of a garrison at St. Louis of Mobile. The contest was over; the war between France and Spain was brought to a termination. Alberoni, dis- graced, was escorted by French troops to the confines of Italy, where he ended his days in obscurity, after having embroiled Europe in all the horrors of war. Peace was declared on the ITth. of February 1720, and the con- tending parties laid down their arms in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, having abandoned all that each had acquired in the latter, during the war, including Pensacola, for the possession of which such sanguinary contests had been waged in the early periods of the cam- 102 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY paign. Pensacola again became part of the Spanish domains in America. This treaty of peace was soon followed by one with the Chickasaws and the Natchez, who had taken advantage of the war to commit hostilities against Louisiana. The colony was in a state of tranquillity, which it had not enjoyed for several years, when the people were again exposed to heavy disasters, arising from the effects of a terrific storm, which laid desolate many of the towns, and several habitations in different parts of the Colony. This occurred on the 12th of September 1722, and its effects w^ere more seriously felt by the inhabitants of New Orleans and Biloxi, than elsewhere. They were obliged to re-build these cities, which suffered so much that scarcely a house was left standing. The year 1726 was the last one of De Bienville's ad- ministration, which had been rendered so difficult in con- sequence of the errors committed by Crozat, and the failure of Law's scheme. Notwithstanding these disad- vantages the Colonists had been able to contend success- fully against the aggressions of Spain and to preserve their possessions in America. De Bienville returned to France and was succeeded in the administration of the government, by M. de Perrier. At this period, there was a regular government organized in Louisiana, and it does not fall within the scope of this work to detail minutely the events that occurred during each successive administration. What had a direct tendency to promote the cause of European colonization along the shores of that river, has been noticed, but it would occupy more space than could be assigned within the limits of this publication, to give an account, however succinct or brief it might be of what followed after the establishment of a regular government in Louisiana. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 103 There is, however, an event of some importance, which occurred during this period (1729), which it would not be right to pass over in silence. I allude to the "Natchez massacre." The " Western Company" had given place to the " Company of the Indies," which was established in 1723, and of which the Duke of Orleans was made governor. Their charter granted privileges, which ex- tended over different European possessions, in Asia, Africa, and America, and while they exercised temporary sovereignty, in various parts of the w^orld, their labors in America seem, by all accounts, to have been productive of but little benefit to the Colonists. Indeed, the little good, which the Western Company had been able to do, as far as the cause of colonization was concerned, might compare favorably with what appears to have been effected by the establishment of the Company of the Indies, in Louisiana. In the collisions, which frequently occurred, arising out of the division of the powers of government, the local administration of affairs in Louisiana, was consider- ably weakened, and the Indian tribes took advantage of it. Notwithstanding the colonists thought that they had reduced the savages to a state of complete subjection, from tlie length of time they had been at peace with each other, they were astonished to find, that a plot had been for some time in existence, either to exterminate them or drive them away from the colony. While we cannot but admire the efforts, w^hich the aboriginal inhabitants of this Continent have made to preserve their sovereignty, which was destined to fall before the march of progressive civilization, and while doubts might well be entertained as to the right of Europeans to dispossess them of the 104: HISTORY OF THE VALLEY soil, without adequately remunerating them, or giving them other hunting-grounds, whereon to gain a precarious subsistence, nevertheless, this " l^atchez massacre" may be regarded as such an act of perfidy and cruelty toward their French neighbors, as to entirely deprive them of sympathy. The blow was to be struck simultaneously throughout the colony, and for the wrongs which they thought they endured, their vengeance knew no limits. Every man, woman, and child, were doomed to utter de- struction; their habitations were to be razed to the ground, and not a vestige was to be left of French sovereignty in America. The French had always been on good terms with most of the Indian tribes, as the Illinois, the Arkan- sas, and the Tonicas ; but the Iroquois and Chickasaw tribes had been their inveterate enemies. It has been said, by some ^Titers, that the English Colonists in Caro- lina, and along the shores of the Atlantic, had sent secret emissaries among these tribes, to excite them to acts of hostility against the French, but I am inclined to doubt this assertion. The English, no doubt, viewed with a jealous eye the occupation of this country by the French from the shores of the Ohio, to the Gulf of Mexico, and it might have been their policy to give the Indian tribes an unfavorable opinion of their French neighbors. But England w^as not then at war with France, and the Eng- lish Colonists feared too much the hostile incursions of the Abenaquis, the Ilurons, and other tribes, in the neighborhood of the French possessions in the North, to excite the savages to pursue the same course against the French Colonists in the South. While preparations were being made for the indiscri- minate massacre of the Europeans in Louisiana, the latter were, for some time, not aware of the extent of the con-' OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 105 spiracy against them. They had heard of the existence of the plot, but they feigned that they were entirely igno- rant of it. The day was approaching, when the ax was to be raised and the fatal tomahawk to be used, to remove the scalps of so many of their countrymen. M. de Che- par was in command at Natchez. Although that officer had had a few quarrels with the Indians, they so far con- cealed their enmity, and acted with such dissimulation, that they made him believe they were his friends, and De Chepar was so anxious to avoid giving them the least cause for apprehension, of a change of his sentiments to- ward them, that he actually imprisoned seven Frenchmen who wished to arm themselves to be protected against surprise. He appeared to be actuated by such blind fatality, as to allow sixty savages to enter the fort, and to permit others to lodge with the Colonists, and even re- ceived some of them in his own house. This would hardly be believed, were it not that Charlevoix, a cotem- porary historian, positively asserts it. The conspirators were ready for action ; the day and the hour had been fixed, when the massacre was to be commenced, but the savages, who had now so far suc- ceeded as to enter the fort, and be in the midst of the Colonists, had their cupidity so much excited by the arrival of barges, laden with rich merchandise, for the garrison, that tliey resolved to strike the blow at that moment, and not to await the expiration of the time which had been fixed for the general massacre through- out the country. This precipitation, while it was fatal to those Colonists who w^ere at IN'atchez, was the means of saving others in the West and South from partial, if not from total annihilation. In order that the conspirators at Katchez might get possession of fire-arms to efiect their purpose, they feigned 106 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY that they were preparing for a hunting expedition, to fur- nish game for the Commandant to treat his newly-arrived guests. They obtained guns and other munitions in the fort, and on the 28th of November, 1Y29, they scattered themselves abroad in the different houses of the inhabit- ants, taking care always to be in greater numbers than their victims, and remarking that they were going to hunt. They carried their dissimulation to such an extent, that they actually chanted a hymn in praise of M. de Chepar, when all at once there was silence, three shots of musketry were fired, which were the signals for a general onslaught. The savages rushed furiously on the French, and in this dreadful massacre, two hundred of them fell victims to the treachery and dissimulation of their perfidi- ous enemies. But about twenty were saved, and one hundred and fifty children, and sixty women were made prisoners. In this frightful encounter, there were instances of bravery amongst the French, which Charlevoix has not failed to mention. M. de la Loire des Ursins killed four Indians by his own hand, and the clerks in his store bravely defended themselves until the last man was killed. The Natchez lost only twelve men in this affair, so well were all the preparations made for the general massacre. During the engagement, " the Sun," or the Chief of the Natchez, was seated near a tobacco warehouse,* be- longing to the company of the Indies, awaiting patiently the termination of this tragedy. At intervals, the heads of those who had fallen were brought and placed at his feet, among others, that of M. de Chepar, the person in command of the garrison. The bodies of the victims were suffered to remain without burial, and became the prey of vultures and dogs, while the women and children, * Some authors say, " on the roof of the tobacco warehouse." OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 107 who had been taken prisoners, were exposed to the cruelty of these ferocious savages, and having suffered every in- dignity, were finally sent into the interior, to become the slaves of neighboring tribes. Such was the massacre of the French, of the 28th of November, 1729. The Abbe Eaynal gives a rather differ- ent account of this massacre from that of Charlevoix — both, however, agree in the main facts, but I prefer the latter, for the reason I have already assigned. Of course De Perrier exercised summary vengeance against the perpetrators of this horrid butchery. He noti- fied the people at the different French settlements to be on their guard, and sent an expedition against the ISTatchez, whom he compelled to surrender, and who, with their Chief, " the Sun^^ were sent into captivity. We have thus detailed, as we believe, almost every leading event in the history of the discovery of the valley of the Mississippi, up to the passing of the Treaty of Aix- la-Chapelle in the year 1718. Shortly after this period, the leading events on this Continent have been mentioned in connection with the name and services of our ancestors, the Anglo-Americans, on the shores of the Atlantic. To their achievements is the world indebted for the progress of that civilization which is daily extending throughout the length and breadth of this Continent. To the heroic conduct and intrepid bearing of those men who followed Colonel Pepperel to the gates of Louisbourg, was the Anglo-Saxon of Amer- ica, partly indebted for the expulsion of the French from their strongholds in this Western Hemisphere, and to the still nobler conduct and glorious career of the " Father OF HIS COUNTRY," was he indebted for their expulsion from the valley of the Mississippi. While the Treaty of Aix-la- Chapelle commemorates the achievements of the one, 108 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY that of Fontainebleaii sheds glory and luster on the actions of the other. Their memories will forever be cherished in the hearts of their countrymen, and their images, like those of the warriors of old, will be placed in the vestibule of the domestic sanctuary, there to remain as memorials of the past, and as an encouragement for the future. CHAPTER X. YiKGiNiA was the country, whence emanated those ardent warriors and soldiers, whose brilliant achievements in the wilds of the West, cast such imperishable glory over the events of those days. From the Treat}^ of Aix- la-Chapelle to the peace of 1763, the western boundaries of Virginia extended to the domains of the vast Indian tribes, who wandered over all that tract of country hav- ing the mountains of the Alleghany for their eastern limits, and the boundless prairies to the West, whereon the white man trailed the footsteps of the Indian, in his efforts to secure Anglo-Saxon domination along the shores of the Ohio and the Mississippi. It was to the descend- ants of those men who emigrated from England, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, under the reign of Elizabeth, that we are indebted for those martial exploits which distinguished the campaign against the French in the war of 1755 : nor did they consider themselves en- gaged in a vain attempt to extend the power of England over the American wilderness ; they were even then actuated by too noble a spirit of independence to fight in any cause wherein a sense of right and justice did not impel them onward to military glory and success. Under the reign of James the First, and even during the stormy period of the Usurpation, the Virginian claimed the free- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 109 dom and independence of all men, but which was more particularly the birthright of Americans; and when Cromwell, under the imposing title of Protector of the Republic, sent a squadron of vessels-of-war to reduce the refractory Colonists, he was glad to accede to terms of capitulation, which were signed by the commissioners in Virginia on the 12th March, 1651, and were afterward ratified by Cromwell in England.* From the very first article of the capitulation, it will be observed, that if Virginia embarked in the cause of colonization in the West, it was not to aggrandize England, but to secure her own interest and happiness. It is as follows : " Virginia and its inhabitants shall be under the dependence of the Republic of England, not as a conquered country, but as one which surrenders itself voluntarily, and they shall enjoy the same privileges and franchises, as the free people of England." As early as the year 1717, the struggle commenced between the two most powerful antagonistic nations of Europe, for supremacy in America. In that year the English extended their claims to the northward, while the French coiitended for the whole tract of country to the west of the Alleghanian Mountains. It was not till 1751 that Fort Duquesne was built by M. de la Jonquiere, at the command of the Marquis du Quesne, then governor of Canada, t but long previously to that period they had erected a chain of trading-posts which answered all the purposes of military forts, on the lakes and rivers, with * Recherches sur les Etats Unis, pnblisTied in 1788, vol. 1, page 19, by M. Mazzei, who resided in Virginia, but afterward returned to France. t Journal of a tour into the territory northwest of the Alleghany Mountains, made in the spring of the year 1803, with a geographical and historical account of the State of Ohio, by Thaddeus Mason Harris. — Boston : 1805, page 40. 110 HISTOEY OF THE VALLEY a view, it is said, to monopolize the trade with the Indi« ans, and to resist all attempts of their rivals to appropri- ate any share of it to themselves. It was not then believed that France would lay claim, by right of discov- ery, to the countries bordering on the Mississippi and the Ohio; for the English, even on that ground, were deter- mined to make good the pretensions they had always maintained, perhaps without foundation, of a prior dis- covery by Wood, in 1651, and by Bolt, in 16Y0. How- ever that question might be settled, it was not a war of conquest, it was one of national pride and ambition, which was about being transplanted from the sanguinary fields of Europe to the American forests. It was a war in which the feelings of the English people had become acerbated by the assistance which the French had given to the "youthful Pretender" to the British crown, and by a long series of both military and naval combats, both by sea and by land. Gradually, but imperceptibly, the representatives of each of these European powers were encroaching on the domains of the savage ; the English, impelled by the love of adventure and the desire for colo- nization; and the French to restrain their competitors within the limits of that tract of country lying between the Alleghanies and the Atlantic. The desire to monop- olize the Indian trade has been ascribed, by most writers, as that which engrossed the attention of these contending parties; but there were other and deeper causes at work; it was the struggle for supremacy in the New World, after the armies of both nations had laid down their arms in the Old, in the consciousness of each having gained the victory. Yet, under the ostensible guise of trading with the Indians, and under the assumed right of prior discovery, the English were quietly gaining possession of the soil, and supplanting their opponents in the vaUey of OF THE MISSISSIPPI. Ill the Mississippi. It is said that in 1742 the country west of the mountains was visited by John Howard, of Vir- ginia, the first Englishman who had ever wandered beyond the great Appalachian chain. Conrad Weiser was afterward sent from Philadelphia with presents to the Indians at Logstown, an Indian village on the Ohio; this w^as in 1748, but the English claims rested upon rights which had been said to be acquired under the treaty with the Iroquois or Six Nations, at Albany, in the year 1684, and also on purchases made by the Virginians, at Lan- caster, in Pennsylvania, in 1744. Under this last treaty they had "recognized the king's right to all lands that are, or by his Majesty's appointment shall be, within the Colony of Virginia." It was about this time that the " Ohio Company " was formed, to which the king allowed the Colony of Virginia to grant a large extent of territory beyond the mountains. Other companies were formed about this period, all having in view the colonization of the West, and to which were granted thousands of acres of wild lands within the "Colony of Virginia." It will be remarked that these were not royal grants, but were local companies, organized by the Colonists, under the sanction of their legislature, and which were allowed by the king. The " Ohio Company " comprised among its members the name of George Washington, a name then but little known to fame, but which was afterward des- tined to become celebrated throughout the world. It will be remembered, that long before this period, the French had established trading-posts at Kaskaskia, Forts Crevecceur and St. Louis, and also at Vincennes and along the Wabash, but they had no military fort or any trading-post in those sections of the country whither the English were in the habit of resorting ; but in the year 1744, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, who was then Governor- 112 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY General of Canada, and Viceroy of New France, repre- sented to the French government the necessity of repel- ling the encroachments of the English, who wished to establish trading-posts among the Creeks. Yarions were the means employed by the French to resist these English aggressions, and while they were loath to resort to actual hostilities, they contented themselves by marking and defining the limits within which they contended the English should restrict themselves. In the Transactions of the American Antiquarian Society is mentioned the description of certain leaden plates, which were found at the mouth of the Muskingum, and on which were inscribed the claims of France to the territory in ques- tion, and bearing date in the month of August, 1749.* In that year the French began the work in earnest of exploring the Ohio, and ascertaining the limits and extent of the country, and the encroachments of their neighbors. The establishment of the Ohio Company with such a vast extent of territory, had incensed the Indian tribes against the English, and the French lost no opportunity to in- crease the animosity which the savages experienced on account of this large grant of land by the Virginia legislature. With the exception of the attack by the French and their Indian allies, on a blockhouse said to belong to the English on the Miami, in which the former were success- ful, and the visit of a few agents of the Ohio Company to their territories, nothing occurred of any importance between the years 1749 and 1753. It is pleasing, however, to refer to the events of that period, connected as they are with the earliest efibrts of our ancestors to repel the aggressions of a powerful mon- * It will be seen hereafter, that these plates were affixed by the orders of M. de Gallissoniere, Viceroy of Canada and New France. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 113 archical government in the wilds of the West. The old colonists of Yirginia, from whom were sprung many of those hardy pioneers who first ventured beyond the hab- itations of civilized man to locate themselves in those sections of the country now forming Ohio and Kentucky, were unassisted by the power or the arms of England to forward their pretensions and assert their claims. It was only after blood had been shed on the shores of the Mo- nongahela, and Washington had evacuated Fort Neces- sity, a name which he himself had given to the garrison, to mark the trying circumstances in which he was placed, that the British government thought fit to assist the Col- onists in their endeavors to eradicate French power in America. France was then in possession of Canada, and enjoyed an unrestricted intercourse w^ith the powerful Indian tribes along the lakes and the Mississippi ; her garrisons were filled with arms and ammunition, and her soldiers were brave and well-disciplined. She had first erected a fort at Presqu'ile or Erie, and was gradually making her way toward the shores of the Ohio, when it fell to the lot of our heroes and soldiers to leave their quiet homes on the banks of James river, to struggle for ascendency against one of the most powerful nations in Christendom, on the shores of the Monongahela and the Ohio. These events have cast a halo of glory over the name and early services of our Washington; but when they are associated with the trials and difficulties that hardy little band must have sustained in the depths of the forest, at a distance from their homes, their families and kindred, our admiration of their military achievements must neces- sarily yield to that of their ardent efibrts to promote the cause of Anglo-American civilization in the valley of the Mississippi. The imprisonment of English traders, 10 114 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY the confiscation of their property, and the cruelty of the Indian tribes toward them, were quite enough to make the few English who had then crossed the Alleghanies, dread the power and the resources of the French; but when to these were added the privations and distress that must have accompanied a march through the untracked wilderness, the gallant men who accompanied Wasiiing- ton in the ascent of the Alleghanies, have just claims to the title of heroes.* The French were not inactive. In 1753 they began to erect new forts, and to form new establishments, in the neighborhood of their rivals, particularly at Crown Point, Niagara, Kiviere de Bceufs,t and at the junction of the Monongahela and Alleghany rivers. These encroach- ments naturally excited the suspicions of the English, who made repeated remonstrances to the court of France without eifect. In the meantime their rivals were pro- gressing with the establishment of their forts, and rein- forcing their garrisons, in the prospect of a speedy rupture between the two nations. Orders were sent out in 1751: to the Governors of the American Provinces directing them to drive away the French by force of arms from their strongholds ; and it was in this year that Washing- ton, then appointed to the rank of colonel, was detached from Virginia, with a force of four hundred men, to erect * The road is very rugged and difficult over the mountains, and we were often led to comment on the arduous enterprise of tliose by whom it was cut. Obliged to make a pass for his army and wagons " through unfrequented woods and dangerous defiles, over mountains deemed im- passable," the toil and fatigue of his pioneers and soldiers must have been indescribably great. But it was here that the youtliful Washington gathered some of his earliest laurels. — See Gen. Braddock's letter to Sir T. Robinson, June 5lh, 1775. t This must have been the old Fort Lebceuf, two miles east from Small Lake, mentioned by Harris, p. 37. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. Jl5 military works on the banks of the Ohio. The events of this period have been detailed at length in every Amer- ican history, and the glorious achievements recorded in its annals, it will hardly be necessary to repeat. xVfter the capitulation at Fort Necessity, a truce seems appa- rently to have been effected ; but remonstrances did not cease to be poured in to the French government against the aggressions they were making in the neighborhood of the Alleghanies. It was, however, of temporary dura- tion ; and, while negotiations were going on, troops were sent by France to Canada and its western possessions, while General Braddock arrived with a considerable force from England. Thus commenced the "seven years' war" (although it was not formally declared until the following year), which was ostensibly begun to assert the rights of each nation to the possession of the territory icest of the mountains, but which was in fact a contest for supremacy throughout all the North American dominions. It began amidst the mountain-passes of the Alleghanies ; it ended on the Plains of Abraham. The struggle was of long duration, but it was effectual, and afforded a convincing proof of; the valor and prowess of English soldiers, and their su-^ periority over their French opponents. Nor in this trial at arms are we to obliterate the memory of the services which the ''old English colonists of America" rendered to their ancestors in their endeavors to destroy French domination in this country. How far they were repaid for those services, history has not failed to mention; and while the memory of their achievements will forever be fixed in the minds of their countrymen, it will be accompanied by the melancholy reflection that they after- ward met with nothing but contumely and insult from that very power, on whose behalf they were enlisted. 116 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY The course of time and the progress of events have wiped away many of those asperities, which formerly existed between the people of America and the mother-country, but neither the one nor the other can ever obliterate from the hearts of Americans the memory of those unrequited services, which their gallant ancestors rendered on behalf of England in the wild solitudes of the West. It was neither the "stamp act" nor the "tea duty" which aroused the sense of wrong at the hands of England among the American people — these may have been the proxi- mate causes ; but there were others, more remote, which served to increase that feeling of indignation at the evils they had endured from their hard taskmasters. The Colonists contracted a debt of ten millions to assist Eng- land in the war of 1754, and, if we may judge from the remonstrances of our ancestors, whose memorials were sent home to the British Parliament, they felt the ingrati- tude of England in withholding payment of this debt, and the recognition of the many brilliant exploits they had performed during that memorable period. Negotiations between the two governments had turned out fruitless, and General Braddock had taken command of all the military forces in the colonies. The events of this period are too intimately connected with the history of the West to be passed over in silence, and although they have been fi-equently recited, they lose nothing of their enduring interest. The following abstract is taken from the works of Mr. Sparks, in his Appendix to the Writings of Washington. It being the most authentic account of the memorable defeat, it is here inserted : General Braddock landed in Virginia on the 20th February, 1755, with two regiments of the British army, from Ireland, — the forty- fourth and forty-eighth, — ^each consisting of five hundred men, one of them commanded OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 117 by Sir Peter Halket, and the other by Colonel Dunbar. To these were joined a suitable chain of artillery, with military supplies and provisions. The General's first head-quarters were at Alexandria,* and the troops were stationed in that place and vicinity till they marched for Will's creek, where they arrived about the middle of May. It took four weeks to efiect that march. In letters written at Will's creek, General Braddock, with much severity of censure, complained of the lukewarmness of the Colonial governments and tardiness of the people in facilitating his enterprise, the dishonesty of agents, and the faithlessness of contractors. The forces which he brought together at Will's creek, however, amounted to somewhat more than two thousand effective men, of whom about one thousand belonged to the Royal regi- ments, and the remainder were furnished by the Colonies. In this number were embraced the fragments of two independent companies from New York, one of which was commanded by Captain Gates, afterward a Major- General of the Revolutionary war. Thirty sailors had also been granted for the expedition by Admiral Keppel, who commanded the squadron that brought over the two reo:iments. At this post the artillery were detained three weeks, nor could it then have moved, had it not been for the energetic personal services of Franklin, among the Penn- sylvania farmers, in procuring horses and wagons, to transport the artillery, provisions and baggage. The details of the march are well described in Colonel * At the commencement of the present century, Alexandria was a small town in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the Virginia line. It contained between fifty and sixty dwelling-houses, and had a large and decent house for public worship. It is sixteen miles north-east from Wheeling. 118 niSTOKY OF THE VALLEY Washington's letters. The army was separated into two divisions. Tlie advanced division, under General Brad- dock, consisted of twelve hundred men, beside officers. Ti»e other, under Colonel Dunbar, w^as left in the rear, to proceed by slower marches. On the eighth of July, the General arrived with h.is division, all in excellent health and spirits, at the junction of the Youghiogheny and Mo- nongahela rivers.* At this place, General Washington joined the advanced division, being but partially recovered from a severe attack of fever, wdiich had been the cause of his remaining behind. The officers and soldiers were now in the highest spirits, and firm in the conviction that they should, within a few hours, victoriously enter the walls of Fort Duquesne. The steep and rugged grounds on the north side of the Monongahela, prevented the army from marching in that direction, and it was necessary in approaching the fort, now about fifteen miles distant, to ford the river twice and march part of the way on the south side. Early on the morning of the 9th, all things were in readiness, and the whole train passed through the river, a little below the mouth of the Youghiogheny, and proceeded in perfect order along the southern margin of the Monongahela. f * * * In a geographical chart published in 1782, contained in Hilliard d' Auberteuil's work on America, tlie " Ville de la Reine," is placed at the junction of tliese two rivers, wliile Tlioinas Wightman, isj the cliart en- graved for Harris's Journal, published in 1805, places McKeesport at the junction, and Elizabethtown (Viile de la Reine of the French), a little lower down tlie river. In Wightman's chart. Turtle creek separates Braddock's field from the junction of the Youghiogheny with the Monon- gahela. Elizabethtown was called Alloquipas by the Indians. It is exceedingly difficult to verify the actual position of the array from the discrepancies existing in the charts of that day. — [Note by author of Hist. Val. Miss.] + On both of the charts before mentioned, " Conemack old town," called ** Conuemaugh," in Wightman's chart, was the nearest settlement OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 119 In this manner they marched forward till about noon, when they arrived at the second crossing place, ten miles from Fort Duquesne. They halted but a little time, and then began to ford the river and regain its northern bank. As soon as they had crossed, they came upon a level plain, elevated but a few feet above the surface of the river, and extending n rthward nearly half a mile from its margin. Then commenced a gradual descent at an angle of about three degrees, which terminated in hills of a considerable height at no great distance beyond. The road from the fording place to Fort Duquesne, led across the plain and up this ascent, and thence proceeded through an uneven country at that time covered with woods. By the order of march, a body of three hundred men, under Colonel Ga2;e, afterward General Gao-e, of Boston memory, made the advanced party, which was immediate- ly followed by another of two hundred. l^Qxt came the General with the columns of artillery, the main body of the army, and the baggage. At one o'clock the whole had passed the river, and almost at this moment, a sliarp firing was heard upon the advanced parties, who were now to the east. It was situated on the Kiskiminetas river, at the base of the Alleghar.ian range of mountains. This river ran between Mount Laurel and the Alleghanies. On the chart of 1782, there is no other settlement marked, w^ith the exception of Fort Ligonier, that must then have been in the possession of their enemies. Cannonsburg, to the west, is marked on Wightman's chart, but it was situated at a considerable distance from Braddock's field, and may have been settled long after the battle took place. Braddock's field is at the head of Turtle creek, seven miles from Pittsburgh. Here that brave but unfortunate General engaged a party of French and Indians, was repulsed, himself mortally wounded, and his army put to flight, July 9th, 1755. This is anticipating the order of events, but it is necessary for the correct understanding of the text. The geography of that part of the "West is interesting, as being the scenes of the first deeds of arms performed by Americans, and is worthy of attention. — [Note by author of Hist. Val. Miss.] 120 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY ascending the hill, and had got forward about a hundred yards from the termination of the plain. A heavy dis- charge of musketry was poured in upon their front, which was the first intelligence they had of the proximity of an enemy, and this w^as suddenly followed by another on their right flank. They w^ere filled with great consterna- tion, as no enemy w^as in sight, and the firing seemed to proceed from an invisible foe. They fired in their turn, howx^ver, but quite at random, and obviously without efiect, as the enemy kept up a discharge in quick contin- ued succession. The General advanced speedily to the relief of these detachments ; but before he could reach the spot which they occupied, they gave way and fell back upon the artillery and the other columns of the army, causing ex- treme confusion, and striking the whole mass w4th such a panic, that no order could afterward be restored. The General and the officers behaved with the utmost courage, and used every effort to rally the men and bring them to order, but all in vain. In this state they continued nearly three hours, huddling together in confused bodies ; firing irregularly ; shooting dowm their own officers and men, and doing no perceptible harm to the enemy. The Virginia provincials were the only troops who seemed to retain their senses, and they behaved with a bravery and resolution worthy of a better fate. They adopted the Indian mode, and fought each man for himself behind a tree. This was prohibited by the General, who endeav- ored to form his men into platoons and columns, as if they had been maneuvering on the plains of Flanders. Meantime, the French and Indians, concealed in the ravines and behind trees, kept up a deadly and unceasing discharge of musketry, singling out their objects, taking deliberate aim, and producing a carnage almost unparal- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 121 leled in the annals of modern warfare. More than half of the whole army which had crossed the river in so proud an array only three hours before, were killed or wounded ;* the General himself had received a mortal wound, and many of his best officers had fallen by his side. When the battle was over, and the remnant of Brad- dock's army had gained in their flight the opposite bank of the river. Col. Washington was dispatched by the General, to meet Col. Dunbar and order forward wagons for the wounded with all possible speed. But it w^as not till the 11th, after they had reached Gist's plantation with great difficulty, and much suffering from hunger, that any arrived. The General was at first brought off in a tumbril ; he was next put on horseback, but being unable to ride, was obliged to be carried by the soldiers. The}^ all reached Dunbar's camp, to which the panic had already extended, and a day was passed there in great confusion. The artillery was destroyed, and the public stores, and heavy baggage were burnt, by whose order was never known. They moved forward on the 13th, and that night General Braddock died, and was buried in the road, for the purpose of concealing his body from the Indians. The spot is still pointed out, within a few yards of the present National Koad, and about a mile west of the site of Fort Necessit}^ at the Great Meadows. Captain Stewart of the Virginia forces had taken particu- lar charge of him from the time he was wounded till his death. On the 17th the sick and wounded arrived at Fort Cumberland and were soon after joined by Colonel Dunbar with the remaining fragments of the army. * Pouchot, a French writer, in his memoirs of the wars, says that many were drowned in the Monongahela. 11 122 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY The French sent out a party as far as Dunbar's camp, and destroyed everything that was left. Col. Washing- ton, being in very feeble health, proceeded in a few days to Mount Yernon. Such is Mr. Sparks's account of the " memorable de- feat;" he gives the French version of the battle and the substance of a letter, which Colonel Orme wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania, detailing at length the mili- tary movements. From the many descriptions of this eventful battle, which fill the pages of American history, all agreeing in the main facts, but difiering perhaps in the details, it is evident that Braddock was unfit for the exigencies of the scenes in which he was engaged. Fresh from the battle-fields of Europe, his military skill was of no ac- count in carrying on war against predatory tribes in the forest, and maneuvering in platoons and columns, was of no avail against the fierce savage, bent on revenge, and relying on all the arts of deceit and stratagem to gain the vantage ground over his enemy. Military men in Europe and America, blamed Braddock for not having sent out scouts to reconnoiter the position of the enemy, and even Colonel Washington reproached him for having refused the services of some Indian guides, who volun- teered to perform this duty. This ofiicer, ever foremost, wherever danger was to be faced, was placed in a subal- tern's position in this campaign, and the Virginia provin- cials were obliged to hold subordinate offices to those in the regular army. This may have been the true cause of this disastrous defeat, but whatever it may be, the deeds of the American soldiers were conspicuous through- out this first contest between the troops of England and France, in America. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 123 CHAFTEK XL In the year 1756, war was formally declared between these two great powers of Europe. England having formed an alliance with her old ally, Prussia, and France with Austria, Russia and Sweden. The seven years' war was carried on in Europe, as in America, with great acerbity of feeling on both sides. France attacked and conquered Flanover, but her successes were of short du- ration, and in the battle of Minden, and by land and by sea, the flag that had "braved the battle and the breeze" for a thousand years, was again triumphant, and floated victoriously over many a hard fought ground, whereon the soldiers of Europe were arrayed in deadly conflict against each other. Lord Clive was very successful in the East Indies; and in America, the gallant deeds of Wolfe and his brave companions in arms drew down the plaudits of the world. This period might be considered as the golden era in English history, and there were men at the head of aflfairs, who were quite equal to the emer- gencies of the times in which they lived. There was Mr. Pitt, afterward Lord Chatham, there were Sir Robert "Walpole, Mr. Pelham, Sir William Pulteney, and the Duke of New Castle, all men in whose hands the des- tinies of England were safe during this trying conflict. In 1758, the invading American army against Fort Du- quesne, was placed under the charge of General Forbes, who arrived within one day's march of the fort, on the 24th of November of that year. On the fourteenth of Sep- tember, Major Grant, who had been detached in advance from Loyal-hanna with eight hundred men, was sur- rounded by the enemy on the hill, which has since borne his name, and lost above three hundred men killed or 124 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY taken prisoners ; and he himself shared the latter fate.