fJass f- 5-L(o 3^- Book__:^^a THE HISTORY OF INDIANA, FROM ITS EARLIEST EXPLORATION BY EUROPEAN:^ ■r O THE CLOSE O F T H E T E R R 1 T O R I A I- (i O V E R N M E N T I \ 1816: WITH AN INTRODUITION C'ONTAININU HISTORICAL NOTES OF THE l»I«»COTEBir AND SETTIiEinLENT OF T HE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES NORTHWEST OF THE RIVER OHIO, BY JOHN B. DILLON. VOLUME I, INDIANAPOLIS, Ia. PUBLISHED BY WM. SHEETS & CO. FOE J, B. DILLON AND STANIiSLAUS LASSELLE. 1S43. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1843, by John B. Dillon, in the Clerli's Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Indiana. PRINTED BY S, V. B. NOEL, 1 N n I A N A r O L I S , £ A . ^ b1 PREFACE. Among the Historical Notes which constitute the introduc- tion to this History of Indiana, I have inserted many official documents relating to the early affairs, civil and military, of the vast region which was formerly called the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. From a very great number of printed authorities, and from many thousand pages of old manuscript records and letters, I have selected only those statements which appear to be well au- thenticated, and connected, either directly or remotely, with the origin and progress of civilization in that large domain. With a sincere desire to cast from my mind those popular prejudices which have had their origin in ambitious conten- tions between distinguished individuals, or in national partial- ities and antipathies, or in improbable narratives and fanciful conjectures, or in conflicting political systems, or in different creeds of religion, I have labored for several years, with con- stant and careful perseverance, to find out and to perpetuate all the important facts which properly belong to an impartial history of Indiana from its earliest exploration by Europeans to the close of the Territorial Government in 1816^ Many interesting particulars concerning the discovery and settlement of the northwestern territory have been gleaned from the voluminous writings of divers Catholic missionaries, and French travellers, who visited the valley of the Mississippi at different periods in the course of the eighteenth century: and here it is proper to say that my thanks are especially due IV. PREFACE. lo t[ie Rev. Mr. Martin, of Vincennes ; to J. W. Ryland, Esq. of Cincinnati ; to J. B. Duret, Esq, of Logansport ; and to Dr. MuNSELi., of Indianapolis ; Irom whom, collectively, I have received essential assistance in the examination of a large collection of French records, and in the task of translating sundry French ordinances, and other public documents. A list of the names of persons from whom I have received rare and valuable manuscripts, and aid and encouragement in the midst of perplexing difficulties, shall be published in the form of an appendix, at the close of the second volume of this work. The following is a list of the titles of the principal au- thorities which I have examined, carefully, in the course of a laborious investigation of confused traditions, contradictory narratives, and questionable records : — American Archives : Fourth Series : Containing a Documentary History of the English Colonies in North America, from the King's message to Parliament, of March 7, 1774, to the Declaration of Independence by the United States. — Published at Washington, by M. St. Clair Clarke and Peter Force, under authority of an act of Congress, passed on the 2d of March, 1833. American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and E.xecutive, of the Congress of the United States, from the first session of the first to the third session of the thirteenth Con- gress, inclusive : Commencing March 3, 1789, and ending March 3, 1815. — Selected and edited, under the authority of Congress, by Walter Lowrie, Secretary of the Senate, and Matthew St. Clair Clarke, Clerk of the House of Representatives. An Historical and Chronological Deduction of the Origin of Commerce, from the earliest accounts: Containing an history of the great commercial interests of the British Empire, &c. — By Adam Anderson. 4 vols, quarto; London, 1801. Reports from Committees of the [British] House of Commons, from 1715 to 1801 .' Or- dered by the House of Commons to be printed. 15 vols, quarto. Meres' Annual "Historical Register, containing an impartial relation of all transaetions, Foreign and Domestic," from 1714 to 1737. 22 vols. 12mo. ; London. Dodsley's Annual Register, from 1758 to 1819. 61 vols. 8vo. ; London. Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, from 1683 to 1736. 3 vols. 8vo. A collection of all the Laws of Virginia, from the first session of the Legislature in 1619 to the year 1792: By William Waller Hening. 13 vols, 8vo. The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution : Published under the direc- tion of the President of the United States, from the original manuscripts in the Department of State, conformably to the resolutions of Congress, of March 27th, 1818 : Edited by Jared Sparks. 12 vols. 8vo. Secret Journals of the Congress of the Confederation : Published under the direction of the President of the United States, conformably to resolution of Congress of Mareh 27, 1818, and April 21, 1820. Journals of the American Congress, from 1774 lo 1778. 4 vols. 8vo. T,aws of th«> T'nited folates. PREFACE. V. Journal of tlie Executive Proceedings of the Senate of tlie United State* of America, from the commencement of the first to the termination of the nineteenth Congress: Printed by order of the Senate of the United States. Journals of Congress. Elements of General History : Translated from the French of the Abbe Millot. Part second — Modern History. 3vols. 8ro.; London, 1779. The Writings of George Washington ; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts, by Jared Sparks. 12 vols. 8vo. The works of Benjamin Franklin, containing several political and historical tracts, not included in any former edition, and many letters official and private not hitherto published, with notes and a life of the author: By Jared Sparks. 10 vols. 8vo.; Boston, 1840. History of the Political Systems of Europe and its Colonies, from the discovery of Amer- ica to the independence of the American continent: By A. H. L. Heeren, professor of History in Gottingen, and member of the Royal French Academy of Inscriptions. [Trans, lated from the German, by George Bancroft.] 2 vols. 8vo. The History of the United States of North America, till the British Revolution in 1688 : By James Grahame, Esq. 2 vols. 3vo. The Annals of America, from tlie discovery of Columbus, in the year 1492 to the year 1826 : By Abiel Holmes, D. D. 2 vols. 8vo. The Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States of America, from the signing of the definitive treaty of peace, 10th September, 1783, to the adoption of the Constitution, March 4, 1789: Published under the direction of the Secretary of State. Transactions and Collections of the .'\merican Antiquarian Society. 2 vols. 8vo. Tracts and other Papers, relating principally to the origin, settlement, and progress of the Colonies in North America, from the discovery of the country to the year 1776: Col- lected by Peter Force. 2 vols. 8vo. A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, arranged in systematic order, forming a complete history of the origin and progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Com- merce, by sea and land, from tlie earliest ages to the present time ; By Robert Kerr, F. R. 5. and F. A. S. 18 vols. 8vo. ; Edinburgh, 1816. The History of the discovery and settlement of America: By William Robertson, D. D., Principal of the University of Edinburgh, &;c. &c. &c. 1 vol. 8vo. The History of Louisiana, particularly of the cession of that Colony to the United States of America : By Barbe Marbois. 1 vol. 8vo. Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies from the papers of Thomas Jefferson : Edited by Thomas Jefferson Randolph. 4 vols. 8vo. ; 1830. The History of New Hampshire, comprehending the events of one complete century, from the discovery of the river Piscataqua : By Jeremy Belknap, A.M. 3 vols. 8vo. The History of Pennsylvania, in North America, from the original institution and set- tiement of that Province, under the first Proprietor and Governor William Penn, in 1681, till the year 1742; and a brief description of the said Province, and of the general state in which it flourished, principally between the years 1760 and 1770. By Robert Proud. 2 vols. 8vo. History of the Colonization of the United States: By George Bancroft. 3 vols. 8vo, A History of the Colonies planted by the English on the continent of North America, from their settlement to the commencement of the war which terminated in their inde- pendence: By John Marshall. 1 vol. 8vo. Laws of the Colonial and State Governments relatin;; to Indians and Indian AflViirs, from 163:i to 1831, inrlusive. 1 vol. ,^vo VI. PREFACE. The Life of Thomas Jeffergon, third President of the United States, with parts of his Correspondence never before published : By George Tucker, professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Virginia. 2 vols. 8vo,: 1837. Notes on the State of Virginia : By Thomas Jefferson. 1 vol. 12mo. The Life of Joseph Brant — Thayendanegea ; including the Border Wars of the Amer- ican Revolution, and sketches of the Indian Campaigns of Generals Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne; and other matters connected with the Indian Relations of the United States and Great Britain, from the Peace of 1783 to the Indian Peace of 1795 . By William L. Stone. 2 vols. 8vo. The History of the late Province of New York, from its discovery to the appointment of Governor Colden, in 1762: By the Hon. William Smith, formerly of New York, and late Chief Justice of Lower Canada : Published under the direction of the New York Histor- ical Society. 2 vols. 8vo. The Book of the Indians; or. Biography and History of the Indians of North America, from its first discovery to the year 1841 : By Samuel G. Drake, Fellow of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, at Copenhagen, honorary member of the New Hampshire and New York Historical Societies. 1 vol. 8vo. The History of Kentucky : exhibiting an account of the modern discovery, settlement, progressive improvement, civil and military transactions, and the present state of the country: By H. Marshall. 2 vols. 8vo. ; 1824. A History of the State of Ohio, Natural and Civil: By Caleb Atwater, A. M., member of the American Antiquarian Society, &c. &c. &c. 1 vol. 8vo. A Chronological History of New England, in the form of Annals : being a summary and exact account of the most material transactions and occurrences relating to this country, in the order of time wherein they happened, from the discovery of Capt. Gosnold in 1602, to the arrival of Governor Belcher, in 1730: By Thomas Prince, M. A. 1 vol. 8vo. A Narrative of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Delaware and Mohegan Indians, from its commencement, in the year 1740, to the close of the year 1808 : By John Heckewelder, who was many years in the service of that mission. 1 vol. 8vo. Narrative of an E,xpedition to the source of St. Peter's river, &c., performed in the year 1823, under the command of Stephen H. Long, Major U. S. T. E. 2 vols. 8vo. An account of E.xpeditions to the sources of the Mississippi, and through the western parts of Louisiana; performed by order of the government of the United States, during the years 1805, 1806, and 1807 : By Major Zcbulon M. Pike. 1 vol. 8vo. The History of Maryland, from its first settlement, in 1633, to the Restoration, in 1660; with a copious introduction and notes and illustrations : By John Leeds Bozman. 2 vols. 8vo. The Statutes at Large of South Carolina, containing the acts from 1682 to 1786 : edited under authority of the Legislature, by Thomas Cooper, M. D. L. L. D. A History of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, from its earliest exploration and settle, ment by the whites, to the close of the northwestern campaign, in 1813 : By Mann Butler. 1 vol. 8vo. Apolitical and Civil History of the United States of America: By Timothy Pitkin. 2 vols. 8vo. A view of the soil and climate of the United States of America, with supplementary re- marks upon Florida, on the French Colonies on the Mississippi and Ohio, and in Canada ; and on the Aboriginal tribes of America : By C. F. Volney. Translated from the French, by C. B. Brown. 1 vol. 8vo. Condensed History of Michigan, from its earliest colonization to the present time . By James H. Lanman. 1 vol. 18mo. ; 1841. Sketches of History, Life, and Manners, in the West : By James Hall. PREFACE. VU. A Condensed Geography and History of Die Western States, or the Mississippi Valley : By Timothy Flint. 2 vols. 8vo. A collection of some of the most interesting Narratives of Indian Warfare in the West : By Samuel L. Metcalf. 1 vol. 12mo. Sketches of Western Adventure: By John A. M'Clung. 1 vol. 12mo. Indian Biography, or an Historical Account of those individuals who have been distin- guished among the North American nations as Orators, Warriors, Statesmen, and other remarkable characters: By B. B. Thatcher, Esq. 2 vols. 18mo. Three Years Travels through the interior parts of North America, for more than five thousand miles : By Captain Jonathan Carver, of the Provincial troops in America. 1 vol. 12mo. Laws adopted and made by the Governor and Judges of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. Acts of the First General Assembly of the Northwestern Territory. Laws made and adopted by the Governor and Judges of the Indiana Territory. Acts of the General Assembly of the Indiana Territory. An Oration delivered at Marietta, July 4, 1788, by the Hon. James M. Varnum, Esq. one of the Judges of the Western Territory : the speech of his Excellency Arthur St. Clair, Esquire, upon the proclamation of the commission appointing him Governor of said Terri- tory; and the proceedings of the inhabitants of the city of Marietta: Printed by Peter Edes, Newport, Rhode Island, 1788. J. B D. Iniliunapolis, 25th November, 1843. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Northwestern Territory. — Tlie Spaniards, the English, and the French, plant colonies in North America — Catholic missionaries — British Colonies in America, in 1670 Pro- ceedings of the French — Allouez and Dablon — opinions concerning the Mississippi river — Marquette and Joliette visit the Mississippi — Ambitious projects of Robert Cavelier de La Salle; his adventures and death — Missionaries among the Illinois Indians — Cabokia and Kaskaskia founded. — p. 1. CHAPTER II. Spain claims a large territory in North America — Louis XIV. determines to establish colonies in Louisiana — French settlement founded at Biloxi — Jealousy of the English states- men : permanent settlement founded at Detroit — conditions on which the first French settlers at Detroit received grants of land — Fur Trade — The Sieur Juchereau and the missionary Mermet attempt to found a settlement — the missionary Marest — Detroit be- sieged — Commerce of Louisiana granted to Crozat — Crozat relinquishes the grant — The Province of Louisiana ceded to the Western Company : a new government formed for the Province — Settlers transported to the valley of the Mississippi — New Orleans founded — The Indies Company acquire the Province of Louisiana^-Ordinance entkcted for the benefit of the inhabitants of Louisiana, on the 2d of September, 1721 — trade and commerce — form of granting lands to settlers — Ordinance published by Louis XV. in the month of March, 1724 — the French settlements at Natchez destroyed by the Indians — the Natchez nation of Indians exterminated by the French — p. 28. CHAPTER III. The crown of France resumes the government of Louisiana : war with the Chickasaw Indians — defeat of the French, and death of Francis Morgan de Vincennes — peace con. eluded with the Chickasaws — treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle — conflicting claims of France and England : treaty between the English and the Twightwefes, at Lancaster — the Ohio Com- pany receive a grant of half a million of acres of land lying about the river Ohio — English and French systems of colonial government — white population in 1749 — proceedings of the Ohio Company — controversy between France and Great Britain concerning the regions on the western side of the Allegheny mountains — George Washington sent to the com- mander of the French forces in the west — French posts in the Mississippi valley Fort Du Ciuesne built by the French — the Twightwees attacked by their enemies — plan proposed by Dr. Franklin for establishing English colonies in the west — deatli of the Sieur de Jum- onville — defeat of the provincial troops under Washington : defeat of General Braddock defeat of Major Grant — the French evacuate Fort Du duesne on the approach of General Forbes — Quebec taken by the English — Montreal, Detroit, &c. surrendered to the English : treaty of peace between France and England : Canada and part of Louisiana ceded to England. — p. 60. CHAPTER IV. Pontiac's war — proclamation concerning the French inhabitants of the Illinois country : evacuation of Fort Chartres : description of Fort Chartres. — p. 79. CHAPTER V. Number of French families in the northwestern territory : attempts to check the growth of settlements in the west — George Washington and others visit the valley of the Ohio, in B X. CONTENTS. 