* General Forbes, however, undismayed by this disaster, pressed forward, and having on the 24:th November, 1758, arrived within one day's march of Fort Duquesne, the French having set fire to the fort, abandoned it and de- scended by the Ohio, to their post on the Mississippi. On the next day General Forbes took possession of the abandoned fort, having hastily repaired the fortifications and garrisoned them with fom' hundred and fifty men, principally provincials from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Yirginia, under Col. Mercer. The General marched the rest of the troops to Lancaster, Reading, and Philadel- phia. From that time, the fort at the forks of the Ohio, was called Fort Pitt.f Washington was not with Forbes at the Falls of Fort Duquesne. He had been detached by the general to proceed w^ith the advance in opening the road from Raystown to Loyal-hanna, and he advanced by slow marches through Chestnut Ridge, wdiich laid between Laurel Hill and the river, and arrived at Fort Duquesne some time after it had been abandoned by the French. Loyal-hanna was the name of a small creek which en- tered the Connemaugh or Kiskiminetas river, lying to the east of Pittsburgh. It is situated not very far from the celebrated Braddock's Field, as marked on the maps of that period. The gallant defense of Lewis and Bullit, at the head of the Yirginia Guards, who engaged in a fierce combat with tlie Indians, drew down the commendations of Forbes on Colonel Washington, who had trained and * American Pioneer, Vol. I, p. 303. A Brief Sketch of the History of Pittsburgh. t In the July number of the American Pioneer, published in Cincin- nati, in 1842, Vol. I, p. 234, there is a wood engraving of Fort Duquesne, afterward Fort Pitt. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 125 disciplined these gallant officers of the American army. The details of this defense, and Washington's successful march through Chestnut Ridge, must be passed over with- out further notice ; but it may be said that the high military qualifications displayed by the latter during this eventful campaign, were such as to entitle him to the highest honors in the service of his country. While the French are retreating toward the Mississippi, where, in the course of our historical narrative, we shall soon follow them, we may as well take a glance at the state of affairs in other parts of America. Boscawen had again reduced Louisburg, and the brave and intrepid Montcalm had fallen before British bayonets on the heights of Quebec. In the preceding pages we have assigned what were, in our opinion, the causes of the overthrow of French authority in America ; for France never recovered from the complete triumph of the English on the memorable battle-fields of this Continent. With the last expiring throe of the brave Montcalm, whose heart bled on the hills of Cape Diamond for God and his country, there was the final termination of the best hopes of France's illustrious statesmen for the perpetuation of their domina- tion in the West. Their vast and comprehensive schemes of Colonial policy, to erect a chain of forts which was to extend from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, fell to the ground in the same fall which crushed some of her noblest and most valiant spirits. Half a century had elapsed since the death of Montcalm before France ceased to be represented in the West and South-West, but she never recovered from the blow which she received on that glorious field of battle, and it is questionable, had she retained her sovereignty on the St. Lawrence, whether she would have been inclined to release it on the shores 126 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. By the arts of war and diplomacy she lost every foothold she had once enjoyed in the Western World, and, as she receded, the footprints of American pioneers were observable in the forest, carrying with them among countless tribes the blessings of civilization and good government. In the order of events, we have now to direct our atten- tion to what was occurring on the banks of the Missis- sippi. Hither the French resorted after their discomfiture at Fort Duquesne. Along the shores of Lake Superior and Michigan there had been settlements for a consider- able period. Having before traced the footsteps of these Colonists up to the passing of the treaty of Aix-la-Cha- pelle, in 1749, we may mention that, in the following year (1750), Sieur Augustin de Langlade became the principal proprietor of the post at Green Bay (Wiscon- sin), and his descendants are there at the present day.* He was a man of education and character ; and the pure idiom of his native tongue, and the polished manners brought hither from the French court, have been trans- mitted uncorrupted to the generations which have suc- ceeded him. His son, Charles de Langlade, a native of the country, bore a conspicuous part in the French war ; and we find him acting in the capacity of lieutenant, afterward of captain, under the orders of the Marquis de Yaudreuil, at Mackinac, St. Joseph, and at Duquesne. He also was a man of great energy, active and persever- ing in enterprises, and possessed in a high degree the confidence of the king and government. In the year 1760 he was commissioned by Louis the Fifteenth, and * Address delivered before the State Historical Society of "Wisconsin, at Madison, January 21st, 1B51, by M. L. Martin, Esquire. Published at Green Bay, by Robinson & Brother, Printers, OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 127 was appointed the second in command at Michilimacki- nac, at which place he still remained on the 4:th June, 1763, when the Indians surprised and massacred the troops stationed at that post.* The distinction thus con- ferred upon the younger Langdale is evidence of his gentle birth ; for not until the innovations upon ancient customs, introduced by Napoleon, were officers taken, without regard to lineage, from the common people. In 1760 the Marquis de Yaudreuil surrendered Montreal to a superior force, under General Amherst, and the Eng- lish had thus become masters of Canada. Major Eth- rington soon afterward took possession of Fort Mackinac and its dependencies; and in April, 1763, we find him giving authority to the Messrs. Langlade to take up their permanent residence at Green Bay. In 1782 Lieu- tenant-Governor Sinclair repeats the permission in favor of the widow Langlade, senior ; and thus the infant set- tlement of Wisconsin, which had been commenced and continued under French auspices, was sanctioned and encouraged under the more vigorous and equally arbitrary rule of the British crown. There were other settlements at an early period in that young and flourishing State. Prairie du Chien dates its rise from the middle of the eighteenth century ; and the other settlements mentioned in the preceding pages in- creased in population and wealth, Minnesota also, that young and flourishing Territory, can refer to this period when the adventurous hunter wandered over its fertile fields in the labors of the chase, or other pursuits. The gallant Le Seur, a brave, enterprising, and truthful spirit, explored in the year 1700 the sky-col- ored water of the St. Peter's to its blue-earth tributaiy, * Henry's Narrative. 128 HISTORY OF THE YALLEY and in the vicinity of his log fort, L'Huillier, on the banks of the Mahnl^aJito^ first broke the virgin soil of Minnesota with the spade and pickax, in delving for cop- per ore, tons of which, or a green earth supposed to be the ore of that metal, he conveyed to France. He it was also, who appears to have been the first white man or trader who supplied the Sioux and loways with fire-arms and other products of civilized labor; and to his truthful and generally accurate journal are we indebted for the best statistics of the early history of the Dahcota race, which then, fully a century and a half ago, as now, occupied the greater portion of that territory. Captain Jonathan Carver * also claimed a settlement in Minnesota, under a pretended gift from the Indians, and still later and within the present century, Cass and Schoolcraft, Nicolet and Fremont, Long and Keating, have visited and explored that country, and are justly regarded as among the earliest pioneers in promoting its settlement. Before we proceed with the task of tracing the footsteps of the early Colonists on the shores of the Mississippi, it will be necessary, for the clear elucidation of the subject, to become acquainted with the articles of the treaty of Fontainebleau (ratified at Paris, the following year), 1763. By this treaty, which was effected on the 16th of Feb- ruary of that year, England, beside being the undisputed possessor of the Colonies on the Atlantic, acquired the Canadas and Louisiana, lying east of the Mississippi, except the town of New Orleans and its territory. * Carver's travels, published at the end of the last century. He set out from Boston in June, 1766, and traveled through Wisconsin and Minne- sota. OP THE MISSISSIPPI. 129 This latter portion of country, claimed by the State of Virginia as her territory was, after the American Revo- lution, ceded by her to the United States, under the name of the North -Western Territory. In consideration of the restoration of Havana and the greater part of the Island of Cuba, which had been con- quered by the British, England by the same treaty ac- quired the Floridas from Spain. By a secret treaty of the same date, the country lying west of the Mississippi, and which was then designated by the general appellation of Louisiana, was ceded by France to Spain.* It will be seen, hereafter, that this treaty, vague and ambiguous in its terms, gave rise to constant collisions between the subjects of the European governments, and was the source of almost endless discussions between the authorities of our own government and Spain ; for, by the treaty of 17S3, Great Britain ceded East Florida and guaranteed West Florida to the crown of Spain. In the phraseology of diplomatists, nothing could have been left more uncertain than the limits assigned by the treaty of 1762. The right of navigating the Mississippi was for a long time a disputed point between England and Spain, and the space of twelve years was consumed in negotiations upon that and other subjects of boundary. It appears strange, that in the furthest recesses of the forest, where the settlements originated out of that spirit of enterprise and industry which animated the bosoms of the early pioneers, that their interests should have been so seriously * The terms of this secret treaty have never been made known. On the third day of the preceding November, France ceded to Spain all her ter- ritories on the "West side of that river, including the Island and town of New Orleans, which cession was accepted by the latter power on the 13th of the same month. 130 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY affected by the wily intrigues of skillful diplomatists ; but so it was; and we have seen, that even in the case of Langlade, the English government had to grant permis- sion to the subject of a foreign government to take up his abode on the shores of Lake Superior. The right of occupation, acquired after long years of toil and hardship, was by them considered subordinate to that which had been gained in war and on the battle-field. Have we not reason to be thankful for the enlightened spirit and policy of our own free institutions, which guaranteed to the stranger as well as to the native, the protection of our laws and government ? Yet such was the policy pursued by European governments in many periods of their political existence, that aliens were not allowed to abide in the country without the special permission of the crown. Such, however, does not appear to have been the case, under the cession of Louisiana to Spain. It will be re- membered that this secret treaty was not the result of any warlike operations between the two governments, and thus the Catholic inhabitants of Louisiana seemed to be the objects of the especial care and solicitude of the French monarch. In a letter signed by the French king, dated April 21st, 1764, addressed to M. D'Abbadie, Director-General and Commandant of Louisiana, he informed him of the treaty of cession, and directed him to give up to the ofiicers of Spain the country and Colony of Louisiana, together with the city of New Orleans, and all the military posts. He expressed a desire for the prosperity and peace of the inhabitants of the Colony, and his confidence in the affec- tion and friendship of the king of Spain. He at the same time declared his expectation that the ecclesiastics and religious bodies who had the care of the parishes and missions would continue to exercise their functions ; that OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 131 the Superior Council and ordinary judges would continue to administer justice according to the laws, forms, and usages of the Colony ; that the inhabitants would be maintained and preserved in their estates, which had been granted to them by the governors and directors of the Colony; and, that finally, all these grants, though not confirmed by the French authorities, would be con- firmed by his Catholic Majesty. Although this letter was dated in April 1764, it was not until the year 1768, that Spain exercised any perma- nent jurisdiction over the territory thus acquired by her. In the year 1766 Don Ulloa arrived with a detachment of Spanish troops, and demanded possession of M. Aubry, who succeeded D'Abbadie, who was deceased. Tliis functionary, aided by the people, opposed the de- signs of Spain. They complained, that a transfer with- out their consent was unjust, and in a moment of irrita- tion resorted to their arms, and obliged the Spaniards to measure back their steps to the Havana.* CHAPTER XII. Things remained in this situation till the 17th of Aug., 1769, when O Keilly arrived and took peaceable posses- sion of the Colony. He immediately selected twelve of the most distinguished leaders of the opposition, as the victims of resentment. Six of them were devoted to the halter to gratify the malice of arbitrary power, and to strike terror into the malcontents. The other six deemed less guilty, and surely they were much less fortunate, w&vQ doomed to the dungeons of Cuba. This scene of * Stoddard's Historical Sketches. 132 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY blood and outrage made a deep impression of horror on the minds of the people and will never be for- gotten. In 1770, the Spanish authorities were established in Upper Louisiana, where some small settlements were made four years before, under the direction of their French Predecessors. One of these settlements, now the flourishing city of St. Louis, deserves more than a passing notice. Situated near the confluence of three of the principal rivers of the West, with a tract of country unparalleled in mineral and agricultural resources, it bids fair to outrun all its com- petitors west of the mountains, in its march onward to wealth and affluence. Whenever the great channels of trade are thrown open, by means of the internal improve- ments, now contemplated, tliere will be no location equal to St. Louis, as a mart for the commerce of the Eastern and Western Hemisphere. All will here be concen- trated, as the focus, from whence will diverge new channels of trade, which will be daily opening up in every part of the great west. The History, therefore, of the rise and progress of that city, associated as it is, with the different changes of government at the period of which we are speaking, can- not be devoid of interest, and it has been so well stated in the various addresses, that were delivered at a celebra- tion of the anniversary of the founding of St. Louis, that it is appropriate to insert it here. Fort de Chartres, one of the chain of military posts, established by France upon the line of her frontier, was surrendered to the English as early as the year 1765, some two years after the treaty, and some seventeen months after the foundation of St Louis. In the meantime, and until 1768, the Province of Loui- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 133 siana, which really belonged to Spain, remained under French laws and French jurisdiction. Fort de Chartres, established in the American bottom, a short distance above Kaskaskia was garrisoned by French troops, and had become to the Province of Upper Louisiana a nucleus around which, under the protection of the French Government, numerous villages and settle- ments on both sides of the Mississippi, had sprung into existence. St. Ange de Belle Rive was the French commander at Fort de Chartres and surrendered it to Captain Stirling, who had been appointed to take possession of it. This transfer of possession from the French to the English control was not pleasant to a race of men whose tastes, habits, religion, and feelings were so much at war with those of their new masters ; and it is not a matter of surprise, that the descendants of those who battled against the British Crown, in many a well-fought field, should leave their altars and firesides, and seek as they did, upon the western side of the river, an abiding-place, where naught should recall to their minds the idea of subjection to a national, if not a natural foe. It was during this state of the political and social aspect of the country, and while France was de facto governing the Province of Louisiana, that the first move- ment was made, which resulted in the establishment of St. Louis. In 1762, M. D'Abbadie was Director-General, and Civil and Military Commander of the Province of Louisiana, under the French Government. Invested with powers of almost a vice-regal character, he had control in Louisiana of all that pertained to governmental functions. The upper portion of Louisiana was but little known, its vast resources were unexplored ; but to enterprising men, there 134 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY was enough known to warrant an undertaking, such as the founder of St. Louis originated. The lead trade, which was mostly concentrated at Sainte Genevieve, and the commerce in oils, and peltries, which was in a measure monopolized by the neighboring small settlements and villages, still left abundant room for the development of the resources and capabilities of the upper Missouri and Mississippi rivers, and the countries bordering upon them. The attempt to control the resources of a region so vast and unexplored certainly required a sagacity of mind, and an enduring firmness of purpose, which im- pelled a Columbus to the discovery of a new Continent, and to have prompted such men as Cartier, La Salle, and Hennepin, to the dangerous tasks, which they undertook, and carried out with such daring. In Pierre Ligueste Laclede was found a combination of the qualities which were required for such an under- taking. It was in view of the productive capacities and the resources of Occidental Louisiana, or rather of the Illinois, as this region was then called, that Laclede ob- tained from M.D'Abbadie,in behalf of himself and others, the exclusive privilege and the necessary powers to trade with the Indians of the Missouri, and those west of the Mississippi above the Missouri, as far north as the river St. Peters. The charter may have been granted by M. D'Abbadie more from motives of governmental policy than from motives of personal kindness and friendship. The exten- sion of settlements in Upper Louisiana would ensure an enlargement of French commerce and power, and would strengthen a claim to the exclusive right of navigating the Mississippi, which was even then entertained, and which, at a subsequent period, became a subject of such OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 135 protracted and unpleasant negotiation between the Amer- ican States and Spain. The extent of the powers granted by this charter can not now perhaps be ascertained with precision, as no record, or even tradition of the same exists beyond what has already been said. But in consequence of the powers with which he w^as invested, Laclede formed an expedi- tion, at the head of which he was placed, and started from New Orleans on the third day of August, 1763, for the purpose of carrying into effect the powers which had been granted to him. On the third day of November, of the same year, three months after his departure from New Orleans, he reached Ste. Genevieve, then a town of some note, but finding no place suitable for the storage of his goods, and being still too far from the Missouri river, a proximity to which was an object of primary importance to him, he pro- ceeded on to Fort de Chartres. This place was still in the possession of the French troops, — the knowledge of the transfer to England being as yet unknown. From thence Laclede, in pursuance of the objects which he had in view", proceeded toward the Missouri river in search of a suitable location, and, having fixed upon the site w^here St. Louis now stands, he returned to the fort. In the beginning of February, 1761:, Laclede left Fort de Chartres for his point of destination, taking with him the men whom he had brought from New Orleans, a few from Ste. Genevieve, and some from the fort and its neighborhood. On his route, passing through the town of Cahokia, — then called "Notre Dame de Kahokias," — • he engaged several families to go with him to his pro- posed establishment. On the 15th February, 1764, Laclede and his party landed at the spot now occupied by St. Louis, and pro- 136 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY ceeded to cut down trees and draw the lines of a town, which he named St. Louis, in honor of Louis the Fif- teenth, of France; a town which subsequently became the capital of Upper Louisiana, and which is now the commercial capital of Missouri. In the year 1Y65 the Fort de Chartres was abandoned by the French troops, ostensibly because of the unhealthi- ness of its position, but really because of its surrender to Capt. Stirling, under the provisions of the treaty of 1763. M. St. Ange de Belle Rive, the French commander of that fort, upon the surrender, removed with his officers and troops to St. Louis, on the 17th July, 1765 ; and, from that time henceforth, the new establishment was considered as the capital of Upper Louisiana. Immediately upon his arrival, St. Ange assumed the reins of government. Whence he derived his authority is unknown ; for M. D'Abbadie about that time had died, and his functions were exercised by M. Aubry, at Kew Orleans. The inhabitants of St. Louis submitted to his authority without murmur, for they had always been accustomed to the mild and liberal policy of the French power ; and even then, perhaps, the secret of their transfer to Spain had been studiously concealed from them. In the meantime, however, the fact of the cession of Louisiana (not the terms of the cession) had been made known at l!^ew Orleans. In 1766, while great dissatis- faction then prevailed, the captain-general, Don Antonio D'Ulloa, with Spanish troops, arrived there, and de- manded possession in the name of Spain. This was refused ; and the people of New Orleans, indignant at a proceeding which had transferred them from hand to hand, like merchandise, drove back D'Ulloa from their shores. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 137 In this state of quasi revolt the population of Lower Louisiana remained clinging to their loved government of France until the arrival of Count O'Eeilly, in 1769. The inhabitants of Upper Louisiana, fewer in numbers, and incapable of such resistance as had been manifested by their southern brethren, were compelled to submit to Spanish authority. Accordingly we find that, on the 11th August, 1768, M. Eious, a Spanish officer, with Spanish troops, — perhaps the very same that had been driven from New Orleans, — arrived at St. Louis, and took possession of Upper Louisiana in the name of his Catholic Majesty. It would seem that the authority of Rious did not ex- tend beyond the mere act of taking possession, for there is no record extant of the exercise of any civil authority on his part ; on the contrary, we find from the archives that St. Ange continued until the beginning of 1770 to perform official functions. Contenting himself with the performance of a mere possessory act, Rious, with his troops, on the 17th July, 1769, evacuated Upper Louisiana, and returned to New Orleans, doubtless to aid O'Reilly in the occupation of the lower portion of the Province. The transfer from France to Spain, under the treaty of cession having been thus completely effected, O'Reilly immediately established laws for the regulation of the whole Province ; and in his capacity of Governor and Intendant-General, he deputed Don Pedro Piernas to be Lieutenant-Governor and Civil and Military Commandant of Upper Louisiana. On the 29th of November, 1770, Piernas arrived at St. Louis; but it does not appear from any record or other evidence, that he entered into the exercise of his functions till the month of February following. 12 138 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY The inhabitants were soon reconciled to the change of dominion, ibr Piernas tempered all his official acts with a spirit of mildness, which characterized the course of nearly all his successors. Such measures were indeed imperatively required toward men who had come with ill- humor under the Spanish power, and who would not otherwise have hesitated to follow the example before set by their brethren at New Orleans. The policy thus pursued, brought about the strongest attachment to Spain. Settlements were formed along the Missouri and Mis- sissippi rivers ; and as early as 1767, Vide PocJie^ after- ward called Carondelet, in honor of the Baron de Caron- delet, was founded by Delor de Tregette. In 1776, Florissant^ afterward called St. Ferdinand, in honor of the king of Spain, was founded by Beaurosier Dunegant ; and in 1769, '^ Les petites cotes^^ now St, Charles, was established by Blanchette Chasseur ; and numerous other small settlements sprang up on the borders of the two rivers above named, and in the interior of the country. Piernas was succeeded in his office of Lieutenant-Gov- ernor by Don Francisco Cruzat, in 1775, and he in his turn was supplanted by Don Fernando de Leyba, in the year 1778. Barbe Marbols, in his history of Louisiana, published in Paris, in 1829,* gives rather a different version of the proceedings of the Spanish authorities before New Or- leans, but the foregoing account contains the leading events bearing on the change of government in Upper Louisiana. * Barbe Marbois published two works on the history of the Spanish possessions in America, one in 1790, and the other in 1829 ; but this may have been later than its actual publication. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 139 The history of the secret treaty between France and Spain has never been made known, but a view of the antecedent circumstances may throw some light on the subject. Ever since 1758, France had sustained nothing but reverses ; her army and navy were beaten in almost every part of the world. Her treasury being empty, and all negotiations with England having failed, the Duke de Choiseul, who had just been named Minister of War, but who really exercised the powers of Prime Minister in France, drew Spain into the war by the treaty of 1761, which was known under the name of the "Family Com- pact." E^otw^ithstanding this alliance, the combined armies sustained nothing but defeat. Spain lost Cuba, the Manillas, twelve vessels of the line, and an almost incredible amount of money and property, seized on the ocean by frigates and privateers. As for France, she had lost almost all her Colonies, and had gained nothing in Europe. Thanks to the mediation of Sardinia and the pacific disposition of Lord Bute, who had succeeded Mr. Pitt in the administration of the government, and perhaps to the threatening attitude of France and Spain against Portugal, England's old ally, the peace of Fon- tainebleau was concluded. It was just, that France, that had entrained Spain into the expense of an alliance with her, should indemnify her by the cession of Louisiana. This grant w^as, it is true, repulsive to the feelings of the people of that Col- ony, so much so that Barbe Marbois says, that D'Abba- die, the French governor, died with grief, when he was requested by Louis Fifteenth to notify the surrender to the people. At the outset of the Spanish government in Louisiana they had more reason to dread their change of allegiance; for O'Peilly, the Spanish governor, commit- ted an act of perfidy and treachery unparalleled in the 140 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY annals of colonial government. He convoked twelve deputies of the people to establish a code of laws. These delegates assembled at his own house, and waited for him to commence their deliberations. In a moment the doors were thrown open, and O'Reilly appeared at the head of a troop of soldiers, who seized hold of the deputies, load- ed them with chains, and threw them into dungeons. As is before stated, six of them were shot by the orders of this cruel and sanguinary governor, and the others were immured within the walls of a Cuban prison. The French Attorney-General, named Lafreniere, was one of these victims; he encouraged his fellow-countrymen to die with firmness, and when the soldiers presented their arms at him, requested his friend Noyau to send his scarf to his wife to be given to his son, when he should attain the age of twenty years. This tragical event occurred at the commencement of the Spanish government in the West : it was well for Spain that the mildness and concili- ation which were afterward manifested by her officers wiped away the memory of this atrocious transaction, and caused the old French Colonists of America to become reconciled to the change of government. France, says Sismondi,* never concluded a more humil- iating peace than that which was effected at Paris to terminate the " seven years' war." The value of the terri- tories which she ceded, was then comparatively nothing to what it is at the present day. Notwithstanding her disasters, the French people lost nothing of their usual gayety and versatility of humor, and one of their writers, Bachaumont^ says, their defeat afforded subjects for poets, and amusements for theaters. If she lost in mili- tary warfare, she gained in literary glory — it was the age * Sismondi, Histoire des Francais, 18 vol. 8vo. Paris, 1821, 1834. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 141 of Mirabean, and Jean Jacques Rousseau, and a host of efiulgent luminaries that lighted up her literary hem- isphere. We have dwelt at length on the events which were transpiring on the shores of the Mississippi ; for it falls within the province of the historian, to detail those par- ticularly which had an important bearing on the change of policy and government in the West. Matters of mere local or sectional interest, and the early advances of our hardy pioneers in the wilderness (although of surpassing interest), can only be casually glanced at, leaving to other writers the task of doing full justice to that noble class of men, who first ventured their lives and fortunes amono: the savages and wild beasts of the forests, engaged in pushing forward that civilization, the fruits of which we now see and enjoy. After the peace, the Indian tribes assembled and at- tacked the forts from Lake Michigan to the Ohio. The English had but a weak foothold in the country, but under the admirable plan of action pursued by Colonel Bouquet and the troops under his command, he relieved the Forts Detroit, Niagara, and Fort Pitt, and concluded a treaty w^ith these hostile Indian tribes. Here it will be necessary to give an account of the cele- brated confederation of the Indian tribes throughout the whole western portion of this Continent. The French had hardly lost their sovereignty in Amer- ica, when these barbarous nations felt the force of the observation, which they had repeatedly heard from them, that they would lose their political influence and inde- pendence, the moment one European nation only, had exclusive dominion in the New World. As long as the French remained in the country under the rule of their leaders, they lost no opportunity to cultivate the most 142 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY friendly relations with the Indian tribes ; but the moment they lost their sovereignty, they availed themselves of the services of their former Indian allies, to satisfy that re- vengeful spirit which they manifested against their conquerors. To this cause is to be attributed the sudden rising of the Indian nations from the shores of Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. Pontiac, a name which will be forever memorable in the annals of Indian war- fare, and which was dreaded as much by hostile Indian tribes, as by Europeans, formed an alliance between the Hurons, the Ottawas, the Chippewas, and the Pota- watomies to the North, and the Shawnees, the Sakies, and the Cherokees and other Indian tribes to the South, forming perhaps the most powerful combination which had ever been formed to extirpate the whites and drive them out of the country. Noble, bold, and experienced in the peculiar mode of warfare adopted by his country- men, this Ottawa chief performed the most brilliant exploits, and gained the most decisive victories. He carried Fort Michilimackinac by surprise, and massacred the garrison ; he marched against Pittsburgh and Detroit, where he proposed to establish his headquarters, and to form a nucleus for a powerful Indian confederation. Eight English forts fell into the hands of this barba- rian, who ravaged the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and destroyed a detachment of troops in the neighborhood of Niagara. But the project which he formed was too vast for the forces under his command to accomplish. After having sustained several defeats, he was obliged to make peace with those troops whose hostil- ity he had provoked. This Indian chief had a bitter and hostile feeling against England in particular, and he lost no opportunity to vent it. In a council which was about being held among the Hurons, Pontiac was inveighing in OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 143 the most declamatory terms against that power, when it is said he was assassinated by an Indian who had been bribed by the Government to do the deed. When the hostilities began between the Colonies and the mother comitry, Shegenaba, Pontiac's son, appeared before the Virginia deputies, and made a speech which equaled, if it did not surpass, Logan's celebrated address, mentioned by Jefierson. In his youth, he had been the means of saving from destruction, a young Virginian of the name of Field, who had wandered in the woods, and whom he protected and gave shelter in his own rude cabin. Hamilton, the Governor of Detroit, had attempted to dissuade him from going within the American borders ; he tried to excite his apprehension that he would be mur- dered by the Virginians, but Shegenaba, now elevated to the rank of his father, persisted in his determination of visiting his neighbors. He was kindly received, and presented with a gun and other marks of their attention. From the reply which he made before the Virginia council, there is the best proof of the perfidy of Hamilton and his desire to sow the seeds of discord between the Indians and the Americans. He said, — '" Fathers, after the insinuations of the com- mandant of Detroit, I accepted your invitation with distrust, and measured my route with trembling feet toward this ' Council of Fire.' * Your reception proves his falsehood, and that my fears were groundless. Truth and him have been a long time enemies. My father, and many of my chiefs, have lately tasted the bitterness of death. The memory of this misfortune almost de- stroys my quality of man, in filling my eyes with tears. * An enigmatic expression to show that he had come to light the calumet of peace. 144: HISTORY OF THE VALLEY Your sensible compassion has relieved mj heart of this heavy burden, and the remembrance will be transmitted to my remotest posterity. Fathers : I rejoice at what I have just now heard, and I assure you that I shall faithfully relate it to my nation. K, for the future, you wish to speak with me, I shall retm-n with pleasure ; and I thank you for your present invitation. The particular friend- ship which you express toward me, and the gun w^hich you have given me, for the care I took of your young brother, Field, exact my most heartfelt gratitude. I feel that I did nothing but my duty. He who simply does his duty merits no praise. If any one of your nation should visit mine, either from curiosity or on business, or should be involuntarily thrust among us by the strong hand of the conqueror, he will meet with the same recep- tion which your brother received. You have assured me that, if my nation should visit yours, they will be wel- come. My fears have ceased. I have now no longer any doubts. I will recommend our young men to visit yours, and to make their acquaintance. Fathers: What has passed this day is too profoundly engraved on my heart for time ever to efface it. I predict that the sun's rays of this day of peace will warm the children of our chil- dren, and will protect them against the tempests of mis- fortune. As a guaranty of what I say, I present you my right hand: this hand which has never been given with- out the heart consented, which has never shed human blood in peace, nor spared an enemy in w^ar; and I assure you of my friendship with a tongue which has never jested with truth since I have been of that age to know that falsehood is a crime." * * Recherches Historiques, par un Citoyen de Virginie Colle. 4 vols. 1788. Vol. IV, p. 156. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 145 No one can read these Indian addresses without feelins: a melancholy interest in the fate of those denizens of the forest, who, although they were our enemies, were as noble, brave, and sincere in their friendship, as most people. Their angry feelings were worked upon during the Revolutionary war by that wily and insidious policy of the British government, which disregarded the means when they had an end in view, no matter how repugnant they might have been to the code of morals or the dic- tates of reason. The Indians were powerful auxiliaries on the side of that cruel and relentless foe ; and the scouts, well inured to the hardships of traveling in the forest, were the best aids of an invading army. "Ene- mies in war, in peace friends," was the motto which the Indian warrior Shegenaba, enunciated before the Virginia Council ; and while treachery, and the vilest arts of de- ceptive warfare marked them as enemies, the most benev- olent feelings actuated them as friends. From the peace of 1763 to Clark's expedition, our small, but noble band of warriors and patriots, was engaged in an attempt to drive them beyond the English forts on the Ohio and the Monongahela. Bouquet's expedition has been before mentioned ; and in the midst of all this pre- datory warfare along our Western frontier, the treaty of Fort Stanwix was concluded on the 5th November, 1768, by which the title of the Indian tribes to the lands south of the Ohio river and east of the Cherokee or Tennessee river was secured to the British government. 13 146 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY CHAPTER XIII. Some time before this period George Croghan visited the West, and was taken prisoner by the Indians some- where near the mouth of the Wabash. He left Fort Pitt on the 15th May, 1765, with two batteanx, and encamped at Chartres Island, in the Ohio, three miles below Fort Pitt. As the account w^hich he gives is the best description of the country along the Ohio at that period, an abstract is here furnished. Being joined by the deputies of the Senecas, Shawnees, and Delawares, they set off at seven o'clock in the morning, and at ten o'clock arrived at Logstown, — an old settlement of the Shawnees, about seventeen miles from Fort Pitt, — where they put ashore, and viewed the remains of that village, which was situated on a high bank on the south side of the Ohio river, a fine fertile country being around it. At eleven o'clock they re-embarked, and proceeded down the Ohio to the mouth of Big Beaver creek, about ten miles below Logstown. About a mile below the mouth of Big Beaver creek, they passed an old settlement of the Delawares, where the French, in 1756, built a town for that nation ; after which they passed several spacious bottoms on each side of the river, and came to Little Beaver creek about fifteen miles below Big Beaver creek. A number of small rivulets fall into the river on each side. From thence they sailed to Yellow creek, being fifteen miles farther down. They encamped on the river bank, and found a great part of the trees in the bottom covered with grape vines. On the seventeenth they ar- rived at a place called the Two Creeks, about fifteen miles from YeUow creek, where the Senecas had a village OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 147 on a high bank on the north side of the river. Having disembarked, the chief offered Croghan his services to go with him to the Illinois, which he could not refuse for fear of offending him, although he had a sufficient num- ber of deputies with him already. From thence they proceeded down the river till they came to Buffalo creek, being about ten miles below the Seneca village ; and from Buffalo creek they proceeded down the river to Fatmeat creek, about thirty miles. On the eighteenth, having gone fifty miles, they entered " Long Reach,"* where the river has a straight course for twenty miles. They descended the Ohio, marking the different features of the country on the journey, until they arrived at the mouth of the Wabash, where they found a breastwork erected, supposed to be done by the Indians. They ob- serve that the mouth of the river is about two hundred yards wide, and in its course runs through one of the finest countries in the world, the lands being exceed- ingly rich and well-watered, and where hemp might be raised in immense quantities. On the eighth, while at an old Shawnee village, they were attacked by a party of Indians, consisting of eighty warriors, who killed two men and three Indians of the party, wounding Colonel Croghan and all the rest of the party, excepting two white men and one Indian ; made them all prisoners, and plundered them of everything they had. A deputy of the Shawnees, who was shot through the thigh, having con- cealed himself in the woods for a few minutes after he was wounded, not knowing but that they were South- ern Indians, who are always at war with the jN^orthern Indians, after discovering what nation they were, came * " Long Reach," on the Ohio, is marked on an old map of Virginia, in the possession of tlie author. It is some miles above the Little Kan- awha river. 148 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY up to tliem and made a very bold speech, telling them that the whole Northern Indians would join in taking revenge for the insult and murder of their people. This alarmed those savages very much, who began excusing themselves, saying their fathers, the French, had encourag- ed them telling them that the Indians were coming, with a body of Southern Indians, to take their country from them, and enslave them; that it was this that induced them to commit the outrage. They found a village, of about eighty or ninety French families, at Yincennes, wdiose friendly disposition toward them they much doubted; and, having afterward pur- sued their journey, and visited the country of the Illinois, descended the Miami river on their way to Detroit. At this fort, and in the vicinity, they found several hundred French families, with whose morals and habits of living they were not at all pleased, and having remained there a short time, they set out for Niagara, where they arrived on the eighth of October. Such is the description which Croghan gives of the country at that period (1765), a wild, uninhabited forest, with here and there a few Indian villages and French settlements, the natives and the Europeans being alike the deadly enemies of the English, and fearing their advances on their domain. In this year a treaty w^as concluded in New York, called the Treaty of the German Flats, which ensured tranquillity for a short time between the Indians and the whites, but various acts of hostility, incidental to a bor- der warfare, continued to be exercised occasionally, and prevented anything like a systematic attempt at coloni- zation of this unsettled country. In 1767, Fort Eedstone, the site of the Town of Browns- ville in Pennsylvannia was the rendezvous of the few OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 149 whites, in that section, and we read in 1T69, that Ebe- nezer, Silas, and Jonathan Zanes, all brothers and of a respectable family, visited the Ohio. It would be needless to mention the names of those few English pioneers, who first stepped beyond the bounds of civilized communities, to wander in the path- less deserts of America, in search of adventure; their heroism and courage, in daring to emulate the wild savage in his own trackless forest, are duly chronicled in the pages of history, and as long as Americans take pleasure in perusing the early annals of the country, they will feel a deep and an abiding interest in the relations of these travelers. The adventures of Boon, and of Hen- derson, of Lowther, and of Finley, are intimately con- nected with the early liistory of the States, bordering on the Ohio, and we should (if sufficient space were accord- ed within the limits of this work), be glad to partake with them of that romantic, but melancholy interest, which is attached to the narration of the personal risks and dangers they experienced, while exploring the hidden recesses of the great American forest. The history of this period would not be correctly understood, if we confined our remarks to what was oc- curring within the territories of the Indian tribes. A succession of combats betwen isolated detachments of Indians and the whites, would give an imperfect idea of the pretensions of either party ; if one party of Indians were routed, another would soon supply its place, and thus the contest might be continued for a length of time, without afibrding any practical results. The afiair at Baker's Fort, and on Yellow and Captine Creeks, affords proof of this assertion, for while it may have secured a temporary period of relaxation from 150 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY the evils of Indian warfare, it did not affect the political relations existing between the contending parties. Who were the enemies, against whom the old English Colonists were contending at that period, in the wilds of America ? Were they the Indians or the French ? The latter had not forgotten the numerous defeats they had sustained at the hands of English soldiers ; they were not willing to release without a struggle the possession of an empire, in the defense of w^hich they had exhausted their treasury and shed their blood. Peace was declared in 1763, it was duly chronicled on deeds of parchment at Paris and Eon tain ebleau, but war was written in letters of blood on the hearts of all those men, who had fought on the battle-fields of Pittsburgh and Quebec. Their last attempt on the Western frontiers of America, may be considered as the expiring throes of a brave and valiant people, bent on taking revenge for the wrongs they had sustained. After having fought the English with their own stout arms and stalwart hearts, they engaged the Indians to carry on a cruel and relentless system of warfare against their ancient foes. Through these wild denizens of the forest, they aimed a blow at the cause of English colonization, which greatly retarded the settlement of the western territory. In order to understand the subsequent movements, it will be necessary to refer to the position of the parties after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle and that of 1763. It has before been stated, that the Ohio Company was formed in 1749. This company obtained a concession of six hundred thousand acres of land, and comprised the most influential colonists in the old Provinces. It was not the first time that they desired to form settlements in the West. In the year 1716, Mr. Spottesw^ood, Cover- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 151 nor of Yirginia, had proposed to the British Government to purchase a territory from the Indians, and to form an association for purposes of trade,* but the Cabinet of Versailles opposed the project, and it was abandoned.f In the preceding years, M. de la Galissonniere, Governor- General of Canada, sent M. Celeron de Bienville with three hundred men to expel all the English traders, whom they found west of the mountains, and to take possession of the country in a solemn manner, by planting posts and burying leaden plates in the earth, on wdiich were en- graved the arms of France, and the date of the occupa- tion. M. Celeron wrote also to the Governor of Penn- sylvania, informing him of his mission, and requesting him to give orders, that for the future, the inhabitants of that Province should not go to trade beyond the Apala- chian Mountains, as he had express injunctions to arrest them, and confiscate their property, it' they persisted in trading with the Indians. At the same time, M. de la Galissonniere was in correspondence on the same subject, with Messrs Shirley and Clinton, who were then respect- ively Governors of Boston and New York. J The Marquis de la Jonquiere succeeded De la Galis- sonniere, as Governor of Canada, and followed the same instructions from the French court, viz : to exclude all the English who would seek to establish themselves in the Ohio Territory. Notwithstanding these express commands of the French King, the Governors of Pennsylvania and Maryland, con- tinued to furnish passports to the traders, who ventured beyond the Appalachian Mountains. It was pretended by the French, that they excited the Indians against them, gave them arms and ammunition, and brought them over * Universal History, Vol. XL. f Memoire par M. de Choiseul. t Documents in London. 152 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY on the side of the Colonists. Three of these traders were sent to France as prisoners in the year 1750, and as reprisals, the English seized hold of a like number, and brought them to the South of the Appalachian range. Such was the state of the Western frontier, after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. It was not improved after the successful march of Forbes, and the abandonment of Fort Duquesne. During the interval between Braddock's defeat and, Forbes' and Grant's invasion, the American frontier was the scene of the most frightful devastations, and the wildest disorder. The enemy, animated by temporary success, had sent detached parties to lay waste the farms and plantations in Western Yirginia, and the inhabitants becoming alarmed at the visits of these daring marauders, abandoned their homes, and sought refuge in the Eastern Colonies, and along the shores of the Atlantic. Hundreds were massacred in cold blood, or led into captivity by these rutliless barbarians, and the danger of living in the vicinity of these savages was greatly enhanced by the unprotected state, in which the American frontier then remained. Many are the tales of noble daring and in- trepid demeanor, manifested by these hardy pioneers, who were exposed to all the horrors of an Indian war- fare, while cultivating their farms in the hitherto peace- ful valleys of Western Virginia. It needs not the bright coloring of romance to paint in glowing language the trials and vicissitudes they experienced, the stern reality of truth would only depict what actually befell them, while warring against the wild savages of the forest. This state of things continued during the years 1756, and 57, and tlie inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and Virginia, flew from the assaults of their persecutors, and took re- fuge on the other side of the Blue Mountains. In vain OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 153 they attempted to resist the foe ; the militia was organized and disguised as Indian warriors, but nothing would answer to prevent the midnight visits of these savages. At one time, fears were entertained for the safety of Fredericktown or Winchester in Virginia, and Colonel Washington, who commanded the frontier, wrote in the most pressing terms to the Governor of Virginia, to in- form him of the desolation and ravages, the Indians were causing. " I declare solemnly (he added in one of his letters) that I would voluntarily ofier myself as a sacri- fice to our barbarous enemies, if that would contribute to the relief of the people." Even after the successful march of Forbes from Loyal- hanna to Pittsburgh, the same state of things continued, and notwithstanding the peace of 1763, the condition of the western frontiers engaged the serious attention of the Colonial governors. On the 18th of October, 1770, a treaty was formed between the English and the Cherokees, at Lochaber, in South Carolina, under which the Indian boundary was fixed "at the point where the boundary line between the Province of North Carolina and the Cherokee hunting- grounds terminates (rather ambiguous), and running tlience in a westerly course to a point six miles east of Long Island, in Holsticis river; thence in a course to the con- fluence of the Great Kanawha and Ohio rivers," without saying what course, but under this treaty, the Indians claimed all the territory south of the Ohio, and west of the Kanhawha. The treaties at Fort Stanwix, and Fort Lochaber, were afterward much relied upon in the negotiations between our government and the Indians for the transfer of the lands, but it is obvious that their terms are very indis- tinct. 154 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY From 1769 to 1773, matters appeared to wear a more peaceable aspect in the interior. Still, the white man dreaded to meet an Indian foe, and every step he took, walked as if he were in the vicinity of some ferocious animal. But the wild, reckless spirit of adventure urged on our brave pioneers in the task they had undertaken. No vain fears filled their bosoms, or made them pause in their career; but they considered themselves as ''instru- ments ordained to settle the wilderness ;"* and in their journeys in the forest, they were impelled by a lofty sense of the responsibility which attended them. Let the reader imagine the perils and the dangers of a life in the forest at that period ; let him fancy that he sees the noble, the bold and chivalrous Boone taking his departure from his home upon the Yadkin, in May, 1769, and threading his way across the mountains in search of adventure. But it does not require any stretch of the imagination to conceive the trials and dangers he under- went. History, written on the bark of the trees of the primeval forest, as he used his jack knife to cut the llazees^ to mark his path, and point out the way to return, tells a tale which does not require the ornaments of fancy or of rhetoric to adorn it. In the trackless forest, far away from his home and family, the hardy adventurer was planning schemes for his own future comfort, but which, when accomplished, would promote the happiness of thousands of others who would follow in his footsteps. Boone did not remain in the country on his first voyage, but re- turned to North Carolina, after undergoing the most extraordinary hardships. He again took his departure in September, 1773, in company with some families, and a few others, who overtook them in Powell's Valley ; but * Boone's Narrative. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 155 lie was again doomed to encounter disasters, for the Indi- ans attacked him, and among others, killed his eldest son. He retraced his steps across the mountains, but afterward pursued his discoveries, and finally settled down in Ken- tucky, where he led a long and useful life. In 1812, we find him petitioning the Kentucky legislature, detailing his grievances, and praying for relief. He concludes thus: ''Your memorialist w^as left once more, at about the age of eighty, to be a wanderer in the world." Congress, on the representation of the Kentucky leg- islature, by the act of the 10th of February, 1814, showed its just appreciation of merit and valuable services ren- dered on behalf of his country, by awarding to the noble old pioneer a thousand arjpens of land. Boone, it is said, did not enjoy this property very long, as it was wrested from him to satisfy the demands of some of his creditors. He died in the State of Missouri, surrounded by his fam- ily and friends, who found in him a kind parent and an honest man. To Boone's successful discoveries, followed by those of Bullitt and the McAfees, Kentucky owes the progress she made in the early periods of her history, and while suc- ceeding years may wipe away the memory of the services rendered by other adventurers, time ought never to be permitted to efface the remembrance of what they did to promote the prosperity and happiness of the people of Kentucky. The most important demonstration made by troops in the Western country, since Braddock's defeat, and Forbes's march, took place under Lord Dunmore's administration of the government of Virginia. In fact, it may be termed the third military campaign by the Colonists against the Indians. But before we detail the events of this warfare, it will 156 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY be necessary to state what was Lord Dunmore's character, that we may be able to account for his remarkable con- duct in the war against the Indians of 1774. If there be two persons among England's colonial governors whose names ought to be handed down to the execration of all Americans to the remotest posterity, they are those of Gage of Massachusetts, and Dunmore of Virginia. Cruel in their persecution, unrelenting in their hatred against all those who happened to be opposed to them, their vengeance knew no limits, nor was allowed to re- main unappeased. The hired servants of a wicked and corrupt government, they were proper instruments for carrying out its arbitrary mandates and oppressive laws. The deadly enemies of free institutions, they were the fittest agents to pander to the vices of despots and tyrants. As for Lord Dunmore, the pages of Virginian history tell a tale which redounds neither to his character as a man, nor his capacity as a governor. The burning of the towns and villages in Virginia, in the midst of the cries and lamentations of widowed mothers and orphaned children, lighted a flame which exhibited Lord Dun- more's character in letters of fire before the gaze of the civilized world. His conduct, it is true, drew down the denunciations of the British Parliament, and there were men, such as the Duke of Richmond, who exclaimed in the house of Lords, that he was "carrying on the war in a manner that was revolting to even barbarous nations, in burning the towns without any compassion for their unfortunate inhabitants, who, naked and hungry, perished of cold and of misery ; and it is not against our enemies, it is against our best friends, that you permit these ex- cesses. Could you hear without shuddering, the burn- ing of our faithful town of Norfolk ; she has just been OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 157 reduced to ashes without the provocation of any act of hostility. Such a barbarous execution, ought it not to alienate from us forever the hearts of those who might still preserve some affection toward us. It sullies the glory of our name ; it will render us an object of contempt and hatred throughout the world ; and it will cast a stain upon our nation which will never be effaced." Such was the character of the man who originated the expedition on the western frontier in the year 1774. It was in January, 1776, that Lord Dunmore ordered the town of Norfolk to be destroyed by fire. This was two years after his act of perfidy against the Colonists in leading them out in the Western wilderness, and then abandoning them ; but it displays his character in too plain a light for even his friends (if he had any) to defend him. It was long before the expedition against the Indians in 1774, that the spirit of resistance against the arbitrary conduct of the mother country, was rife among the Colonists, and there is no doubt that Lord Dunmore was acting under orders from the British court, but that any one could imagine for a moment, that a colonial Governor could act in such a treacherous manner toward the Colon- ists, was impossible. Candor compels us to mention that there were some men who sought to extenuate his conduct in the affair of this Indian campaign, but the voice of impartial history will forever consign to eternal infamy the course which he afterward pursued, and which con- firmed the suspicions that were at first entertained. AVhatever may have been his motives, they gave rise to a feeling of distrust among the Colonists, and made them relax in their efibrts to colonize at that period, the rich lands of western Virginia and Kentucky. The cause of Anglo-Saxon colonization in the West 158 mSTOKY OF THE VALLEY may have been temporaril}^ retarded from the course which was pursued by this English Governor, but the Colonists themselves, forming part of the expedition, again evinced that determined bravery and resolution, which were the distinsuishino; characteristics of American soldiers. It will be seen from what follows, that notwithstanding the discouragement they received from the Governor, they won some of the brightest laurels on the blood-stained fields of Kanawha. Before we detail the events of this campaign, it will be necessary to mention what were the causes of the war, or what in fact led to the offensive operations carried on under the administration of the Governor of Virginia. In the opinion of Mr. Doddridge, who published his " Notes " of these Indian campaigns ;* the affairs at Ba- ker's settlement and at Captine Creek, were the causes of this disastrous war, but there were others at work which have not escaped the attention of historians. It seems, that at this early period, there was a dispute between Pennsylvania and Virginia, as to the possession of Fort Pitt. At the close of the war of 1755, after the evacua- tion of Fort Duquesne (afterward called Fort Pitt), by the French, the Government of Pennsylvania placed a garrison at the fort, or rather they occupied it, as forming part of that province's domain. Arthur St. Clair was placed in commmand, with instructions to refer for orders, in case of attack from the Indians, or others to the Penn- sylvanian authorities. The proud and haughty Virginians did not brook this conduct on the part of their neighbors, and after repeated remonstrances had been sent in to the Governor of that territory without any effect, Lord Dunmore sent De * Doddrige's Notes, Wellsburgh, Virginia, 1824, OF THE MISSISSIPPI. - 159 Conolly, his nephew, with a Captain's commission and the necessary instructions to take possession of Fort Pitt in the name of Virginia, and to dislodge tliose who might be in possession of it. Conolly called a meeting of the citizens of Redstone and Pittsburgh, for the purpose of enforcing his uncle's orders ; but previously to the day for the assembling of the meeting, St. Clair arrested Conolly and threw him into prison. The meeting, however, w^as held, and broken up in the most riotous manner ; some of the men got drunk and fired into a neighboring Indian village, without, however, doing any injury. Some time after these occurrences took place, Conolly got released, and immediately raised a corps of men, who drove St. Clair away and took possession of the fort in the name of Pennsylvania. While in this command he incurred very heavy expenses ; so much so, that he w^as fearful his uncle might complain, so he endeavored to make the whites believe that some of the neighboring tribes were not amicably disposed toward them. Of course, hearing exaggerated rumors of the atrocities the Indians com- mitted on their neighbors farther up the river, they retal- iated and committed a few murders. These, with the murder of Logan's family, and the affair at Captine Creek, were quite sufficient causes to apprehend the most fearful hostilitiy of the Indian tribes, and both the white man and the savage prepared for the contest. Whatever may have been the cause of this war, we must feel sympathy for the Indians — they had no doubt been foully dealt with at Baker's settlement, and the massacre of Logan's family was sufficient to stir up the blood of that magnanimous, but unfortunate chief. In the earliest work,* which was published after the * Recherches Historiques et Politiques sur les Etats Unis de 1' Amer- ique Septentrionale, par M. Mazzei, of Virginia. — Colle et Paris. 1788. 160 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY occurrence of these events, is found the following account of the murder of Logan's family, and it is, no doubt, correct : In the spring of 1Y74, two Indians of the Shawnee tribe having kiUed a Yirginian, the whites in the neighborhood undertook to exercise vengeance in their usual manner by retaliation. Colonel Cresap, who was held in horror by the savages, for the mm*ders he had already committed of several unfortunate Indians, assembled a party and descended the Kanawha for the expedition. Unfortun- ately, a canoe was seen crossing from the opposite side of the river, filled with women and children, and conducted by one man only. Cresap and his party hid themselves, and the moment it reached the shore , each singling out his victim, dispatched the whole who were on board. That canoe contained Logan's family, who had always been known for his friendship for the whites. Their ingratitude provoked his revenge, and in the war which followed, he signalized himself among his compatriots. At length, in the autumn of the same year, a decisive battle was fought at the mouth of the grand Kanawha, and the Indians afterwards sued for peace. Logan alone disdained to show himself among the suppliants, but fearful that his absence might be taken as a proof of the want of sincerity on the part of the Indians, he sent by a messegner his celebrated discourse, which was pronounced before Lord Dunmore. — Recherches Ilistoriqices^ vol. 4, p. 154). We have been particular in giving the precise words of M. Mazzie, a cotemporaneous writer, and one who was not likely to be mistaken, as the truth or falsity of Logan's celebrated speech has been made the subject of much historical inquiry . * Mr. Jefferson was charged with * See American Pioneers, vol. 1, pages 10 and 20. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 161 being the author of the speech, an accusation which he at once repelled in the appendix to his notes on Virginia, and when we refer to the many other specimens of Indian eloquence, such as Shegenaba's address before the Virginia council, (which we have given in another part of this work) and others, we can be at no loss to classify them as brilliant effusions of native Indian eloquence. We have been led into this digression from our desire to point out the causes of Dunmore's war. They no doubt arose from a deep sense of wrong received at the hands of the whites, and as they gave no provocation which we can find recorded in history, they are entitled to the sympathy of every right-minded person. CHAPTER XIV. There were two wings of Lord Dunmore's army, which were levied in the fall of 17T4, to make war on their Indian neighbors. They were taken chiefly from the vicinity of Lewisburg, Bedford, and the Holston coun- try. At that period Virginia was divided into sixty counties, most of which were situated near the seaboard ; and from the spirit of disaffection existing about that period near Williamsburgh and Jamestown, it is pre- sumed Lord Dunmore did not procure many recruits in those quarters. The left wing — consisting of eight hundred infantry, under the command of General Andrew Lewis, and four companies of volunteers, of about three hundred men in all — took up its line of march from Lewisburg, then Camp Union, across Mount Laurel, following the course of the Great Kanawha river until they arrived at its 14 162 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY junction with the Ohio. The officers in command of these regiments were Colonel Charles Lewis of Augusta, Colonel William Fleming of Bottetourt, Colonel Shelby (whose descendants afterward occupied distinguished positions in Kentucky), and Colonel John Field of Cul- pepper. The right wing, under Lord Dunmore himself, must have consisted of the main body of the army, being about nineteen hundred men ; as we are told by cotem- poraneous writers that the whole force amounted to three thousand.* We have seen no account of the particular troops under his command ; but if they were militia, they must have been raised about Frederickstown and Win- chester, and in the northern and eastern parts of Yir- ginia. There was also a small detachment under Colonel Christian, that was to form a junction with the left wing of the army somewhere near the mouth of the Kanawha. Before either wing took up its respective line of march it was well understood between Lord Dunmore and Gen- eral Lewis that the former should strike for Fort Pitt, and, descending the Ohio, should form a junction with Lewis at the confluence of the Kanawha with that river. The left wing arrived at its point of destination, after encountering the toils and hardships of a journey through the forest, in about three weeks after its departure. When they reached the mouth of the Kanawha they dispatched emissaries to Fort Pitt to inform his Lordship of their arrival, and to await further orders ; but before the mcs- * Historical Researches, Vol. I, p. 153. Butler's History of Kentucky places the numbers under Lord Dunniore's command at "about one thou- sand," necessarily much less skilled in Indian warfare than their fellow- soldiers in the western detachment. We are inclined, on the contrary, to believe that Lord Dunmore was accompanied by the pick and flower of the army. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 163 sengers returned dispatches were received from Lord Dunmore, informing Lewis that the line of military operations had heen changed^ and that he vms then on his ivay to the Scioto^ where Leiois was to form a junc- tion with him in the vicinity of the Shawnee towns. ^ To an army which had marched through the wilder- ness about two hundred miles, over a rugged road, through mountains and through plains, here and there being obliged to wade through swamps and morasses, with none of the appliances to cross the troops over the Ohio, the military order which Lewis received from his governor appeared almost impossible to be executed. Was it dic- tated by a desire to punish the Shawnees ? It could not have been ; for they were then in considerable numbers on both sides of the river. "Was it done as an act of skill- fulness on the part of a military general? It was not; for the rules of war and military tactics would prescribe the junction, or at least the accessibility, of the two wings of the army before they attacked the enemy. Was it done to facilitate his march against the enemy, and to bring them to battle? It was not, for he knew that the Indians had mustered in considerable strength on the south side of the Ohio, and were prepared for war. Was it, finally, done with a view to the interests of the Colo- nists ? It was not; for if Lewis had followed his orders, he would have left the whole Western frontier of Vir- ginia unprotected, with the Ohio between him and his enemy, and the Colonists exposed to the ruthless attacks of infuriated savages. What, then, was the reason, that Lord Dunmore devi- ated from the line of operations at first agreed upon, and formed a diversion of the troops ? * Lord Dunruore's conduct was at first approved of by the Virginians, but it was afterward denounced. Writers generally have disapproved of it. 164 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY It was that he, Lord Diinmore, then the unflinching enemy of the Colonies, knew before his departure from Williamsburgh, that the celebrated convention of Vir- ginia delegates was about assembling in that city.* Dur- ing his absence he was informed of everything that occur- red, and heard that it was to meet a second time at Rich- mond, in the month of March following. In the mean- time, he ordered the election of representatives to the General Assembly : the people elected the same as they had chosen for the convention. Eight months after he levied this army to tight the Indians, Lord Dunmore was himself a fugitive from the vengeance of an injured com- munity, and sought refuge on board of a vessel of war. What is the conclusion at which we must arrive, that if Lewis's army were cut up by the Indians, he. Lord Dunmore, would have less enemies to contend against? Beside, what an opportunity it would afford him to bring the Indians over on the side of the English against the refractory Colonists. On the 9th of October, Lewis received these military dispatches from the General commanding, but circum- stances prevented him from complying with them, for on the 10th, scouts informed that brave commander that a large body of Indians was in the vicinity, and w^as bearing down toward the main division of the left wing. Lewis immediately ordered the detachments of troops from Bottetourt, under Colonel Fleming, and those from Augusta under Colonel Charles Lewis, to form in division and proceed up the Ohio to reconnoiter the enemy's move- ments. They did not remain long in abeyance, for about four or five hundred yards from the encampment they saw the Indians drawn up in line, ready to give them battle. Mazzei : vol. 1, page 153. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 165 It began a little after sunrise, the two armies occupying a triangular space at the junction of the Kanawha with the Ohio, and having rather a slight elevation along the shores of Crooked creek, (a branch of the river), forming as it were, the base of the triangle. In this awkward position our troops had to fight, relying on their superior skill and military tactics to gain the vantage ground over their enemies. These consisted of the Delawares, the Iroquois, Wyandots, and Shawnees, and they must have greatly outnumbered their opponents, for the scout in- formed General Lewis " that he had seen a body of the enemy covering five acres of ground as closely as they could stand."* Thus through the treachery of Lord Dunmore was our brave but small army pitted against an overwhelming force of savage foes, with no opportunity of retreating, and with no hope of safety, but by fighting. The clang of arms resounded on that day throughout the forest, and in the first rush of our brave countrymen toward their enemies, three of our colonels, Lewis, Fleming and Field, lay stretched on the earth, mangled corpses. Seeing the destruction the enemy was causing, and fearful for the consequences, General Lewis ordered a detour of three companies, under the command of Captains Stuart, Shelby and Matthews, along Crooked creek, under the conceal- ment of the elevation we have spoken of, and the brush- wood, to make an attack in the rear of the enemy. Tliis military maneuver was attended with entire success. The enemy fearing that a strong reinforcement was advancing in their rear, took to flight and reached their towns on the other side of the Ohio. In this memorable battle, three colonels, five captains, three lieutenants, and several * Proceedings of the Virginia Historical Society, vol. 1, page 45. 166 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY other subalterns, amounting in the whole to seventy -five men killed, and about one hundred and forty men were wounded, almost every fifth man in the detachment.* In this battle was engaged the fiower of all the Indian warriors on the shores of the Ohio ; there was the brave Cornstalk, the famous Shawnee chief. Red Hawk, the pride of the Delawares, and the magnanimous Logan, seeking revenge for the wrongs he had sufl'ered at the hands of the white man. Fearful was the havoc which was that day made in the ranks of these foes ; it was not ascertained, for whenever any of their number fell, the body was immediately consigned to the bosom of the Ohio, the waters of which, flowing over their riddled corpses, concealed from the enemy the number of their victims. It was a frightful contest, perhaps the most severe that was ever fought between the Indians and the white man ; but it was a war between civilization and barbarism, and religion and heathenism. The strong arms and bold hearts of our countrymen were enlisted in the cause of Anglo-Saxon domination in the New "World, and they were impelled onward by the consciousness that they were instruments in the hands of an overruling Providence to prepare other and higher destinies for mankind — while the Indian, the aboriginal inhabitant of the forest, was fighting in defense of his home and fireside, for the pro- tection of his wife and children, and all that was nearest and dearest to him on earth. There were strong feelings and noble impulses that entered into that contest, but the result could not be doubtful. Sooner or later the Indian would be obliged to make way before the indomitable en- ergy, the iron will, and steady perseverance of the old English Colonists of America. * Butler's Kentucky, Introduction, page 60. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 167 After the battle, General Lewis was joined by Colonels Christian and Floyd and a detachment of about two liun- dred men, with whom he proceeded with the remainder of his small army, to effect a junction with Dunmore and march together to the Shawnees' towns. As for Lord Dunmore, he left Fort Pitt, and from thence descended to about seventy miles from the mouth of the Kanawha, wdiere he built Fort Gore and left a part of his provisions there. Having heard of the approach of Lewis's brigade, he sent orders to that commander to retrace his footsteps and return homeward ; but Lewis did not seem inclined to obey them. That officer wished now that the enemy had been defeated, and Dunmore was within a few miles of their towns and principal villages to dictate terms to the conquered. Dunmore, it is said, was opposed to this course, and went in person to Lewis's camp, to endeavor to get him to return home, and while there complimented the officers and men for their distinguished bravery in the battle of Kanawha. Lewis at length acceded to this re- quest, and left Dunmore with his small army in the midst of hostile tribes, not far from their towns and villages. That unworthy Governor was safe. He purchased peace with the Indians at the expense of his own honor and character, when he might have dictated terms that would have ensured the tranquillity of the frontiers for a number of years. Dreading the threatened storm, the noise of w^hich he heard in the distance, and viewing tlie aspect of affairs at Williamsburgh, he conciliated the savages to enlist them as allies in the English cause against those very Colonists whom he had brought from their homes to take part in this warfare. The treaty of peace was concluded at Camp Charlotte, near Chillicothe, on the Scioto, but the Colonists gained little or nothing under its provisions, and having promised 168 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY to meet them again for further negotiations, the ensuing spring Dunmore returned home. In this year, 1774, James Harrod founded Harrodsburg, and it v;as also the period when a land company was formed in North Carolina, called the Transylvania Com- pany, of which the chief member was Colonel Richard Henderson, another pioneer in western history. Hender- son, accompanied by Colonel Hart, visited the Cherokees for the purpose of purchasing a part of their lands, and forming a settlement. With the assistance of Boone, he finally succeeded in making a purchase of a large tract of country, for which the price was fixed at ten thousand pounds sterling. Dunmore was displeased with this action on the part of Henderson, and hearing that he was in the Indian country, issued a proclamation warning the Indians about him. This did not deter our hardy little band of adventurers, and continuing their journey in the forest, they formed a settlement at Boonesborough, in April, 1775. About that period this was the principal settlement, beside Har- rodsburgh, the Boiling Spring settlement, and St. Asaph in Lincoln county, where Benjamin Logan, who had crossed the mountains w4th Henderson in 1774:, built a station, which afterward became well known.* During Henderson's visit this year, he summoned dele- gates from the difierent settlements to organize a form of government, and writers of western history have dignified this assembly by the appellation of a Legislature, but we are at a loss to know by what authority this body acted, or what force their decrees would have, either among their own members or the the red men who were lurking about their homes, in the view of setting all law and govern- ment at defiance. » Annals of the West, page 141 . OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 169 In the chain of events, it is necessary to refer to the American revolution. When in Virginia, the country which first distinguished itself for its discoveries in the West, as well as for its opposition to arbitrary authority, the patriot Henry exclaimed in the hall of the Legisla- tive Assembly, that " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third his ," he was interrupted by cries of treason, treason : and mildly looking around, he added, " and George the Third might profit by their example. If that be treason let them show it to me." When he uttered these memorable w^ords, he little thought that his countrymen were then laying the foundations of a Republic in the West, which was to be a terror to all evil doers, and a break -water against mon- archy in the western world. When he raised his hands to heaven, imploring its protection against tyranny and invoking its blessing on the heads of those who were resisting the arbitrary mandates of a foreign power, he knew not that countless thousands of his fellow-country- men would one day be found along the shores of the Mississippi and Ohio, who would regard his precepts as the code of their political belief, and worship his memory as one of the sages and heroes of their country. But the American revolution was not without its trials and its temptations on the heart of man. It showed how human passions could be triumphant over the better part of human nature, and how men, lost to every sense of shame and honor could resort to the most unworthy means to accomplish their ends. The unholy league between the British authorities and the wild savages of the West for the indiscriminate massacre of the men, women and children of America, is a foul blot on humanity which time will never efface. At first they were not successful in entering into this alliance, but at length the savage was 15 170 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY seen fighting side by side with the English soldier, exult- ing over the scalps of the enemy, which his ruthless ally would exhibit to his view. It was not long after the battle of Bunker Hill, that emissaries were sent to the West to solicit the co-operation of the Indians, and particularly the Iroquios or Five Na- tions with the British army. They knew the influence which this people exercised over the Delawares, Shawnees, Cherokees, and other tribes to the south-west, and they tried to enlist them in their service. But the Iroquois would not at first listen to the proposals of these emissa- ries, as they thought they had no direct interest in joining either one side or the other. The old chiefs, when they heard of these difficulties, looked on them as providential, and believed that the sanguinary scenes which would follow, would only be an expiation for the evils they had made them endure in their endeavors to drive them away from their homes in the forest. They said, " Look, the flames of war are kindled between men of the same nation — they are disputing among themselves for the hunting grounds which they have taken from us. Why shall we embrace their quarrels, and what friend, what enemy shall we choose ? When the red men carry on war, do the white men come among us to take part with one or the other ? No, they allow our tribes to become weakened, and one to be destroyed by the other. They wait until the earth, bedewed with our blood, may lose its people and become their inheritance. Let them in their turn exhaust their strength and destroy themselves ; we shall then recover, when they have ceased to exist, the forests, the mountains, and lakes, wdiich belonged to our ancestors. It is a pity, that these were not always the sentiments which prevailed among these Indian tribes, but it is well OF THE MISSISSIPPI. lYl known, that Colonel Johnson, and Messrs Campbell and Saint Luc, succeeded in bringing over the Iroquois to the side of the English. They tampered with them by means of gold, and presents, which they liberally dis- tributed among them, and when Mr. Cazeau, the parti- san of Congress, went among them to endeavor to ensure at least their neutrality in the contest ; in answer to the remark which he made, "that it was a war between brethren, and that after the reconciliation, if they remained neutral, they might become the enemies of the one and the other;" they replied, " that the young men did not like to remain inactive in times of hostility." They entered into a league with the English, " when the leaves should appear on the trees, in the following spring," to unite their forces and make war against the " Long Knives. ''^^ In the interval, however, it seems, they became impa- tient, for Colonel Johnson, with a body of Iroquois went to notiiy Carleton, " that it was necessary to give the Indian tribes employment, as they were not accustomed to remain so long inactive in times of war." The Eng- lish General replied, that "he must try and amuse the savages a little while longer, as he did not consider it prudent to employ them for the present. "t The first regular engagement between the savages and the American forces, took place at the attack on Fort Stanwix on the 3d of August 1777, although they were adjuncts of the English army in several engagements before that period. Colonel St. Leger was instructed by General Burgoyne, to make a division of the main body of the army with eight hundred men and a large number * It was thus they termed the Colonists. t Extracts from the Records of Indian transactions, under the super- intendence of Colonel Gu j Carleton during the year 1775. 