1770 — proclamation concerning the settlers on the Wabash river; letter from the French inhabitants of Vincennes to General Gage — memorial of divers inhabitants of the province of duebec — the province of Quebec enlarged so as to include the settlers on the Wabash, &c. — excitement among the colonists of Great Uritain — English troops withdravi'n from Fort Pitt — Governor Dunmore encourages English colonists to take warrants for lands in the west. Alarm of settlers: massacre of Indians at Baker's Bottom: Dunmore's expedi- tion against the Indians — battle at the mouth of the Great Kanawha: preliminary articles of peace concluded with the Shawanees and their confederates at Camp Charlotte — speech of Logan — resolutions passed at Fort Gower — the North American colonies renounce their allegiance to Great Britain — speeches circulated among the Indian tribes, — p. 97. CHAPTER VI. Traders in the Illinois country receive grants of lands — Illinois Land Company — procla- mation, by Dunmore, concerning vacant lands — Wabash Land Company — lands and lots granted to settlers about Vincennes — efforts to engage the Indians in the war between the American colonies and Great Britain — inhabitants of Vincennes take the oath of allegiance to King George — form of the oath — deatli of the Sbawanee chief, Cornstalk — Indians as- sail the frontier settlements of the United States — frontier forts — Indian mode of making war — Colonel George Rogers Clark prepares to lead an expedition against the French set- tlements about Kaskaskia and Vincennes — Clark's memoir of the expedition. — p. 116. CHAPTER VII. Clark's memoir continued ; Kaskaskia and Cahokia taken — the inhabitants, generally, take the oath of allegiance to Virginia; the inhabitants of Vincennes take the oath of .lUegiance to Virginia, garrison the fort, and hoist the American flag — Captain Leonard Helm sent to command the fort — Tobacco's son, a Piankeshaw chief — Clark holds a coun- cil with Indians at Cahokia— Illinois county erected — the British Lieutenant-Governor of Detroit takes possession of the fort at Vincennes—pcrilous situation of Clark. — p. 135. CHAPTER VIII. Clark moves from Kaskaskia, with a small force, to attack Hamilton — difficulties of the march — Clark's notification to the inhabitants of Vincennes — the f«rt attacked — corres- pondence between Clark and Hamilton — the fort surrendered. — p. 154. CHAPTER IX. Boats captured on the Wabash — goods divided among Clark's soldiers — proposed expe- dition against Detroit — some prisoners sent to Virginia, others dismissed — Piankeshaw and Pottawattamie Indians express their friendship for the United States — Clark's address to them — Clark appoints officers at Vincennes, and returns to Kaskaskia — hostilities of the Delawares — Clark orders war to be made on the Delawares — peace concluded with the Delawares — Clark returns to Vincennes, abandons his designs against Detroit, and pro. ceeds to take up his quarters at the falls of the river Ohio. — p. 174. CHAPTER X. Settlements increase in Kentucky — General Mcintosh ordered to protect the western frontiers — treaty with the Delaware Indians — Colonel John Todd visits Vincennes and Kaskaskia; issues a proclamation; institutes a Court at Vincennes — proceedings of the Court — Col. John Bowman's expy.d'ftion — Capt Byrd's expedition — Clark's expedition — La Balme's expedition — Capt. Don Eugenio Pierre's expedition — Col. Broadhead's expedition : Col. David Williamson's expedition — Indians attack Estell's station — death of Capt. Estell : CoL Crawford's expedition — India'ns attack Bryant's station; attack Laughery's party — Clark's expedition : treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain ; boundaries of the United States — proclamation by Congress — General Clark dismissed from the service CONTENTS. XI. of Virginia — Indian grant of land — Clarksville laid off— Virginia cedes to the United States her title to the country northwest of the Ohio river — treaty at Fort Mcintosh — Ordinance of 1785, concerning western lands — proclamation concerning settlers on the northwest side of the Ohio— proposed treaty with Indians — excitement among settlers, &c. — Indian council at Ouiatenon — skirmish at tlie mouth of Embarrass — Clark's Wabash expedition — Logan's expedition. — p. 185. CHAPTER XI. Clark's proceedings at Vincennes ; navigation of the Mississippi : views and proceedings of western settlers; seizure of Spanish properly at Vincennes; act of the council of Vir- ginia; resolution of Congress ; Ordinance of 1787 ; resolutionsof Congress; hostile feelings exist between the western settlers and the Spaniards of Louisiana ; proceedings of General Harmar ; Major John F. Hamtramck stationed at Vincennes. — p. 204. CHAPTER XII. Claims of New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut ; Western Reserve of Connecticut ; Board of Treasury authorized to dispose of western lands; contract with the Ohio Com- pany of Associates ; settlement at Marietta ; Symmes' Purchase ; St. Clair appointed Gov- ernor of the northwestern territory ; his instructions ; laws adopted and published at Mari- etta, in 1788; treaties at Fort Harmar; report of General Knox, relative to Indians; Col. John Hardin's expedition ; letter from St. Clair to Washington ; Washington's instructions to St. Clair; St. Clair proceeds to the Illinois country; scarcity of corn at Vincennes; St. Clair's report concerning settlers in Illinois and on the Wabash ; memorial from P. Gibault and others.— p. 223. CHAPTER XIII. Journal of Antoine Gamelin ; St. Clair returns to Fort Washington ; Winthrop Sargent proceeds to Vincennes ; proceedings of Sargent , letter from magistrates of the Court of Vincennes; laws adopted and published at Vincennes, In 1790; the principal inhabitants of Vincennes address Sargent ; his reply ; Indian depredations ; Harniar's expedition against Indians on the Scioto; Harmar's expedition against the Miami village. — p. 245. CHAPTER XIV. Letter from Rufus Putnam to President Washington ; alarm of the western settlers ; St. Clair invested with the command of three thousand troops; instructions to St. Clair ; instructions to General Scott; Scott's expedition against the Wea or Ouiatenon towns on the Wabash; General Wilkinson's expedition against the Wabash Indians; confederacy of Indians ; British posts in the northwestern territory p. 276. CHAPTER XV. St. Clair's expedilion against the Miami village ; defeat of St. Clair's army ; field of ac- tion visited hy General Wilkinson ; St. Clair resigns the oflSce of Major General ; Anthony Wayne appointed to fill the vacancy ; proceedings of Wayne ; propositions to employ friendly Indians ; messengers and spies sent among the hostile Indians ; Hardin and True- man killed; William May's deposition; Putnam's treaty at Vincennes; Indian council at the Rapids of the Maumee ; Indian depredations ; Major Adair attacked near Fort St. Clair destitute condition of American soldiers ; laws adopted and published, at Cincinnati, in the course of the years 1790, 1791, and 1792 — p. 298. CHAPTER XVI. Washington appoints commissioners to negotiate a peace with the northwestern Indians ; instructions to the commissioners ; proceedings of the commissioners ; speeches and letters, which passed between the Indians and the commissioners; failure of the attempt to make a treaty of peace p. 326. Xll. CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVII. Proceedings of Wayne ; Indians attack convoys; influenza among the troops , Wayne eatablislies his headquarters at Fort Greenville ; Fort Eeeovery built ; critical state of the relations between the United States and the governments of Great Britain, France, and Spain; conduct of the French minister Genet ; proposed expeditions against Florida and Louisiana; complaints of the British minister and the Spanish commissioners; letter from Mr. Jefferson to the American minister at Paris ; letter from Mr- Genet to Mr. Jefferson ; Washington takes measures for the prevention of a hostile invasion of Louisiana ; opinions of Governor Shelby; prospect of war between the United States and Great Britain; Mr. Genet recalled ; Washington issues a proclamation ; secret and confidential instructions to General Wayne ; failure of the attempt to invade Louisiana ; attack on Fort Recovery ; Kentucky volunteers ; Wayne moves from Greenville towards the mouth of the Auglaize ; erects Fort Defiance ; marches towards the Rapids of the Maumee ; defeat of the Indian forces; correspondence between General Wayne and Major Campbell, the British com. mandant at Fort Miami. — p. 356. CHAPTER XVIII. Fort Wayne erected and garrisoned ; Wayne establishes his bead-quarters at Greenville ; suspension of hostilities; treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, concluded between the United States and Great Britain; British troops and garrisons to be withdrawn from the northwestern territory ; Indians visit Greenville and sign preliminary articles of peace ; proceedings of the treaty of Greenville; treaty concluded ; emigration; laws adopted and made at Cincinnati, in the year 1795. — p. 384. CHAPTER XIX. Treaty between the United States and Spain ; boundaries ; navigation of the Mississippi ; British garrisons, &c. withdrawn from the northwestern territory ; American troops take possession of the fort at Detroit; hostile temper of the government of France ; treaty of alliance between France and Spain ; emissaries of Spain and France attempt to induce the people of the western country to separate themselves from the American Union ; mission of Thomas Power; mission of Lorromie ; the government of the United Stateu adopts de- fensive and retaliatory measures ; act to raise a provisional army ; act to suspend the commercial intercourse between France and the United States ; act concerning aliens ; act concerning sedition ; Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the American for- cer; letter from Washington to Adams ; instructions to General Wilkinson; Spaniards retire from posts within the boundaries of the United States ; Fort Adams erected ; treaty of peace and commerce between the United States and the Republic of France ; Louisiana retro- ceded to France; sold and ceded to the United States; laws adopted and published, at Cincinnati, in the year 1798 ; Mississippi territory established ; first General Assembly of the northwestern territory ; delegate to Congress elected ; acts passed at the first session of the General Assembly, and approved by Governor St. Clair ; northwestern territory divided ; Indiana territory established. — p. 408. 4 APPENDIX. Treaty of Fort Stanwix, ----...... 432 Treaty of Fort M'Intosh, 43^ Ordinance of 1785, concerning public lands, ....... 434 Treaty at the mouth of the Great Miami, 439 Ordinance of 13th July, 1787, 44j Treaty of Fort Harmar, with the Sis Nations, 445 Treaty of Fort Harmar, with the Wyandots, &c. 447 Treaty of Greenville, •■.-....... 451 HISTORICAL NOTES. CHAPTER I, The fertile and populous states of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Michigan, contain within their limits, collectively, the fairest portion of that large region which, from 1787 to 1800, was known and governed as " The Territory of the United States North-west of the River Ohio." This Territory, in its greatest extent, was bounded on the south by the river Ohio, on the east by Pennsylvania, and on the north and west by the lines which divided the United States from the domin- ions of Great Britain and Spain. Almost a century and a half passed away after the discovery of America, before any por- tion of this region was explored by Europeans. During the course of the sixteenth century, the Spaniards, the English, and the French, struggling separately against many formidable obstacles, and suffering many disasters and defeats, persevered steadily in their efforts to establish colonies in North America. In 1568, the Spaniards made their first effectual settlement, in Florida. The English made their first permanent settlement, in 1607, at Jamestown, in Virginia. The French planted a small colony at Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, in 1605; and three years afterwards, in 1608, a num- ber of adventurers from France founded the city of Quebec. From this time until 1763, a period of one hundred and fifty- five years, France and Great Britain were the great rivals in the contests concerning the commerce, the territory, and the government, of North America. The rivalry of these nations 2 HISTORICAL NOTES. contributed to subdue the wilderness, and to lay the founda- tions of freedom and civilization in the new world. At an early period it was an avowed object of the directors of the ecclesiastical power at Quebec to spread the doctrines of the Catholic Church as far as the remotest bounds of the western territory, and thus to civilize the Aborigines and estab- lish the dominion of France over those distant regions. First among those who toiled and suffered to achieve these great objects were missionaries of the Jesuit order. This religious order was founded at Rome, in 1539, by Ignatius Loyola, a Spaniard, of a warm imagination, which early awakened in him a zeal for religion. The members of the order were bound by the vows of poverty, chastity, and implicit obedience to their superiors. In addition to these vows, they bound them- selves to go, unhesitatingly, and without recompense, whither- soever their superiors should send them, as missionaries for the conversion of the heathen, or for the service of the Church in any other way, and to devote all their power and means to the accomplishment of the work.* In 1634, the Jesuits Breboeuf and Daniel joined a party of Hurons who were returning from Quebec, and passing through the Ottawa river, these missionaries established a station near a bay of Lake Huron, "where they daily rang a bell to call the savages to prayer, and performed all those kind offices which were calculated to secure the confidence and affection of the tribes on the lake shores." f In 1665, some attempts were made to establish missionary stations near the southwestern extremity of Lake Superior, and at or near Green Bay on Lake Michigan; and in 1668, the Mission of St. Mary was founded by Claude AUouez, James Marquette, and Claude Dablon, on the southern shore of the strait between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. This was the first settlement made by Europeans within the boundaries of the state of Michigan. »Enc. Am. vol. vii, p. 198. tLanman — [In 1629 the General Assembly of the Colony of Virginia ordered war to be prosecuted against the Indians, "and no peace made with them." — Hen. Stat, i, 159. HISTORICAL NOTES. 3 In 1670, Great Britain had nine colonies in America. These colonies wei^e established at different points adjacent to the Atlantic coast, and between the 32d and 45th degrees of north latitude. About eighty years after this period, the English made their first attempt to plant a colony on the western side of the Allegheny mountains. The French, in 1670, had extended their settlements west- wardly along the shores of the St. Lawrence, and on the north- ern borders of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Jesuit missiona- ries had explored the country bordering upon the great Lakes, as far westward as the head of Lake Superior. Missionary stations were established among many of the Indian tribes; and, to advance and protect the lucrative Fur Trade, small stockade forts and trading posts had been erected at various eligible points. An indolent and licentious king, Charles II., was at this time on the throne of England. Louis XIV. a bold and ambitious man, was the reigning monarch of France, and the great Jean Baptiste Colbert was his minister of finances. The influence of the brilliant and expansive genius of this minister inspired the colonists of Canada with an ardent desire to extend the dominions and exalt the glory of the French Monarchy. The ecclesiastical, the civil, and the military authorities established at Quebec, were united in their efforts to increase the number of missionary stations, trading posts, and forts, on the borders of the lakes, and to extend the power of France over the In- dian tribes of the west. The missionaries and the traders, act- ing under the instructions which they received from their offi- cial superiors, induced a number of the principal men of differ- ent tribes to assemble, in May 1671, at the Falls of St. Mary, between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. At this assemblage St. Lusson, with Allouez as interpreter, appeared as the repre- sentative of M. Talon, who was the Intendant of New France; and there were delegates " from the head waters of the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, the lakes, and even the Red river; and veteran officers from the armies of Prance, intermingled 4 HISTORICAL NOTES. here and there with a Jesuit Missionary." * A cross was raised r— the arms of France were marked upon a cedar post — and the passive representatives of the savage tribes were told that they were under the protection of the king of the French. In 1672, the missionaries Allouez and Dablon explored the eastern part of Wisconsin, the northeastern portion of Illinois, and, probably, traversed that part of Indiana which lies north of the river Kankakee. At this time the Pottawattamies resi- ded on the islands called Noquet, near the entrance of Green Bay, and a branch of the nation of Miami Indians occupied the country which Hes on the southern borders of Lake Mich- igan, f Before 1673, the French had received from the Indians many accounts concerning a great river at the west, which flowed southwardly ; and the place at which this river entered the sea JDecame a matter of interesting speculation. "There were three opinions on the subject: First, that it ran towards the south- west, and entered the Gulf of California: secondly, that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico: and thirdly, that it found its way in a more easterly direction, and discharged itself into the Atlantic ocean, somewhere on the coast of Virginia. The question was not less important in a commercial and political view, than interesting as a geographical problem. To estab- lish the point, and to make such other discoveries as opportu- nities would admit, M. de Frontenac, the Governor of Canada, encouraged an expedition to be undertaken. The persons to whom it was entrusted were M. Joliette, a resident of Quebec, and the missionary Marquette who was then [ 1 673] at Michil- imackinac, or in the vicinity of that place." J On the 13th of May, 1673, Marquette, Joliette, and five persons of less note, left Michilimackinac, in two bark canoes, and commenced their voyage of discovery. Proceeding south- westwardly, the voyagers entered Green Bay; and passing 4tLaDman. tTransactions and Collections Am. Ant. Society, ii, 27. JSparks' Abstract of Marquette's Narrative. HISTORICAL NOTES. 5 through that bay, they ascended the Fox river, until they arrived at a village where Miamies, Mascoutins, * and Kicka- poos, were dwelling together. In the centre of this village, which, at a previous time, had been visited by Allouez, the Indians had erected a large cross. This emblem was curiously decorated with thank-offerings to the Great Spirit. The Miamies were friendly and liberal, and the finest looking men. They were good warriors, successful in their expeditions, do- cile, and fond of instruction. The Mascoutins and Kickapoos were coarser and less civilized. To the people of this village Marquette and Joliette explained the objects of their expedi- tion. They gave some small presents to the chiefs, and re- quested the assistance of two guides to put them in their way. This request was granted, and two Miamies embarked with them, on the 10th of June, 1673. These guides conducted the exploring party safely up the Fox river to a point where that stream approaches the head waters of the river Wisconsin. The canoes were then transported over a portage, about one mile and a half across, to the waters of the latter stream. The Miami guides then returned to their village, and Marquette and his companions embarked on their voyage down the Wis- consin. On the 17th of June they entered the waters of the Mississippi, and began to float down its current. " From the time of leaving their guides they descended the two rivers more than one hundred leagues, without discovering any other inhab- itants of the forests, than birds and beasts. They were always on their guard, kindling a fire on the shore, towards evening, to cook their food, and afterwards anchoring their canoes in the middle of the stream during the night. They proceeded thus for more than sixty leagues from the place where they entered the Mississippi, when, on the 21st of June, they per- ceived on the bank of the river the footsteps of men, and a well-beaten path leading into a beautiful prairie. They landed and leaving the canoes under the guard of their boatmen, Mar- ♦Charlevoix says that the word "Mascoutenck" means "a country without woods — a prairie." It is probable, therefore, that the name Mascoutins was used to designate Prairie Indians — [Arch. Am. ii, 61. 