172 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY of savages, to proceed to reduce Fort Stanwix, built on the spot now occupied by the little village of Rome in Oneida County, Kew York, and to descend the Mohawk, and rejoin Burgoyne's army at Albany. On the third of August, he arrived before Fort Stanwix, which he imme- diately invested, but after a long siege, in which a bloody combat took place at Oriskany, between a part of his forces, under the orders of Sir John Johnson, and eight hundred of the Americans, who had come to the rescue of the fort, he was compelled to abandon the siege, and withdraw his forces. St. Leger and his savage allies fled with such precipitation, that he left a part of his forces and ammunition behind him.* It is needless to remind the reader, that in Stark's cele- brated victory at Bennington, which took place during the same month, that brave General routed both the English and the savages, wdio fled before the well directed fire of American musketry. The fact is mentioned, to show that the English did not derive much benefit from the confederation with the Iroquois nations. It was an unholy alliance from the first, and it deprived those savage tribes of all sympathy which the American people mio:lit have been inclined to feel for them, had thev re- mained neutral in the war. But it was the influence of their example, which our countrymen dreaded, there were the Delawares, the Shawnees, the Cherokees, and a host of the smaller tribes, who were infesting our South-western frontier, and it was necessary to repress this evil influence, in order to insure our tranquillity in that quarter. General Sullivan, the following year, was ordered to repair with a strong force, to give battle to these Iroquois * Colonel St. Leger's letter to Grcneral Burgoyne. An original and cor- rect account of Burgoyne's campaign, by Charles Neilson, Esq. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 173 tribes, wherever they should find them. lie skirted along the shores of Lake Ontario, and having arrived in their head-quarters, he scattered these tribes in all directions, and drove them from their homes and hunting-grounds. The Iroquois took refuge to the north of the Great Lakes, on a territory which had been granted to them by the English Government, but they never recovered their pris- tine strength and vigor as a people. They were an idle, dissolute set of wanderers, and from the strongest became almost the weakest of the Indian tribes. In after years, one would hardly have been able to recognize among the strolling savages in our northern settlements, the features or the lineaments of those brave warriors, who followed Pontiac to the field of battle. A just retribution awaited them for the cruelties they perpetrated during the Revolutionary war, and they were no longer courted by their friends nor feared by their enemies. We shall now revert to what was going on along the South-western frontiers. CHAPTER XV. While matters thus stood among the Indian tribes in the Korth-West, it is no wonder that the Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees became restive and dis- contented in the South. They had heard of the strong confederation of the Northern tribes to assist the English in their wars against the Americans, but the former at least did not seem to understand the nature of the dispute between them. They iancied it was only some temporary difference which had sprung up between the whites on on either side of the "Great Salt Lake," and they did not 174 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY seem disposed to take part in the fight. The Shawnees and Clierokees were more ready to buckle on their armor and prepare for the contest. The latter were more dreaded, as they infested the whole Western frontier of South Carolina, and became the terror of the inhabitants. There is no doubt that emissaries were sent among them from the Iroquois,* and that bribes were very freely offered to induce them to join the royal cause. Indeed, it is positively asserted, that the English government gave the Iroquois money in order to bring about a union of all the North' Western tribes, including the Shawnees and Cherokees, and that nothing but the defeat at Fort Stanwix, and other places, prevented the accomplishment of an object which, if successful, would have greatly interfered with the plan of operations during the Revolu- tionary campaign. Congress sent emissaries among the Iroquois to in- duce them at least to preserve their neutrality, and M. Cazeau, and another Canadian, who were friendly to the Americans, volunteered their services to perform the duty. They rendered essential service, but were not successful, as was before observed, in preventing the Iroquois from confederating with their enemies. About this period, 1775, Conolly, Lord Dunmore's nephew, was detected in a plot against Congress and the republican cause, w^hich had been matured under the spe- cial instructions of Dunmore himself. This man w^as a violent Tory, and had rendered himself particularly ob- noxious from his refractory conduct at Pittsburgh, and his violent and overbearing disposition. He endeavored to form a league among the Indians to attack the forts in the possession of the Americans, and after having re- *Babie — " Voyages chez les Peuples Sauvages. — Vol. 3d, page 216. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 175 duced them, to join Lord Dunmore in Virginia, and carry on a desolating warfare against all those on the frontier who were supposed to be friendly to the republican cause. In this, however, he was thw^arted by the vigilance of those who closely watched such men as Conolly and all the suspected adherents of royalty. Having been to the east, and while on his return, he was w^aylaid by some Americans, to whom he immediately presented a written document purporting to be the orders he should follow in his intercourse with the Indians in the West; but our wary countrymen were not satisfied with his papers, sothe}^ searched his person and accouterments, and in the lining of his saddle discovered another set of orders (the secret orders of Lord Dunmore) concealed in such a manner as almost to defy detection. He was immediately arrested and kept in confinement for some time, the object of no man's pity, and scorned and hated by the Americans. Notwithstanding these difficulties, many settlers were establishing themselves in Western Virginia, on the Transylvania Company's lands, and which was soon after known as the county of Kentucky; but the trials and dangers of a life in the forest, deterred some from pro- ceeding to the West, and, indeed, induced others who had already located themselves west of the Blue Kidge, to seek more peaceable homes, where they and their fam- ilies might be considered in safety. The history of this period (from 1776 to 1778), al- though it may not be descriptive of any leading events, having an important bearing on the political state of the few settlers west of the mountains, is yet replete with incidents of border warfare of the most romantic interest. Deeds of noble daring and of heroism were performed within the recesses of the forest, which cast imperishable honor on the actors, and elevated them from the charac- 176 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY ter of men to that of heroes. Nor were these confined to the male sex — women, and even young girls,* dis- played a degree of courage and intrepidity in the trials they had to go through, which proved they were equal to the circumstances in which they were placed. In the pages of romance we have read of many instances of heroism among the female settlers in the West, which we may have attributed to the glowing imagination of the writer, and the borrowed ornaments of a redundant fancy ; but fiction has never yet come up to the truth in painting in proper colors the self-sacrificing spirit, the boldness, the bravery, and magnanimity of the fair daughters of America in the Western wilderness. While they attended to their domestic dudes in the rude log-huts or shanties which had been erected to afibrd them shelter against the cruelty of man and the ferocity of wild beasts, they were at all times prepared to share the dangers of warfare, and by assisting their husbands or brothers in casting leaden bullets, or keeping their rifles in order, contributed much to alleviate the burden which was cast on those who were hardy enough to seek their fortunes in the neighborhood of the savage. In this connection may be mentioned the establishment of the Moravian villages, on the Muskingum, called Salem; Gnaden-huetten, (the tents of grace,) and Scho- enbrund, (the beautiful spring.)| They had also, in 1788, a settlement called Bethlehem, on the Lehigh, in Penn- sylvania. J The history of these Moravian Indians, as they were called, is replete with melancholy interest. The first gathering of those Indians into a good degree of civil and religious order, took place about the year *Miss Elizabeth Lane's conduct at the siege of Fort Henrj. t Hall's Sketches of the West, vol 1, page 208. t American Pioneer, vol, 2, page 116. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 177 1754, under the direction of one of them named Papun- hank. The place of their residence at that time was at Wihaloosing, on the Susquehanna, about two hundred miles from Philadelphia.* In 1771, these Indians, meet- ing with difficulty from an increase of white settlers near them, by which spiritous liquors were brought to their towns, they removed to the Muskingum, a tributary of the Ohio. In their peregrination thither they were ac- companied by some of the Moravians, who had long resided with them, and by their careful attention both to their civil and religious concerns, never leaving them, even in their times of greatest danger and difficulty, a near and steady connection between them took place. During the Revolutionary War, these Indians, adher- ing to the principles they had long professed, absolutely refused to take any part in the struggle, notwithstanding the threats and repeated abuse they received on that account from other tribes, particularly those parties which passed through their towns on their way to the frontier of Virginia. They sometimes succeeded in dissuading these marauders from carrying out their hostile intentions, and prevailed on them to go back again. At other times they warned the frontier settlers of their danger. This humane conduct being considered as destructive to the hostile proceedings of the tribes at w^ar, was at length made the pretense of carrying them oif. Accordingly on the 4th of August, 1781, a string of vmmjpiim was sent by the Chief of the Wyandots, who resided at Scmdosld with a message, letting them know, he was coming wdth a number of warriors, but bidding them to be not afraid, for he was their friend. In a few *Frora a -work entitled "Some Observations on the Indian natives of this Continent." — Philadelphia: 1784, 178 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY days after, two hundred and twenty warriors arrived, when calling a counsel of the head men of the three Moravian towns, they acquainted them, that they were come to take them away, giving as the reason, "That they and their Indians were a great obstruction to them in their war-path. They returned them this answer, "That it was impossible for them to remove at that time, and leave their corn behind them, lest they and their children should perish with hunger in the wilderness." To this the Chief of the Wyandots at first seemed to attend, but being instigated by some white men in their company,* they persisted in their resolution, and after killing many of the cattle and hogs, ripping up their bedding, and committing many other outrages, they com- pelled about three or four hundred persons to leave the towns. This occurred on the 28th of August, and was continued in the three towns during September. After a tedious journey in the wilderness, they arrived at a branch of Sandusky Creek, where the majority of them were ordered to remain. Some of their principal men were sent to Major Schuyler de Peyster, the English Com- mander at Fort Detroit, who commanded and exhorted them to remain peaceable. In 1792, these good Moravians, finding corn scarce and dear at Sandoski, desired liberty to return to their settle- ment, to fetch some of their corn, of wliich they had left above two hundred acres standing, which when granted, many of them went, among whom were several widows with their children, some of whom had been subjected to such extreme want, as to eat the carcasses of the dead cattle and horses. * Possibly Simon Girty (a notorious white renegade during the war), and his companions — see the late work of Ex Governor Reynolds of Illinois — " Pioneer History of Illinois," page 65. Belleville, 1852. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 179 Their misfortunes did not end here. It seems that these poor people appeared anxious to remain in their old settlements, but they were not permitted.* The account of the destruction of the Moravians in the Pennsylvania Gazette, is to tliis efiect, that the people being greatly alarmed, and having received intelligence, that the Indian towns on the Muskingum had not moved as they had been told, a number of men properly provided, collected and rendezvoused on the Ohio, opposite the Mingo bot- tom, with a design to surprise the above towns, one hundred and sixty of whom swam the river, and pro- ceeded to the towns on the Muskingum, where the Indians had collected a large quantity of provisions to supply their war-parties. They arrived at the town in the night, undiscovered, attacked the Moravians in their cabins, and so completely surprised them, that they killed and scalped upward of ninety, but a few making their escape, about forty of whom were warriors, the rest being old women and children. About eighty horses fell into their hands, which they loaded with the plunder, the greatest part furs and skins — the party returned to the Ohio, without the loss of one man. Soon after the death of these Indians, about five hundred men, probably encouraged by this easy conquest, assembled at the old Mingos^ on the west side of the Ohio, and being equipped on horseback, set out for San- doski, where the remaining part of the Moravian Indians resided in order to destroy that settlement, and other Indian towns in those parts, but the Wyandots and other Indians, having some knowledge of their approach, met them near Sandoski, when an engagement ensued, in which some of the assailants were killed and several * Pennsylvania Gazette of April 17th, 1782. 180 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY taken prisoners, among whom was the commander, Col. Crawford and his son-in-law. The Indians put the Col. to a cruel death, by burning him at the stake, and killed his son-in-law with the other prisoners. Doubtless the cruelty exercised on the Colonel and the death of the prisoners taken at Sandoski, was in a great measure owing to the murder of the peaceable Moravians, at which they expressed much displeasure. This grievous transaction appears in a yet more afflict- ing point of view, when it is considered, that though many threats had been thrown out against those Indians, both by the English and Americans, yet they took no steps for their security, trusting in the care of Heaven, and the protection of the Governmont, under which they had lived many years with due submission. But such is the corrupting nature of war, that it hardens the heart to a fearful degree of insensibility.* It must be added, that these good Moravians, and the Indians whom they converted were Christians, but they were not persecuted on account of their opinions, but rather for some proceedings, which admitted of doubt, as to which party they belonged, and being neutrals, their motives were suspected, and their actions closely scanned * The account of this transaction in Hall, vol. 1, page 208, and sequel, and in the Western Annals, Lst edit., page 244, differs rciaterially from that in the text, taken from the Pennsylvania Gazette of April 17th, 1782, and the work, published in Philadelphia, before referred to in 1784, but the author prefers taking the words of cotemporaneous writers, or those who wrote almost immediately after the transactions occurred, rather than the accounts given by more recent authors. Salem and Shocnbrun were afterward re-established in 1799. By an ordinance of Congress, passed May 20th, 1785, the towns of Gnadenhutten, Shoenbrun and Salem, containing 4000 acres each, were reserved for the sole use of the Chris- tianized Indians, settled in those places. This reserve was confirmed by an act passed July 27, 1787, and the title vested in the Moravian brethren at Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 181 by both the one party and the other, the whites and the Indians. The Pittsburgh conference with the Indian tribes, which had been held in the year 1775, had been productive of no good effects ; the spirit of disaffection was rife among the savages and it was augmented by several acts of re- taliation on the part of the whites, Ko decisive blow was struck between the contending parties on our western frontier during the winter of 1775, nor the following year, but various onslaughts and murderous attacks on the whites, continued to be perpetrated, and were carried to such a length, that many returned to the East, quite dis- heartened with the state of affairs in Western Virginia. At length an event occurred, which many thought would bring matters to a crisis. This was the murder of Corn- stalk (the chief who had so nobly fought at the battle of Kanawha), which occurred in the spring of 1777. He met with his death, it is said, by treachery on the very spot, which he had rendered memorable by his exertions to secure the independence of his own native tribes in the forests. The accounts have differed with regard to the part which the commanding officer at Point Pleasant (Kanahwa), took in this transaction, but we believe im- partial history will entirely exonerate the American officer from any participation in the matter. It was owing to the misguided passions of two or three of the soldiers, who revenged by the death of Cornstalk, the murder of one of their own friends and countrymen. However, the blow was struck — no matter from whom it proceeded, a mighty chief had fallen, one who had con- tributed to the success of the Indian arms, and it was natural, that they should wish to avenge his death. War, "war to the knife" was written in letters of blood on the hearts of the savage, although it was not declared by 182 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY the lips of man. Ko such useless formalities were ob- served among the red men, they drew their poisoned arrow from the quiver, and plunged it at once into the bosom of their foe. The siege of Fort Henry, which began on the 27th of September, 1777, was the most memorable event in the outbreak of the troubles in that year. Fort Fincastle, at the mouth of Wheeling creek, afterward changed to the name of Fort Henry, in honor of the distinguished states- man of that name, was nothing but a stockade, with a block house at each corner, and having stout pickets eight feet in height, extending the whole length of the fort. It is not known whether there were any military intrenchments thrown up round the fort, or whether pali- sades were erected to afford security to the position. From the description given by writers,* it is evident the works were not in a state to stand a long siege and it is surprising, how they could have so successfully resisted the besieging forces on that occasion. It was in 1771, that the Yirginia Legislature gave orders to occupy Fort Fincastle with a force of twenty-five men, who were placed under the command of a lieutenant; when the siege took place, there were but forty-two fighting men in the garrison, having sufficient muskets to use, but with a scanty supply of ammunition. There was a small village on the road leading from the base of the hill to the fort, consisting of about twenty-five or thirty log houses, the inhabitants of which, in view of approaching danger had of course taken refuge within the stockade. At the base of the hill, there was a cornfield which the inhabitants cultivated, on which there was a pile of logs and brushwood, which the inhabitants had collected for their domestic use. As will be seen afterward, this * American Pioneer, vol. 2, page 305. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 183 afforded a temporary plan of concealment for two of tlie heroes of that memorable siege. On the twenty-sixth of September, as Captain Joseph Ogle, with two or three men, w^as descending the Ohio in \n.^ pirogue^ on his return from an excursion a few miles above Wheeling, he observed in the distance a smoke, which appeared to him to be caused by the burning of a house a short distance below the fort. He immediately apprized Col. Shepherd, his commanding officer, of the circumstance, who sent two men down the Ohio to ascer- tain the fact. We are not told whether these men re- turned to the fort, but we know, that Shepherd's sus- picions were confirmed, and he took measures to bring in all the settlers from a distance, into the fort. The Col. had before heard of the concentration of a large force of Indians near Sandoski, under the command of Simon Girty, and he feared for the worst. His fears were re- alized, for on the morning of the 27th, having dispatched a white man and a negro to bring in some horses, which were grazing near the cornfield, the former was shot down by some savages, who were lurking near the spot, and the negro made the best of his way back into the fort. When Colonel Shepherd heard the negro relate the story, he forthwith dispatched Captain Mason with fourteen men, to reconnoiter the ground and dislodge the Indians. He had hardly proceeded across the field and was approach- ing the creek, when he was surrounded by tlie whole of Girty 's forces, and seeing his danger, he fought his way nobly through the ranks of the savages, in his attempt to reach the fort. In this fatal encounter, the whole party with the exception of Mason and two others, was cut to pieces. It is surprising how any escaped, but Mason and his two comrades being hotly pursued by the savages, they encountered them single handed, and having dispatched 184 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY them, managed to find a hiding place under the pile of logs and brushwood in the cornfield, where they remained in concealment until the siege was raised. Another scouting party consisting of Captain Ogle and twelve volunteers emerged from the fort, but they met with the same fate, for with the exception of the Captain and four others, there were none left to tell the tale of their disaster. These managed to efiect an almost miracu- lous escape from the overwhelming number of their opponents. Soon the battle commenced, and as the description given of it by George S. Kiernan, Esq.,* is prepared from materials of the most authentic character, it is here inserted : " The enemy advanced in two ranks, in open order, their left flank reaching to the river-bank, and their right extending into the woods, as far as the eye could reach. After random shots were fired and instantly a loud whoop arose on the enemy's left flank, which passed as if by concert, along the line to the extreme right, till the wel- kin was filled with a chorus of the most wild and startling character. This salute was responded to by a few well- directed rifle-shots from the lower blockhouses, which produced a manifest confusion in the ranks of the besieg- ers. They discontinued their shooting, and retired a few paces, probably to await the coming up of their right flank, which it would seem had been directed to make a general sweep of the bottom, and then approach the stockade on the eastern side. " At this moment the garrison of Fort Henry number- * This gentleman contributed an article on the siege of Fort Henry, to be found in 2d American Pioneer, page 305, which for eloquence in the description, and truthfulness in the details, is not surpassed by that of any other writer. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 185 ed no more than twelve men and bojs. The fortunes of the day, so far, had been fearfully against them ; two of their best officers and more than two-thirds of their origi- nal force were missing. The exact fate of their comrades was unknown to them, but they had every reason to ap- prehend that they had been cut to pieces. Still they were not dismayed ; their mothers, sisters, wives, and children, were assembled around them ; they had a sacred charge to protect, and they resolved to fight to the last extremity, and confidently trusted in Heaven for the successful issue of the combat," * # * * * # "It w\is yet quite early in the morning, the sun not having appeared above the summit of Wheeling Hill, and the day is represented to have been one of surpassing beauty. The Indians, not entirely concealed from the view of the garrison, kept up a brisk fire for the space of six hours w^ithout intermission. The little garrison, in spite of its heterogeneous character, was, with scarcely an exception, conposed of sharp-shooters. Several of them, whose experience in Indian warfare gave them a remark- able degree of coolness and self-possession in the face of danger, infused confidence into the young, and as they never fired at random, their bullets, in most cases, took efiect. The Indians, on the contrary, gloated with their previous success, their tomahaw^ks reeking with the blood of Mason's and Ogle's men, and all of them burning with impatience to rush into the fort and complete their work of butchery, discharged their guns against the pickets, the gate, the logs of the blockhouses, and every other object that seemed to shelter a white man. Their fire was thus thrown away. At length some of their most daring warriors rushed up close to the blockhouses, and attempted to make more sure work by firing through the 16 186 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY logs ; but these reckless savages received from the well- directed rifles of the frontier's men, the fearful reward of their temerity. About one o'clock, the Indians discon- tinued their fire, and fell back against the base of the hill." ****** "Again they renewed the attack; again they were repulsed ; and they at length made the attempt to force the eastern gate, which the besieged having observed, completely thwarted their effort. Ko means were left untried during this protracted siege to carry the fort. They even converted a hollow maple log into a fieldpiece, by plugging up one of its ends with a block of wood. To give it additional strength, a quantity of chains taken from the blacksmith's shop, encompassed it from one end to the other. It was heavily charged with powder, and then filled to the muzzle with pieces of stone, slugs of iron, and such other substances as could be found. This, however, was of no avail, the cannon burst, scattering death and destruction to all around. Finding all their efibrts ineffectual, the Indians retired from the ground, and raised the siege." Such is, in substance, the account which Mr. S. Kier- nan gives of this memorable event. He adds, "that during the investiture, not a man within the fort was killed, and only one wounded, and that wound a slight one. But the loss sustained by the whites during the enemy's inroad, was remarkably severe. Of the forty- two men who were in the fort on the morning of the 27th, no less than twenty-three were killed in the corn field before the siege commenced. The enemy's loss was from sixty to one hundred." But if the heroic conduct of those within the fort wrings from us a tribute of praise, what shall we say of OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 187 the noble self-devotion and masculine spirit and courage of those without it ? Does not language fail to portray in terms suitable to the theme, the chivalrous feelings which animated the bosom of Miss Elizabeth Zane, the sister of one of the founders of the West^ who, at the hazard of her life, voluntarily came forward and offered her services to the garrison, when the ammunition was about being exhausted, to leave the stockade and go for a keg of powder, which was in the house of one of her kinsmen, about sixty yards from the gate of the fort? She had reached the desired spot without molestation, unobserved, excepting by a few straggling savages in the vicinity, when on her return the burden she was carrying being noticed by the assailants, quick the balls whizzed round the noble girl, but they flew wide of the mark, and gallantly and proudly she bore the precious charge to the garrison. Such acts as these give us a lofty idea of the self-sacri- ficing spirit of woman in times of danger and distress. They elevate and adorn the female character, and show what we may expect, when calamities overtake us, from the fair daughters of America. McColloch's leap on horseback, over a precipice one hundred and fifty feet in height, to escape from his infu- riated pursuers ; Colonel Swearingen's entrance into the fort, in spite of the savages, and the melancholy murder of Francis Duke, under the eyes of his father-in-law Colo- nel Shepherd, who could do nothing to prevent it, were among the incidents of this remarkable siege ; one which was unparalleled in the history of Indian warfare, and the result of which struck dismay into the hearts of their enemies. 188 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY CHAPTER XYI. The American Revolution was progressing. The capitulation at Saratoga had fallen like a thunderbolt on the ears of the monarchs and people of Europe. What triumphs had the English to offer against this masterpiece of the military skill of the Americans — none but the taking of Philadelphia, and tliat was not accompanied by the important consequences that followed Burgoyne's defeat? Franklin, the emissary of Congress, had been received by the people of France with a degree of enthu- siasm that had never before or since been manifested on the arrival of an ambassador. Yet he was not the ac- credited agent of a government w^hich was recognized by the crowned heads of Europe; it was one de facto — yet not de jure. The time, however, was rapidly approach- ing when the treaty of 1763 was to be no longer binding on either England or France ; for the Duke dc Choiseul, the old and inveterate foe of the former power, had the satisfaction of negotiating with Franklin the terms of the treaty of 1778, a treaty of alliance and commerce between the United States and France, one of the first nations of Europe. What influence was this event to have on the fortunes and circumstances of the people of the West ? England had an uncertain hold of her fortresses on the Lakes and the Mississippi. Along the latter she was hemmed in by the Spaniards, who occupied the west shore of that river, and to the east she had armed invaders, who were medi- tating a descent on her strongholds at Yincennes, Kas- kaskia, and Detroit. Her policy, therefore, was to culti- vate the friendly feelings of the French, many of whom had, from association and the early reminiscences of OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 180 youth, continued even after the change of government, to abide in the homes of their ancestors. But England got no assistance from that quarter; the French had heard of the preliminaries of the treaty of '78, so that when Clark arrived, the English commanders at those forts, instead of relying on them as friends, found in them secret enemies. Had De Rocheblave or Hamilton known that they could rely on the French at Kaskaskia, or Yin- cennes, Clark, with his four companies of undisciplined troops, being raw recruits just raised in the neighborhood of Holston and Pittsburgh, would not have so easily re- duced Fort Gage * or Fort Sackville.f It is doubtful whether De Eocheblave or Hamilton would have been sent in chains to Williamsburgh to grace the triumph of the conqueror. J George Rogers Clark was born in the county of Albe- marle, in the State of Virginia, in September, 1743. He had visited Kentucky in the year 1775, and had held a commission either as captain or major in Dunmore's cam- paign. Like many other military chieftains who distin- guished themselves in the stormy period of the Revolu- tion, he united with his mild and gentle manners and courteous demeanor, the noble daring of the soldier, and the valor and courage of the warrior. He was peculiarly well qualified for the arduous duties with which he was intrusted. Of an adventurous spirit, and full of enter- prise, he turned toward the West in the hope that its wild domains would aflbrd a suitable field for his military skill. Clark was a good judge of human nature; he had been brought up in those trying times when men were schooled in adversity as well as prosperity, and from his * Fort Gage at Kaskaskia. f Fort Sackville at Vincennes. $ Washington disapproved of Clark's treatment of Hamilton. 190 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY earliest years he had shown a predilection to wander in the woods and in the vicinity of forts and camps, where danger might be apprehended. He was thus the fittest person to intrust with the execution of a project to per- form which required a combination of qualities rarely possessed by any one man. At the period when Clark visited the temtory west of the Blue Ridge, the few settlers who were in the country were in a state of uneasiness, arising out of the uncer- tainty of the tenure by which they held their property. Henderson had wished to establish a sort of proprietary government, whereby the tenants would hold under him ; but these were dissatisfied, as they heard Virginia disputed Henderson's right to concede the lands, and that it was likely they formed part of those purchased for the King in 1768, by Sir William Johnson at the treaty with the Iroquois at Fort Stanwix. In order to quiet the minds of the settlers, and to remove all doubts on the subject, the people assembled at Ilarrodstown on the 5th June, 1776, at which George Rogers Clark and Gabriel John Jones were chosen members of the Assembly of Virginia. At that time there was no county established, but it must have evidently entered into the vicAvs of these settlers, to force the matter, by the election of delegates, on the con- sideration of the General Assembly. Clark and Jones, after having encountered much hardship on their journey, reached the county of Bottetourt in Virginia, where they first heard that the Legislature had adjourned. Jones returned to tlie settlement on Holston, and left Clark to attend to the Kentucky business. Clark immediately repaired to Governor Henry and represented the object of his visit. The Governor received him very cordially, and gave him a letter to the Clerk of the Executive Council of the State. Clark repaired to OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 191 the capitol and made application to the Council for five hundred pounds of powder for the use of the garrisons in the West. This was peremptorily refused, the Council assigning for the reason that the place where it was to be used, was without the limits of the government, but that they would have no objection to lend Clark the powder on his personal undertaking to become responsible for it, and to bear the expenses of its transportation to the forts on the Ohio. This Clark found was impossible, so he urged every argument why the Government should send the powder to Pittsburgh by a military escort, but all was unavailing ; the Council thought they had been liberal enough to grant the loan of the powder, without under- taking the responsibility of incurring expenses for its transportation, without the sanction of the Legislature. They sent Clark the order for the powder, which he indig- nantly returned in a letter, informing them that it was impossible for him to transport military stores through the forest, and adding, that he was mortified to find that Kentucky must look elsewdiere for assistance, and that a " country which was not worth defending, was not worth claiming." * This letter had the desired effect, for Clark was gratified to find that an order was issued for the transportation of the powder to Pittsburgh. Clark was at Williamsburgh in the fall of that year, (1776) when he presented the petition of the Kentuckians to the Legislature, and had the gratification, before he left, of obtaining the erection of a county by the name of Kentucky, to form part of the old dominion. There were also three other new counties formed in that session in the District of West Augusta, by the names of Ohio, Yough- iogheny and Monongahela.* * Butler's Kentucky, page 41. f See vol. 2 American Pioneer, page 303. 192 HISTOKY OF THE VALLEY Of Course Clark and Jones did not take tlieir seats in the Assembly, but they bad the satisfaction to know that through their exertions, the vexed question of land titles would shortly be settled, and that that part of the West w^here they resided would be legally represented in the next session. Finding that the powder had been sent to Pittsburgh, Clark and Jones took that route on their way homeward, and on their arrival there, found several detached parties of Indians w^atching their movements, and lurking about the vicinity. So they adopted the resolution of removing the pow^der to a place where it would be more convenient for them. They brought it to a spot near to w^here Marietta now stands, w^here they buried it in the earth, and after meeting with a variety of adventures and assaults from the Indians, finally obtained a convoy to escort it to Harrodstown. Notwithstanding the dangers of a life in the forest, at that period in particular, settlements progressed and population was gradually pouring into the territory. John Todd and Eichard Galloway were the first members who were elected from Kentucky to serve in the General Assembly ; the Courts were constituted ; the militia or- ganized, and there w^as every indication of the early establishment of a settled government and a properly regulated society in the county. It must have been grati- fying to the settlers to see the elements of social order gradually supplanting that state of anarchy that had existed since their settlement in the West. Hitherto, the war between the Indians and the settlers had assumed no important aspect, there had been no regular engagement, (with the exception of the siege of Fort Henry), and there was apparently no concerted plan of action either on the one side or the other. The painted OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 193 and tattooed savage, with his quiver slung over his shoul- der and his musket in his hand, would occasionally point the deadly arrow, or level his fire-arms to bring down his white foe ; but there was nothing like a regular combin- ation of forces, and it struck the penetrating mind of Clark, that the time was most opportune to strike the blow. To his acute perception, a plan suggested itself, which, if carried out successfully, would terminate the power of England and of her savage allies in the West. It was the reduction of the English Forts of Detroit, Yincennes and Kaskaskia. Honor be forever due to the mind which conceived a project fraught with such incalculable conse- quences to the future prosperity of republican America. In vain had the best blood of her sons been profusely shed on the glorious battle-fields of their country ; in vain had Washington spent a long career of usefulness in her ser- vice ; in vain had the declaration of her I^ational Inde- pendence been asserted within the time-honored walls of the old State House at Philadelphia, if her enemies, the English, were suffered to hold one foot of ground on American territory. From her strongholds on the shores of the Wabash and the Mississippi, went forth the man- dates to the savage tribes of this Continent, to bring in the scalps of the rebels : from thence issued the orders to spare neither age nor sex, not to heed the cries or the lamentations of the orphan and the widow, and it was but just, in the merciful dispensation of an overruling Providence, that retribution should wait on her crimes, and punishment follow guilt. Clark was the man to exact the one and execute the other, and he well performed his mission. He again repaired to the seat of government in Virgi- nia in October, 1777, and was engaged from the time of his arrival until the beginning of the following year in ir 194 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY impressing on the minds of Governor Henry and the council, the necessity of adopting his plans for the sub- jugation of the English forts in the West. On the second of January, 1778, an order in council was made, conveying instructions to Clark to raise seven companies of soldiers, consisting of fifty men each, offi- cered in the usual manner, and armed most properly for the enterprise; and with this force ''^attach the British Post at Kaskaskiay For the transportation of the troops and provisions, etc., down the Ohio, he was to apply to the commanding officer at Fort Pitt for boats, and General Hand at that post, was to furnish him with powder and lead for the expedition. With these instructions, which Clark was enjoined to keep secret, and with another set, which he was at liberty to disclose, viz : to raise militia for the defense of Ken- tucky, he took his departure from Williamsburgh, highly elated with the success of his expedition. Major William B. Smith was sent to Holston to organ- ize a company, while Captains Bowman, Harrod and others, were directed to raise levies in other quarters. The point of rendezvous was at Corn Island, opposite Louisville, which Clark fortified. Here his little army, consisting of but four companies, was concentrated, these were under the command of Captains Harrod, Helen, Bowman, and Montgomery. They now knew for the first time, that the point of their destination was Kaskas- kia, and none murmured at the project, however difficult it appeared of completion. The gallant little party sailed down the Ohio, until they reached Fort Massacre, whence they proceeded by land, through the present state of Illinois, until they reached Kaskaskia. There have been several accounts given of the number of the population at that place, OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 195 about this period, all differing in their statements, and we are left to conjecture what was the number of the people within the fort and village, but it may be set down at about eighty families,* and one hundred and fifty able- bodied men. Frenchmen and others, ready to do service at the call of duty. Against this force was Clark's small army to contend, consisting of about two hundred men, who had scarcely had time to become disciplined to the rules of the service, badly clothed, fed and accoutered, and har- rassed by the fatigue of a march through the forest of nearly one hundred and sixty miles in length. So miser- able was their appearance and condition that on an inter- view, w^iich was held after their arrival between the authorities of Kaskaskia and this military corps, that they could not distinguish the soldiers from the commander, nor the officers from the men. Their garments were ragged, and " tattered and torn," and their appearance was certainly not much calculated to command respect. On the afternoon of the 4:th of July, 1778, Clark's ad- vanced corps took possession of the ancient fort on the west side of the river, while the two other divisions crossed the river to take possession of the town. A few days before his arrival, he was told the men had been under arms, but all now was quiet, and no danger was apprehended. The surprise was effectual. Clark sent persons to notify the inhabitants, "that every man among * Butler's Kentucky, page 53, says it contained 250 houses, but he is evidently mistaken. In 1770, Kaskaskia contained only sixty-five res- ident families. See Pittraan's settlements on the Mississippi, published in London, 1770, page 43, and in 1801, the village contained about one hundred houses, and the inhabitants principally French. See " Topo- graphical Description of the State of Ohio, Indiana Territory, and Louisi- ana." Boston, Charles Williams 1812, page 61. Mr. Butler is, however, generally correct, and the principal facts in the text are taken from his work, which is a valuable contribution to Western History. 196 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY them, who should appear in the streets, would be shot down," and gave orders to his men to keep up during the night, such a continual noise and racket in the streets, as would alarm the inhabitants. The men entered into the spirit of the thing, they began whooping and hallooing, until the ears of these Frenchmen must have been dinned with the cries of the soldiers, and the clashing of their arms. Owing to the darkness of the night, the people of the town could not have had a correct knowledge of the number of men in the village, and their fears must have greatly exaggerated the complement of Clark's forces. Early on the morning of the 5th, the reveille was heard calling the soldiers to arms, and acting under Clark's orders, they took up their positions in the vicinity of the village. Soon after they left, there were seen men leaving their houses, and engaging in conversation with each other. The Colonel immediately arrested half a dozen of the principal inhabitants, and put them in chains. He adopted other measures of a rigorous character, but which were well-advised, when we consider his position ; he had Jieard^ there loere some Indians in the neighhorhood^ and he knew not to what extent the arts of treachery might lead his captured opponents. Some there are, who might cavil at his conduct, but Clark was of a humane and benevolent disposition, as he afterward showed to- ward these Frenchmen. His policy was eminently suc- cessful, and the ruse du guen^e succeeded beyond his most sanguine anticipations. At first severe, then relaxing in his severity, at first exercising arbitrary authority, then showing clemency to the people, he won them over to his side, and they became good citizens of the Republic. Thus Kaskaskia was taken, and De Rocheblave, the British commander, was sent in irons, at first to Rich- mond and afterward, as some authors say, to Williams- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 197 burgh. . Clark's treatment of this officer might by some, be censured, but his remarks were particularly ofiensive to the American commander, indignantly applying the term ''''rebels'^ to the men, and disparaging their cause. He was neither the object of sympathy nor of pity. Soon after Cahokia (a small fort near Kaskaskia), fell into the hands of the Americans, without shedding a drop of blood, and this was followed by the accession of Fort Yincennes on the Wabash, the inhabitants of which readily espoused the cause of the Americans. This was brought about through the favorable intercession of the Eev. Mr. Gilbert, Roman Catholic curate of Kaskaskia, who at Clark's request, went to Vincennes, and urged the inhabitants to join the American standard. Thus were these three important British Posts sur- rendered to our authorities, without being obliged to resort to the dreadful ultimatum of war, and it was owing to the mature judgment, correct understanding, and acknowledged abilities of the gallant Colonel who commanded the expedition. Clark and his brave com- panions in arms, received the thanks of the Legislative Assembly of Virginia for "their extraordinary resolution and perseverance in so hazardous an enterprise, and for the important services thereby rendered their country." But a speck of w^ar was on the horizon. Clark was not to be permitted to reap so many laurels without moles- tation. Governor Hamilton of Detroit, having heard of the surrender of Yincennes, mustered a considerable army, and in December, 1779, appeared before the old fort and demanded its surrender. There were but Captain Helm and another soldier in it at the time, and that brave officer was not inclined to give it up without a struggle. Placing a cannon in a port-hole, commanding the entrance to the fort, he hailed Hamilton and asked him what were 198 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY the terms, on which he expected him to capitulate. The Governor replied satisfactorily to Helm, and the garrison, consisting Of two men, marched out with all the honors of war, in the presence of the surrounding forces. This is a well established historical fact, and it must have been mortifying to the pride of the British commander to witness such conduct on the part of an American officer. Clark was soon trailing the footpaths of Hamilton toward this western fortress. He foresaw at once the danger in which he was placed, and rather than act on the defensive, he resolved to carry the war into the ene- my's country. In his own emphatic language, he said, "if I do not take him (Hamilton) he will take me." The road from Kaskaskia to Yincennes passed through almost one continued prairie for about two hundred miles, there being only scattered copses of wood, which had the appearance of small islands in a widely-extended bay. These natural meadows were covered with a tall grass, which greatly impeded travelers. On this road, at that period, there were hardly any settlers, and the traveler was obliged for several nights to lodge in the grass or copses of wood. As for food, unless they brought a sup- ply with them, they were dependent on the produce of the chase, and happy was it for them, if a stray elk or a buffalo should cross their path and become a prey to the hunter. It was through this road that Clark took up his line of march for Yincennes. With two companies of French troops, that had been organized, one in Cahokia, under the command of Cap- tain McCarty, and the other at Kaskaskia, under Captain Charleville. Clark, with his forces, consisting in all of only one hundred and seventy men, took his departure from Kaskaskia to have a trial at arms with Hamilton. A boat, manned by Captain John Rogers and forty-six OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 199 men, two four pound cannons, four swivels and provi- sions, was sent down the Mississippi to meet Clark at some convenient point on the Wabash. On the Tth of February, 1779, they commenced their march, and on the evening of the 21st of the same month arrived in the neighborhood of Yincennes. About 8 o'clock that evening they gained the heights of the town. The garrison was soon completely sur- rounded, and the firing continued without intermission (except about fifteen minutes a little before day) until about 9 o'clock the following morning. It was kept up by the whole of the troops (joined by a few of the young men of the town who got permission), except fifty men kept as a reserve.* Clark had made himself fully acquainted with the situation of the fort and town, and the parts relative to each. The cannon of the garrison was on the upper floor of strong blockhouses,! at each angle of the fort, eleven feet above the surface, and the ports so badly cut that many of our troops lay under the fire of them, within twenty or thirty yards of the walls. They did no damage, except to the buildings of the town, some of which they much shattered ; and their musketry, in the dark, employed against woodsmen covered by houses, palings, ditches, the banks of the river, etc., was but of little avail, and did no injury to them, except wounding a man or two. As they could not afibrd to lose men, great care was taken to preserve them sufiiciently covered, and to keep up a hot fire in order to intimidate the enemy, as well as to destroy them. The embrasures of their cannon were frequently shut— ^or the American riflemen, * Clark's Journal Western Annals, page 209. t Reynolds' " Pioneer History," says at page 60, that Fort Sackville was built by the British, iu 1769, and that it was a regular stockade fort with bastions. 200 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY finding the tme direction of them^ would jpour in such volleys lohen they icere ojpened^ that the 'men could not stand to the guns ; seven or eight of them in a short time were cut down. The troops would frequently abuse the enemy, in order to aggravate them to open their ports and fire their cannon, that they might have the pleasure of cutting them down with their rifles, fifty of which perhaps would be leveled the moment the port flew open ; and if they had stood at the artillery, the greater part of them would have been destroyed in the course of the night, as the most of the Americans laid within thirty yards of the walls ; and in a few hours were covered equally with those within the walls, and much more experienced in that mode of fighting. ****** Sometimes an irregular fire, as hot as possible, was kept up from difierent directions for a few minutes, and then only a continual scattering fire at the ports, as usual. Thus the attack continued until about 9 o'clock, on the morning of the 24th, when Clark having heard that two prisoners had been taken, with a considerable number of letters on their persons, and thinking that they might be expresses intended for him, decided on striking an efiect- ual blow to reduce the fort and compel the garrison to surrender. He at first opened negotiations with Hamilton, who wished for a truce of three days^ on such terms as he (Clark) proposed. This convinced the latter that his enemy was nearly exhausted, so he wrote him to say that he could not agree to any terms than Mr. Hamilton's surrendering himself and garrison prisoners at discretion. In the course of the afternoon of the 24:th, the articles of capitulation were signed and the garrison surrendered. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 201 Like the British commander at Kaskaskia, Hamilton was sent in chains to Williamsburgh ; but this course being contrary to the articles of capitulation and the rules of war, Washington disapproved of it, and Hamilton was released. The coteraporaneous French w^riters of that period, who traveled in America immediately after the close of the Revolutionary War,* place Hamilton's numbers at one hundred and twenty well-disciplined troops, and three hundred Indian auxiliaries, while Clark had one hundred and fifty men only, with no other arms but carabines^ and destitute of artillery. Mazzei says, that before the attack Clark sent an estafette (a special mes- senger) to Williamsburgh to inform the Governor and Council of what was occurring, and his meditated attack on Yincennes; and that such was the extreme peril of his situation, that he finished his letter by begging his countrymen in the name of each man under his command to pardon their temerity, if it should happen that by the result of the attack on the fort, they should be deprived for the future of the services of so large a number of their fellow-citizens. Clark returned to Kaskaskia, where he remained for some time engaged in strengthening the garrisons, and fortifying the strongholds of the Americans on the banks of the Mississippi. Almost simultaneously with this memorable expedition to Yincennes, was the siege of Boouesborough, where that noble old pioneer, Daniel Boone, again distinguished himself. Colonel Byrd's expedition up the Licking, and the battle of the Blue Licks followed soon after ; but these » M. Mazzei, " Recherches Historiques," vol. 2, page 197. Mandrillon, Revolution de L'Amerique Septentrionale." — Paris: 1 vol., page 306. 202 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY were only a continuation of that Indian warfare, the de- tails of which must yield before other matters of a more absorbing interest, which had an important bearing on the destinies of our countrymen in the West. In fact, the recapitulation of all these Indian battles, none of which, by their results, affected the political relations of the conquerors or conquered, followed by truces which almost as soon as they were entered into, were again broken, would only confuse the mind of the reader, and divert his attention from matters of far greater historical interest. CHAPTER XVII. It will be remembered that under the treaty of 1763, in consideration of the restoration of Havana and the greater part of the Island of Cuba, Spain ceded East and West Florida to England. In order to understand the difficulties which afterward arose between these two European powers, and subsequently between Spain and the United States, it will be necessary to know something of the geographical divisions and boundaries at that period. Previously to the treaty, a part of what was called West Florida, was included in Louisiana, but after the treaty, Louisiana w^as confined to the west shore of the Mississippi, including the city of New Orleans. West Florida extended between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, from the 30th degree of north latitude to 32 degrees 28 minutes north, having the Mississippi for its western boundary, where it actually existed at the time of the treaty of 1783. East Florida occupied the peninsula, now appearing on the maps under the general name of OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 203 Florida. South Carolina was the northern boundary of West Florida, also extending from the Atlantic to the Mississippi — North Carolina separating her from what was marked on the maps of that period as Virginia, its breadth also extending from the sea to the shores of the Mississippi. The Mississippi therefore was the western boundary of West Florida, North Carolina, South Caro- lina and Yirginia. Georgia is marked on the maps as lying between South Carolina and West Florida, but not as a geographical division, merely as an appendage of the former. Thus, at this period (1779), three great powers, England, Spain and the United States, were respectively in possession of territory along the shores of the Mis- sissippi.* In 1764 the English, not wishing to lose any time in taking possession of their territories in America, sent a regiment up the Mississippi to Natchez, where it was attacked by the Tonicas at the clifls, where Fort Adams stood, and was entirely defeated. In this battle Major Loftus was killed, and the clifls afterward bore his name. During the few years succeeding these events, and the breaking out of the American revolution, nothing of very great importance occurred, but the English were gradually settling about Natchez and in its vicinity, and were turn- ing their attention to the culture of cotton. When the people of these States had declared their in- dependence, Spain was hesitating as to the policy she should pursue. She feared that we would get possession of the Floridas, and resolved to take measures to forestall us in our endeavors to bring about that result. She had become the ally of France in the war which was then * Map of North America, annexed to " Essaies Historiques et Poli- tiques sur les Anglo-Americains," published in Brussels, 1781. 204 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY waging, but she did not see, in her anxiety to get posses- sion of Gibraltar, Jamaica, Minorca, and the Floridas, that if we were successful, we also would lay claim to the latter territory as forming part of the conquered dominions. England was also justly alarmed at the situation of the Floridas, hemmed in by the revolutionists on the one hand, and by Spain on the other, so she strengthened her garrisons at Mobile, Pensacola, Baton Rouge and Natchez. While these two European powers were contending for sovereignty over the Floridas, the Americans, to whom they rightly belonged, were consummating those measures, the necessary consequence of which would be to place them in possession of the much coveted territory. At this period, Louisiana was governed by General Galvez, a Spanish officer of noble daring and great skill. He was one of the most efficient commanders that Spain ever had in America. He at once saw, that if Spain got possession of the Floridas before England was compelled to lose them, that it would serve the interests of his coun- try in a double point of view. If the Americans suc- ceeded, Spain, as the natural ally of France, could not have a difficulty with the United States respecting the Floridas, and at the same time she would, by their acqui- sition, before the war was brought to a close, aim a fatal blow at the maritime interests of England in the South -West. He resolved therefore, to attempt to acquire possession of the territory, and for this purpose suddenly appeared before Baton Rouge, with about tw^o thousand three hundred men, and several pieces of heavy ordnance. The fortification at that place, defended by about five hundred British troops, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Dickson, was immediately invested, and the Spanish batteries constructed with ardor. But as the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 205 works of the English were too defective to resist a siege, and the soldiers too much afflicted with sickness to repair them, Lieutenant Colonel Dickson, with a loss of a few killed and wounded, was obliged to surrender, by capitu- lation, on the 21st day of September, 1779. His troops were allowed to march out with the honors of war, when they submitted as prisoners. In this capitulation, the fortress at Natchez was in- cluded, though the troops at that post were permitted to pass to Pensacola. Elated with the success of his movements, and contem- plating other victories, Galvez, in the spring of 1780, sailed from New Orleans with a considerable force to attack the English at Mobile. In this he was again suc- cessful, and by the reduction of Pensacola the following year, the whole of the territory then denominated West Florida, was resigned to Spain. The articles of capitu- lation were signed on the 9th of May, 1781. While the Spaniards were aiming at the possession of West Florida, the English endeavored to divert their attention to another quarter. The commandant of Michilimackinac, in 1780, assembled about fifteen hun- dred Indians and one hundred and forty English, and attempted the reduction of St. Louis, the capital of Upper Louisiana. During the short time they were before that town, several of the inhabitants were killed and wounded. Some authors say that General Clark, who was then in Kaskaskia, appeared in the fort when it was attacked, and that the Indians fled ; while others assert that he offered his services, but that the Lieutenant Governor Leyba, who was then in command of Upper Louisiana, declined them. However that may be, Leyba's conduct on that occasion gave rise to much dissatisfaction, and the inhabitants of St. Louis went so far as to charge him 206 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY Openly with treachery. They complained of his conduct to Galvez, who appointed Silvio Francisco Cartabona acting Governor during the winter, and in the following year Don Francisco Cruzat was re-appointed Lieutenant Governor. Leyba died shortly after in St. Louis, and some assert that his death was caused by poison. Thus about the same period that England lost her Colonies on the seaboard, she was also deprived of those she held on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi, and with the exception of the Canadas and the provinces adjacent to the banks of Newfoundland, her Colonial Empire, once so rich and powerful, was henceforward to become free and independent. At the peace of 1783, the line between England and the United States, was to be drawn '' along the middle of the river Mississippi, until it shall intersect the Northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of North Latitude," and England ceded East Florida, and guaran- teed West Florida to the Crown of Spain. The provisions of this Treaty opened a w^ide field of dispute between the United States and Spain, which con- tinued to disturb the peaceful relations between them for a period of twelve years. Spain contended, that the northern boundary of West Florida should extend to the Yazous, in North Latitude thirt^^-two degrees twenty-eight minutes, where certainly, so far as regarded possession, it actually existed at the time of the guarantee in 1783, while the United States contended, that the whole extent of territory on the East side of the Mississippi, to the thirty -first degree of North Latitude belonged to them, and certainly the words and literal construction of the Treaty of 1783, would strengthen such a pretension. But a matter of greater importance, and one which OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 207 occupied the attention of our statesmen at that period, was the exdusive right which Spain claimed to the navi- gation of the Mississippi. The Treaty of 1763, allowed both Great Britain and Spain an equal participation of this right. The latter now contended, that by the con- quest of West Florida, all the territory south of thirty- two degrees twenty-eight minutes, belonging to her, and being in possession of Louisiana on the west side of the river, that the United States had no right to navigate a river, flowing exclusively within the limits of a neighbor- ing nation. This important question of international law, was likely to disturb the peaceable relations betwen the two powers, and it w^as only after a long series of negotiations, and finally by the cession of the country to our Government, that the question was settled. This obsolete law of nations, that the people living under one government, have no right to navigate the rivers lying within the territory of another, would soon have given way under the effects of a more enlightened civilization, and before the rapid strides at which popula- tion was increasing, and commerce progressing in the terri- tories of the Korth-west and South. The exclusive right of navigating rivers, which near their source, and for miles in length, flow between the territories of two diflerent nations, but which near their outlet flow entirely within the limits of one nation (such as the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence), is one which ought long since to have ceased to exist, and which is a restriction on commerce, which an independent people ought never to tolerate. For instance, the St. Lawrence is the great highway, which the Creator of the Universe has bestowed on the people of the West, to serve them as a channel of com- munication with the nations of Europe, and which they 208 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY have a natural right to use for the transportation of their produce from Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and other States to the Ocean, but by the decrees of man, and the interpretation which he puts on the law of nations, a barrier is erected near to that part, where the river flows entirely within one territory, and the people of the other have not forsooth, the right to navigate its waters. As in the case of the Spanish claim to the exclusive navigation of the Mississippi, so will it be with that of the English to the St. Lawrence, these obstacles to com- merce will be finally removed, and people will look back with wonder to the period, when they happened to exist. Between the social state of the few settlers, who were inhabiting different localities in the West, at the outbreak of the Revolution, and that which existed near its close, there was a great and decided difierence. Owing to their indomitable energy and perseverance, and the brilliant successes in arms of their generals and soldiers, the Indian tribes had been vanquished in spirit, if not in numbers. Attacks on the log-houses of the settlers, now and then converted into block-houses and bastions, to resist the assaults of the savage foe, became less frequent. Under the military surveillance of well-furnished garrisons at Fort Pitt, Fort Laurens, Fort Henry, and Fort Sackville, and with Clark at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, watching the British and their auxiliaries in that quarter, the people along the shores of the Ohio were beginning to indulge in the blessings of peace, and of a properly constituted social organization, Numbers were flocking into the country from all quarters, and settlements gradually sprung up in the hitherto inaccessible forest. In 1780, the County of Kentucky was divided into the three Counties of Lincoln, Fayette, and Jefierson, the town of Louisville was established, and Lexington in the OF THE MISSISSIPPI, 209 preceding year had been founded by Colonel Patterson, an early pioneer, and one who had done good service on behalf of his country. The population at this period in Kentucky* must have exceeded six thousand souls. About this time, the people turned their attention to a more systematic military organization, the three counties had their regularly appointed battalions of militia, vt'hich were formed into a brigade, placed under the command of General George Rogers Clark. His commission as Brigadier-General, was dated the 22d January, 1781, and signed by Thomas Jefferson. They had their courts of civil and criminal jurisdiction, and officers were ap- pointed to fulfill the administrative duties of civil govern- ment. General Clark, shortly after his appointment as Brigadier- General took up his head -quarters at Fort Kel- son, in Louisville, from whence he watched closely, what was occurring among the Indian tribes in different sec- tions of the country. Occasionally in 1782, there would be attacks by the Indians on the whites. Laugheny was coming down the Ohio with one hundred and fifty men to settle in the West, when he met with an overwhelming number of Indians, who captured and slew the whole party, at a creek named after him, somewhere below the Great Mi- ami, and Captain Estill's defeat in a battle, which was fought between a party of Wyandots and the men under his command (each party numbering only twenty-five), was remarkable for deeds of bravery, characteristic of our countrymen. From this temporary mode of warfare pur- sued by the savages, and the disastrous result of a battle fought at the Blue Licks, in which a number of the pioneers lost their lives. General Clark resolved to raise a * It should be more properly stated " the West," for Kentucky was the name generally applied to all Western Virginia. 18 210 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY formidable armament and devastate the Indian settle- ments. For this pm-pose, he called a meeting of the military officers of his brigade at the Falls of Louisville, who placed themselves at the head of one thousand mounted riflemen, assembled at the appointed spot in September, 1782. They visited the Miami valley, but found no body of Indians under arms, they must have fled at the approach of this formidable military array, but Clark left unmistakable evidences of his march in the de- struction of their villages, and habitations, and having devastated their hunting-grounds and corn-fields, the expedition returned to the Ohio and was disbanded. This had a good eflect on the Shawnees and other tribes, for afterward, no large body of armed Indians crossed over the territory to the south of the Ohio. There were but few events of much local interest that transpired in Kentucky during the ensuing two or three years. The public mind was in a state of ferment, aris- ing out of the continued resistance of the Spanish author- ities, against the right of Americans to the free navigation of the Mississippi, and of the apparent indifference of Government to the interests of the people of the West ; but their attention was so repeatedly called away to the unprotected state of the frontiers and the threatened attack of hostile Indian tribes, that the spirit of disaffec- tion against Virginia, which was rapidly ripening into the most bitter hostility, gradually subsided under a sense of the more imminent danger with which they were menaced. In March, 1783, the District of Kentucky was consti- tuted, consisting of the three counties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the town of Danville was chosen as the place where the courts of superior civil jurisdiction were to hold their sessions. In the autumn of 1784, the people of Kentucky were OP THE MISSISSIPPI. 211 threatened with an invasion of the Southern frontiers by a laro-e armed force of the Cherokees, and Colonel Lo^can assembled the first Convention which was ever held in the country w^est of the mountains, in order to provide measures for the public safety. The people now seemed more confident in their resources to repel invasion, whether it came from the North or the South, and as population was rapidly increasing, they were better able to cope with their relentless enemies. In the midst of all their troubles, they never lost sight of those unerring principles of jus- tice, which guide men in their relations toward each other, and young and defenselesss as they were, they acted in the spirit and with the conduct of freemen. When they found Virginia was inattentive to the wants and interests of the people, they resolved on erecting an independent State, and seeking admission into the confederacy. Large and comprehensive views of public policy, arising out of the complicated state of the relations between Spain and the Federal Union, promoted the accomplishment of a measure fraught with such incalculable advantages to Kentucky. In 1785, Kentucky alone contained about twelve thousand souls,* and these were guided by the sound judgment and enlightened opinions of such men as Wilkinson,! McDowell, Muter and others, all actuated by the love of freedom and the desire to promote the happiness of their fellow-men. It seemed to belong to the nature of Colonists in America, to assert their inde- pendence and inalienable right of self-government the moment the state and condition of the country in which they abided, justified them in adopting such measures. * Stoddard's Historical Sketches of Louisiana, page 82. t General Wilkinson, a member of the first Convention which met at Danville, and the reputed author of the Address to the Legislature of Virginia from that body, couched in terms of manly independence. 212 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY They were determined to be as free as the air which they breathed, and to roam over the forests in which they had sought their homes, untrammeled by the decrees of a Legislature in which they were not represented, and which seemed to be regardless of their interests. The right of representation in the Legislative Assembly, and the Con- gress of their country to deliberate on those measures essential to their safety and happiness, was one which they would not forego, and before the close of the eighteenth century, Kentucky was numbered among the United States of America, Ibrming one of the stars which shone not with the dimmest light in that brilliant con- stellation, which had lately appeared in the Western Hemisphere. From the increasing depredations committed by the Indians, having, during a period of three years, killed several hundred persons, including women and children, beside taking horses and property to the amount of several thousand dollars. General Clark undertook an expedition down the Ohio and up the Wabash, to punish these insolent invaders. A thousand men assembled at the place of rendezvous in October, 1786, and having embarked on board of keel-boats, started for Yincennes, where they were to commence operations. Either from the want of a well -concerted plan of action between the General and his officers, or the delay which had taken place in the departure of the expedition, the circumstances of this campaign were exceedingly discouraging to both the officers and men. A spirit of insubordination appeared to prevail among the latter,* while the General himself seemed to have lost his wonted vigor and activity. The * Butler, page 152, says, that three hundred men deserted in a body when but two days' march from the Indian villages. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 213 expedition turned out a failure, but the fortunate issue of Logan's campaign against the Shawnees, served to alle- viate, in some degree, a sense of the misfortunes which had awaited Clark. Logan's corps formed a detachment of Clark's army which was successful in burning one of the Shawnee towns, killing a few warriors, and bringing away a number of women and children as prisoners. CHAPTER XYIII. On the 2d of January, 1781, the Legislature of Virginia made a cession to the United States of the territory be- longing to that State, north-west of the Ohio,* with the following reservations : — 1. That the French and Cana- dians, inhabitants and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, St. Vincent, and the neighboring villages, who had professed themselves citizens of Virginia, should have their possessions and titles confirmed to them. 2. That Colonel George Rogers Clark and the ofiicers and soldiers w^ho planned and executed the secret expedition by which the British posts w^ere reduced, should receive for that service a grant of land not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand acres, on the north-west side of the Ohio: and, 3. That in case the quantity appropriated for the Virginia troops on the south-east of the Ohio, upon the waters of the Cumberland river, and Green and Tennessee rivers, prove insufficient for their legal bounties, the de- * A pamphlet was published in Philadelphia by R. Aitkin, in 1781, in which the right of Virginia to the territory west of the Alleghanies is examined. It was intended as a vindication of the grant from the Six United Nations of Indians to the proprietors of Indiana. This grant was comprised in the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768. 214: HISTORY OF THE VALLEY ficiency be made up and laid off in good lands on the north-west side of the Ohio, between the rivers Scioto and Little Miami. This cession of the territory, with the reservations aforesaid, was accepted by Congress on the 13th Septem- ber, 1Y83. In the following year, peace was made between the Indians and the United States at Fort Mcintosh ; and by the treaty, the Indians gave np the country upon the Muskingum, Scioto, and Great and Little Miami rivers, in consideration, that no citizen of the United States should attempt to settle on a certain reserved tract belong- ing to the Wyandot and Delaware Nations, in order to insure future tranquillity. On the 20th May, 1785, Congress passed a law for surveying a number of townships of six miles square, to be designated by lines running due north and south, and others crossing these at right angles. The first north and south line was to begin on the river Ohio, at a point cor- responding with the southern boundary line of the State of Pennsylvania, extending thence to Lake Erie. Agree- ably to this, seven ranges of townships were laid out. The military tract comprised the lands granted by Congress, in the resolutions of the 16th and 18th of Sep- tember, 1776, and on the 12th August, 1780, to certain officers and soldiers of the late Continental army, and on the 22d September, 1780, to certain officers in the hospi- tal department. The greater part of these lands was situated on the Muskingum, and its branches, known then as Owl creek, Walhandink or White Woman's creek, the Mohekin, John's river, and Killbuck's creek, and the tract was surveyed under the direction of Rufus Putnam, Surveyor-General of the United States, agreeably to the ordinance of Congress of the 20th May, 1780, OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 215 The Virginia reservation contained the tract which that State reserved to itself, for a compensation to the officers and soldiers in the Revolutionary War, when it ceded its claims to the Western territory to the United States, and is defined in the act of Congress passed on the 10th of August, 1790, and the amendment of the 9th of June, 1Y91. On the 25th of January, 1Y86, Generals Putnam and Tupper, of the American army, inserted in the public prints an address to the officers and soldiers, who were by an act of Congress, entitled to a military grant of land in the territory north-west of the river Ohio ; and to others who might be induced to become settlers, proposing an association by the name of "The Ohio Company," to unite in a petition to Congress for a location of their lands. In consequence of which, a general meeting, composed of delegates from several counties in Massachusetts, was held in Boston, on the 1st of March, 1786, when the proposed association was formed. They voted to raise a fund in continental certificates to the amount of one million of dollars, in order to purchase lands in the Western ter- ritories of the United States; and five Directors, a Treas- urer, and a Secretary, were appointed to manage the business of the Association. Among the rules which were adopted for the govern- ment of the Association, and the orders prescribed to the men who were about proceeding with a surveying party to lay out the lands, there are some which denote the difficulties and danger that were anticipated on the route. At a meeting of the Directors of the Company, which was held in Boston, on the 23d of November, 1787, among others providing for the payment of the wages of the men, which was fixed at the rate of ^'•four dollars each per month until discharged," and the quantity of 216 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY baggage they were to carry, consisting of ''their tools, and one ax, and one hoe to each man, and tJdrty pounds' weight to be earned in the Company's wagons," there was an order prescribing that each man should furnish himself with a "good small arm, bayonet, six flints, a powder-horn and pouch, priming-wire and brush, half a pound of powder, one pound of balls, and one pound of buckshot." The men so engaged were to be subject to the order of the Superintendent in any kind of business they should be employed in, as well for boat building and surveying, as for building houses, erecting defenses, clearing land and planting, or otherwise for promoting settlement; and "as there was a possibility of inter- ruption from enemies, they should also be subject to orders in military command during the time of their employment." Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, of Rhode Island, Mr. Anselem Tupper, and Mr. John Matthews, from Massachusetts, and Colonel R. J. Meigs, from Con- necticut, were appointed the surveyors, under the super- intendence of General Rufus Putnam. Mr. Winthrop Sargent was Secretary to the Ohio Company. Application having been made to Congress in behalf of the Company, for the purchase of lands, by the Rev. Manasseh Cutler, and the Secretary of the Compan}^, a contract was executed and signed at New York, on the 27th of November, 1787. They were to have 1,500,000 acres for a million of dollars, in what were called final settlement certificates — one-half of the purchase money to be paid down, and a patent to be given on the payment of the other moiety. The tract of land thus purchased, was bounded east on the west boundary of the seventh range; southerly, on the Ohio river; westerly, on the west boundary of the seventeenth range ; and to extend north so far, that an OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 217 east and west line for its north boundary should include, over and above the land to be paid for, the following tracts, namely: Two complete townships for the founda- tion of a university ; a section or mile square in each township or fractional township, (namely, Ko. 16), for the support of public schools within the same; section No. 29 for the support of religion, and sections Nos. 8. 