6 HISTORICAL NOTES. quette and Joliette set forth to make discoveries. After silently following the path for about two leagues, they perceived a vil- lage situate on the margin of a river, and two others on a hill, within half a league of the first. As they approached nearer they gave notice of their arrival by a loud call. Hearing a noise, the Indians came out of their cabins; and, having looked at the strangers for a w^hile, they deputed four of their elders to talk with them. Two of them brought pipes ornamented with feathers, which, without speaking, they elevated towards the sun, as a token of friendship. Gaining assurance from this ceremony, Marquette addressed them, enquiring of what nation they were. They answered that they were Illinois, and, offer- ing their pipes, invited the strangers to enter their village; where they were received with every mark of attention, con- ducted to the cabin of the chief, and complimented on their arrival by the natives, who gathered round them, gazing in silence." * The chief of all the Illinois tribe received them in a friendly manner; and when Marquette explained, at a council, the motives which induced him and his followers to press forward to the Mississippi, and into the country of the Illinois, the chief in reply, expressed his approbation of their enterprise ; but, in the name of the whole nation, urged the adventurers to avoid the dangei's of a further voyage down the Great River. Kindly rejecting this advice, the voyagers descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Arkansas, where they were received at an Indian village and supplied with provisions. It was supposed, at that time, (1673) that the Gulf of Mexico extended as far north as thirty-one degrees and forty minutes. Marquette and Joliette, therefore, " believed themselves not to be more than two or three days' journey from it : and it ap- peared to them certain that the Mississippi must empty itself into that Gulf, and not into the sea through Virginia, at the eastward, because the coast of Virginia Avas in latitude thirty- four degrees, at which they had already arrived; nor yet into the Gulf of California at the southwest, because they had found •Sparks' Abstract of Marquette's Narrative. HISTORICAL NOTES. 7 the course of the river to be invariably south. Being thus persuaded that the main object of their expedition was attain- ed ; and considering moreover, that they were unable to resist the armed savages who infested the lower parts of the river, and that, should they fall into the hands of the Spaniards, the fruits of their voyage and discoveries would be lost, they re- solved to proceed no farther; and having informed the natives of their determination, and rested another day, they prepared for their return." * On the 17th of July, 1673, Marquette and his companions left the Indian village of Akamsca, [Arkansas] and began to retrace their way to Canada. They ascended the Mississippi to the mouth of the river Illinois, and, following the meanders of the latter stream, as it flowed through a beautiful and fertile region, arrived at an Indian village, where they were hospita- bly welcomed, and kindly entertained, by the inhabitants. On their departure from this village, they were accompanied by a chief and a number of young men, as far as the western shore of Lake Michigan. The exploring party then directed their course towards Green Bay, where, late in September, they arrived in safety, after an absence of about four months. The tidings of their discoveries soon spread throughout the French colonies in North America, and opened a new field for the labors of missionaries, and for the operations of those colo- nists w^ho were engaged in the profitable inland commerce of that time. Marquette continued to labor as a missionary among the Indians about the borders of Lake Michigan, until the 18th of May, 1675, when he died suddenly, on the banks of the river which still bears his name. He was a native of Picardy, and "one of the most illustrious missionaries of new France." f Some time after the expedition of Marquette and Joliette, Robert Cavelier de La Salle, a native of Normandy, who arri- ved at Quebec about the year 1670, formed the project of exploring the country from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of ♦Sparks' Abstract of Marquette's Narrative. tCharlevoix. 8 HISTORICAL NOTES. Mexico, taking possession of the remote regions in the name of the king of France, and constructing fortifications at the most ehgible places near the shores of the lakes and on the borders of the navigable rivers of the west. It was his object, by this means, to extend the power of France over a mild region of "wonderful extent and unparalleled fertility."* Having dis- closed his gigantic project to Frontenac, the Governor-general of Canada, La Salle went to France for the purpose of obtain- ing for his enterprise the sanction of the king. Louis XIV., not content with merely approving his design, " caused orders to be given to him, granting him permission to go and put it in execution; and to assist him to carry so vast a project into effect, shortly after, the necessary succors were furnished him."t He sailed from Rochelle, with his lieutenant Tonti, and thirty men, on the 14th of July, 1678, and arrived at Quebec on the 15th of September of the same year. From Quebec La Salle proceeded to Fort Frontenac, at the outlet of Lake Ontario; where, awaiting his arrival, and ready to accompany him on his exploring expedition, he found Louis Hennepin, a missionary of the Franciscan order. On the 18th of November, Hennepin and an officer whose name was La Motte, embarked, with fourteen men, in a vessel of ten tons burthen. " We sailed on," says Hennepin, " till we came to the further end of the lake Ontario, and on the 6th of January [1679] entered the river Niagara, where we set our carpenters and the rest of the crew to work in building a fort and some houses; but, foreseeing that this was like to give jealousy to the Iroquese [Five Nations] J and to the English *Chase. tLast Discoveries in North America, of M. de La Salle, published by the Chevalier Tonti, Governor of the fort of St. Louis, at the Elinois : Paris, 1697 [The volume ori- ginally published in Paris, in 1697, as by Tonti, is of very doubtful authenticity, though in' most points it must be correct; as it agrees in most points with Charlevoix's account, which was drawn from independent sources.] — North Am. Review, vol. xlviii, p. 82. JThe Fiv6 Nations were the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Cayugas, the Onondagas, and the Senecas. In 1677, an agent of Virginia held a conference with these Nations, at Albany, and estimated the number of their warriors as follows: Mohawks, 300; Oneidas, 200; Onondagas, 350; Cayugas, 300 ; Senecas, 1,000 : Total, 2,150. About the year 1711, the Tuscaroras retired from Carolina and joined the Iroquois confederacy, which, after that event, became known as the Six Nations. HISTORICAL NOTES. 9 who dwell near them and have a great commerce with them, we told those of the village of Niagara that we did not intend to build a fort on the bank of their river, but only a great store-house to keep the commodities we had brought to supply their occasions. And to remove their suspicion, M. de la Motte thought it absolutely necessary to send an embassy to the Iroquese ; telling me ' he was resolved to take along with him seven men out of the sixteen that we were in all, and de- sired me to accompany him, because I understood in a manner the language of their nation.' We passed through forests thir- ty-two leagues ; and after five days' journey came to a great village, and were immediately carried to the cabin of their principal. The younger savages washed our feet, and rubbed them over with the grease of deer, wild goats, and oil of bears. They are for the most part tall and well shaped, covered with a sort of robe made of beavers' and wolves' skins or black squirrels,' and holding a pipe or calumet in their hands. The Senators of Venice do not appear with a graver countenance, and perhaps do not speak with more majesty and solidity than those ancient Iroqueses. One of our men who well understood their language, told the assembly — 1. That we were come to pay them a visit, and smoke with them in their pipes. Then we delivered our presents, consisting of axes, knives, a great collar of white and blue porcelain, with some gowns. The same presents were renewed upon every point we proposed to them. 2. We desired them to give notice to the five cantons of their nation, that we were about to build a ship or great canoe above the great fall of the river Niagara, to go and fetch European commodities by a more convenient passage than that of the river St. Lawrence, whose rapid currents made it dan- gerous and long: and that by these means we should afford them our commodities cheaper than the English of Boston, or the Dutch, at that time masters of New York. This pretence was specious enough, and very well contrived to engage the barbarous nation to extirpate the English and Dutch out of that part of America. 3. We told them that we should pro- vide them at the river Niagara with a blacksmith and gunsmith 2 10 HISTORICAL NOTES. to mend their guns, axes, &c. they having nobody among them that understood that trade. We added many other reasons which we thought proper to persuade them to favor our design. The presents we made unto them in cloth or iron, were worth above four hundred Hvres, besides some other European com- modities very scarce in that country: for the best reasons in the world are not listened to among them unless they are en- forced with presents. The next day their speaker answered our discourse, article by article, seeming to be pleased with our proposals, though they were not really so, having a greater inclination for the English and Butch than for us." From this interview with the Iroquois, Hennepin and his party returned through the woods to the river Niagara, where they arrived on the 14th of January. Acting under the com- mands of La Salle, who joined them on the 20th, the party went " two leagues above the great fall of Niagara, and made a dock for building the ship." At this place a vessel of sixty tons was built and launched. She was called " The Griffin," and carried five small guns. On the 7th of August, 1679, La Salle and his party, being in all thirty-four men, among whom there were three priests, Louis Hennepin, Gabriel Ribourdie and Zenobe Mambre, went on board the Griffin, and sailed from the mouth of Lake Erie. "On the 11th August," says Hennepin, "we entered a strait thirty leagues long and one broad, except in the middle which makes the Lake of St. Clair. On the twenty-third we got into the Lake Huron. The twenty-sixth we had so violent a storm that we brought down our yards and topmasts, and let the ship drive at the mercy of the wind, knowing no place to run into to shelter ourselves. M. de La Salle, notwithstanding he was a courageous man, began to fear, and told us we were undone; whereupon every body fell on his knees to say his prayers and prepare for death, except our pilot, whom we could never oblige to pray ; and he did nothing all that while but curse and swear against M. de La Salle, who had brought him thither to make him perish in a nasty lake, and lose the glory he had acquired by his long and happy navigations on the ocean. HISTORICAL NOTES. 11 When the wind abated we hoisted sail, and the next day [28th of August^ 1679,] arrived at MissiUmakinak. On the second of September we weighed anchor, and sailed to an island at the mouth of Baie des Puans, [Green Bay] forty leagues from Missilimakinak. An Indian chief who had been formerly in Canada, received us with all the civility imagin- able. M. de La Salle, without asking any other body's advice, resolved to send back the ship to Niagara, laden with furs and skins, to discharge his debts. Our pilot and five men with him were therefore sent back ; and ordered to return with all ima- ginable speed to join us towards the southern parts of the lake, where we should stay for them among the lUinois. They sailed the eighteenth with a westerly wind, and fired a gun as taking leave. It was never known what course they steered, nor how they perished; but it is supposed that the ship struck upon a sand-bank, and was there buried. This was a great loss for M. de La Salle and other adventurers, for that ship with its cargo cost about sixty thousand livres." On the 19tli of September, 1679, La Salle and fourteen of his followers, among Avhom was the Franciscan Hennepin, embarked in canoes, and, leaving an island near the mouth of Green Bay, they steered southwardly toward the head of Lake Michigan. Tonti was ordered to collect the rest of the adven- turers, and to proceed with them to the southern shores of the lake, where the two parties were to be united. "We steered," says Hennepin, " to the south towards the continent, distant from the island near forty leagues. On the first of October, [1679,] after twelve leagues rowing, we were in so great dan- ger by stress of weather, that we were forced to throw our- selves into the water, and carry our canoes on our shoulders to save them from being broken to pieces. I carried Father Gabriel [Ribourdie] on my back, whose great age, being sixty- five years, did not permit him to venture into the water. "Having no acquaintance with the savages of the village near which we landed, we prepared to make' a vigorous de- fence in case of an attack ; and in order to it, possessed our- selves of a rising ground, where we could not be surprised. 12 HISTORICAL NOTES. We then sent three men to buy provisions in the village, with the Calumet or Pipe of Peace, which those of the island had given us. And because the Calumet of Peace is the most sa- cred thing among savages, I shall here describe the same. It is a large tobacco pipe, of a red, black, or white marble. The head is finely polished. The quill, which is commonly two foot and a half long, is made of a pretty strong reed or cane, adorned with feathers of all colors, interlaced with locks of women's hair. Every nation adorns it as they think fit, and according to the birds they have in their country. Such a pipe is a safe conduct among all the allies of the nation who has given it: and in all their embassies the Calumet is carried as a symbol of peace. The savages being generally persuaded that some great misfortune would befall them, if they should violate the public faith of the Calumet. They fill this pipe with the best tobacco they have, and then present it to those with whom they have concluded any great aflfair, and smoke out of the same after them. "Our three men, provided with this pipe, and very well armed, went to the little village three leagues from the place where we landed ; but finding nobody therein, took some IJ^dian corn, and left instead of it some goods, to let them see that we were no robbers, nor their enemies. However, twenty of them, armed with axes, small guns, bows and clubs, advanced near the place where we stood : whereupon M. de La Salle, with four men very well armed, went toward them to speak with them, and desired them to come near us, for fear a party of our men who were gone a hunting, should meet them and kill them. They sat down at the foot of the eminence where we were posted, and M. de La Salle spoke to them all the while concerning his voyage, which he told them he had un- dertaken for their good and advantage. This was only to amuse them till our three men returned, who appearing with the Calumet of Peace, the savages made a great shout, and rose, and began to dance. We excused our taking some of their corn, telling them we had left the true value of it in goods; which they took so well that they sent immediately HISTORICAL NOTES. 