11, and 26, reserved for the future disposition of Congress. Provision was made in the contract for the Company's immediately entering on 750,000 acres, bounded as fol- lows, namely: East on the west boundary of the seventh range; southerly, on the Ohio; westerly, on the west boundary of the fifteenth range ; and extending northerly as abovementioned for quantity. On account of the rise of public securities, a number of the subscribers declined making their payments. This, with other circumstances, induced the Directors in March, 1792, to petition Congress for a modification of their contract; and by an act entitled "an act authorizing the grant and conveyance of certain lands to the Ohio Com- pany of Associates," passed the 21st of April following, the President of the United States was authorized to issue letters patent for three several tracts, namely : First, for the 750,000 acres, bounded as before mentioned, "be- side the several lots and parcels of land in the said con- tract reserved and appropriated to particular purposes ; " secondly, a tract of 214,285 acres, to be paid for in army bounty-rights; and, thirdly, 100,000 acres, to be given to actual settlers, in lots of 100 acres each. The two last tracts to be laid out within the boundary of the 1,500,000 originally contracted for. In pursuance of this act, the Directors of the Company paid the army land -warrants into the treasuiy, and the 19 218 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY President issued letters patent for the three tracts, bearing date the 10th of May, 1792. In November, 1787, arrangements were made as before- mentioned, for sending forward at the expense of the Company, surveyors, artificers, and common laborers, amounting to forty-six men, under the superintendence of General Rufus Putnam, for the purpose of commen- cing the survey, erecting places of defense, if found neces- sary, and providing houses or cabins for the reception of the first settlers. Part of this detachment collected at Danvers, in the State of Massachusetts, and began their march in the beginning of December. Another party assembled at Hartford, in Connecticut, on the 1st of Jan- uary, 1788. SumrilPs Ferry, on the Youghiogheny river, thirty miles above Pittsburgh, was the place where they were to build their boats. The winter was very severe, and they were not able to descend the river until the 1st of April. They arrived at Marietta on the 7th, cleared the ground, and pitched their camp on the east bank of the Muskingum, at its confluence with the Ohio. This is the commencement of the settlement, not only of Marietta and the Company's purchase, but of what now forms the State of Ohio. In the month of August, eight families had arrived, who inhabited the temporary buildings erected for their accommodation, and toward autumn more arrived, so that at the beginning of June, 1790, there were twenty families living there. There was, before this time, a garrison of soldiers on the west bank of the Muskingum, but there were no inhabitants in the State of Ohio, except Indians, a few straggling settlers, and trespassers on public lands. In the months of May and June, Governor St. Clair, Judges Parson and Varnum arrived and entered upon OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 219 the duties of their respective offices. Two families also arrived within this period with a number of men, for the purpose of preparing for the removal of their families. In September the first Court of Quarter Sessions and Common Pleas was held, and this had a direct tendency to establish a better system of social organization among the people. In December, 1788, the agents of the Company resolved that one hundred acres out of each right should be appro- priated for the purpose of establishing settlements in different parts of the purchase; to be granted in 100 acre lots to such persons as should erect blockhouses, etc., and make certain improvements. Under these regulations, by the 30th of October, 1789, when about ninety families had arrived, nine distinct associations, amounting to two hundred and fifty settlers, had been formed, and by De- cember, 1790, settlements had commenced, or improve- ments been made, in all but one. That is to say, two settlements at Bellepre, one at Newbury, and one at "Wolf creek. It was about this period (for the precise date is not known), that Losantiville or Losantiburgh,* the spot on or near which Cincinnati was first established, is mentioned in the early records. Mr. John McCaddonf would date its settlement somewhere in the neighborhood of 1780, " ha\dng helped to build the first house ever built on that ground ; Colonel Patterson, on the 24:th of December 1788, having formed a station and laid off a town oppo- site Licking," and Mr. William McMillan would fix the date on the 28th of December, 1788. Thus we are left in a state of doubt and uncertainty, * American Pioneer, vol. 2, page 400. + Idem, vol. 1, page 377. Western Annals, page 308. 220 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY as to a very important fact in the history of the com- mercial metropolis of Ohio, but like many other inci- dents of Western History, a great deal must be left to conjecture, when we are at a loss to arrive at the truth. K we may judge from the statements of writers, who traveled on the Ohio, almost immediately after its settlement, it was commenced in 1789, but in our opinion, the dates given by Col. Patterson and Mr. McMillan, would approximate nearer to the truth. In the year 1790, a settlement commenced at the Forks of Duck creek, one at the mouth of Meigs' creek, thirty miles up the Muskingum ; one at Big-bottom, ten miles up that river, and one at Amberson's bottom, about forty miles down the Ohio. The 100,000 acres granted by Congress in 1792 for do- nation purposes, prevented the Company from making any sacrifice of land, and also in some measure, it may be presumed, served as an inducement to persons to remain in the settlement and others to come into it. However, in July 1793, when the Directors of the Company made an assignment of donation lands to the actual settlers, there were found but two hundred and thirty males of eighteen years old and upward, within the Company's purchase, except the French people,* and a few others at Gallipolis. Soon after the Ohio Company had made this purchase Colonel John C. Symmes entered into a contract with * About this time, the French were turning their attention to the settle- ment of the Scioto. In the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, there is a collection of pamplilets in the French language, published ■with a view to make known the agricultural resources of that part of the valley, and to induce settlers to emigrate. They contain no references to the actual settlements at that period, nor any reliable historical data. The statements in the text relating to the establishment of Ohio, are taken from Harris's Journal. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 221 Government for a tract of land, supposed to contain about one million of acres, within the following limits, begin- ning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and thence running up the Ohio to the mouth of the Little Miami river, thence up the main stream of the Little Miami to the place, where a due west line, to be continued from the western termination of the northern boundary line of the grant made to the Ohio Company shall intersect the said Little Miami river, thence due west, continuing the said western line to the Great Miami river; thence down the Great Miami, to the place of beginning. Col. Symmes wdth a few settlers, made a settlement on this tract in the Autumn of 1789. The settlers were chiefly from New Jersey, and were greatly embarrassed from depredations by the Indians. There was a settle- ment called the Connecticut reservation, and another the Virginia reservation. The former w^as situated on the north-east corner of the State, bounded East by the Pennsylvania line, on the north by Lake Erie, and ex- tending westward as far as Sandusky Lake, and the latter was situated between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers. In 1706, the town of Chillicothe was established, which was the seat of government until 1809, when it was re- moved to Zanesville, on the Muskingum. The seat of government did not appear to be fixed and perma- nent in one place for any length of time. On the 13th of April, 1802, Congress authorized the people to form a Constitution and State Government, and Ohio was shortly afterward admitted into the Union, upon the same footing with the original States. According to the census of 1803, Ohio included fifteen thousand three hundred and fourteen inhabitants (white males of twenty-one years and upward) of whom, there were seventeen hundred in Hamilton county, giving her 222 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY the right to two Senators for the State Legislature and three Representatives. The whole number of Senators were fifteen, and thirty Members of the House of Repre- sentatives. Ross county then claimed the greatest num- ber of inhabitants, having then nineteen hundred and eighty-two, Franklin the least, having only two hundred and forty.* The first minister who settled in Ohio, was the Rev. Daniel Story, who arrived in March 1789, in the capacity of preacher to the Ohio Company. A church was organ- ized in 1797, and gave him a call to settle, which he accepted ; but not being able to be ordained, through the want of regular clergymen west of the Alleghanies, the church and society appointed the Rev. Dr. Cutler of Hamilton, in Massachusetts, to unite with Mr. Story in convening a council tliere for that purpose. This was accordingly done, and he was ordained on the 15th of August, 1798. It will now be necessary to revert to an antecedent period in the history of this Yalley, which was replete with events of absorbing interest, all having a direct influ- ence on the prosperity and welfare of its inhabitants and on their future relations, as citizens of the Republic. CHAPTER XIX. We have already given a statement of the pretensions of Spain and the United States to the territory lying East of the Mississippi, and of the rights which each nation claimed, the one to the exclusive, and the other to the free use of the waters of the Mississippi to the ocean. The question, beside involving matters of a national im- * Original Tables of the Census of 1803. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 223 portance, was one of very great moment as affecting the relations of the people of Kentucky, as a constituent part of the Federal Union. It was only on the 4th of Febru- ary, 1791, that she became an independent State, but as a portion of Yirginia, she had long before that period, had a voice in the Legislative councils of her own State, and represented the wants and interests of her people in the Congress of the nation. Yet the seat of government of Yirginia was situated at a distance of six hundred miles from the frontier, and such was the difficulty of commu- nicating with the authorities, and attending to her inter- ests in the State Legislature, that the people desired a change in their Federal relations, and to establish a State Government for themselves. At this period (1788), Ken- tucky had a large and increasing population, amounting probably, to fifteen or eighteen thousand, steadily engaged in agricultural pursuits, and having a surplus product, which she was unable to dispose of, having no market, to which she could bring her commodities. The con- tinued resistance of the Spanish authorities to the free use of the waters of the Mississippi was viewed by them, as an act, so greatly affecting their agricultural and com- mercial interests, that they resolved to use the most strenuous exertions to have these restrictions removed. This state of things engendered quite a bitter state of feeling in the territory, and various were the expedients which were suggested to afford them relief. Congress and the Legislature of Yirginia appeared indifferent to their interests, and it was even said, that the French minister at Philadelphia had prevailed on the former to instruct its minister, not to insist on the free navigation of the Mississippi below latitude thirty-one degrees north. The people of Kentucky held a convention, in which their wrongs were asserted and a relief proposed 224 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY for them, but the remedy ofiered (by addresses to Con- gress, the State Legislature, etc.), seemed to be too tardy in its eflects, to satisfy the j^eople. Ah*eady were they divided into parties, some were for declaring their inde- pendence, and entering into a commercial treaty with Spain, some for annexing Kentucky to Louisiana, and introducing the Spanish laws and government, while there were others, who wished to wage war with Spain and seize New Orleans. There were many (with pleasure be it said) who wished to maintain their connection with the States, and to threaten Spain with a war, while there were a few, who advocated the retrocession of Louisiana to France, the government of which was to be solicited to take the Western people under her protection. When it is considered what evils and privations our countrymen in the West endured, these extreme view3 will not be considered extraordinary. Deprived of the only means which nature had given them, to transport their surplus produce to markets, where they might be able to dispose of it, they were deban-ed of every channel of trade, whereby they could enrich themselves and be able to assume their proper place, as a wealthy agricultural community, among the people of the Confederacy. They had heard that Congress had, at the instance of the delegates from Virginia, instructed Mr. Jay, then at Madrid, not to insist on the free use of the Mississippi, if that were a barrier to the effecting of a commercial treaty between the two nations, and they feared that there was a disposition on the part of Congress to sacri- fice their interests, in order to consult those of the Union, by effecting what was certainly very much to be desired, viz: a Treaty of Commerce with Spain. The United States were then in a crippled and almost prostrate con- dition ; just emerging from a glorious war, in which the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 225 blood of her citizens was most freely shed in the sacred cause of liberty, but carrying with it the disasters, always following in the train of war, an empty treasury and without any international commercial relations (excepting with France and Holland), with the other countries of Europe ; it is no wonder, that at all hazards, even at the risk of neglecting the interests of the people of the West (the greater part then almost a wilderness), she should desire to enter into a treaty of commerce with Spain. Yet, the latter power, against all the entreaties of Mr. Jay, was inexorable in her refusal to concede to the Americans the free use of the waters of the Mississippi. Our Minister at Madrid, than whom no government ever had a more skillful diplomatist, or a more patriotic states- man, was averse to the proposition of Spain, respecting the exclusive navigation of that river, and his negotiations having failed with Gardoqui, he again referred the matter to Congress, soliciting counsel and assistance. It cannot be concealed, that the people of Kentucky and of the southern States generally, were prepossessed against Mr. Jay, on account of these Spanish negotiations, and they believed (in the winter of 1786 and 1787) that he had, of his own responsibility, offered Spain the exclusive use of the river for twenty-five or thirty years, but the truth is, that Mr. Jay, at the same time that he was friendly to western interests, was bound to obey the orders of Congress, which were quite explicit on the subject. "When the matter was discussed, there was a majority in favor of entering into a commercial treaty with Spain, even at the sacrifice of the navigation of the Mississippi. The southern members were opposed to the concession of the exclusive privilege to Spain, but the members of the northern and middle States were in favor of it. While Washington and the Congress of the States were 226 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY giving their attention to this question, involving interests of such magnitude, the wily and artful intrigues of Span- ish diplomacy were at w^ork along the Mississippi, to spread disaffection among the Kentuckians, and to detach the territory from the Union. There is no doubt, that if pensions were not given, they were at least freely offered to several distinguished people in the West, to use their influence in bringing about a separation between Ken- tucky and Virginia, and commercial privileges were granted to certain persons to trade with New Orleans, which, at first confined to themselves, but afterward being transferable, opened up a temporary trade with that commercial emporium. The port of New Orleans was crowded with vessels and flat-boats from the Ohio, and there were many who realized wealth from the adventure. But still, the odious restrictions existed, and this tempo- rary innovation on the commercial policy of the Spaniards was owing solely to their desire to hold out a bait to the people of the West to separate from the Union, and to become subjects of the Spanish crown. France and Spain both aimed at the separation of western Virginia, and part of the Carolinas on the Mississippi, to connect them with Louisiana and the Floridas, and availed themselves of the discontented state of the Kentuckians to forward their pretensions. But France was not in league with Spain ; on the contrary, she desired to regain possession of Louisiana, and the treasonable conduct of her Minister, Genet, who wished to involve us in a war with Spain, happily met with a proper rebuke. This ofiicious and meddling Minister actually took measures to raise an army in the West, to conquer Louisiana and the Floridas, and was partly successful in prevailing on a few to lend themselves to his schemes.* Washington had, however, * It is said that General Clark received his commission as Major-Gen- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 227 compelled him to march back to Europe, there to remain with the stigma affixed to his character of being the most unworthy envoy France ever had. Simultaneously with these intrigues, although not in conjunction with them, were the attempts of the English to tamper with the allegiance of the Kentuckians to the Federal Union. The notorious Conolly, Lord Dunmore's nephew, whose deeds have already been commemorated in another part of this w^ork, was sent as an emissary from Canada, to hold out the hope, that if they joined the English, an expedition would be fitted out to descend the Mississippi and attack the Spanish possessions. He promised them that New Orleans would be opened for the reception of their provisions and raw materials of every kind, and that commercial privileges of the most advantageous nature would be extended to the people west of the mountains. With all these lures and bright promises held out to them, in the midst of their trials and privations, and with a heavy agricultural stock lying on their hands, from the want of a market where they could dispose of it, what was the course which the majority of the noble and high- minded Kentuckians pursued ? Why, reclining under the folds of that flag which had been hoisted on the battle-fields of the West, where they had fought and conquered on behalf of their country, they indignantly spurned the ofiers of both the one and the other, and quietly sought admission into the republic as an independent State of the Union.* eral in the armies of France, and Corainander-in-Cliief of the revolution- ary forces on the Mississippi ; but this is doubted by some, * If any person should be inclined to cavil at the statements in the text, let him refer to the address of the citizens of the common^realth of Kentucky to the President and Congress, to be found in the American State Papers : vol. 20, page 929. 228 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY In the meantime, the fears of Spain were excited by the threatened invasion of the English through the western territory, and the intrigues of the French, and while the United States issued orders to prevent the passage of British troops through her dominions, for the purpose of invading the territories of a foreign power with which she was at peace, she did not lose sight of the advantage it gave her to press upon Spain the necessity of effecting a treaty of commerce with her. This long-looked for object was at length attained, and by the treaty of October, 1795, the United States fixed its boundary between Virginia and West Florida on the Mississippi, in north latitude tbirty-one degrees, (taking in the rich country of the Yazous for which she had been contending), and obtained the free and unrestricted use of the navigation of the Mississippi. The permit for three years to deposit their eflects and merchandise in the port of New Orleans was also granted by the 4th article of the treaty, and thus the United States gained every- thing they had demanded and which Spain had withheld during a long course of negotiations. As has been already observed, the treaty was exacted from the fears of Spain, and no sooner were these allayed, than with that punic faith which always characterized her in her diplomacy, she opposed obstacles to the fulfillment of the treaty. In February, 1797, Andrew Ellicott, who had been named commissioner on behalf of the United States, arrived in Natchez, accompanied by a small guard of soldiers under the command of John McClary. It had been stipulated, that the Spanish forts and posts, to the north of the thirty-first degree, should be surrendered within six months after the ratification of the treaty, but from some cause or other, the surrender had been delayed OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 229 for a little more than a year. It was also agreed that guards drawn from the troops of the respective nations should attend the commissioners, and shortly after the arrival of McClary's detachment, another followed under the command of Lieutenant Pope. The United States' authorities apprehended that Spain would evade as long as possible the execution of the treaty, and their apprehensions were not groundless. The Spanish Minister at Philadelphia, and several officials in Louisiana, were again intriguing with the Kentuckians to get them to join them, and emissaries were sent among them to sound their opinions, but the leading men were averse to the proposition, and nothing further was done. When Don Manuel Gayoso, the commissioner on the part of Spain, and Governor of Natchez, heard of Elli- cott's mission, he represented that his government was not ready to evacuate the posts, and dreaded the approxi- mation of the troops of both nations in the same place. So much were his fears excited, that when he heard of the intended arrival of Pope's detachment, he gave orders to detain him at Walnut hills, and not permit him to de- scend lower down the Mississippi. Ellicott counter- manded these orders, and Pope left to come to Natchez, but before his arrival, Gayoso gave his concurrence to the measure. That Spanish officer seconded the efforts of his govern- ment to delay the execution of the treaty as long as possible, and the course which he adopted necessarily led to an estrangement of good feelings between the Ameri- cans and the Spaniards. He availed himself of every possible pretext to postpone the evacuation of the forts and posts, urging at one moment, that the English meditated a descent on the Spanish possessions through the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi, and that it was 230 HISTOKY OF THE VALLEY necessary to retain Walnut hills and Natchez as a cover to New Orleans, and at another, that as the treaty did not provide for the security of the landed property of the inhabitants, and did not state how the public buildings and fortifications were to be removed, that it became necessary to wait until the two governments settled these matters. EUicott was not to be thwarted by these ostensible motives to procure delay, but, naturally irritated at Gay- oso's conduct, he assumed a bolder attitude, and it is said, 'insultingly displayed the flag of the United States in full view of the Spanish garrison." McClary also of- fended the Spanish governor, by enlisting his country- men into his corps and arresting deserters from the United States army, who had taken refuge in the Spanish dominions. There is no doubt that both Ellicott and McClary ex- ceeded their instructions by these high-handed steps, as they were told to adopt a conciliatory tone in their nego- tiations with the Spanish authorities. There were many Americans living in and around Natchez, and of course taking part with the United States Commissioner and McClary, they adopted such measures as they thought would hasten the object they had in view, namely, the surrender of the territory, and the establishment of an American government among them. They formed a council called the "Little Council," which approved of man}^ acts of opposition among the people to the Spanish authorities, and such was the excitement among them, and the dread of danger by Gayoso, that on the 10th of June, 1797, that officer and his family repaired to the fort for safety. There was a growing desire both among our officers and men, and even among the people, to provoke the OP THE MISSISSIPPI. 231 Spaniards into the adoption of some measures which might necessitate retaliatory steps on their part, and matters were hastening to this crisis, when Ellicott, either fearful of the displeasure of his government, or thinking that he had exceeded his instructions, altered his course, and a truce was effected between the parties. About this time the Baron Carondelet was appointed Governor of the Province of Quito, and Gajoso was named his successor as Governor-general of Louisiana. Notwithstanding Natchez was within the limits of the boundaries assigned by the treaty to our government. Colonel Grandpre was named as Gayoso's successor, but he did not take possession of the office. In the month of December of the same year. Captain Guion arrived at Natchez with a considerable number of troops, and assumed the command of the small army assembled there; and in the early part of March, 1799, the treaty was complied with, and the American author- ities placed in possession of the disputed territory. What led to this peaceful result, was Guion 's disapproval of EUicott's proceedings, and the conviction which was gra- dually gaining ground among the Spaniards, that they had nothing to hope for from the disloyalty of the Ken- tuckians, or their disaffection toward the government. CHAPTER XX. SrMCLTAiTEOusLY with the events above-mentioned, which occurred in the South- Western part of the valley of the Mississippi, and which cover a space of nearly eighteen years, several matters of minor interest were occurring in the North -West, all more or less affecting the 232 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY circumstances of the people who were abiding in that section of the country. The city of Louisville had been founded, and Fort Jejfferson was built on the Mississippi; the treaty of peace had been ratified between England and America, and people were emigrating in numbers beyond the moun- tains. The elements of social organization were becoming more settled, and men did not fear to embark their fortunes in the solitudes of the West. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been entered into in 1784, and that of Fort Mcintosh in the month of January following. Under these treaties the United States claimed a large extent of territory west of the Alleghanies. In the midst of their warlike occupations, it may be recorded with pleasure, that at this period (July 1786) the ''Pittsburgh Gazette" was established, being the first press in the North-West, and in August, 1787, the Ken- tucky Gazette was issued in Lexington. The building of the first grist-mill to furnish the settlers with flour, pre- ceded the publication of a newspaper to supply them with literary food; for we read that Higby's grist-mill, near Lexington, was built before the fall of 1785, and that it was soon after followed by the erection of one on Foun- tain Blue, near Harrodsburgh.* It would be an unpardonable omission not to record the establishment of the first newspaper in the West; for when we look' back in the long vista of years and con- template the enterprising spirit of the pioneers of Pitts- burgh in issuing the first newspaper, and compare the circumstances under which it was undertaken w^ith those that attend similar projects at the present day, the human mind can hardly conceive the extraordinary change that •Butler, page. 206. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. - 233 has taken place within so short a period in the state and condition of the people of the West. It seems to have been wrought by magic, some Ithuriel wand, that con- verted the barren wilderness into a fruitful garden, the hunter's shanty into the merchant's palace, and the pio- neer's settlement into a populous city. To what is all this owing, will the reader inquire ? It is attributable to the indomitable energy, persevering will, and enterprising spirit of his fellow-countrymen, who wandered beyond the mountains in search of happi- ness and a home, and whose descendants, partaking of their character and disposition have, under the happy influence of republican institutions, fostered the inherit- ance which was bequeathed to them by their fathers. May the son always prove worthy of such a sire, and may he devote his untiring energies to perpetuate those institutions under which his father prospered before him. In connection with the progress of the useful arts, may be mentioned the introduction of the honey-bee. Emi- grating from the east, and following in the train of civili- zation and improvement, it first made its appearance on the Mississippi, in the year 1792. A few years after, in May, 1801, that frightful scourge, the small-pox, began its ravages in the North-West, and so extensively did it rage in St. Louis, and the other French settlements in the Upper Mississippi, that even at the present day, in referring to that period, the old settlers distinguish it by the appellation of Laniiee de la Picote the year of the small-pox. About this period (1792) the French and Spaniards, in connection with a company formed in St. Louis, by a Scotchman of the name of Todd, made several trading- voyages up the Missouri, the object of which was to mo- nopolize the trade of that river. Mr. Charles Le Eaye 20 234: HISTORY OF THE VALLEY has left a journal of his voyage, undertaken in 1801, which was published in Boston, in the year 1812. Mr. John Baptiste Trudeau, the "first schoolmaster" in St. Louis, has also furnished an account of his adventures on that river, which has been preserved in the Depart- ment of State at Washington. In 1802, James Pursley, probably the first American who crossed the plains be- tween the United States and New Mexico, left St. Louis on a hunting expedition to the sources of the Osage, and having wandered about the forest for three years, ap- proached the Mexican settlements at Santa Fe. They robbed him of everything, and having nothing but his gun left, they were near hanging him, because he at- tempted to make a little gun -powder to load it. In 1808, the Missouri Fur Company was formed, with a capital of ^40,000, and in the following year Mr. Astor began that magnificent enterprise which terminated in 1812, and with which all are familiar. We shall now resume the narrative of the military ex- peditions in the North -West during the last ten years of the last century. In 1790, Governor St. Clair arrived at the Falls of the Ohio to take measures, in conjunction with General Har- mar, to form an expedition against the Indian towns on the Miami. On the 30th of September of that year, the troops under the command of General Harmar, consist- ing of about fifteen hundred regulars and militia, left Fort Washington, now the site of Cincinnati, to ac- complish the object they had in view. After seventeen days' march, the army reached the settlement, which the Indians had abandoned, after having set fire to the town and destroyed the cornfields and provisions, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. It was during this expedition, that a melancholy disas- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 235 ter befell a small detachment under tlie brave Colonel Hardin, of Kentuckian celebrity. The accounts difier so materially as to the number of troops and militia, that were sacrificed on this occasion, that it is impossible to estimate them correctly. It is nevertheless true, that either owing to the improper military organization, or un- skillful conduct in commanding the army, this small de- tachment was sent against an overwhelming number of Indians, and that it was entirely cut ofl', with the excep- tion of two officers and two privates, who escaped the general slaughter. A want of harmony prevailed among the field officers, and a feeling of jealousy existed between the regulars and the militia, both of which tended to re- tard the military operations, and to bring about that failure and defeat, which attended this unfortunate expe- dition. Ilarmar returned to Cincinnati, without efiecting the object he proposed to accomplish, and was afterward brought before a court of inquiry, but was acquitted. On the 23d of May, 1791, General Charles Scott, with General Wilkinson, formed another expedition, which was not more successful. Harmar's campaign, including his own unfortunate expedition, and two other unsuccessful excursions into the enemy's territory, had been attended with worse re- sults, than any that had been previously undertaken, and it became necessary for the government to adopt a decided plan of action to extirpate these Indian marauders and drive them away from their grounds. It w^as very unadvisable to place Governor St. Clair in command of the army. A veteran of the Revolution, he had done good service, when "fresh with youth," he carried arms in defense of his country, but he had now become old and infirm, and was totally incapacitated for such onerous duties. He was carried on his litter while the 236 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY array was on the march, and his physical strength was so much exhausted that during the engagements which en- sued, he could hardly give the necessary military orders. About the 1st of October, 1791, General St. Clair left Fort Washington with about three thousand men. On the 4:th of November, at a village on a small tributary stream of the Wabash, the attack began on the militia ; the Indians completely routed them, and then pursuing and falling on the regulars, tomahawked nearly the Tia^f of the whole army. The onslaught was dreadful, the men, in their flight to escape from the fury of their enemy, threw away their arms, and left all their baggage, and seven pieces of artillery in the hands of the Indians. St. Clair only rallied his men within twenty-nine miles of the battle-ground, and then marched back with the rem- nant of his army to Fort Washington. It is painful to dwell on these scenes of Indian warfare, when our countrymen were so unsuccessful. That their successive defeats under Ilarmar and St. Clair were owing to the commission of errors, is beyond the possi- bility of doubt. These errors consisted in selecting inefficient officers, who were not suited to the emergency in which they were placed, and in detaching small bodies of men from the main army to cope with an enemy, at all times artful and treacherous, thereby sacrificing them and reducing the strength of the combined forces that should have been brought against them. It is pleasing, however, to turn from this sad relation to the glorious successes of our arms against the united forces of Canadians and Indians, led on through British intrigues, to carry devastation and bloodshed into our frontier posts. The defeat of Ilarmar and St. Clair must have been gratifying intelligence to our old enemies, who in defiance of the terms of the treaty of 1783, were en- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 237 croaching on American territory by the erection of forts near the scenes of Indian warfare, and who were counsel- ing and advising with the Indian tribes, how to defeat their common enemy. The result of these repeated dis- asters had, however, the good effect of awakening the attention of Washington and some of the ablest military officers of the government, to a sense of the impending danger of their western possessions and to the necessity of pursuing a different line of action in this savage war- fare. Tlie old system of detaching scouting parties in considerable numbers was abandoned, and a facility of forming an order of battle to resist a sudden and unex- pected attack, drawing up in a line in the woods, and of securing the flanks against an unexpected assault, was resolved upon, as being essentially necessary to a successful prosecution of the war. The plan, which had also been so advantageously adopted in the campaigns preceding those of Harmar and St. Clair, that of erecting stockades or forts, as a place of refuge in case of defeat was like- wise adopted. With these salutary regulations, and with such a course of military tactics, every success might be anticipated from the result of the campaign. There had been no other defeat, with the exception of that of Major Adair, in November 1792, while engaged wdth a hundred Kentucky militia against a large number of Indians, a few miles north of Fort Washington, since the unfortunate campaigns above referred to, when the government resolved to use every exertion to gain the vantage ground over their savage enemy. Anthony Wayne, who had distinguished himself in the Revolutionary war, was placed, in 1792, in command of the army with Brigadier-Generals Posey, and Wilkinson. The President of the United States received informa- tion that the Indians would not enter iijto a treaty of HISTORY OF THE VALLEY peace, and as an indication of their hostile attitude, had lately committed further atrocities on Laurel river, and on the Beech Fork of Salt creek. There are some persons who believe that the Ameri- cans had no right to wage this Indian war, and to drive away these savages from their hunting-grounds, but when we consider that they were aided and encouraged by their British allies, many of w^hom fought in their ranks and urged them on in their cruel and relentless assaults on Americans, there can be no feeling of sympathy shown for men who embarked in such an undertaking. In this Wayne's expedition in particular, the Canadians were found fighting hand to hand in the battalions of their enemy. From the Peace of 1783, to the war of 1812, there was no open demonstration of the hostility of the British Government against our Republic and its institu- tions, but a keen sense of recent defeat at the hands of American soldiers and the memory of their inglorious surrender at Yorktown, still made them our covert foes, now urging their Indian allies to attack the frontier settle- ments and murder and scalp the citizens, and then send- ing hordes of British subjects to enlist in the ranks of the enemy, and to give them the benefit of their superior skill and knowledge in military warfare. How, then, can it be said, that we ought not to have waged this Indian war ? Our ancestors crossed the mountains as agents acting under the decrees of an inscrutable Provi- dence to fulfill the destinies of the great human family ; they were impeded in their course by the armed forces of their combined foes, and happily for the success of the object they had to accomplish, they succeeded in vanquish- ing both the one and the other. After Wayne's campaign and until the war of 1812, the British did not enlist the savages to aid them in the invasion of American territory. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 239 In October, 1793, General Wayne, at the head of one thousand mounted men, reached a spot beyond Fort Jef- ferson, at about eighty miles from the Ohio river, in the vicinity of the field of his operations. Here he suspended his march and built Fort Greenville. They remained at this place until the 28th July, 1794.* He reached Fort Recovery on the following day, which he had built during the winter, and given it that name, as it was erected on the same ground where St. Clair had been defeated. About this time he was joined by General Scott with sixteen hundred Kentucky militia, and the combined forces took up their line of march on the northern side of the Maumee, until they should reach the Indian settlements, near the confluence of the Riviere Auglaisef with that river. They proceeded on their journey without meeting with many incidents, but suffered much from the heat of the weather and their excessive thirst, which could only be quenched by the water of stagnant pools which they occasionally met. They were obliged to build a bridge over a swamp of seventy yards in length and five feet deep, and arrived at St. Mary's river on the 1st August, where they found the water bad, but the land rich and well timbered. On the 3d, an accident befell the Com- mander-in-Chief, by the falling of a tree, but it only temporarily incommoded him. Three days afterward they perceived the tracks of twenty Indians, and were told that they were within a short distance of one of their towns. On the 8th they encamped at the Grand Auglaise, where they remained for several days. It was here they * The account of Wayne's expedition is chiefly taken from the Daily Journal of his campaign. 1st American Pioneer, page 315 et soquentes. It is the most accurate account of this celebrated war. Butler and other authors have been consulted. + Means •' Clay river,'* 240 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY heard that the British had built a large fort about fifty miles from that place, and that the enemy were encamped about two miles above it on the river. On the 16th August,* they resumed their march, and reached Fort Deposit, which they built to secure the heavy baggage of the troops. On the 20th they were in sight of a British garrison, at a distance of one hundred and fifty miles from Greenville, and about two hundred and thirty from the Ohio river. They continued their route down the margin of the Miami, until eleven o'clock in the forenoon, when their advanced guard was fired on by the enemy. This was the signal for the attack, and our men never displayed greater gallantry or devotion than the}^ did on this occasion ; they fought with the spirit of heroes, and the enemy gave way and were routed in all quarters. But the victory was not without loss on our side, there were thirty killed and one hundred wounded. Captain Campbell of the Dragoons, and Lieutenant Fowler of the 4th sub-legion, were among the former, and captains Prior, Slough, Campbell and Yan Rensaeller were among the latter. The loss of the enemy must have been very great, as they were pursued and slaughtered for nearly two miles. There were one thousand five hundred engaged in this action, one-third of whom were British subjects from Canada. Wayne's gallant army remained in possession of the field of battle, within half a mile of a British Fort.f After the defeat, the commanding ofiicer of the fort sent a message to General Wayne, informing him that he was * Butler says it was on the 20th, + This fort was erected by Governor Simcoe, below the rapids of the Maumee, and on American territory. In a conference between the Indi- ans and Lord Dorchester at Quebec, in February, he had predicted this engagement, and told them "that a line must be drawn by the warriors. OB^ THE MISSISSIPPI. 