13 for more, and gave us next day as much as we could carry away in our canoes. They retired towards evening, and M. de La Salle ordered some trees to be cut down, and laid across the way, to prevent any surprise from them. The oldest of them came to us next morning with their Calumet of Peace, and brought us some wild goats. We presented them with some axes, knives, and several httle toys for their wives, with which they were well pleased. "We left that place the second of October, [1679,] and coasted along the lake, which is so steep that we could hardly find any place to land. The violence of the wind obliged us to drag our canoes sometimes to the top of the rocks to pre- vent their being dashed in pieces. The stormy weather lasted four days, during which we suffered very much, and our pro- visions failed us again; which, with the fatigues of rowing, caused old Father Gabriel to faint away in such a manner that I thought verily he could not live. We had no other subsist- ence but a handful of Indian corn once every twenty-four hours, which we roasted or else boiled in water; and yet rowed almost every day from morning till night. Being in this dismal distress, we saw upon the coast a great many ravens and eagles, from whence we conjectured there was some prey; and having landed upon that place, we found above the half of a fat antelope which the wolves had strang- led. This provision was very acceptable to us, and the rudest of our men could not but praise the divine Providence who took so particular a care of us. Having thus refreshed our- selves, we continued our voyage directly to the southern part of the lake. On the 16th [October] we met with abundance of game. A savage we had with us killed several stags and wild goats, and our men a great many turkeys, fat and big; wherewith we provided ourselves for several days, and so em- barked again. On the first of November [1679] we came to the mouth of the River of the Miamies, * which runs from the south-east and falls into the lake. Here we spent all that month ♦The St. Joseph of Lake Micbigant 14 HISTORICAL NOTES. in building a fort eighty feet long and forty feet wide, made of great square pieces of timber laid one upon the other." On the third of December, 1679, La Salle, having been re- inforced by the arrival of Tonti, placed a garrison of ten men in the new^ fort at the mouth of the River of the Miamies, and with the remainder of his followers, started again on his voy- age of discovery. "On the third of December," says Hennepin, " we embarked, being thirty-three men, in eight canoes, and having roAved about twenty-five leagues up the River of the Miamies to the south-east, we could not find the place where we were to land and carry our canoes and equipage into the River of the Illinois,* which falls into the Mississippi. Our savage who was hunting ashore, not finding us at the place of portage, came higher up the river, and told us we had missed it. So we returned and carried our canoes over land to the head of the Illinois river, which is but a league and a half from that of the Miamies. We continued our course upon this river very near the whole month of December, towards the end of which we arrived at the village of the Illinois, about one hundred and thirty leagues from fort Miamis. " We found nobody in the village, which caused a great per- plexity among us ; for though we wanted provisions, yet we durst not meddle with the corn they had laid under ground for their subsistence, and to sow their lands with; it being the most sensible wrong one can do them, in their opinion, to take some of their corn in their absence. However, our necessity being very great, and it being impossible to continue our voy- age without it, M. La Salle took about forty bushels of it, hoping to appease them with some presents. We embarked again w^ith this fresh provision, and fell down the river the first of January, 1680, * * * Although we used all the precaution we could, we found ourselves on a sudden in the middle of the camp of the Illinois, which took up both sides of the river. The Illinois being much terrified, though they were several thousand men, tendered us the Calumet of Peace, and we offered them ours. M. La Salle presented them with Mar- *The river Kankakee. HISTORICAL NOTES. 15 tinico tobacco, and some axes. He told them, ' he knew how necessary their corn was to them ; but that being reduced to an unspeakable necessity when he came to their village, and seeing no possibility to subsist, he had been forced to take some corn from their habitations without their leave : tiiat he would give them axes and other things, in lieu of it, if they could spare it; and if they could not, they were free to take it again.' The savages considered our proposals, granted our demands, and made an alliance with us. " Some days after, Nikanape, brother to the most consider- able man among them, who was then absent, invited us to a great feast; and before we sat down, told us, 'that he had invited us not so much to give us a treat, as to endeavor to dissuade us from the resolution we had taken to so down to the sea by the great river Mississippi.' He said, 'that the banks of that river were inhabited by barbarous and bloody nations, and that several had perished upon the same enter- prise.' Our interpreter told him by order of M. La Salle, 'that we were much obliged to him for his advice; but that the diffi- culties and dangers he had mentioned, would make the enter- prise still more glorious : that we feared the Master of the life of all men, who ruled the sea and all the world ; and therefore would think it happiness to lay down our lives to make his name known to all his creatures.' However, Nikanape's dis- course had put some of our men under such terrible apprehen- sion, that we could never recover their courage, nor remove their fears ; so that six of them who had the guard that night, (among which were two sawyers, the most necessary of our workmen for building our ship,) ran away, taking with them what they thought necessary. But considering the country through which they were to travel and the season of the year,. we may say, that for avoiding an uncertainty, they exposed themselves to a most certain danger. M. La Salle seeing those six men were gone, exhorted the rest to continue firm in their duty; assuring them, that if they Avere afraid of venturing themselves upon the river of Mississippi, because of the dan- gers Nikanape had mentioned, he would give them leave to 16 HISTORICAL NOTES. return next spring to Canada, and allow them a canoe to make their voyage ; whereas they could not venture to return home at this time of the year, without exposing themselves to perish with hunger, cold, or the hands of the savages. "On the fifteenth [January, 1680,] we made choice of an eminence on the bank of the river, defended on that side by the river, and on two others by two deep ditches made by the rains, so that it was accessible only by one way. We cast a line to join those two natural ditches, and made the eminence steep on every side, supporting the earth with great pieces of timber. By the first of March our fort was finished, and we named it Crevecoeur,* because the desertion of our men, with the difficulties we labored under, had almost broke our hearts. We had also built a bark for the continuance of our discovery. It was forty-two feet long by the keel, and was in such a for- wardness, that we should have been in a condition to sail in a very short time, had we been provided with all other neces- saries. But hearing nothing of our ship Griffin, and therefore wanting the rigging and all other tackle we expected by her, we found ourselves in great perplexity, and did not know what to do in this sad juncture, being above five hundred leagues from Fort Frontenac; whither it was almost impossible to return at that time, because the snow made travelling very dangerous by land, and the ice made it impracticable to our canoes. " M. La Salle did now no longer doubt but his beloved Griffin was lost; but neither this nor the other difficulties dejected him. His great courage buoyed him up, and he resolved with three men to return to Fort Frontenac, by land, notwithstanding the snow and the unspeakable dangers attend- ing so great a journey, and to bring along with him the neces- sary things to proceed on our discovery; while I, with two men, should go in a canoe to the river Mississippi, to get the friendship of the nations inhabiting the banks thereof. Then calling his men together, told them, ' he would leave M. Tonti ♦Broken Heart. — [This fort stood on the western banks of the Illinois river, at the lower part of Lake Peoria. HISTORICAL NOTES. 17 to command in the fort, and desired them to obey his orders in his absence ; to live in a christian union and charity ; to be courageous and firm in their design.' He assured them, ' he would return with all the speed imaginable, and bring with him a fresh supply of meat, ammunition, ^and rigging for our bark; and that in the mean time he left them arms and other things necessary for a vigorous defence, in case their enemies should attack them before his return.' Then telling me, ' that he expected that I should depart without further delay,' he embraced me, and gave me a Calumet of Peace, with two men to manage our canoe, Picard and Ako, to whom he gave some commodities to the value of about one thousand livres, [francs] to trade with the savages or make presents. He gave to me in particular, and for my own use, ten knives, twelve shoe- maker's awls or bodkins, a small roll of Martinico tobacco, two pounds of rassade, i. e. little pearls or rings of colored glass to make bracelets for the savages, and a small parcel of needles ; telling me, ' he would have given me a greater quan- tity if it had been in his power.' Thus [on the 29th February] relying on the providence of God, and receiving the blessing of father Gabriel, I embraced all our men, and took my leave of M. La Salle."* About the 12th of April, 1680, Hennepin and his compan- ions were seized by a party of Indians, and carried northward as far, at least, as the Falls of St. Anthony. The adventurers continued to reside among their captors until the fall of 1680, when the Indians permitted thdm to return to Canada. La Salle remained at Fort Crevecoeur until the Sth of No- vember, 1680, when, leaving that post under the command of Tonti, he took his departure for Canada, to obtain supplies and reinforcements. On the third day of his journey from Fort CreveccBur, he arrived at the principal village of the Illinois Indians, "where he thought he ought to build a fort, upon a height commanding the whole country, as well to make himself master of all the different tribes, as to serve for a retreat and •Hennepin's Narrative — Transactions and Col. of the Am. Antiq. Soc. vol. 1, p. 61. 3 rs HISTORICAL NOTEiS. rampart for the French people." * The height, on which La Salle determined to build a fort is now called Rock Fort. It stands on the left bank of the river Illinois, in La Salle county. It is a cliff of parallel layers of white sandstone, rising about two hundred and fifty feet high, nearly perpendicular on three sides, and washed at its base by the river. On the fourth side it is connected with the adjacent range of hills by a narrow peninsular ledge, which can only be ascended by a winding path. The summit of Rock Fort, which contains about three- fourths of an acre, is covered with a soil of several feet in depth-t Having determined to fortify this height, La Salle sent a plan to Tonti, and ordered him " to set to work upon it without delay." Tonti accordingly went and began the build- ing of the fort, which was called Fort St. Louis ; but a spirit of insubordination arose among his men, and he soon aban- doned the work, and returned to Fort Crevecoeur. Here he tarried until the month of September, 1681, when a large number of Iroquois warriors, having made an incursion into the country of the Illinois, appeared suddenly in the neighbor- hood of the fort. Failing in an attempt to make himself a mediator between the Iroquois and Illinois, Tonti evacuated Fort Crevecoeur, about the middle of September, and with five men retired to the shores of Lake Michigan. In the spring of 1682, La Salle, with a few recruits, again appeared in the country of the Illinois. He placed a small garrison in Fort Crevecoeur, renewed his attempt to build Fort St. Louis ; and in the month of August again returned to Can- ada, to collect reinforcements for his voyage down the Missis- sippi. This voyage was commenced on the Illinois river, in January, 1683. J On the 2d of February, La Salle and his exploring party reached the Mississippi ; and, continuing theii voyage down that river, they arrived at its mouth on the 9th of April, 1683. There, near the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, they built several huts, erected a cross, fastened the arms of *Tonti. tSchoolcraft. INorth American Review, No. CII. HISTORICAL NOTES. 19 France upon a tree, and gave to the country which they had explored the name of Louisiana. Having thus accompUshed the object of his expedition, La Salle returned to Canada, pas- sing through the Illinois, and by the way of Michilimackinac. In the month of September, before he left the latter post, he ordered Tonti to go and finish Fort St. Louis, "He charged me," says Tonti, "with the duty to go and finish Fort St. Louis, of which he gave me the government, with a full power to dispose of the lands in the neighborhood, and left all his people under my command, with the exception of six French- men, whom he took with him to accompany him to Quebec. We departed [from Michilimackinac] on the same day, he for Canada, and I for the Illinois." When La Salle arrived at Quebec, " he informed the whole city of his great discoveries, and of the voluntary submission of many different Indian nations to the power of the king of France. A Te Deum was celebrated as a thanksgiving for this happy accession to the glory of the crown. The eagerness of M. de La Salle to go and make known to the king and his ministers the success of his travels, obliged him to hasten his departure. He left Canada in the early part of the month of October, 16S3." * On his arrival in France he was received with many marks of distinction by Louis XIV. and his min- isters; and the accounts which he gave to his monarch, con- cerning the country of Louisiana, induced the king to favor its colonization. A squadron of four vessels was fitted out, and about two hundred persons embarked in these vessels for the purpose of making a settlement at the mouth of the river Mis- sissippi. One of the ships was a royal frigate, of forty guns, commanded by M. de Beaujeu. La Salle and his principal followers embarked on this vessel ; and the small squadron sailed from Rochelle, on the 24th of July, 1684. On the 20th of September, it arrived at the island of St. Domingo, where, by the force of various adverse circumstances, it was detained until the 25th of November. After leaving that island, the adventurers descried the coast of Floiida on the 28th of De- ♦ Tonti. > 20 HISTORICAL NOTES. cember, 16S4; and La Salle, having heard much about the current that set in to the eastward in the Gulf of Mexico, supposed that the squadron was far to the eastward of the mouth of the river Mississippi. He, therefore, bore away westwardly, and, probably, about the 10th of January, 1685, passed the mouth of the Mississippi, without perceiving it. About the middle of February, the colonists landed at the head of the Bay of St. Bernard, and began to make a settle- ment on the western bank of the Colorado, in Texas, at a point distant more than one hundred leagues from the mouth of the Mississippi. Beaujeu, with his vessel, returned to France. Of the other ships, one was captured by the Spaniards, and two went to pieces on the coast, near the Bay of St. Bernard. A plain, impartial, and interesting account of the tragical close of the adventurous career of La Salle, is here given in the words of Bossu: — "The colonists immediately began erect- ing a fort. As soon as the work was somewhat advanced, M. de La Salle gave Joutel orders to finish it ; left him the com- mand of it, and about one hundred men ; he took the rest of his people, and embarked on the river, with the resolution of going up as high as he could. Joutel stayed but a short time after him in the fort which had been begun ; every night the savages were roving in the neighborhood ; the French defend- ed themselves against them, but with losses that weakened them. On the 14th of July Joutel received an order from M. de La Salle to join him with all his people. Many good stout men had been killed or taken by the Indians; others were dead with fatigue, and the number of sick increased every day : in a word nothing could be more unhappy than M. de La Salle's situation. He was devoured with grief; but he dissimulated it pretty well; by which means his dissimulation degenerated into a morose obstinacy. As soon as he saw all his people together, he began in good earnest to think of making a settle- ment and fortifying it. He was the engineer of his own fort; and being always the first to put his hand to work, every body worked as well as he could to follow his example. Nothing was wanting but to encourage this good will of the people ; HISTORICAL NOTES. 21 but M. de La Salle had not sufficient command of his temper. At th.e very time when his people spent their force with work- ing, and had but just as much as was absolutely necessary to live upon, he could not prevail on himself to relax his severity a little, or alter his inflexible temper, which is never seasona- ble, and less so in a new settlement. It is not sufficient to have courage, health, and watchfulness, to make any underta- king succeed. Many other talents are requisite. Moderation, patience, and disinterestedness are equally necessary. M. de La Salle punished the least faults with severity, and seldom any word of comfort came from his mouth to those who suf- fered with the greatest constancy. He had, of course, the misfortune to see all his people fall into a state of languor and despondency, which was more the effect of despair, than of excess of labor or scantiness of good nourishment. Having given his last orders at his fort, he resolved to advance into the country, and began to march* on the 12th of January, 1687, with M. de Cavelier his brother, Moranget and the young Cavelier his nephews, Father Anastasius, a Franciscan friar, Joutel, Duhaut, L'Archeveque, de Marne, a German whose name was Hiens, a surgeon named Lietot, the pilot Tessier, Saget, and an Indian who was a good huntsman. As they advanced further into the country they found it inhabited ; and when they were but forty leagues from the nation of the Cenis, they heard that there was a Frenchman among those Indians. It was a sailor from Lower Bretany, who had lost himself when M. de La Salle first came down the Mississippi. Joutel went to fetch him from among those Indians. He only quitted them to be witness of a crime. "The 17th [of March, 1687,] Moranget being on a hunting party, and having, as it is said, abused with words Duhaut, «In undertaking this third expedition from tiis settlement on the Colorado, it was the intention of La Salle " to seek the Mississippi, and go onward to Canada, and thence to France, to get new recruits and supplies: " — [N. A. Rev. vol. xlviii, p. 92:] Neverthe- ICBS some Spanish writers have regarded this last expedition of La Salle as " a project of penetrating into the interior of the country, to see if he could discover the fabulous mines of Santa Barbara." — [Letter from the Spanish Minister, Don Luis de Onis, to John erce, so much the more advantageous to our kingdom, in that there has hitherto been a necessity of fetch- ing from foreigners the greatest part of the commodities which may be brought from thence; and, because, in exchange there- of, we need carry thither nothing but commodities of the growth and manufacture of our own kingdom. We have resolved to grant the commerce of the country of Louisiana to the Sieur Anthony Crozat, our counseller, secretary of the household, crown, and revenue, to whom we entrust the exe- cution of this project. We are the more readily inclined here- unto, because his zeal, and the singular knowledge he has ac- quired in maritime commerce, encourage us to hope for as good success as he has hitherto had, in the divers and sundry enterprizes he has gone upon, and which have procured to our kingdom great quantities of gold and silver, in such conjunc- tures as have rendered them very welcome to us. tCanada,' HISTORICAL NOTES. 35 " For these reasons, being desirous to show our favor to him, and to regulate the conditions upon which we mean to grant him the said commerce, after having dehberated this affair in our own council, of our certain knowledge, full power, and royal authority, we, by these presents, signed by our hand, have appointed, and do appoint, the said Sieur Crozat, solely to carry on a trade in all the lands possessed by us, and bound- ed by New Mexico and by the lands of the English of Caro- lina, all the establishments, ports, havens, rivers, and princi- pally the port and haven of the Isle Dauphine, heretofore called Massacre, the river of St. Louis; heretofore called Mississippi, from the edge of the sea as fa?' as the Illinois; together with the river St. Philip, heretofore called the Missouris, and of St. Jerome heretofore called Ouabache, [Wabash] with all the countries, territories, lakes within land, and the rivers which fall directly or indirectly into that part of the river of St. Louis.* " Our pleasure is, that all the aforesaid lands, countries, streams, rivers, and islands, be and remain comprised under the name of the Government of Louisiana, which shall be dependent upon the general Government of New France, to which it is subordinate: And further, that all the lands which we possess from the Illinois, be united, so far as occasion re- quires, to the General Government of New France, and be- come part thereof; reserving, however, to ourselves, the liberty of enlarging, as we shall think fit, the extent of the government of the said country of Louisiana. " We permit him [the Sieur Crozat] to search for, open, and dig, all sorts of mines, veins, and minerals throughout the *The North American Review, No. CII. gives tlie names of the Lakes and Rivers of the north\ves5, as tliey appear in the writings of t!ie early French travellers. Lake On- tario was called Lake Frontetiac. Lake Erie was called Erike, Erige, or Erie, from a na- tion of Eries destroyed by the Iroquois ; it was also called Lake of Conti. Lake Huron was Karcgnondi, and Lake of Orleans. Lake Michigan was called Lake of Puans, Lake of the Illinois, Lake of the Illinese, Lake of the Illinouacks, Lake Mischigonong, and Lake of the Dauphin. Lake Superior was called Lake Superieur, and Lake of Conde. Green Bay was Baie des Puans. Illinois river was sometimes called River Seignelay. The river Ohio was called Ouabouskigou, Ouabachi, Ouabache, Oyo, Ouye, and Belle Riviere. The Mississippi river was called River Colbert, River St. Louis, Meschasipi, Meschasabe. Sec. Missouri river was called Pekitanoni, Riviere des Osages, Massouritcs, &c. 36 HISTORICAL NOISES. whole extent of the said country of Louisiana, and to trans- port the profits thereof into any port of France, during fifteen years ; and we grant, in perpetuity, to him, his heirs, and oth- ers, claiming under him or them, the profits of, in, and to, the mines, veins, and minerals, which he shall bring to bear; pay- ing us, in lieu of all claim, the fifth jmrt of the gold and silver which the said Sieur Crozat shall cause to be transported to France, at his own charges, into what port he pleases, (of which fifth we will run the risk of the sea and of war,) and the tenth part of what effects he shall draw from the other mines, veins, and minerals, which tenth he shall transfer and convey to our magazines in the said country of Louisiana. " We likewise permit him to search for precious stones and pearls, paying us the fifth part, in the same manner as is men- tioned for the gold and silver. We will that the Sieur Crozat, his heirs, or those claiming under him or them, the perpetual right, shall forfeit the propriety of the said mines, veins, and minerals, if they discontinue the work during three years; and that, in such case, the said mines, veins, and minerals shall be fully re-united to our domain, by virtue of this present article, without the formality of any process of law, but only an ordi- nance of re-union, from the sub-Delegate of the Intendant of New France, who shall be in the said country; nor do we mean that the said penalty of forfeiture, in default of working for three years, be reputed a comminatory penalty. Our edicts, ordinances, and customs, and the usages of the mayoralty and shrievealty of Paris shall be observed for laws and customs in the said country of Louisiana." * Crozat was required to send at least two vessels a year, from France, to sustain the colonies and maintain the trade of Lou- isiana. In 1713, the whole civilized population of the province consisted of about four hundred French colonists. Some of these colonists carried on a profitable traffic among the Indians; others explored the country in various directions, making fruit- less attempts to discover mines of the precious metals; and a very small number were engaged in agricultural pursuits. •Laws, &c. of the U. S. relating to the Public LandB, p. 944. HISTORICAL NOTES, 37 In 1717, after the death of Louis XIV. Crozat, having ac- complished little, either for himself or for the advancement of the colony, surrendered his grant to the crown of France; and, in August, 1717, the province of Louisiana was ceded, by- letters patent to the Western Company,* at the head of which was the famous banker, John Law. The fifth article of the letters patent was in the following words: — "In order to pro- vide the said Western Company with the means of making a permanent establishment, and to execute all the plans they niay form, we have giv^en, granted, and conceded, and by these presents, do give, grant, and concede to them, for ever, all the lands, coasts, ports, havens, and islands, which form our pro- vince of Louisiana, as well, and with the same extent, as we had granted it to Mr. Crozat, by our letters patent dated the 14th of September, 1712, to enjoy the same in full pro- perty, lordship, and justice; reserving to ourselves but only fealty and homage, which the said Company shall render to jus, and the kings our successors, with a crown of gold of the weight of twenty marcs." Immediately after the cession of Louisiana to the Western Company, that corporation began to make extraordinary efforts to increase the strength of the French colonies, in their pro- vince. A new government was formed, consisting of a Gov- ernor, Intendant, and Royal Council. An edict was issued to collect and transport settlers to the valley of the Mississippi; and reports were artfully circulated in France, concerning the discovery of rich mines of gold and silver in Louisiana. In 1717, M. Bienville selected the site of New Orleans for a cen- tral town for an agricultural and commercial colony, and left a company of men at that place to clear the land and build houses. In the course of the years 1717 and 1718, the popu- lation of the province of Louisiana was increased by the addi- tion of about eight hundred French emigrants; and, in the latter part of the former year, the directors of the Western Company sent M. de Boisbriant, with a small military force, to establish a post at or near the village of Kaskaskia, in the *Sometim(>8 called the "MiRsisiippi Company." 38 HISTORICAL NOTES. Illinois country. In 1718, this officer began to build a small fort on the left bank of the Mississippi, at a point about eigh- teen miles distant from Kaskaskia. The fortification was called Fort Chartres. During the years 1718 and 1719, the French population of the district around Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres, was augmented considerably, by the influx of adventurers from Canada, and from the settlements about New Orleans. Early in the year 1719, the Western Company obtained, from the crown of France, the exclusive right of trading to the East Indies, China, and the South Seas ; and, in consequence of re- ceiving this enlarged privilege, it assumed the name of "la Compagnie des Indes." While these events were transpiring different agents of the company were actively engaged in exploring the province of Louisiana, in search of gold and silver mines, and " precious stones and pearls." In 1719, the Sieur de Lochon " being sent by the company, in quality of a founder, and having dug in a place* which had been marked out to him, drew up a pretty large quantity of ore, a pound whereof, which took four days in smelting, pro- duced, as they say, two drachms of silver; but some have sus- pected him of putting in this quantity himself A few months afterwards he returned thither, and without thinking any thing more of the silver, he extracted from two or three thousand weight of ore, fourteen pounds of very bad lead, which stood him in fourteen hundred francs. Disgusted with a labor which was so unprofitable, he returned to France. The company persuaded of the truth of the indications which had been given them, and that the incapacity of the founder had been the sole cause of their bad success, sent, in his room, a Spaniard, called Antonio, who had been taken at the siege of Pensacola, had afterwards been a galley slave, and boasted much of his having wrought in a mine at Mexico. They gave him very conside- rable appointments; but he succeeded no better than had done the Sieur de Lochon. He was not discouraged himself, and others inclined to believe that he had failed from his not being ♦On the borders of the Marameg river, which enters the Mississippi atiout sixteen miles below the city of St. Louis. HISTORICAL NOTES. 39 versed in the construction of furnaces. He gave over the search after lead, and undertook to make silver. He dug down to the rock, which was found to be eight or ten feet in thickness ; several pieces of it were blown up, and put into a crucible, from Avhence, it was given out, that he extracted three or four drachms of silver; but many are still doubtful of the truth of this fact. About this time arrived a company of the king's miners, under the direction of one La Renaudiere, who, resolving to begin with the lead mines was able to do nothing; because neither he himself, nor any of his company,- were in the least acquainted with the construction of furnaces. Nothing can be more surprising than the facility with which the company, at that time, exposed themselves to great expen- ses, and the little precaution which they took to be satisfied of the capacity of those that they employed. La Renaudiere and his miners, not being able to procure any lead, a private com- pany undertook the mines of the Marameg, and Sieur Renault, one of the directors, superintended them with care. In the month of June last [1721] he found a bed of lead ore, two feet in thickness, running to a great length over a chain of moun- tains, where he has now set his people to work. He flatters himself that there is silver below the lead. Every body is not of his opinion ; but time will discover the truth." * The directors of the Indies Company soon endeavored to turn the attention of the people of Louisiana from the visionary search after gold and silver mines to the cultivation of the soil. The growing of rice, tobacco, indigo, &c. was proposed. Fac- tories or storehouses were established by the company, at vari- ous places, to facilitate trade; and negroes f were imported *Oharlevoix. — Vide Schoolcraft's Travels in the central portions of the Mississippi valley, p. 236. fRobertson, in his Disquisition on ancient India, (p. 69.) says; "In every part of America of which the Spaniards took possession, they found that the natives, from their indolence or from the injudicious manner of treating them, were incapable of the exertions requisite either for working mines, or for cultivating the earth. Eager to find hands more industrious and efficient, the Spaniards had recourse to their neighbors the Portuguese, and purchased from them negro slaves. Experience soon discovered that they Wete men of a more hardy race, and so much better fitted for enduring fatigue, that the labor of one negro wag computed to be equal to that of four Americans." In the practice of purchasing negre 40 HISTORICAL NOTES. and sold, on a credit of three years, to colonists who were engaged in agricultural pursuits. But, at this time, the French inhabitants of the valley of the Mississippi were, with a few exceptions, a roving and trafficking race, among whom the important interests of agriculture and manufactures were ne- glected. A considerable part of their clothing, their arms and ammunition, their implements of labor, and even a portion of the provisions which they consumed, were imported from France and received by them in exchange for furs and peltries. The English colonists who were settled on the eastern side of the Allegheny mountains, pursued a different system of politi- cal economy; and, by fostering the great interest of agriculture they laid the foundation of that power which ultimately drove France from the vast regions which she claimed in North America. On the 2d of September, 1721, the Council deputed by the king of France for the government of the Indies Company, enacted the following ordinance in favor of the French inha-bi- tants of Louisiana: *' Ordinance of the Commissioners of the Council deputed by the King for the government of the Indies Company: — Enacted for the benefit of the inhabitants of Louisiana, on the 2d of September, 1721. The Indies Company having determined, in conformity to the intentions of his Majesty, to sustain the Colony of Louisi- ana, and to procure for those subjects of his Majesty, and others emigrating there, the means of establishing themselves therein, and realizing the reasonable fruits of their labor; it shall be our first care to place this new colony under better regulations than it has been heretofore, by the enactment of ordinances that will be transmitted to the inhabitants thereof; and at present we have deemed it proper to promulgate to the colonists the articles herein following : — slaves, the Spaniards were soon imitated by the English and French colonists who settled in the warmer climates of \orth America. It is said, however, that Louis XIII. was '.xtremely uneasy about a law for the introduction of negro slaves into his colonies : but when it was urged to him as the readiest means of their conrersion, he acquieeced with- out further scruples. — [Montesq. HISTORICAL NOTES. 41 Article I. — Negroes shall be sold to the colonists at the rate of 660 livres, India currency, conformably to a preceding regulation of the company, in payment of which the colonists may execute notes payable in three years, in equal instalments from the day of delivery, in tobacco or rice, according to the decision of the Directors, upon information received of the quality of their respective lands. If, upon the expiration of the second year, the purchaser still owes the whole amount of his notes, without having made the first annual payment, the negroes shall be sold for the benefit of the company, after a single demand of payment : and the sale of said negroes shall be posted, made known, and published, at all the plantations in that District, for the space of one month previous to the day of sale. If the proceeds of said sale do not satisfy the debt to the company, the debtor shall be held personally liable for the payment of the deficit, and shall be conducted to the prison at the head-quarters, or the residence of the commandant of the District, there to remain until full and complete payment is made. Article II. — Good and merchantable tobacco, in leaves or rolls, will be purchased from the inhabitants at the rate of twenty-five livres per one hundred pounds, avoirdupois weight. They may deUver it in casks or boxes, at their convenience. Those who prefer furnishing it in boxes must make them of sufficient size to contain two hundred pounds of well pressed tobacco; and to avoid difficulty as to the tare of the boxes, they may make an average from the weight of four empty ones in every hundred ; the weight of which will serve as a stand- ard for the tare of the others. Article III. — The tobacco and rice are to be delivered by the colonists, at the store-houses at New Biloxi, NeAv Orleans, and Mobile, and not elsewhere. Tobacco shall be received at the store-houses of either of these places, at the rate of twenty- five livres per quintal. Article IV.— Rice will be purchased at the rate of twelve livres per one hundred pounds, avoirdupois weight; and the standard for testing the tare of tobacco boxes shall be observed 6 42 HISTORICAL NOTES. on rice barrels. If the colonists find it expedient to deliver the rice in bales or coverings of rushes, the tare will be ascertained by the average weight of four bales in every hundred. Article V. — We advise and urge the colonists not to ne- glect the manufacture of Silk, and to set out mulberry trees* upon their plantations, that they may increase until there are people enough in the colony to engage in the manufacture of silk, which they ought to regard as an article of considerable commercial importance. Article VI. — The surplus of other commodities the growth of the colony, as well as the products of trade, such as deer skins, beaver skins, &c. will be received at New Biloxi, New Orleans, and Mobile, at the ordinary established prices of the Indies Company. Article VII. — Merchandise imported from France shall be sold to the inhabitants of the colony, at the following rates, to wit : — At Biloxi, at Mobile, and at New Orleans, at fifty per cent, advance on the French invoice prices: — At Natchez and at Yazoo, at seventy per cent, advance: — At Natchitoches and at Arkansas, at eighty per cent, advance : — At Illinois at one hundred per cent, advance : and at Alabama at fifty per cent, advance. Wine shall be sold at one hundred and twenty livres per hogshead: brandy at one hundred and twenty livres per barrel ; and the half casks and quarter casks in proportion. Article VIII. — Having been informed that the clerks of the company have heretofore appropriated to their own use those goods most in demand, to sell to the colonists, for their own emolument, at higher prices than those established by the com- pany, we have prohibited their carrying on any such traffic, directly or indirectly, during the period of their employment in the service of the company : and in case any of them infringe upon our prohibitions, we command the colonists to complain of them to the Directors, who shall decree a confiscation of their goods, and advise us of the same. *In 1622, James I. of England, earnestly exhorted the colonists of Virginia to set about the cultivation of Mulberry Trees, and the planting of Vineyards. — [Vide Mac- pherson's Annals of Commerce, ii, 317. HISTORICAL NOTES. 43 AnxicLE IX. — In order that the colonists may be informed as to the goods in the store-liouses of the company, we have directed that, on the first days of each month respectively, a hst shall be posted up at the door of the company store-houses at New Biloxi, New Orleans, and Mobile: and as there may happen to be merchandise at New Biloxi, not to be found at New Orleans and Mobile, a list of that in the store-house at New Biloxi shall be posted up at New Orleans and Mobile ; whither it shall be forwarded by the first opportunity offering itself in the early part of each month. Article X. — There will be sent out to pay the wages of the trdops and the daily expenses of the company, pieces of copper money that shall have an uniform value, to wit : — Those requi- ring twenty to the marc* in weight, rating at eighteen pence; those requiring forty to the marc, at nine pence ; and those re- quiring eighty to the marc, at four pence and a half. The colonists are to receive without objection this coin from the soldiers and others, in payment of the articles they may sell ; inasmuch as the same coin shall be receivable at the store- houses of the company in payment of every description of goods, at the same rate, without making any difference be- tween it and gold or silver. Article XL — We hereby transmit orders for the division of the colony of Louisiana into nine districts, which shall be known by the following names, to wit: New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, Alabama, Natchez, Yazoo, Natchitoches, Arkansas, and Illinois. The colonists shall be informed, by the Council of Louisiana, of the district to which they shall respectively belong. There shall be at the head-quarters in each district, a commandant and a judge, from whose decisions appeals may be had to the Superior Council, established at New Biloxi. This regulation is made to enable the colonists to demand from the commanding officer of their own district any protection of which they may stand in need, and to obviate the necessity of their travelling to a distance from their dwellings to obtain judicial action upon matters arising among themselves. And *Ei''ht ounces. 44 HISTORICAL NOTES. we admonish them to avoid litigation as far as possible, to live together in peace and harmony, and render each other mutual aid and assistance. Article XII. — We exhort them likewise to be more exact than they have heretofore been in fulfilling the duties incum- bent upon christians, and prescribed by their form of worship: And, in order to place them in a condition to discharge these duties more satisfactorily, we hereby give directions for the establishment of churches and chapels in sufficient numbers to enable the colonists to attend divine service, and receive the sacraments. Done at Paris, the 2d day of September, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-one." * From 1720 to 1731, the trade and the commerce of Louisiana were monopolized by the Indies Company. The laws by which the colonists were governed during this period, were arbitrary and fatally adverse to the growth and prosperity of the colony. The cultivators of the soil, the workers of mines, and the fur traders, were held in a species of vassalage, by the force of various ordinances, decrees, and regulations. The company could, at pleasure, prescribe the prices at which the colonists should buy imported goods and wares. It could establish, too, the prices of the products raised or manufactured by the inhab- itants. The latter were compelled to buy, at a high price, the merchandise of the company, and to sell, at a low price, the productions of their own industry. It would be difficult to devise a system more effectual than this, for checking the pro- gress of industry and population in a new colony. The interests of the colony and those of the exclusive company were in every point diametrically opposite ; and as the latter possessed such advantages in the unequal contest that it could prescribe the terms of intercourse, the former was compelled not only to buy dear and sell cheap, but to suffer the mortification of having the increase of its surplus stock discouraged by those very persons to whom alone it could dispose of its productions.! *Le Code Noir ou Recueil de Reglemens, p. 242. fRobertson's Am, 371 — Smith's Inquiry, ii, 171. HISTORICAL NOTES. 45 In the District of Illinois the factory or store-house of the Indies Company was established at Fort Chartres. The com- mandant of that post, and the commissary of the company, were, conjointly, invested with power to grant small tracts of land to the French inhabitants of their district. The following is a translation of a grant which was made by these officers in 1722: **Pierre Duque Boisbriant, Knight of the Military Order of St. Louis, and First King^s Lieutenant of the Province of Louisiana, commanding at the Illinois, and Marc Antoine de la Loire Des Ursins, Principal Secretary for the Royal Indies Company: — On the demand of Charles Danie, to grant him a piece of land of five arpents in front, on the side of the Mitchiagamia river, running north and south, joining to Michel Philip on one side, and on the other to Meleque, and in depth east and west to the Mississippi. — In consequence, they do grant to the said Charles Danie (in soccage) the said land ; whereon he may from this date, commence working, clearing, and sowing, in expectation of a formal concession, which shall be sent from France by Messieurs the Directors of the Royal Indies Com- pany. And the said land shall revert to the domain of the said company, if the said Charles Danie do not work thereon within a year and a day. BOISBRIANT, DES URSINS. May 10, 1722."* On the 22d of June, 1722, Boisbriant and Des Ursins grant- ed to the missionaries of Cahokia and Tamarois, " a tract of four leagues of land square ; bounded on the west by the Mis- sissippi, including the adjacent islands, beginning a quarter of a league above the little river of Cahokia, and extending south and east for quantity." f In the month of March, 1724, Louis XV. published the fol- lowing ordinance, to serve " as a regulation for the government ♦American State Papers — Public Lands — ii, 164. tAmerican State Papers— Public Lands — ii, 167. 46 HISTORICAL NOTES. and administration of justice, police, discipline, and traffic in negro slaves, in the Province of Louisiana." "Louis, by the Grace of God, king of France and Navarre, to all present, and to come. Greeting: — The Directors of the Indies Company having represented that the province and col- ony of Louisiana is extensively settled by a great number of our subjects who employ negro slaves in the cultivation of the soil, we have deemed it consistent with our authority and jus- tice, for the preservation of that colony, to establish there a system of laws, in order to maintain the discipline of the Apos- tolic Roman Catholic Church, and to regulate the estate and condition of slaves in the said country. And, desiring to pro- vide therefor, and show our subjects residing there, and those who may settle there in future, that, although they dwell in regions infinitely remote, we are always present to them by the extent of our sovereignty and by our earnest study to yield them aid: For these reasons, and others moving us thereto, by the advice of our Council, and from our certain knowledge, plenary power, and royal authority, we have enacted, ordained and decreed, and do enact, ordain, and decree, in our will and pleasure, as follows: Article I. — The edict of the late king Louis XIIL, of glori- ous memory, dated the 23d of April, 1615, shall be in force in our Province and Colonv of Louisiana; in the execution of which, Ave enjoin the directors general of said company, and all our officers, to remove from said country all the Jews who may have taken up their abode there — the departure of whom, as declared enemies of the christian name, we command within three months, including the day when these presents are pub- lished, under pain of forfeiture of their bodies and estates.* . Article IL — All slaves who may be in our said province, shall be educated in the Apostolic Roman Catholic religion, *In the charter which was granted by James I. to the colonists of Virginia, on the 23d of May, 1609, the English monarch said, " We do hereby declare that it is our will and pleasure that none be permitted to pass in any voyage from time to time to be made into the said country, but such as first shall have taken the oath of supremacy." This order was made to prevent the settling of Catholics in the colony of Virginia; from which colony, in 1642, all Catholic priests were ordered to depart in five days. — [Vide Heuing's Statutes, i, 269. HISTORICAL NOTES. 47 and be baptised. We command those colonists who purchase slaves recently imported, thus to have them instructed and baptised, within a reasonable time, under pain of an arbitrary fine. We charge the directors general of said company and all our officers to enforce this strictly. Article III. — We prohibit any other religious rites than those of the Apostolic Roman Catholic Church ; requiring that those who violate this, shall be punished as rebels, disobedient to our commands. We prohibit all meetings for this purpose : Such we declare to be unlawful and seditious assemblages, subject to the same penalties inflicted upon masters who shall permit or suffer it with respect to their slaves. Article IV. — No overseers shall be set over the nesrroes to prevent their professing the Apostolic Roman Catholic religion, under pain of forfeiture of such slaves by the masters appoint- ing such overseers, and of arbitrarily punishing the overseers who shall have accepted said superintendence. Article V. — We admonish all our subjects, of every rank and condition to observe, scrupulously, Sundays and holy-days. We prohibit their laboring or causing their slaves to labor, on those days (from the hour of midnight to the following mid- night) in the culture of the soil, or any other service, under penalty of a fine and arbitrary punishment to be inflicted upon the masters, together with forfeiture of those slaves who shall be detected by our officers at work. Reserving to them, nev- ertheless, the privilege of sending their slaves to market. Article VI. — We prohibit white subjects of both sexes, from contracting marriages with the blacks, under pain of pun- ishment and an arbitrary fine ; and we prohibit all chaplains of vessels, priests, and missionaries, whether secular or regular, from solemnizing marriages between them. We also prohibit our white subjects, as well as blacks affranchised, or born free, from living in a state of concubinage with the slaves ; enacting that those who shall have had one or more children by such cohabitation, shall be severally condemned, as well as the mas- ter permitting it, to pay a fine of three hundred livres. And, if they are masters of the slaves by whom they shall have such 48 HISTORICAL NOTES. children, we decree that, beside the fine, they be deprived both of the slave and children, who shall be adjudged the property of the hospital of the district, without the capacity of subse- quent affranchisement. Provided, that this Article is of none effect, when the black man, either free-born or manumitted, who was not married during such cohabitation with his slave, shall espouse her according to the forms prescribed by the church; which act shall affranchise her, and make her children free and legitimate. Article VII. — The solemnities prescribed by the ordinance of Blois, and the edict of 1639, in case of marriages, shall be observed in respect as well to free persons as to slaves, without any necessity for the consent of the father or mother of the slave : that of the master being only essential. Article VIII. — We expressly prohibit parish priests from proceeding to solemnize marriages between slaves, if they do not make apparent the consent of their masters. We forbid, also, the employment, by masters, of any compulsion with their slaves, to marry them against their inclination. Article IX. — Children springing from marriages between slaves shall be slaves, and shall belong to the masters of the wives, and not to those of the husbands, if the husbands and wives are owned by different persons. Article X. — We decree, that if the husband be a slave and the wife a free woman, their children, both male and female, shall follow the condition of the mother and be free like her- self, notwithstanding the slavery of the father: and, if the father be free and the mother a slave, the offspring shall be slaves likewise. Article XL — Masters shall be obliged to inter in holy ground, within the cemeteries set apart for that purpose, their slaves who have been baptised; and with regard to those slaves who die without baptism, they shall be buried at night, in some field adjacent to the place of their decease. Article XII. — We prohibit the wearing of any offensive arms, or heavy clubs, by the slaves, under pain of the lash, and the forfeiture of such arms for the benefit of him who may HISTORICAL NOTES. 49 find the slaves in possession thereof: excepting therefrom those who may be sent to the chase by their masters, and such as may be bearers of the letters or well known marks of their masters. Article XIII. — We prohibit, in like manner, the gathering together of slaves belonging to different masters, in the day or night time, under the pretence of attending weddings, or other- wise, at the abode of their masters, or elsewhere, either in the highways or in by-places, under pain of corporal punishment by whipping and branding: And, in case of repeated offences, and other circumstances of aggravation, they may be punished with death, at the discretion of the judges. We enjoin all our subjects to pursue such offenders, arrest, and conduct them to prison, although they be not regular officers, nor have any warrant for such offenders. Article XIV. — Masters who shall be convicted of having permitted or suffered such assemblies, composed of other than their own slaves, shall be sentenced in their own proper names to repair every damage suffered by their neighbors on account of said gatherings, and a fine of thirty livres for the first offence and double that amount for a^ repetition thereof. Article XY. — We prohibit slaves from exposing to sale in market, or carrying to particular houses for the purpose of sale any sort of commodity, either of fruits, greens, firewood, herbs, or cattle-feed, or any species of grains, or other merchandise, cloths or goods, without express permission from their masters, evidenced by a pass, or well known marks, under pain of hav- ing the articles sold, reclaimed by their masters without resto- ration of the price, and a fine of six livres for their benefit, as against the purchasers of the fruits, greens, firewood, herbs, fodder, or grain: Decreeing in relation to merchandise, cloths, or goods, that the delinquent purchasers be sentenced to pay a fine of fifteen hundred livres, towards the expense, damage, and interest, and that they be prosecuted to the last extremity as thievish receivers. Article XVI. — We decree, for this purpose, that two per- sons shall be appointed as supervisors over each market, by the 7 50 HISTORICAL NOTES. officers of the Superior Council, or by the inferior justices, to examine the wares and merchandise brought there by slaves, together with the letters and marks of their masters which they may bear. Article XVII. — We allow all our subjects inhabiting that country to seize every thing with which they may find said slaves laden, when they are without any passes or known marks of their masters: the articles seized to be delivered forthwith to their masters, if their residence be near the place where the slaves have been detected in fault; otherwise they shall be sent to the nearest store-house of the company, there to remain on deposit until the masters shall be notified thereof. Article XVIII. — It is our will that the officers of our Supe- rior Council in Louisiana shall furnish an opinion as to the quantity of food, and the quality of clothing, it is proper for masters to furnish their slaves— (which food must be furnished in each week, and clothing in each year) — in order that we may enact a statute thereupon. In the mean time, we permit said officers to regulate, by express provision, said food and raiment; interdicting the giving of any kind of spirituous liquors by masters to said slaves, in lieu of said victuals and clothing. Article XIX. — We forbid, in like manner, their releasing themselves from the charge of feeding and supporting said slaves, by permitting them to labor a certain day in the week on their own account. Article XX. — Slaves who are not fed, clad, and maintained by their masters, may give notice thereof to the Procureur General of said Council, or the officers of the inferior courts, and place their complaints in their hands: upon which, and even of their own accord if the notice shall have come to them in some other way, the master shall be prosecuted on the mo- tion of the said Procureur General, without cost ; which course we direct to be pursued in case of crimes, and cruel treatment of slaves by their masters. Article XXI. — Slaves enfeebled by old age, sickness, or otherwise, whether the debility be incurable or not, shall be HISTORICAL NOTES. 51 maintained and supported by their masters; and, in case they have abandoned them, said slaves shall be quartered upon the nearest hospital, to which their masters shall be condemned to pay eight sous per day for the maintenance and support of each slave — for the payment of which sum said hospital shall have a lien upon the plantations of said masters, into whose possession soever they may pass. Article XXII. — We declare slaves to be incapable of hold- ing any thing which may not belong to their masters, and all things obtained through their own industry or the liberality of other persons, or otherwise, by what title soever, to be acqui- red as the property of the masters, without enabling the chil- dren of said slaves, their parents, relatives, or any others, to assert any right thereto, by succession, by donation when alive, or causa mortis: Such transfers we declare null, together with all the promises and obligations made by them, as being contracted by a race incapable of transferring and contracting by their own free will. Article XXIII. — It is our will, nevertheless, that the mas- ters should keep whatever the slaves have earned by their direction, together with the materials with which they have carried on employment and traded in their workshops in that particular branch of business to which their masters have appointed them; and in case their masters shall have given them no such direction or appointment they shall be bound only to an equivalent to that which shall have resulted to their advantage; and if nothing has so resulted, the substance be- longing to said slaves, which their masters may have suifered them to accumulate, shall be reserved, after the masters have deducted of their own choice, whatever is owing to them. It is otherwise if the property consisted, in whole or in part, of merchandise with which slaves had permission to traffic on shares — upon which their masters can only come in for contri- bution, at the rate of one sous upon every livre, with the other creditors. Article XXIV. — Slaves shall not be eligible for office, nor any commission exercising a public function, nor for appoint- 52 HISTORICAL NOTES. ment as agents by others, except by their masters, to carry on and manage any business ; nor as umpires, or supervisors : neither can they be witnesses in civil or criminal cases, unless they are absolutely necessary, and only through a want of white testimony; but in no case can they serve as witnesses either for or asjainst their masters. Article XXV. — Slaves cannot be parties, nor the subjects of judgment, in any civil case, either as plaintiffs or defendants; nor civil parties in a criminal matter : — allowing their masters to sue and defend for them in a civil case ; and to prosecute, in a criminal one, the redress of any grievances and injuries which shall have been committed towards their slaves. Article XXVI. — Criminal prosecutions may be had against slaves without the necessity of making their masters parties, except in case of accomplices ; and the slaves accused shall be judged in the first instance by the ordinary judges, if there are any at that place, and by appeal to the Council upon the same process, and with the same formalities, as in cases of free per- sons, except as hereinafter mentioned. Article XXVII. — The slave who shall have struck its mas- ter, mistress, the husband of its mistress, or their children, so as to bruise, draw blood, or upon the face, shall be punished with death. Article XXVIII. — And as to the abuse and violence which shall be offered by slaves to free persons, we decree that they be punished severely therefor, even unto death, if there be occasion. Article XXIX. — Certain thefts, as those of horses, mares, mules, oxen, or cows, committed by slaves or by free negroes, shall be punished with a rigorous penalty, even that of death, if the occasion require it. Article XXX. — The stealing of sheep, goats, swine, poul- try, grain, cattle-feed, peas, beans, or other greens and provis- ions, perpetrated by slaves, shall be punished, according to the degree of the offence, by the judges, who may, if there be occa- sion, sentence such slaves to be whipped with rods by the executioner of the high court, and branded with a fleur-de-lys. HISTORICAL NOTES. 53 Article XXXI. — Masters shall be obliged in case of theft or other injury committed by their slaves, (besides the corporal punishment inflicted upon them) to repair the wrong in their own names, unless they prefer delivering the slave over to the injured party — upon one of which courses they must decide within three days, otherwise they shall lose their option. Article XXXII. — The fugitive slave who shall have run away for the space of one month, counting from the day on which his master shall have reported him to the court, shall have his ears cut off, and be branded with a fleur-de-lys upon one shoulder: and if he repeat the offence for the space of another month, including in like manner the day of his being informed against, he shall be hamstrung and branded with a fleur-de-lys upon the other shoulder: and the third offence shall be punished Avith death. Article XXXIII. — We decree that slaves who have endu- red the punishment of the lash, of branding and of ear-lopping, shall be tried, in cases of the last resort, by the ordinary judges; and executed without it being necessary for such judgments to be confirmed by the Superior Council, notwithstanding the provisions in the twenty-sixth Article of these presents, which have reference only to judgments sentencing to death or to hamstringing. Article XXXIV. — Negroes, free-born or manumitted, who shall harbor in their dwellings fugitive slaves, shall be senten- ced to bodily service for the master, in a fine of thirty livres for each day of such harboring ; and other free persons who shall have afforded such a refuge, in a fine of ten livres for each day of such harboring: and, on the failure of such negroes either manumitted or free born, to pay, on account of inability, they shall be reduced to slavery and sold ; and if the proceeds of the sale exceed the fine, the surplus shall be given over to the hospital. Article XXXV. — We freely permit our subjects in said country, who shall have runaway slaves in any place whatsor ever, to institute a search through such persons or in such 54 HISTORICAL NOTES. manner as they deem proper, or to make such search them^ selves, as shall seem best. Article XXXVI. — The slave condemned to death upon the accusation of his master who shall not be an accomplice in the crime, shall, before execution, be appraised by two respectable inhabitants, to be nominated for that duty by the judge, and the amount of the appraisement shall be paid ; to satisfy which our Superior Council shall tax upon the head of every negro the sum fixed by the appraisement, which shall be proportioned to all the said negroes, and levied by those appointed for that purpose. Article XXXVII. — We prohibit all officers of our said council, and other officers of justice settled in said country, from taking any cost fee in criminal proceedings against slaves, under the penalties visited upon extortion. Article XXXVIII. — We prohibit all our subjects in said country, of every rank and condition, from putting their slaves, or causing them to be put by their authority, to the torture or rack, under any pretence whatsoever — or from -inflicting or causing to be inflicted any mutilation of the limbs, under pen- alty of forfeiting the slaves and being prosecuted to the last extremity: — Permitting them only, when they believe their slaves deserve it, to have them tied up and whipped with rods or cords. Article XXXIX. — We direct our officers of justice, resi- ding in said country, to prosecute by criminal process, masters or overseers who shall have killed their slaves, or mutilated their limbs while in their power or under their direction, and to punish the murder according to the heinousness of the off*ence: and in case there may be cause for pardon, we permit the acquittal of both master and overseer: without this, they must obtain fi'om us letters of free pardon. Article XL. — We decree that slaves be accounted mova- bles, and as such be embraced in the community — that there can be no claim by mortgage upon them — that they be divi-r ded equally among the heirs without respect to jointure or right of seniority — and that they be not subject to common HISTORICAL NOTES. 55 jointure, to hereditary or feudal redemption, to feudal or seignorial rights, to the formality of decrees, nor to the parti- tion of the four-fifths in case of transfers causa mortis, or testamentary. Article XLI. — We do not mean, nevertheless, to deprive our subjects of the power of treating them as property belong- ing to their persons, and to those of their family and race, so that they may be used instead of sums of money, or other movable things. Article XLII. — The forms prescribed by our ordinances and by the custom of Paris, for the seizure of movable pro- perty, shall be observed in the seizure of slaves: Decreeing that the proceeds accruing therefrom be distributed in the order of the seizures ; and in case of insufficiency, at the rate of one sous upon the livre, after privileged debts shall have been paid — and, generally, that the condition of the slave may be regulated as other movable property. Article XLIIL— We decree, nevertheless, that the husband, his wife, and their children under age, cannot be seized and sold separately, if they are all within the power of one and the same master — declaring void seizures and separate sales which may be made of them. This rule, it is also our will, should govern in voluntary sales, under a penalty to be inflicted on those effecting such sales, of surrendering that one or those over whom they had control, who are adjudged to the purcha- sers without their being compelled to pay any remainder due upon the price of sale. Article XLIV. — It is also our will that slaves of the age of forty years and upwards to that of sixty, attached to the lands and tenements and engaged in actual labor there, shall not be seized for any other debts than what may be due upon the price of their original purchase, unless the lands and tenements were actually seized; in which case we direct that they be included in the actual seizure, and prohibit, as nullities, all proceedings by actual distress and adjudication by decree upon the lands and tenements without embracing slaves of the afore- said age engaged there in actual service. 56 HISTORICAL NOTES. Article XLV. — The farmer or lessee of lands or tenements actually distrained, slaves included, shall be liable to pay over the consideration money of his lease, without reckoning among the profits collected, those children who may be born of slaves during the term of his said lease. Article XLVI. — We decree, notwithstanding all articles to the contrary, which we hereby repeal, that the aforementioned children may be retained by the party suffering the distress, if the creditors are satisfied in some other way, or to the highest bidder if he interpose a decree ; and, for this purpose, mention shall be made in the last advertisement of the intervention of said decree, of the children born of slaves since the actual distress, as well as of slaves deceased since that distress in which they were included. Article XLVII. — To avoid the expenses and delays of pro- cess, we decree that the distribution of the whole cost of the adjudication, relating equally to the real estate and the slaves, and what may accrue upon the expenses of an equitable decision, shall be made among the creditors according to the precedence of their liens and mortgages, without making any distinction of that which is for the price of the slaves; and not even the feudal and manorial claims are to be discharged ex- cept in proportion to the real estate. Article XLVIII. — The kindred and feudal seignors shall not be permitted to redeem the lands decreed, sold at auction, or voluntarily, unless they also redeem the slaves sold jointly with those lands upon which they have been engaged in actual labor — nor are the highest bidders or purchasers to retain the slaves without the lands. Article XLIX. — We direct ail guardians, both noblemen and commoners, tenants, lessees, and others enjoying the profits of lands to which are attached slaves who labor there- upon, to govern them in a parental manner: In consideration of which they shall not be compelled, after their term of man- agement has expired, to account for those who have died, or been enfeebled by sickness, old age, or otherwise without fault of theirs : but they may not retain as profits for their advan- HISTORICAL NOTES. 57 tage the children born of said slaves, during their term of ad- ministration, whom we direct to be maintained and given up to those who are their owners and proprietors. Article L. — Masters of the age of twenty-five years may manumit their slaves by any act between the living, or causa inortis: and meantime as masters are often found sufficiently mercenary to fix the liberty of their slaves at a certain price, frequently leading them thereby to commit theft and robbery, we prohibit all persons, of what rank or condition soever, from aftranchising their slaves without having obtained permission therefor by decree from our said Superior Council, Avhich per- mission shall be granted without cost, when the reasons assign- ed by the master appear legitimate. We pronounce manu- missions made in future without these permissions void, and the persons manumitted incapable of profiting by them, or being recognised as free: We ordain, on the contrary, that they may be held, accounted, and reputed, slaves — that their masters may be deprived of them, and they be confiscated to the benefit of the Indies Company. Article LI. — We decree, nevertheless, that slaves who shall have been appointed by their masters guardians of their chil- dren, may be considered and accounted as we consider and account those for persons affranchised. Article LII. — We declare aff'ranchisements made according to the forms heretofore prescribed, to be equivalent to nativity in our said Province of Louisiana; and that the persons so afii'anchised do not require our letters of naturalization in order to enjoy the privileges of the native born subjects of our kingdom, lands, and countries within our sovereignty, although they be born in foreign lands. We nevertheless declare the aforesaid affi-anchised persons, together with the free negroes, incapable of receiving from the whites any gift, as between the living, causa mortis, or otherwise : Decreeing that if any should be made, they are void, and they may be appropriated to the nearest hospital. Article LIII. — We command affranchised persons to act with the greatest respect towards their former masters, to- 8 58 HISTORICAL NOTES, wards their widows, and towards their children; insomuch that any injury they may do them shall be punished more severely than if committed against any other persons; the directors being always free and clear as regards them of all other charges, duties, and profitable services to which their former masters would have laid claim, as well upon their per- sons as upon their goods and inheritances, in the relation of masters. Article LIV. — We grant to persons aflfranchised the same rights, privileges, and immunities enjoyed by those born free: Decreeing that the blessings of liberty thus purchased, shall effect for them, as well with respect to their persons as their property, the same objects that result from the advantage of natural freedom to our other subjects: and all this, notwith- standing the exceptions specified in Article fifty-second of these presents. Article LV. — We declare those confiscations and fines of which no particular appropriation has been made by these presents, to belong to the said Indies Company — to be paid over to those who superintend the receipt of the taxes and revenues : Decreeing, nevertheless, that one third part of said confiscations and fines be set apart for the benefit of the hospi- tal nearest the place where they shall have been decreed. So we proclaim as a mandate to our well-beloved and trusty servants composing our Superior Council in Louisiann, that they cause these presents to be i-ead, published, and registered, to guard what is contained therein, and observe them accord- ing to their form and tenor — all ordinances, declarations, de- crees, regulations, and usages to the contrary notwithstanding, which we have repealed, and do hereby repeal, by these pre- sents. For such is our pleasure. And in order that this may be made firm and binding, we have caused our seal to be affix- ed thereto. — Given at Versailles, in the month of March, in the year of Grace one thousand seven hundred and twenty- four. — Signed, Louis."* *Le Code Noir ou Recueil de Reglemens, p. 281. HISTORICAL NOTES. 59 The pacific relations which were maintained between Eng- land and France, from 1713 to 1744, were favorable to the growth of the French and English colonies in North America; but the grasping poUcy of the Indies Company was strongly opposed and often frustrated by the Spaniards of Florida, and by the Indian tribes who inhabited the country on the borders of the river Mississippi, south of the thirty-sixth degree of north latitude. In 1729, the French settlements at Natchez, and those on the Yazoo and Washita, were destroyed by the Natchez Indians. These settlements, collectively, comprised within their limits about seven hundred colonists, "of whom scarcely enough survived to carry the tidings of the destruction to the capital."* In the course of the next year, 1730, the Natchez nation of Indians was exterminated by the French. Hundreds were massacred; a few sought refuge among the Chickasaws and were adopted by that tribe, and many were taken and reduced to slavery. These acts of injustice and oppression were the last memorable events that signalized the administration of the Indies Company in North America. ♦Flint. CHAPTER III. When the Indies Company gave up their charter, on the 10th of April, 1732, France resumed the government of Lou- isiana. The Governor-General, and the Intendant of the Pro- vince, jointly, were authorized to grant lands to settlers; and all concessions or grants of lands which were made without the sanction of these officers were void. M. D'Artuguiette was appointed " commandant-general for the king, for the province of Illinois," and a small military force was stationed at Fort Chartres, A code of laws, entitled the Common law of Paris, was nominally, but never eflectively, extended over the district of Illinois. Many parts of that code were inapplicable to the unsettled state of the colony; and, even those general laws which were applicable to the condition of the people, were not enforced with strictness, nor with uniformity. The command- ants, at the different posts, exercised an arbitrary authority over the French population within their respective jurisdic- tions; but the government which was administered by these officers was neither oppressive nor complex. The Indies Company had engaged in the prosecution of its designs many men of education, talents, and enterprise. After the failure of the projects of the company, some of this class of adventurers returned to France; some established their resi- dence at New Orleans; others settled in Canada; and a very small number remained in the Illinois country. The more numerous class of colonists who had been attracted to this district was composed of indigent and illiterate persons. Few of them had come prepared for either agricultural or commer- cial pursuits, "and when the dreams of sudden wealth, with which they had been deluded, faded from befoi*e them, they HISTORICAL NOTES. 61 were not disposed to engage in the ordinary employments of enlightened industry. The few who were engaged in mercan- tile pursuits, turned their attention almost exclusively to the traffic with the Indians, while a large number became hunters and boatmen."* The Chickasaws had for a long time obstinately opposed the advancement of the French settlements on the Mississippi between New Orleans and the Illinois ; and the hostiUty of this tribe of Indians constituted one of the principal obstacles which prevented a regular and safe communication between Canada and the southern settlements of Louisiana. The French au- thorities of these Provinces therefore determined to concen- trate a strong military force in the country of the Chickasaws, in order to subdue the power of that hostile tribe. In the year 1736, about two hundred French and four hundred Indians,t under the command of M. D'Artuguiette, moved from the place of rendezvous in the Illinois district, and passed down the Mississippi, to form a junction with another mihtary force which had been recruited under Bienville, at the south. Fran- cis Morgan de Vincennes, who was an officer of the king's troops, and a commandant of a small post on the river Wabash, accompanied the expedition under D'Artuguiette. The party commanded by Bienville did not reach the place of rendezvous at the time which had been appointed to form a junction with the Illinois forces, and D'Artuguiette and Vincennes, without waiting for the arrival of the expected reinforcement, com- menced hostilities by attacking and destroying some small villages which were inhabited by a few of the hostile Indians. The Chickasaw warriors soon assembled in considerable num- bers, and defeated their assailants. About forty Frenchmen and eight of their Indian allies were killed in the conflict; and many of the invading party were captured and afterwards burnt at the stake. Among those who perished in this expe- dition was M. de Vincennes, " who ceased not until his last *HalI. tHoImes' Annals, ii, 8.— Bancroft, iii, 367, says "about fifty French soldiers, and more than a thousand red men." 62 HISTORICAL NOTES. breath to exhort the men to behave worthy of their religion and their country."* The expedition which marched from the south, was forced to retreat, and Bienville, soon afterwards, was constrained to conclude a treaty of peace with the Chickasaws. During a period of about twelve years, succeeding the conclusion of this treaty, no event of great interest occurred, to affect either the peace or the general condition of the French settlements in the west. The war which broke out between England and France in 1744, and lasted until the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, involved in its struggles the French and the English colonies situated near the Atlantic coast ; but the tranquillity of the isolated French population in the Illinois country, was not materially disturbed by the events of this remote warfare. The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle did not settle the controversy which existed between England and France, relating to the boundaries of their respective possessions in North America. While the former claimed the right of extending her dominions indefinitely westward of her possessions on the Atlantic coast, the latter claimed the whole valley of the Mississippi, and, from 174S to 1760, opposed all the attempts which were made by the Eno-lish to establish settlements on the western side of the O Allegheny mountains. As early as 1716, Governor SpotsAvood, of Virginia, proposed a plan for forming a company to settle the lands on the river Ohio ; but the scheme was frustrated, " partly by the indolence and timidity of the British ministry, who were afraid of giving umbrage to the French."! From the time of the failure of this plan until the year 1748, the English made no direct attempts to extend their trade or their settlements as far westward as the river Ohio; although, in 1729, a Mr. Joshua Gee published an ingenious discourse on trade, in which he earnestly urged the planting of British col- onies westward as far as the Mississippi, and on the rivers falling into it.J The French, however, continued to advance ♦Charlevoix. fSraollett, ii, 125. lAnderson's His. of Commerce. HISTORICAL NOTES. 63 their missionary stations, and their trading posts in the west.* By this means they hoped, not only to fortify the power of France in those regions, but to exclude the English from any communication or traffic with the Indian tribes that inhabited the country lying on the western side of the Allegheny moun- tains. But the commercial spirit of the French did not keep pace with their ambition. They could not supply all the tribes with the necessaries they wanted; and some of the western Indians, therefore, had recourse to the English settlements. This intercourse soon induced the British traders to make efforts to establish a regular traffic among the Indians who dwelt on the borders of the river Ohio. In 1748, a treaty of alliance and friendship was concluded, at Lancaster in the Province of Pennsylvania, between the English and the Twightwees.f This was the first connexion which the English formed between themselves and the pow- erful Miami confederacy. A literal copy of this treaty is here inserted : "Whereas at an Indian treaty held at Lancaster, in the County of Lancaster in the Province of Pennsilvania on Wed- nesday the twentieth Day of July instant Before the Honora- ble Benjamin Shoemaker Joseph Turner and William Logan Esquires by Virtue of a Commission under the Great Seal of the said Province dated at Philadelphia the sixteenth Day of the said month Three Indian Chiefs Deputies from the Twigh- twees a Nation of Indians scituate on or about the River Ouabache a Branch of the River ?>Iissisippi viz. Aquenackqua Assepansa Natoeequeha appeared in Behalf of themselves and their Nation J and prayed that the Twightwees might be ad- mitted into the Friendship and Alliance of the King of Great Brittain and his Subjects, professing on their parts to become true and faithfull Friends and Allies to the English and so for tDuring the year 1743, the peltrj* imported from Canada to the port of Rochelle, in France, was worth about 120,000 pounds sterling. The total amount of sales of the [Eng- lish] Hudson Bay Company during the same year, was 33,296 pounds sterling. — [Ander- son's His. Commerce, iii, 237, 239. tMiamies. tThcse Deputies represented twelve towns. 64 HISTORICAL NOTES. ever to Continue, and Scayroyiady Cadarianirha Chiefs of the Oneida Nation, Suchrachery of the Seneka Nation, Cani-ineco- don Cunlyuchqua Echnissia of the Mohocks * * * Dawachca- micky Dominy Buck Ossoghqua of the Shawanese and Nenat- chiehon of the Delawares ****** all of them Nations in Friendship and Alliance with the English becoming Earnest Intercessors with the said Commissioners on their Behalf the Prayer of the said Deputies of the Twightwees was Granted and a firm Treaty of Alliance and Friendship was then stipula- ted and Agreed on Between the said Commissioners and the said Deputies of the Twightwee Nation as by the Records of Council remaining at Philadelphia in the said Province may more fully appear. Now these Presents Witness and It is hereby declared That the Said Nation of Indians called the Twightwees are accepted by the said Commissioners as Good Friends and Allies of the Endish Nation and That Thev the said Twightwees and the Subjects of the King of Great Brit- tain shall forever hereafter be as One Head and One Heart and live in true friendship as one people. In consideration whereof the said Aquenackqua Assepansa Natoeequeha Deputies of the said Twightwee Nation do hereby in Behalf of the said Nation Covenant Promise and Declare That the several people of the said Twightwee Nation or any of them shall not at any time hurt Injure or Defraud or Suffer to be hurt Injured or Defraud- ed any of the Subjects of the King of Great Brittain either in their persons or Estates, But shall at all times readily Do Jus- tice and perform to them all acts and offices of Friendship and Goodwill. Item: That the said Twightwee Nation by the Alh- ance aforesaid becoming Intitled to the priviledge and protec- tion of the English Laws They shall at all times behave them- selves Regularly and Soberly according to the laws of this Government whilst they shall live or be amongst or Near the Christian Inhabitants thereof. Item: That none of the said Nation shall at any time be Aiding Assisting or Abetting to or with any Other Nation whether of Indians or Others that shall not then be in Amity with the Crown of England and this Gov- ernment. Item: That if at any time any of the said Twightwee HISTORICAL NOTES. 65 Nation by means of Evil Minded Persons and Sowers of Sedi- tion should hear of any Unkind or Disadvantageous Reports of the English, as if they had Evil Designs Against Any of the said Indians, In such case such Indians shall send Notice there- of to the Governor of the Province for the Time Being and shall not Give Credit to the Reports till by that means They shall be fully satisfied of the Truth thereof. And It is Agreed That the English in such case shall do the same by them. — In Testimony whereof as well the said Commissioners as the said Deputies of the Twightwee Nation have Smoked y^ Calumet Pipe made mutual Presents to each Other and hereunto sett their Hands and Seals the Twenty-third Day of July in the Year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Forty- Eight, and in the Twenty-second Year of the Reign of George the Second King of Great Brittain France and Ireland Defen- der of the Faith &c.'^ The treaty was " signed, sealed, and delivered in the pre- sence of Richard Peters, Secretary, Conrad Weiser, Interpreter, Andrew Montour, Interpreter, Geo. Croghan, Jon. Forsythe, Conrad Doll, Michael Hubby, Andrew Parit, Tho. CooksOn, Peter Warrall, Ed. Smout, Adam Simon Kuhn, David Stout, and Geo. Smith." In the year 174S, Thomas Lee, one of the King's Council in Virginia, formed the design of effecting settlements on the wild lands west of the Allegheny mountains, through the agency of a company. Mr. Lee associated himself with Mr. Hanbury, a merchant of London, and with twelve other persons, some of whom resided in Virginia; others were citizens of Maryland. The association was called the Ohio Company. A petition was presented to the king in behalf of the members of this company, and, in 1749, they received a grant of half a million of acres* of land lying about the river Ohio. The grantees were also invested with an exclusive privilege of trading with the Indian tribes. From the foundation of the English and French settlements in North America till this period the British colonial policy ♦Washington's writings, ii, 483. 9 6Q HISTORICAL NOTES. was in no small degree favorable to the interests of agriculture ' and manufactures, while the unsettled, grasping, and magnifi- cent policy of France gave to those important branches of national industry no beneficial encouragement. Even as late as 1734, a number of the French inhabitants of the fertile country about Detroit, reported to the Governor-General of Canada, that -' they had not dared to undertake any clearings and establish farms, because they had no titles which could secure to them the property thereof." * In the course of half a century, these dilferent systems of colonial government, com- bined with the operation of other causes, produced an aston- ishing change in relation to the strength, respectively, of the English and French colonies in America. The white popula- tion of the former, in 17-19, was estimated at one million and fifty-one thousand, while that of the latter was computed at only fifty-two thousand souls.f Notwithstanding this apparent disparity of numbers, the French immediately began to take active measures to defeat the schemes of the Ohio Company. In 1749, Louis Celeron, "Knight of the military order of St. Louis," was sent by the Governor-General of Canada, with a small expedition " for the purpose of depositing medals at all important places in the country claimed by France in the west — such as the mouths of the most considerable streams, &c."J On the 17th of January, 1750, Mr. Hamilton, the Governor of Pennsylvania, laid before his council a letter from Celeron, dated *' Camp on the river Ohio, at an old Shawanee village." In this letter the French ofiicer stated that he was surprised to find Enolish traders from Pennsylvania in a country to which England never had any claim ; and he requested the Governor to forbid their future hitrusion, and to advise them of their danger in trespassing on the territories of France.|| The Gov- ernor of Canada soon afterwards wrote to the Governors of New York and Pennsylvania, informing them that as the English inland traders had encroached on the French territo- *Ain. Slate Papers, Public Lands, vol. i, p. 251. fHistory of the British Empire in North America — Marshall's Col. His. p. 279. J.\twater. IIMinutcs of Council of Pcunsylvunia. HISTORICAL NOTES. 67 ries and privileges by trading with the Indians under the pro- tection of France, he would cause such persons to be seized wherever they could be found, if they did not immediately desist from that illicit practice.* This threat, however, did not prevent the Ohio Company from prosecuting their designs. They employed an agent, Christopher Gist, " to explore the country, examine the quality of the lands, keep a journal of his adventures, draw as accurate a plan of the country as his observation would permit, and report the same to the Board." In the course of the years 1750, 1751, and 17.52, Mr. Gist and other British subjects explored the country south- wardly as far as the falls of the river Ohio, and northwardly several miles up the Miami and Scioto valleys. On the 13th of June, 1752, at Loggstown, about eighteen miles below the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, Col. Fry and two other commissioners on the part of Virginia, obtained a promise from some Indians, that they would not "molest any settlements that might be made on the south-east side of the Ohio." In the course of the same year the agents of the Ohio Company established a trading house, among the Twigh- twees, on what is now called Loramie's creek, about forty- seven miles north of the present town of Dayton, in the state of Ohio-t While the English were thus prosecuting their designs, the French erected a fort at Presqu'Isle on Lake Erie, and soon afterwards advanced their posts to Venango, on the Allegheny at the mouth of French creek, about seventy miles northward of the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. In 1753, the British ministry, foreseeing that the contro- versy concerning the extensive and fertile regions on the west- ern side of the Allegheny mountains could be settled only by the sword, earnestly urged the English colonies in America to form a union. In Virginia, preparations were made to raise a regiment for the protection of the frontiers; the General As- sembly of that colony passed an act for the encouragement of ♦Smollett, ii, 125. tN. A. Rfiview, No. C. 68 HISTORICAL NOTES. settlers on the waters of the Mississippi, and Major George Washington was sent with a letter from Governor Robert Dinwiddle to the commandant of the French forces about the Ohio, requiring him to withdraw from the dominions of Great Britain. This letter was delivered, at a fort on the western branch of French creek, to M. Le Guarduer de St. Pierre, That officer answered, in reply to this message, that " it was not his province to specify the evidence, and demonstrate the right of the king his master to the lands situated on the river Ohio; but he would transmit the letter to the Marquis du Quesne, and act according to the answer he should receive from that nobleman. In the mean time, he said, he did not think himself obliged to obey the summons of the English Governor; that he commanded the fort by virtue of an order from his general, to which he was determined to conform with all the precision and resolution of a good officer." * At this time the French had a number of posts and small settlements scattered over the great valley of the Mississippi. Kaskaskia, Cahokia, A^incennes, the post of Arkansas, Natchi- toches on Red River, and Natchez on the Mississippi, were rallying points of the trafficking population in this immense region, while New Orleans, Mobile, and Detroit, had become places of considerable commerce. From these various points the influence of the French was disseminated among the In- dians, and while the Six Nations and a branch of the Miamies were almost the only allies of the English, the French were connected by ties of interest and friendship with nearly all the tribes of the north and west.f In the spring of 1754, Major Washington received orders to proceed, with a detachment of two hundred men, to the point at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, and there to complete a fort which the Ohio Company had begun to build.J The attempt which was made to execute this ♦Smollett. tFrost's U. S. 170. ^Governor Dinwiddle issued a proclamation inviting the people to enlist in the service against the French, and, as an inducement, promised that the quantity of two hundred thousand acres of land should be laid out and divided among the adventurers, when the HISTORICAL NOTES. 69 order was defeated by the French. A strong force, consisting of about one thousand men with eighteen pieces of cannon, under the command of M. Contrecoeur, passed down the Alle- gheny from Venango, early in the spring of 1754, and landed at the site which Washington had been ordered to fortify. After driving otf a small detachment of militia and some work- men who were engaged in the service of the Oliio Company, the French erected Fort Du Quesne. This fort was completed in April, 1754. During the time which elapsed between the years 1749 and 1754, the French and their Indian allies captured a number of English traders on the borders of the Ohio, seized their peltries and other commodities to the value of twenty thousand pounds sterling,* and took possession of a block-house and truck-house \yhich the agents of the Ohio Company had erected at Loggs- town, on the Ohio. The Twightwees, in resentment of the injuries done to their allies, captured three French traders and sent them to Pennsylvania. The French then determined to punish these Indians for their adherence to the cause of the English; and in 1752, parties of warriors, acting under the direction of French officers and traders, attacked the Twigh- twees, killed fourteen Indians of that tribe, and tpok posses- sion of the English trading post on Loraniie's creek. In November, 1752, Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia, sent a message to the Twightwees. In this message, which was written on a sheet of parchment about eight inches square, the Governor said, " I received Your Belt of Wampum and Scalp, by the Bearer Thomas Burney, and Your Speeches, with a Beaver Blanket, Pipe, and Belt of Wampum, by Capt. Trent and Mr. Montour. It has given me great Concern for the late Stroke that You have received from the Indians in service should be at an end. One hundred thousand acres of land was to be laid out at the confluence of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers; and the other one hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. On the appearance of this proclamation, Mr. Hamilton, the Governor of Pennsylvania, wrote to Governor Dinwiddic, reminding him that the proposed grants of lands, and the settlements which might be made thereon, should not be made use of to prejudice the right of the Province of Pennsylvania to the territories about the upper wa- ters of the river Ohio. ♦Rider's His. xl. 71— Smollett ii, 152. 70 HISTORICAL NOTES. the Interest of the French, and of their barbarous Murdering of Your People." The message was