241 surprised to see an American array so far advanced in the country, and that had the assurance to encamp under the mouths of his Majesty's cannons, to which the brave American General answered, " that the affair of yesterday might well inform him, why this army was encamped in its present position, and had the flying savages taken shelter under the walls of the fort, his Majesty's cannons should not have protected them." Had Wayne had instructions to batter down that fort, he would have cheerfully done so, and it would have been but a slight act of retribution for the insolence of its commanding officer. Having burned and destroyed everything contiguous to the fort without opposition, and in defiance of " his Majesty's cannons," the victorious army returned to Camp Deposit, where they got their baggage, and having resumed their march, reached Fort Defiance on the 2Tth August. They remained here until the 13th of Septem- ber, when they resumed their march, and arrived in Greenville on the 2d of November, 1794. Here the Indians entered into a treaty, under which the United States gained a considerable accession of territory, and concluded a peace which was faithfully observed until the war of 1812. It is gratifying to peruse the record of Wayne's brilliant achievements ; they were partly the result of a more per- fect system of subordination among the soldiers and of the efficiency of the instructions received from the war department to alter the tactics of Indian warfare, but they were chiefly to be attributed to the gallantry of the Gen- eral, and the valor and courage displayed by every officer, subaltern, and private under his command. Wayne did not live long to enjoy the gratitude of his countrymen for the victory he had acheived ; he died near Erie, Penn- 21 242 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY sylvania, toward the end of the year 1796. Whether we regard his efforts in arms or in negotiations, he was one of the most successful Generals who engaged in military duties west of the Alleghanies. His services during the revolutionary war (although they do not fall within the scope of this work), must not be forgotten in the appre- ciation of his eminent services in the West. Here we conclude the narration of these Indian wars ; they necessarily form a very important part of the events which occurred in the West, and although it is sometimes painful to dwell on the scenes of misery and woe which followed in their train, they afford evidence of the disin- terestedness and devotion of the early pioneers, who cheerfully left their agricultm-al pursuits at the call of duty, to enlist themselves as soldiers in the camp. During the existence of this campaign, there was quite a ferment among the people in Pittsburgh and other parts of the West, arising out of the imposition of a duty on distilled spirits ; and the commotion became so violent, that it received the appellation of the " Whisky Insur- rection." However, but few overt acts of resistance to the authorities were committed, and the parties concerned in it soon regained their former good character as peacea- ble citizens, and faithful subjects of the commonwealth. In 1798, the temtory of Mississippi was established, and the Honorable Winthrop Sargeant was appointed Governor, and William Henry Harrison, whom Wayne had recommended in his dispatches after the battle, for his unflinching bravery and military skill, was appointed Secretary of the North-West, a post which he held until that territory named him as Representative in Congi-ess.* * Burnet, Ohio Historical Transactions, vol. l,page 69. Western An- nals, page 465. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 243 This territory was constituted, as will be hereafter men- tioned, under the ordinance of 1787. It would be impossible to detail the rise and progress of every town in the West during this period, but it may here be mentioned, that about the commencement of the present century. Marietta, Warren, Youngstown, Cleve- land, Steubenville, Bellepre, Gallipolis, Manchester, Cin- cinnati, Chillicothe, Dayton and Franklinton in Ohio, are mentioned by cotemporaneous authors and travelers in the West as being "pleasant and flourishing towns, and rapidly increasing." Presq'uile, now Erie, was retarded in its progress by a fever which prevailed there for some time, in the latter part of the last century, but the place was then (1803) stated to be increasing in population and importance. Pittsburgh was then called the " key to the western territory," and was rapidly increasing in popula- tion, business, and prosperity ; there were four hundred houses there, several of them large and handsomely built of brick ; forty-nine were occupied as stores and shops ; the population numbered two thousand. Wheeling is described as " the most considerable place of embarkation to traders and emigrants, anywhere on the western waters," but its extent or population is not mentioned. Louisville, Lexington, Danville, Harrodsburg and many other places in Kentucky, are also mentioned ; all indi- cating a rapid degree of prosperity, and progressing in population and resources. 244 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY CHAPTER XXI. We have already incidentally mentioned the ordinance of 1787, in speaking of the settlement of Ohio, but its provisions having an important bearing on the establish- ment of other Western States, merit further mention. This ordinance authorized the constitution of a rather excep- tional form of government of the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio. Congress named the governor, whose commission was to continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by that body. The qualifications for the appointment were, that he should be a resident of the district, and have a free- hold estate therein of one thousand acres of land while he held oflSce. Congress was also to have the nomination of the secretary, whose qualifications, requiring however a less amount of property, were similar to those of the governor. A court was constituted, to consist of three judges, exercising a common law jurisdiction, and invested, conjointly with the governor, with the right of adopting and publishing in the district such criminal and civil laws as might be necessary and best suited to the circumstan- ces of the district, to be in force until the organization of a General Assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress. Whenever there were five thousand free male inhabi- tants of full age in the district, they were entitled to choose one representative for each five hundred to a Gen- eral Assembly, not however to increase beyond twenty- five, imless with the concurrence of the legislature ; they were to serve for two years, and in case of death or vacancy, the governor was to issue his writ for the elec- tion of another in his stead. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 245 The General Assembly or Legislature was to consist of the Governor, Legislative Council, and House of Repre- sentatives, the council to be composed of five members, who were to continue in ofiice for five years, unless sooner removed by Congress. Ten residents of the district were to be nominated by the representatives, out of which num- ber Congress was to appoint five to the office. The legisla- ture had authority to make laws with the assent of the governor. The latter was to have the power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve at his pleasure, and the council and the house had the right to send a delegate to Congress, who would be allowed to debate, but not to vote, during this temporary government. This ordinance partook, in many of its essential quali- fications, of the nature of those constitutions which were granted by England for the government of its distant colonies, with this diflerence, that England, in most in- stances, before that period, refused her Colonists the right of representation in the legislature — ^whereas Congress, more alive to the liberties of the people, conceded the right of electing members to represent them in the Gen- eral Assembly. There is no doubt that the constitution of the government, which was in existence for some time in the territory to the north-west of the Ohio, was predica- ted on the memorable opposition of Townshend, Fox, and Burke, against Lord Dartmouth's Bill, which was intro- duced in the Imperial Parliament in the year 1774, for the government of the transatlantic possessions of Eng- land in America. These ardent friends of universal liberty, and supporters in Parliament of the great Amer- ican cause against the mother country, opposed the bill because it wanted this essential ingredient, and expressed their unalterable determination to vindicate the rights of man to a full and equal representation in the legislature 246 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY of his country. It differs, also, from these Colonial con- stitutions in expressing on the face of it the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, as the basis of all laws, constitutions, and government, and in providing for the security and happiness of the people. Still, there are points of resemblance which would strike the atten- tion of any person who is conversant with the forms of the constitutions of government granted by England to her Colonies, particularly in the nomination of a Governor and legislative council, who were not directly nominated by the people. Under the 5th article of this ordinance, it was enacted that there shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three, nor more than five States, fixing and establish- ing the boundaries whenever Virginia should alter her act of cession, and consent to the same ; and that when- ever any of the said States should have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such States should have the right to send delegates to Congress. This ordinance may well be considered the corner-stone, or charter of the liberties of the people of the North -West ; for under its provisions five of the most important States of the Union were ush- ered into political existence, namely, Ohio, Indiana, Illi- nois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.* The General Assembly was convened in Cincinnati, on the 4tli February, 1799, and on the 16th September following was duly organized. In the interval the mem- bers of the legislative council had been elected and ap- pointed to ofi[ice. William Henry Harrison was the first delegate elected for Congress. He only remained there for one year, but during that time introduced several » * The Territory of Minnesota was established by a Bill which was passed and became a law on the 3d of March, 1849. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 247 measures of great practical utility to the West, chiefly, one relating to the surveys of public lands, and author- izing their exposition for sale in small tracts, thus bene- fiting the poor and preventing the rich from monopolizing large extents of territory, which is always injurious to the interests of a newly-settled country. Shortly after the establishment of the government for the North-West territory, it was observed that it extended over too large a tract of country, that the laws were in- efficiently executed, and that there was not that salutary control over the actions of surveyors and other public officers, which would be insured if the government were brought more within the reach of the inhabitants of each section of the country. To remedy these evils, that part of the North-Western country known as Indiana, w^as constituted a Territorial Government by an act of Congress, passed the 7th day of May, 1800, and was bounded eastwardly by the following line of separation, namely: "All that part of the terri- tory of the United States north-west of the Ohio river, which lies westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Eecovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of a temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory. And Saint Yincennes, on the Wabash river, shall be the seat of the government." Only the eastern boundary is named in the act, and the Indian claim of a large portion of the territory was not then extinguished. The whole tract, agreeably to this line, was bounded south by the river Ohio, and north by the line between the United States and Canada, which made the extent of the territory at the time considerably 248 HISTORY OP THE VALLEY greater than the State of Ohio. The organization of the government was based on the same princi^^les as that of the [N'orth-West ; there were a few deviations in the de- tails, but the general features of the system were pre- served. Mr. Harrison, the delegate of the North-West government in Congress, was appointed governor of the new territory. Arthur St. Clair continued to exercise the duties of governor of the territory of the North-West until the year 1801, when having resigned, he was again re-appointed to that office. At the period of the establishment of the Territorial Government of Indiana, beside St. Yincennes, which is described by cotemporaneous travelers, as being a hand- some town with a hundred houses, some of which were built of freestone, there was the village of Ouitan^ on the Wabash, where it is said, a silver mine had been dis- covered which it was thought would prove valuable. About forty miles below the village was the outlet of a river called ''Za Ver/nilUon Jaune'^ (yellow vermillion), on the banks of which was the residence of the much famed Indian Prophet. The town in which he lived was large for an Indian village, and received the name of the Prophet'' s Town. Jefferson ville and Clarksville are also mentioned, but their establishment was of much more re- cent date. Midway between these two villages, on the op- posite side of the river, was Louisville, which then con- tained only "one hundred and fifty houses, a printing, and a post-office." Fort Massac was also within the territorial circumscription. It was situated within forty-six miles of the mouth of the Wabash, on the Ohio, on a high com- manding bank, and garrisoned by a lieutenant's guard. Near the fort and along the banks of the river, there were a number of settlers, who had well-cultivated gardens and fields. During the Spanish difficulties, this fort was an im- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 249 portant point, and was the rendezvous for the various mili- tary detachments that were sent down the Mississippi to the Floridas and Louisiana. Kaskaskia was then almost as large as Louisville, having more than one hundred houses, and the inhabitants principally French. Whether it fell within the limits of the Indiana Territory, properly so called, we cannot say, as the Illinois Territory, although not then organized into a separate government, was known under that name. We concluded our remarks about the difficulties with Spain in giving an account of the evacuation of the Spanish posts in the month of March, 1799, to the north of the thirty-first degree of north latitude. That European power was apprehensive of danger to her dominions in America, the moment our national indepen- dence was granted, and by a long series of intrigues and secret embassies in the west, she had been trying to weaken the Federal Government, and undermine her power on the west side of the Alleghanies. She feared the propagation of liberal sentiments in her Mexican and American settlements, and was farsighted enough to see, that two great powers could not long continue to hold supremacy over territory in the immediate neighborhood of each other. A spirit of rivalry would arise between the people of the two nations, and fearing the progressive character of the American race, she knew, that the sluggish inactivity of their European neighbors would make them succumb in the contest. Their ambition knew no bounds, and with men who had wandered through the passes of the mountains, encountering the deadly weapon of the savage at almost every step they took, re- ceding before no danger, and fearless of death itself, Spain had every reason to dread the neighborhood of such a people. Acting under these impulses, the In- 250 HISTOEY OF THE VALLEY tendant of Louisiana prepared an elaborate report in 1787, in which he represented to the Spanish Court the people of the United States as exceedingly ambitious, as animated by the spirit of conquest, and as anxious to extend their empire to the shores of the Pacific. How marvelous the prophesy ! how true its fulfillment ! and were not the fact asserted by the statements of several writers, one would almost be inclined to doubtthe veracity of the author. The Spanish Intendant then suggested the pursuance of a course, which in his opinion it was incumbent on Spain to adopt. She sought the dismemberment of the Union, as the most efiectual means to weaken her enemy, and by pensions and other largesses bestowed on eminent political characters, to bring over the western people on her side. This was the groundwork of the policy, to which we have already referred, and which she pursued with such unswerving vigor for such a number of years. Despairing of the justice of her cause, she relied on the treachery of her opponents, and knowing her own weakness, she sought by their downfall to raise herself on the ruins. It she interdicted our commerce, it was to try and alienate the people of the Western States from the Union, and make them believe that their commercial interests w^ould be greatly promoted, by becoming Spanish subjects, and if unsuccessful in this, she would be preserving her own people from the evil effects of too close relations with a people bent on propagating the principles of civil and religious liberty in every nook and corner of the Western hemisphere. For these reasons, she declined to accede to the propo- sition of Americans, to form settlements in her domains, and when they wished to establish themselves in Louisi- ana, the application was at once rejected by Gardoqui and the authorities at New Orleans. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 251 That the Spanish authorities never intended to execute the Treaty of 1795 in good faith, is a fact which does not admit of doubt. In a letter written by Governor Gayoso to a confidential friend in June, 1796, which w^as only known after the difiiculty about the fixing of the bounda- ries, he stated, that at the time the treaty w^as signed, it was expedient for Spain to cultivate friendly relations with the United States ; he assigned the reasons, which we have before stated, in our opinion, induced Spain to enter into that treaty, under which we gained all that we had long sought for in our negotiations with that power. He made use of other plausible pretexts, such as the probable dissolution of the Union, as a ground for delay in executing the treaty, and concluded, that nothing more would result from it but the free navigation of the Mis- sissippi. During the latter part of the period of these local transactions, Spain was embroiled in a European war. Bonaparte was in the hey-day of favor, his star had cul- minated almost to the top of the political zenith, when by the defeat of the Spanish fleet in a battle, which was fought ofi:' Cape St. Yincents, on the 14th of February, 1797, by Sir John Jervis, afterward created Earl St. Yincents, and by the more memorable destruction of the French fleet, in Aboukir bay by Lord I^elson, he was only beginning to sustain those reverses w^hich made his fall almost as rapid as his rise. Keutral though we were, the Spanish vessels of war and privateers, were molest- ing our marine and destroying our commerce on the high seas. The Spaniards did not only trouble us on the ocean, they denied the right of deposit to our western merchants for their merchandise at New Orleans, notwithstanding that right had been solemnly granted by the treaty for 252 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY three years after its execution. This suspension of com- mercial intercourse created a perfect ferment in the public mind, and the people of the west saw that there was no faith to be placed in the negotiations of that power with their Government. President Adams resolved on striking a blow at Spanish supremacy in America, which if successful, would entirely overthrow her government. This was nothing less than the acquisition of l^ew Orleans. He caused twelve regi- ments to be raised, which were added to the army in 1Y99, and when this was ejftected, dispatched three of the old regiments to a position, near the mouth of the Ohio, where they were to hold themselves in readiness and keep their boats in constant repair for service. These were to form a junction with the new levies, and the whole force was to seize on New Orleans, before any Spanish troops could arrive in the country. The United States had a just cause for war against Spain. She had infringed the terms of the Treaty of 1795, she had rejected our Ministers, and her Navy had committed spoliations on our commerce, and if we had declared war, it was perfectly justifiable. But there was the certainty of a change in the ad- ministration of the Government of the United States, before these plans could be matured, and in the summer of 1800, the new levies were disbanded. In 1801, Mr. Jefferson reiterated these remonstrances to the Spanish Government and demanded redress. She gave us the right of deposit in New Orleans, but asserted that Louisiana no longer formed part of her dominions. On the 21st of March, 1801, she had retroceded that Colony to France, and on the 30th of April, 1803, Louisi- ana was purchased from Bonaparte by the United States. On the 20th of December of the same year. Lower OF THE MISSISSIPPI, 253 Louisiana was delivered up to the American authorities, and on the 9th of March, 1804, Upper Louisiana was also transferred to them. William C. C. Claiborne, Esq. was appointed Governor and Intendant-General of Loui- siana, and Amos Stoddard, Esquire, was named Civil Commander of Upper Louisiana. Thus by the valor and courage of our soldiers, and the wisdom and patriotism of our statesmen, were we placed in possession of both sides of the Mississippi from its source to its mouth. It was a long and dreary campaign, one which enlisted the sympathies, the feelings, and aspirations of all true-hearted Americans, but it was one in which we triumphed, notwithstanding the arts and intrigues of our enemies, of their treachery at home and of their enmity abroad. The attainment of this object was, in effect, the consolidation of power in the hands of those to whom it rightly belonged on this Con- tinent, and the acquisition of Louisiana opened new channels of trade to our increasing commerce on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. Military valor met with its reward, and sentiments of patriotism predomi- nated over the selfish motives of national aggrandize- ment. Spain lost her ascendency in America, and the United States wrenched the laurels which adorned her brow. On the 11th of January, 1805, Michigan was admitted to the benefits of self-government, under the provisions of the ordinance of 1787. History should be confined within its own particular province, it should narrate facts and nothing more, but when it is blended with romance, the latter assumes the authenticity of facts. In the records of western history, which detail so many instances of heroism on the part of the early pioneers, and all the trials and privations they 254 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY underwent in seeking to reclaim the forest from the pos- session of its denizens, the wild savages of America, there is a tinge of romance, which colors all its pages and lends such charms to the picture. But let it not be believed, that that romance is the ofispring of the imagi- nation or the fruit of fancy, it is as inseparably interwoven with the narration of historical facts, as the actors them- selves are connected with the occurrences that are mentioned, or the times in which they lived. Nearly opposite to Bellepre, in the State of Ohio, there is an island of surpassing loveliness. It was at the period of which we write, covered to the margin of its banks with trees of beautiful foliage, which threw their shade over the clear and placid waters of the Ohio. On ascending the bank from the landing, a quarter of a mile below the eastern end, there was a large massive double gate, with square pilasters, made of beautiful granite, through which admission was gained to a gravel walk, shaded by trees, which extended for a distance of about one hundred and fifty paces to the mansion. On the left there was a meadow, on which the cattle belonging to the farm were grazing, while on the right, there was a shrub- bery, separated by a low hedge of brambly thickets, over which the pebbled walks might be seen with their ground plots, decorated with the choicest flowers of the season. The house was built of wood, two stories in height, and occupied a square of about fifty-four feet on each side, it was connected with two wings by a semicircular portico or corridor extending from each front corner. The garden was well stocked with every description of fruit, vegetables, and flowers, which the fine climate and rich soil produced. In the shrubbery on the right side of this magnificent mansion, there was a variety of evergreens and exotics, which had been brought thither to gratify OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 255 the taste of its wealthy owner. In the midst of this rural paradise one might linger for hours together in its labyrinthian walks, reveling over the pleasm-es of the scenes around him.* The interior of the house corresponded with its elegant external appearance. In addition to the richly decorated panneling on the walls, and the magnificent furniture that was found in the mansion, there was also a large library of choice and well-assorted books, chemical appa- ratus and philosophical instruments,! which occupied one of the wings. The proprietor was a " fine scholar, well versed in the languages, and refined in taste and manners. So tenacious was his memory, that he could repeat the greater part of Homer's Iliad in the original Greek. With an ample fortune to supply every want, a beautiful and highly accomplished wife, and children just budding into boyhood, he seemed surrounded with everything which could make existence desirable and happy. The adjacent settlements of Bellepre and Marietta, although secluded in the wilderness, contained many men of cultivated minds and refined manners, with whom he held constant and fa- miliar intercourse ; so that he lacked none of the benefits of society, which his remote and insular situation would seem to indicate. Many were the cheerful and merry gatherings of the young people of these two towns beneath his hospitable roof, while the song and the dance echoed through the hall.'* J It was on a summer's evening in the year 1805, that a boat was seen approaching the island, the receding rays of the setting sun partly concealing from the view who * The author regrets that he cannot put his hand on the glowing de- scription of this beautiful island, by the celebrated Virginia orator, Mr Wirt, in the Richmond Trial of 1807. t See 1 American Pioneer, page 92. $ American Pioneer — Idem. 256 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY were its occupants. Could fancy portray the dress and appearance of the traveler, it would habit him in a dark cloak, slouched hat, and a dagger slinging at his side ; but his bold and erect front, manly demeanor, and grace- ful manners, would conceal from the passing notice of the observer, the deep-laid schemes of the artful intriguer, and the foul plots of the wicked conspirator. He landed on the island, carrying with him the germs of that noxious plant, which was to bear such poisonous fruits in its season, and the odor of which was to be inhaled by its occupants, spreading misery and woe around them. The traveler held an interview with the owner of that terrestrial paradise — the serpent had entered, and had already enveloped its victim within its folds. The former was Aaron Burr of infamous celebrity, and the latter was Herman Blennerhasset of too unfortunate notoriety. Like his competitor in treachery and crime, that arch traitor, who would, during the revolution, have sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, Burr, raised almost to the pinnacle of fame, enjoying the honors and rewards of a grateful country, looking back to a well-spent life, un- sullied but by one foul blot, the death of a much lamented patriot, and a worthy and good man, he drank too deeply from the fountains of ambition, and became intoxicated with the draught. The time and the occasion were most opportune for the accomplishment of his purposes. The victory of Trafal- gar had been achieved, and the combined fleets of France and Spain had surrendered during the death-agony of the brave and valiant Nelson. The latter power humbled, and crouching before the supremacy of England on the high seas, found itself crippled in its resources, and almost bankrupt in its treasury. What a favorable moment for striking a blow at the Spanish possessions across the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 257 Atlantic main ! Who so worthy of being the actors as myself ^r5^, and Wilkinson second?"* Burr meditated the severance of a great part of the Mexican possessions I'rom Spain, and relying too confidently on the spirit of disaffection, which he knew had existed in the West, arising from hope deferred in the matter of the free navi- gation of the Mississippi, thought that "a few more worthies " could be found there, who would strike a fra- tricidal blow at the integrity of the Union. When Mexico had been conquered and the West had revolted, in the midst of the chaos of conflicting elements that surrounded him, an empire or a republic was to be erected and Burr was to be placed at the head of it. Never were plans more maturely laid or more adroitly conceived — never was rebellion more foully hatched ; but the glass palace, which Burr had erected in his fairy vision, was doomed to fall to the ground with a crash, which involved all in its ruins, and the egg was broken before it went through the process of ovation. Burr was foiled in his plans, and his hopes were all disappointed. Even Wilkinson, on whom he seemed chiefly to rely, denounced the traitor, by sending a copy of Burr's letter to the President, and his hopes, arising out of the difficulties with Spain, were disappointed by the withdrawal of the Spanish troops on the west side of the Sabine, and the return of Wilkinson to New Orleans. He was arrested for treason against the United States, but the jury acquitted him — no overt act had been committed, * See American State Papers from page 471 to 506 of 20th vol. Burr's letter to Wilkinson, confided to Swartwout, wherein he says, " it will be a host of choice spirits — Wilkinson shall be second to Burr only — Wilkinson shall dictate the rank and promotion of his officers — Burr will proceed westward 1st August, never to return — with him go his daughter, the husband will follow in October, with a corps of worthies! " 9-7 258 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY and althougli his designs were laid bare by his conversa- tions at Pittsburgh, the letters of " Querist " in the Marietta Gazette, and Blennerhassett's statements to his friends, he escaped the penalty of conviction. But what desolation and misery the conspiracy brought down on the heads of all those who were concerned in it, and on none more than on Herman Blennerhassett and his family ! He had embarked the greater part of his fortune in the enterprise ; he had equipped boats and provided them with men and provisions ; his whole soul was wrapped up in the success of the undertaking. When Burr's plans were divulged, a warrant was issued for his arrest, but Blennerhassett had left the island, a fugitive from justice, and an exile from his home. When the officers arrived at his residence, they met with the stern rebuke of the wife, who, a few days after, taking her two little boys and the most valuable of her effects, rejoined her husband at Louisville. Nothing further was heard of him, but his house was destroyed by fire in 1812, and his gardens and shrubberies were converted into corn- fields. Half a century has elapsed, but the memory of his mis- fortunes has not been efiaced by the progress of time. As the traveler descends the Ohio, and passes the beauti- ful little town of BcUcpre, he casts a long and lingering look on the spot where once stood the mansion of Herman Blennerhassett, with his mind full of meUxnclioly reflections on the instability of human life, and the perversity of human nature. We should only havu half-performed our duty in giving a succint account of the leading events in the history of the Yalley of the Mississippi, did we omit to mention, that about this period (1803) the Commonwealth of Ken- tucky called to her councils the late lamented Henry OF THE lillSSISSIPPI. 259 Clay; his long public services, his ardent and devoted patriotism, and his manly defense of republican institu- tions, when they were assailed by the spirit of faction or the rancor of political parties, have endeared him to the memory of all Americans ; but, as a Kentuckian and a citizen of the West, the inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi take a just pride in the high position he occupied in the world's esteem. From his advent in public life to the close of his mortal career, neither Whig nor Democrat ever attempted to soil his fair fame, as a man of spotless integrity and unsullied honor, and even when in connection with the events that we have been just reciting, he stood up as the legal counsel of Aaron Burr to defend him on the charge of treason, no one doubted the sincerity of his conviction, at the time^ that Burr was innocent of the offense. Even at that early period in his legal career, he exacted a pledge from the traitor, which, in the language of a historian, was " as manfully required as it was treacherously and dishonor- ably given." Mr. Clay would not otherwise have defended Burr ; but the latter having solemnly declared " as a man of honor and a good citizen," that he was in no way " unfriendly to the laws, the government, or the interests of his countr}^," the former acted as his counsel and did him good service. The grave has closed over the mortal remains of the lamented Clay, but the memory of his services will reach beyond the tomb, and when, in after life, our children's children will ask, who were the patriots and statesmen of America, posterity will point to the bust of Henry Clay, enshrined among others in the Temple of Fame, and regard him as one of the greatest men America has produced. 260 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY CHAPTER XXII. Toward the end of the year 1805, the Indians were again beginning to assume a hostile attitude. Tecum- seh and the Prophet, to whom we have ah-eady referred, were exercising their influence to bring about a state of war between them and our government. The ostensible cause of the difficulty arose out of their opposition to cer- tain treaties that had been entered into, ceding large tracts of territory, without the concurrence of all the tribes. They contended that these cessions were null and demanded redress. Subsequently, the events before mentioned, relating to Burr's conspiracy, had occurred, and during the years 1806 and 1807, the public mind w^as engrossed with a sense of the danger they had escaped from by the discovery of the plot and the flight of the criminals. Sebastian, who had been convicted of the crime of receiving a pension from the Spanish govern- ment while occupying a high office in Kentucky, had enjoyed the confidence of all classes of the community, and his consent had also occupied a great share of public attention. In the midst of these disquietudes, Tecum- seh and the Prophet were quietly maturing their schemes for carrying on an offensive war against the Americans. In June 1808, they had proceeded to Tippecanoe, a tribu- tary of the upper Wabash, where being joined by the tribes, they fought that celebrated battle, an account of which is found in every history of the country. The events need not be recapitulated. In 1809, the Illinois Territory was formed, consisting of all that tract of country to the West of Indiana, long known by that name, and in 1810 and 1811, few events of importance occurred ; among them was a dreadful OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 261 earthquake, which nearly destroyed the town of New Madrid, on the Mississippi. In the last mentioned year, the first steamer appeared in the West. It was built at Pittsburgh (where it will be remembered the first newspaper was published), and was called the " ]^ew Orleans." It was intended to ply between Natchez and the city whose name it bore. In 1817, the " General Pike," the first steamboat that ever ascended the Upper Mississippi, arrived in St. Louis, and in 1819, the Inde- pendence, Captain Nelson, navigated the Missouri as far as Franklin and Chariton. As the sturdy voyageur stood on the banks of the Mis- sissippi and the Missouri, admiring the neat little crafts that were stemming against the current, and making their way to the point of destination, he little dreamt that his vocation was so near at an end, and that not much longer would his bark canoe be required to convey the traveler on his journey. In his contemplation of the progress of the age, which was manifested by the sailing of those small steamboats on the rivers which had been hitherto occupied by his rudely -constructed canoe, he did not con- sider the revolution that steam would so soon efiect in the commercial relations of the people of the West. Half of the nineteenth century had not elapsed before it had accomplished even greater results than were at first ex- pected, and in ocean navigation it seems to have attained its triumph. The clarion of war was again heard resounding through- out the hills and valleys of the West ; it called the men to arms, not only to resist the aggressions of Indian tribes, but the national sense of honor was aroused by the im- pressment of our seamen on the high seas, the restrictions on our commerce, and the interference of the British gov- ernment in the afiairs of the Indian nations in the West. HISTORY OF THE VALLEY The governor of Canada had sent Henry to tamper with the loyalty of the New Englanders to the Union, and Kyland, his secretary, had given him instructions how to act to bring about a separation of those States from the confederacy. England had, in defiance of solemn trea- ties, encroached on our Western frontiers, and had built fortresses within our territory. The cry to arms was heard, and nobly did the people of the West respond to the call. Kentucky gave two thousand men, overflowing with ardor, and burning to avenge the wrongs of her country. Ohio furnished her complement, consisting of three fine regiments commanded by Colonels Findlay, Mc Arthur, and Cass. General Harrison was appointed to the command of all the troops in the Indiana and Illi- nois territories, and was subsequently breveted as Major General in the militia of Kentucky, and authorized to command the detachment then marching to Detroit. The states and territories had each a corjps de reserve within their limits, while detachments only were enlisted for actual service. The whole country assumed the appearance of a mar- tial field, whereon its brave citizens were to be found in arms, ready to repel internal foes, and to resist foreign aggression. On the 3d of September, 1812, Harrison, learning that Fort Wayne was besieged by the Indians, and that the British forces were coming to their assistance, detached Colonel Allen's regiment, with two companies from Lewis's and one from Scott's regiment, with instructions to make forced marches for its relief. Colonel Adams of the Ohio militia, with seven hundred mounted men, advanced as far as St. Mary's with the same view. Gen- eral Harrison soon overtook the advanced party, and when united they amounted to two thousand two hundred OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 263 strong. When news reached the Indians that the army was approaching, they raised the siege and withdrew their forces. The Maumee, near which Fort Wayne was erected, flows between the Wabash and Saint Mary's rivers. The troops were subsequently (under the directions of the Department of War) placed under the command of Brigadier -General Winchester of the United States' army, and Harrison returned to take command of the troops collected in the rear, and to prepare for a mounted expe- dition against Detroit; he intended to make a coxij^ de raain on that place, with a mounted force, which should march by an unfrequented route from Fort Wayne up the St. Joseph's to the head -waters of the river Raisin. The troops were to be taken from Ohio and Kentucky. General Harrison was afterward appointed to the com- mand of the IN'orth -Western army, consisting of ten thousand men, unconnected with Winchester's command in the Indiana and Illinois territories. The plan of the intended expedition to Detroit was altered in consequence of new arrangements. General Winchester, who had been left in charge of the garrison at Fort Wayne, was informed of a contem- plated attack on the fort by a large body of British and Indians. General Harrison immediately resolved to at- tempt to cut oif the retreat of this detachment, as they would be opposed by Winchester in front, and by a rapid march to the confluence of the Auglaise with the Maumee, to intercept their forces. He left on the 30th September, and on his arrival heard that the combined forces of British and Indians had retreated down the Maumee. He took up his quarters in Winchester's camp. In the meantime other arrangements had been made 264 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY by the War Department, with the details of which it is unnecessary to fatigue the reader; reinforcements were pouring in from Pennsylvania and Yirginia, and thou- sands of volunteers were taking up arms, either to join in repelling the foreign foe, or to defend their own frontiers. Major General Hopkins was sent with an expedition up the Wabash, and attached to this corps was the heroic Taylor, the gallant defender of Fort Harrison, and the conqueror at Buena Yista, Monterey, and Palo Alto. His first laurels were acquired during this Indian war; but others which were even brighter, adorned his brow when he returned from the sanguinary fields of Mexico. Taylor left on the 11th November, 1812, with four regi- ments, consisting of twelve hundred and fifty men for Prophet's Town, which he reached on the 19th of that month. On the 24th they left for the Indian encampment to try and bring them to battle, but they had fled, and the party returned to camp. The repetition of these marches and counter-marches against a foe that fled on the approach of their adversa- ries, is useless; but it shows what trouble our brave countrymen had in that desultory mode of Indian war- fare. With all their appliances and military accouter- ments, their men full of courage, and bent on conquering and driving them from the country, they could not bring the Indians and their allies, the British, to battle, who dreaded an "open field and fair fight, and an engage- ment with the rank and file of their enemy." In the tortuous windings of an ambuscade in the forest, or in the concealment behind a tree, they might raise the deadly weapon to shoot down their foe, but whenever our men were brought to battle on the open plain, even with infe- rior numbers, they vanquished their enemy. We shall not debate on the events which transpired OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 265 near the borders of Lake Erie, for they do not properly fall within the scope of this work, and we rejoice to have an opportunity of passing over in silence the cold-blooded murders and frightful atrocities which were committed by the Indians in view of their British allies, and which have affixed an indelible stain on the honor and character of that nation. Colonel Proctor's treatment of American prisoners, and the massacre of our countrymen after the battle of Fort Meigs, are deeds which we wish it were the duty of every historian to efface from the records of his country. Again the Indians and British besieged Fort Meigs, and again were they repulsed. Then came the battle of the Thames, in w^hich our gallant army was successful under the command of Harrison, and w^hich mav be con- sidered as the termination of the war in the North-West. As is well known, the brave Tecumseh lost his life in this battle. The Treaty of Ghent put an end to this strife, which was equally disastrous to both nations. It was signed on the 24:th of December, 1814. In 1816, Indiana was admitted into the Union, and in August, 1818, Illinois also became an independent State. Mississippi was admitted in 1817, and Arkansas two years afterward. Since that period, the events which transpired are within the memory of many who are now living, and to dwell on them would be unnecessary. The Blackhawk war and the war with the Indians in Florida, required again the services of our countrymen in the north, and south-west, but they were again de- feated, and obliged to acknowledge the superiority of our soldiers on the field of battle. The " Missouri Com- promise" w^as another "leading event" in western history, 23 266 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY but we shall barely refer to it, as it relates to a topic, with respect to which we have no opinion to express. Missouri was admitted into the Union, as an independent State, in 1821, and Michigan in 1837. During this period, viz : from the close of the war, until the present time, the five States, which formed the great " I^orth -western Territory," have been greatly pro- gressing in wealth and population, and been engaged in the very laudable rivalry, as to which shall contribute most to elevate the moral and social condition of man, and provide for the material wants and necessities of the people. By their common school systems and various other measures of great public utility, they have raised themselves to a position, which makes them the object of envy to older States and communities. Minnesota has not yet risen to the importance of a State in the Union, but she deserves notice, as being not one of the least thriving territories on the shores of the Mississippi. Previously to the admission of Wisconsin as a State, all that part of the territory east of the Mississippi was a part of Wisconsin Territory. The Indian title to a large part of the territory on the west side of the Mississippi is not even yet extinguished, although in this year (1852) a treaty has been entered into by the United States Com- missioners with some of the Indians of the north-west, by which they have ceded a part of their lands. After the admission of Wisconsin as a State, there was a con- siderable population in Minnesota without any particular form of government. The lion. John Catlin, Secretary of the Territory of Wisconsin, went there in 1848, under the impression that it formed part of that territory. The election for Delegate to the House of Representatives of the United States, took place on the 30th of October, OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 267 1848. Henry H. Sibley, Esq. was elected; he repaired to Washington City, where he had some difficulty at first in taking his seat in Congress, but he was afterward allowed to do so. On the 3d of March, 1849, the last day of the Session of Congress, the territory of Minnesota was organized. On the next day. General Taylor's Presi- dential term commenced, and a few days after the officers for the territory were duly named. Alexander Ramsey, Esq. was named Governor, and on the 1st of June, 1849, he proclaimed the organization of the Territorial Govern- ment, Mr. Sibley was again elected to Congress, without opposition. Minnesota bids fair to become one of the most thriving States in the Yalley of the Mississippi. Her vast agri- cultural resources, favorable location, and healthy cli- mate will soon place her in the first rank among the north-western States. Already are her cities and towns increasing in population and wealth, and with her active and industrious merchants and farmers, she will soon take the position to which she is aiming. She has now a ''Historical Society," the members of which have con- tributed several papers of great scientific and historical interest. In detailing the principal events, which occurred in the Yalley of the Mississippi, having a bearing on the general interests of the community at large, of course we have not entered into the consideration of a great many matters which more particularly concern the inhabitants of one territory or State only. Had we adopted the latter course, we should have been compelled to speak of the state of political parties, of the advent to office and power of one set of men, and of their being succeeded by others; of the spirit of faction, which prevails more or less in all communities, and occasionally of the hostility between 268 HISTORY OB' THE VALLEY separate States, having laws and institutions, different from each other. The discussion of these and a multi- tude of other subjects of an entirely political character, we have carefully avoided, as much from the considera- tion, that we are unable to do justice to the theme, as from the desire not to broach a subject on which our opinions might be distasteful to any class of our readers. Nevertheless, a short dissertation on the government, laws, institutions, and commerce of the people of the Yalley of the Mississippi, will not be out of place, and while it is necessary in order to understand correctly many of the historical facts, mentioned in the preceding pages, it may prove interesting to our readers generally. We have already shown what changes took place in the government of Louisiana and the Floridas, but as these affected the relations and general interests of the people in a wide tract of country, extending nearly the whole length of the Mississippi from its mouth to its source, it will be necessary to show what effect they had on the laws and institutions of the people. On the 14:th of September 1712, thirty years after the country had been taken possession of by La Salle, Louis XIY, granted to Antoine Crozat the exclusive privilege of trading with Louisiana for a period of sixteen years. Under the Charter which was granted to him, he was in- vested with extraordinary powers, having a view however to commercial objects only, and not, as some authors have erroneously asserted,* with the right of governing the country, for we read that soon after, in 1713, the French king appointed M. de la Motte Cadillac, Governor of Louisiana, and Crozat, in order to give him an interest » See 2d vol. White's Rec. Laws of California and Mississippi Valley. Western Journal, 1848, April No., page 189. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 269 in the commerce of the Colony, associated him, as a partner in the concern. The first government that was established by Europe- ans in the Yalley of the Mississippi was a military government under D' Iberville, and the next was a civil and military government under De la Motte Cadillac and D' Artaguette. The latter was a commissioner with ex- tended authority, but subordinate to that of the governor. These two functionaries united in administering justice in civil and criminal matters, in a Superior Council, which was established for three years. There being no means of ascertaining from any written evidence within the limits of Louisiana, what was the particular form of government which existed in that Colony from its first occupation by the French until the Treaty of 1763, when it was ceded to Spain, and as the territory included all the States on the west side of the Mississippi, and the city of New Orleans, the general interest which is attached to the subject, has induced us to search in the historical records of other countries to endeavor to elucidate the matter. We derive much in- formation from the character of the government, which was established in France, and the colonial policy of Colbert, the French Minister of that period. Louis XIY, was the most absolute monarch who had ever reigned in France. Whatever liberty the people may have enjoyed under preceding reigns, they were deprived of during his administration, and toward the latter end of a long life, spent in studying how to restrict the privileges of the people, he became, when old and infirm, an instru- ment in the hands of a designing but talented woman, named Madam de Maintenon, from whose cabinet issued those mandates of arbitrary authority, which character- ized in particular the close of the reign of Louis XIY. 270 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY The principal court, which had been hitherto held in the French Colonies was named the "Sovereign Council;" but becoming fearful toward the close of his life, in giving a name to his Colonial Court, which might im- ply a delegation of his sovereignty to officers in a distant colony, he changed the name in his other French pos- sessions, and also when he established a government in Louisiana, to that of the " Superior Council." This Court, composed of the Governor and Commis- sioners, as before mentioned, fulfilled nearly the same duties* as the " Parliament" at Paris, and was invested with the administration of the government and the dis- pensing of justice to the king's subjects. It was neces- sary to register on the rolls of this court all edicts, ordinances, declarations and letters patent, to give them the character of authenticity, as well those concerning the administration of the government, as those regulating the exercise of civil and criminal justice. This Superior Council was invested with unlimited authority, with this exception only, that it had not the right to impose taxes. This right belonged to the king himself, but he seldom exercised it in governing his dis- tant colonies. In 1716, two years after the establishment of the government in Louisiana, there is an instance on record of its exercise in a colony of France, but it was not frequently resorted to. However, the right was re- tained, and was one which they were so jealous of, that they never would delegate its exercise to any other person. In 1742, Louis Fifteenth declared f that his "Governors * French Ordinance of April, 1663, fixing and establishing the duties of the officers of this Court in the administration of justice, and prescrib- ing forms of practice. + " Government of the French Colonies," by M. Petit. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 271 and Intendants have not the power to impose taxes ; it is a right of sovereignty, which his Majesty delegates to no person; it is not even permitted to the inhabitants of a colony to impose taxes on themselves, without his authority." Apart from this, the power of the Superior Council was absolute in all matters of government and justice. We have no positive information that the feudal tenure was ever established on the banks of the Mississippi, although from the spirit of the times, and the nature of the institutions in existence in Europe, we are led to believe that if a search were made in the public archives at Paris, there might be found some concessions from the French kings to their favorites, of lands to be holden by the feudal tenure on the shores of the Mississippi. In- deed, a French author, writing on America, positively asserts that the celebrated John Law obtained from Louis Fifteenth the grant of a land four leagues square, in the territory of the Arkansas, which was erected into a duchy. From this we infer that the feudal tenure was established, although it may never have been carried into practice in the Mississippi Valley. It was a part of the machinery of government which was in existence in France at the time, and from the difficulty of administering justice in distant parts of the territory of Louisiana, John Law may have been invested with the privilege of being a " Grand Justicier Seigneurial^^^ Grand Seigniorial Judge, with all the other incidental rights and privileges of a Lord of the Manor, under the feudal system. It would be interesting to know whether any person holding lands on the Mississippi ever rendered fealty (foi et hommage) to a French king for his possessions in America. This cere- mony of investiture was performed by kneeling before the king, taking off the cocked hat and sword, and delivering 272 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY a document on parchment declaratory of terms of the utmost submission to the monarch. CHAPTER XXIII. In the English possessions in America, having the Mississippi for their western boundary, namely, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and (after the peace of 1763) West Florida, it is gratifying to find that the principle of representation of the Colonists in General Assemblies was introduced at an early period of their history. IN'otwith- standing that part of the English territories was not then occupied by settlers, yet forming a portion of tlie pro- vinces of those names, disputing their jurisdiction with nomadic Indian tribes on the shores of the Misssisippi, it is interesting to know at what period the people were represented in their General Assemblies. Sir Walter Raleigh's Charter from Queen Elizabeth was dated the 25th of March, 1584, and in 1587 he named John White governor, with twelve assistants, who were known by the name of the "Governor and Assist- ants of the Town of Raleigh, in Virginia. " The govern- ment was for a long time conducted on principles varying quite as much as the disposition and character of the monarchs who reigned in England, but on the 24th July, 1621, the '^Company of London," to w^hom had been granted by charter, extensive powers and privileges, established in Virginia, a " General Assembly," consist- ing of a Governor, twelve Counselors and Representa- tives of the people, the two latter bodies having the right to enact laws, which the Governor might approve or reject, but they were not to be put into execution until they were ratified by the Company. This legislative OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 273 Assembly met, but their session was not of long duration, as James the First deprived them of their charter, and proposed a more arbitrary form of government. In North and South Carolina, forming at first but one Province, the Charter was granted by Charles the Second, on the 24th of March, 1662; and although in the celebrated Locke's System of legislation for that Colony, the repre- sentative system was included, it was not until the year 1674 that the people elected their first representatives. In 1763, when England acquired the Floridas, the prin- ciple of representation was fully established. Of course these Colonies were subsequently governed on difierent principles, and their charters greatly modified and altered, but the people, in all their difficulties, clung to the right of representation as their best safeguard against arbitrary rule. When Spain acquired Louisiana by the secret treaty of 1763, an ordinance was passed providing for the organi- zation of the government in that Colony. It could not be expected, that the country wherein was found the head-quarters of the Inquisition, with its tortures and all its horrors and atrocities, would establish anything like a liberal government in its western domains. Where civil and religious liberty did not exist at the seat of Imperial authority, and the Cortez was nothing but an instrument of oppression in the hands of " His Catholic Majesty," it was not to be hoped, that these blessings w^ould be con- ferred on its distant colonists. Therefore, from the Palace of the Escurial, went forth an ordinance to abolish the French laws, and to decide all controversies conformably to those of Spain. A tribunal was constituted, of which the Governor was supreme judge in Lower Louisiana, and the Lieutenant-Governor, subject to the control of his superior officer, was the Supreme Judge in Upper Loui- 274 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY siana. These functionaries were bound to take the advice of a lawyer, who was appointed and commissioned by the King of Spain, and named the '' Auditor of War," and the commandants of the several military posts were the judges of the subordinate courts. From the judgments of the Lieutenant-Governor's tribunal, there was an appeal to the Governor, though such an appeal was seldom, if ever resorted to, and from the decision of the Governor, there was an appeal to the King. These officers were invested with civil and mili- tary authority, extending to all cases, matters and things that might arise in the Government of the Colony. The ordinances of Spain were promulgated in the territory, and the Spanish subjects were required to yield an un- qualified allegiance to the sovereign authority, without having a voice in the making of those laws, under which they were governed. In this exposition of the different forms of government adopted by France, England and Spain, in their transat- lantic possessions, we have reason to flatter ourselves, as the descendants of those old English colonists, some of whom peopled Virginia, and afterward emigrated to the West, by the favorable comparison we can draw from it. In government, law and religion, the Colonists stood forth amid the nations which surrounded them, as the proud champions of civil and religious liberty, not to be wrested from them by the charters (in many cases arbitrary), of their kings, or by the voice of potential legislation across the seas. So far back as 1651, Virginia showed herself to be so jealous of her independence, as to deny, even in the presence of a fleet of armed vessels, sent to subjugate her, that she was a conquered country, and Cromwell was obliged to ratify the articles of capitulation, in which she expressly made that reservation. OP THE MISSISSIPri. 275 While France possessed Louisiana, the common law of the country consisted of the customs of Paris, which were certain traditionary regulations, reduced to writing under the reign of Charles Yllth of France. In the Spanish American possessions, the Partidas^ a code of laws, was in force, taken from the civil law of Rome ; and in the English Colonies, the common law of England was ob- served as the rule of decision, when not otherwise modi- fied or changed by legislative enactment. Under the treaty between the United States and France of the 30th April, 1803, and the acts of Congress of the 26th March, 180i, and June 4:th, 1812, the Spanish laws in Upper Louisiana were continued in force, until altered or repealed by the proper legislative authority. It seems to have been doubted, in the State of Missouri, whether they did not continue to be in force until 1825. In 1816, the territorial legislature passed a law, declaring the common law of England and the statutes of the British Parliament made prior to the fourth year of the reign of James the First, to be the rules of decision, so far as the same were not repugnant to, or inconsistent with, the laws (leaving out the words statute laws) of the territory. This gave rise to the doubt, but the Spanish laws were abolished in 1825, without any difficulty. Under the ordinance of Congress in 1Y87, which may justly be considered as the magna charta of Americans living in the North-western States, the Legislature or- dained laws relating to descents and dower, and provided for wills and other conveyances ; but it seems never to have been doubted that the common law of England was in force in the States, subject only to those modifications enacted by the legislatures, and required by the exigencies of the times. It is pleasing to reflect, that in the whole course of 276 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY American legislation, great regard has been shown for those inalienable rights of self-government and freedom from all restraints, except those which are sanctioned by law, which are the best safeguards of a free people ; the rights of personal security and private property have never been invaded, although powerful political associations and modern reformers have frequently attacked both the one and the other. Americans know that coercive measures and liberty never can go together. A free people hate the former, and it is only by the force of reason and good morals they can inculcate respect for the law. Manufactures and commerce follow in the train of civilization and good government. At an early period, the French, who were the first possessors of Louisiana, turned their attention to commercial pursuits. Their cupidity was excited by the glowing accounts they received from travelers, of the rich mineral resources of the country, and they lost no time in exploring different parts of the North-Western territory. As early as 1719, they were at work on the borders of the Merrimack, a small stream running through the mineral district , and enter- ing the Mississippi some miles below the city of St. Louis. Here they searched for a mine of silver which they heard existed in this part of the country, but they were unsuc- cessful ; and although they made deep excavations, and carried on extensive operations, their hopes were doomed to be disappointed, and they abandoned their search after this precious metal. In all their attempts to discover gold or silver mines, whether on the banks of the Arkan- sas, the Washita, or the Merrimack, although they were lured by false appearances, they gave up the hopeless task in despair. The south-western part of the Continent was regarded, both by the French and the Spaniards, as being the richest OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 277 soil, and abounding the most in valuable mineral pro- ductions. The banks of the "Washita were explored for miles, in consequence of the indications which were afforded of its mineral wealth by the discovery of pyrites, crystallized spar, and hexagonal prisms, which were found in abund- ance in that locality. It was also believed that platina could be procured on the west side of Red river. Alumin- ous substances, saltpeter, and pigments of different kinds were met with very generally in different sections of the South-West, but it is not known, at the present day, whether the French and Spaniards made them available as articles of commerce. In the North-West, the lead mines were worked by the French, under the administration of Crozat, but it was not until a much later period that they were used for purposes of commerce. In 1804, several mines were worked in the neighborhood of St. Genevieve. It was found along the Merrimack, and on St. Francis and White rivers, on both sides the Mississippi, in the country of the Osages, and among several other Indian tribes. An early author declares '' it was found in such plenty, that frag- ments of it were scattered about in some of their villages, and it was considered of no more value than the same quantity of coarse granite or limestone rock." The Spaniards shipped large quantities of lead to New Orleans, the greater part of which found its way to the South America and European markets. We have no accurate information of the discovery of copper mines by the French, but it is said they found that metal on Green river to the north-west of the Falls of St. Anthony,* nor do their writers say anything about * See Ante, page 68. 278 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY zinc. Different kinds of valuable clay were found on the banks of the St. Pierre and Des Moines, particularly a curious kind of redstone, so soft, as to be easily worked into the bowls of pipes and calumets, used by the Indians. Coal beds were found at a much later period by the Spaniards, and salt springs w^ere observed in abundance, but there is nothing to show that they ever used the one or the other. On the arrival of the French in Louisiana, instead of devoting themselves to the arts of agriculture, the only certain basis on which they could hope to progress in manufactures and commerce, they relied chiefly on the fur trade with the Indians and expected to realize wealth from the traffic. They were an indolent and unenterpris- ing people, and their hopes being disappointed of amass- ing wealth from the mines which they expected to find there, they relaxed into a state of the most listless in- activity. From their trading-posts at Biloxi and Mobile, they occasionally shipped a few furs and provisions to the Spanish possessions in Mexico, the French "West India Islands, and sometimes to Europe, but their trading could hardly be dignified with the name of commerce, so limited were their exports to foreign countries. The com- mercial policy of France, at no time based on correct principles of trade, was even more restrictive than ever, and while she desired by her exclusive charters and mo- nopolies to appropriate all the benefit to herself, she impoverished the Colonists and deprived them of all energy. When the Spaniards obtained Louisiana, they found the French an inactive and un energetic people. O'Reilly endeavored to revive a S[)irit of industry among them, and to induce them to turn their attention to agriculture, but for many years he did not succeed, and even the OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 279 Spaniards themselves, enervated from the heat of the climate and indisposed to hard labor, neglected those pm-suits, which might have contributed so greatly to their wealth. In the year 1787, animated by the favorable example of a few English settlers, about Natchez and the northern part of West Florida, and desiring to emulate them, they devoted their attention to agriculture and in a few years aftei'ward to manufactures and commerce. They began to prepare the raw materials for the West India, and other markets, and everything indicated a thriving and prosperous trade. At the beginning of the present century, the lead mines were worked to advantage, the cotton fields and sugar plantations began to increase the aggregate of their wealth, and even indigo and rice were added to the articles of export from Louisiana ; the fur trade with the Indians was successfully carried on, and lumber, tar, pitch, cattle, horses, flour, beef, and pork added to the comforts of the people of the Mexican pos- sessions, and the neighboring West India Islands. Their exports liowever, never exceeded their imports, and they never became to any extent, a manufacturing people. About the year 1802, their imports and exports amounted each in value to over two millions of dollars. From the earliest settlement of the country to the close of the last war with England, the fur trade was the greatest source of wealth to the merchant and trader. It is surprising, what colossal fortunes were made by British, Scotch, and American merchants, in this trade alone. Even at the present day, there are several persons engaged in it, but its comparative importance with what it was, some years ago, is nothing. London was at first the central point, from which there came those enter- prising men, who embarked in this trade, but subseqently American companies were established, rivaling them in 280 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY commercial spirit and enterprise, and in resources and wealth. If the cause of colonization, to the north-west of the Mississippi, be indebted, for its progress toward the close of the last century and the commencement of the present, to any class of men in particular, it is to the hunters and trappers, voyageurs^ who in spite of difficulty and danger, and of the hostility of savage tribes, pene- trated the innermost recesses of the forest, in search of the castor and the otter, the lynx and the bufialo. There was hardly any portion of the wild prairies of America, on which their footsteps were not trailed. From the rugged passes of the Kocky Mountains to the heights of the Cumberland and the Alleghanies, from the Ked river of the North, to the Red river of the South,* along the shores of the Mississippi and the Missouri, and even on the banks of the tributary streams of the Arkansas, the Washita, the Merrimack and the St. Francis, there was no spot, in which they did not leave some evidence of their indomitable energy and dogged perseverance. Habited in their white blanket coats and scarlet sashes, with their guns and their beaver traps, carrying their bark canoes on their shoulders, and the small iron pot in their hands, in which they made the gimi^ to stop up an accidental hole or crevice, which the rocks may have oc- casioned, there they were in all parts of the country, roaming over hill and valley, crossing rivers and j)07i ages, encamping by the hill-side at night, with the heaven for a canopy and the earth for a resting-place. The greater part of the furs, which were procured to the north-west of the Mississippi, was sent through Canada to England, and this readily accounts for the small quantity, which was shipped via Kew Orleans to * Red river in Coluinbiaua Territory, aad Red river in Louisiana. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 281 the European markets. At the period of which we are writing the celebrated " ]^orth-west Company," which we believe was afterward merged in the Hudson Bay Company, had its head-quarters at Montreal, but soon the spirit of competition arose, and the American Fur Company, and the founder of Astoria and others, put in their claims to a share of the wealth, that was acquired from the successful prosecution of this profitable trade. As we have before observed, colossal fortunes were made in the fur trade, but with the advancing steps of civiliza- tion, the otter and the muskrat, the beaver and the buf- falo receded to "realms unknown," where if the hunters were successful enough to catch them, the value of the trade was greatly reduced from their scarcity and the distance they had to go in search of them. When the English took possession of the Floridas, after the Treaty of Paris in 1763, they immediately began to devote their attention to the arts of agriculture; and rice, and cotton, and several kinds of the lighter grains, such as barley and oats, corn and buckwheat, were raised to advantage. The former, they used as commercial com- modities and shipped to Europe, the latter they raised chiefly for home consumption. Some authors say, that they exported wheat and lumber, but to what extent is not mentioned. There is no doubt, they found at that period large quantities of pine and the articles of pitch and tar became important commodities for exportation. When the English were in possession of West Florida, on the Mississippi, their commerce was not trammeled by any restrictions, such as existed when the Americans were in possession of the country, and the}^ carried on successful commercial pursuits, not only with Europe, but with the West India Islands and South America. They were then, as they have always been, a commercial people displaying 24 282 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY extraordinary energy in whatever pursuits they engaged in, and being under the protection of a government that was feared very much by the different European nations, they had ample facilities to carry on their trade with almost all the colonies and islands in the Xew World. We have no accurate information of the extent of com- merce among the people of West Florida, during the short period they were under British rule, nor have we any tables or other data to show the value of their exports to Europe and the neighboring countries, but we may readily conclude that they were extensive, and that they derived considerable wealth from the staples of West Florida while they were in possession of it. We have now brought these historical researches to a conclusion, so far as they regard the trade and commerce of the French, Spaniards, and English, in the Yalley of the Mississippi ; but what shall we say of the Americans ? a nation whose commercial spirit was manifested long before they had acquired their independence, and who, when a foreign government afterward attempted to impose shackles on their commerce through New Orleans, with the nations of Europe and America, even allowed their fidelity to the Union to be brought in question, rather than forego any of those commercial rights and privileges which they knew belonged to them ? The manly spirit which the Kentuckians manifested, when they were threat- ened with the loss of their trade through Louisiana to the ocean, proves incontestably what value they attached to it. When w^e compare the state of the Yalley of the Mis- sissippi at the present day with what it was at the com- mencement of the present century; when we consider the great change that has taken place in all the arts of useful industry, and in the appliances of human skill and inven- OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 283 tion to promote tlie comfort and happiness of man, we are lost in amazement at the sight which is developed to our view. Nor has there been a less remarkable change in the habits and manners of the people. When com- merce was establislied on a permanent footing, men began to grow wealthy, and they laid aside those primi- tive habits and customs which distinguished them in earlier years, to make place for those which they acquired in their intercourse with the inhabitants of older settle- ments. Instead of the hunting-frock, with its fringes and ornaments of the eighteenth century, they now wear the broadcloth coat and the quilted vest, and instead of the linsey-wolsey garments with w^iich their wives loved to decorate themselves, they now saunter forth habited in the richest silks and satins. Instead of the puncheon floor, covered over with sand, of the rude log-cabin, which they erected in the wilderness, they have the rich "Wilton carpet to cover their drawing-rooms ; and instead of the tin cup with which they went to the neighboring spring to quench their thirst, they drink out of rich goblets of china and porcelain, filled with water, which is brought into their apartments through subterranean pipes. In- stead of the good housewife saving all the grease and fat to make into soap and candles, the rich lady washes her hands in scented perfumery, and turns a knob to allow a brilliant light to escape from a gas-pipe and illu- minate the apartment. Instead of the round dance and the Fete des Rois* they indulge in the pleasures of waltzing and the polka; and instead of the fiddle and sometimes the fife, they dance to the tune of a melodious band of brass and reed instruments. Instead of the table made of a slab of timber, hewed with a broad -ax, and * A feast kept up with great spirit by the people of the Mississippi Valley in the last century. 284 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY supported by four sticks set in auger holes, they place their feet under rosewood and mahogany, carved into elaborate shapes by the dexterity and skill of the cabinet- maker. Instead of using pewter or horn spoons, they handle silver and gold ; and instead of wooden bowls, they have china vases and dishes, and plates of the same material. With no other articles to wear but what they produced by their own manufacture, they were quite as happy without store-keepers, tailors, or mantua-makers, and shoeing their own horses and mending their saddles, they needed not the services of blacksmiths or saddlers. At house-raisings, log-rollings, and harvest-parties, they appeared to as much advantage as their descendants in looking on at masons building in granite and marble, and laborers cultivating the fields. In their weddings and house-warmings, their brides were as blooming and beau- tiful, and their bridegrooms as happy and gay. When we compare the rude bark canoe of the hardy voyageur^ and the flat-boat of the pioneer, with the gilded palaces that now float on our waters, and the rude four- wheeled wagon, drawn by oxen, that crossed the moun- tains in the last century, with the locomotives and cars that now spring over our roads, well indeed may we be at a loss to realize the change which has taken place in so short a period. When from the summit of one of the peaks of the Alleghanies, we look down at where once stood Fort Pitt, with its block-house and its bastions, and now see the smoke of the manufactories, curling up in spiral wreaths toward heaven, and giving evidence of toil and labor, and of commerce and trade. Where once stood the Indian wigwam in Losantiburg,* surrounded by the huts and cab- * The name first given to the place where Cincinnati now stands — sea 2 American Pioneer, page 400. OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 285 ins of the white mai:, there is now the large city with its churches and its mansions, its fires and its furnaces, its sUiughter-houses and manufactories. Where the French- man disputed possession with the Indian, and drove him away from the mounds and burial-places of his fathers, along the shores of the Upper Mississippi, see what min- eral and agricultural wealth, developed by energy and enterprise, can bring forth, and witness the progress of St. Louis in luxury and refinement. Where De Bienville was hesitating between Biloxi and Mobile, and the Isle Dauphine and JSTew Orleans, where to locate a city, where the Spaniard complained that the soil was not fertile, and could not afibrd him a livelihood ; see now the countless bales of cotton, ex- tending from one end of the levee to the other, and the hogsheads of sugar and molasses, and the bales of hemp and tobacco, and ask by what magic influence this change has been wrought ? This history has told you that it is owing to neither the Frenchman, the Spaniard, nor the Englishman. It is owing to the happy influence of republican institutions on all classes of the community, dignifying labor, and giving industry its reward. It is owing to the absence of all inequality between men, save that which exists between virtue and vice, and morality and crime. It is owing to the moral and religious precej^ts which are inculcated among our youth, and which, when they grow into man- hood, make them good and useful citizens. But more than all is it to be attributed to the unflinching energy and invincible determination of the American people, who, when they enter on the performance of a duty, whether in the camp or on the field, do it manfully, boldly and courageously. When we consider how small was the number of those 286 HISTORY OF THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. persons who crossed the mountains at the close of the last and commencement of the present century, and compare it with the population of the Yalley of the Mississippi at the present day, from hundreds into thousands, and from thousands into millions ; and when we consider the short- ness of the period, within which this population was increased, may we not indulge in the hope, that at no distant period, our cities may vie with, if they do not surpass, those of Europe, in population and wealth, in the useful and mechanical arts, and in science, and in literature ? We transport ourselves sometimes in imagination to the succeeding century. We see this whole extent of Conti- nent from Canada to Louisiana, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, covered with cultivated fields, populous cities, and extensive plantations. We see happiness and industry smiling side by side ; beauty adorning the daughter of nature; liberty and morals rendering almost useless the coercion of government and laws, and gentle tolerance taking the place of bigoted sectarianism. We see Ameri- cans, Germans, Englishmen, Irishmen, and Scotchmen, aye, and Canadians, and Cubans, too, embracing each other, cursing tyrants, and blessing the reign of liberty, which leads to universal harmony. We see the United States of America, prosperous, happy, and free, the beacon of light to guide the nations of Europe o'er the waters of the wide sea, leading them onward in an uninterrupted career of peace and brotherly love. THE END. i>,- V' % <^ > « '^ -^ ^^^K^T'v* ,^* y-V '^^^ .-^ Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide «> • • A ^1» Treatment Date: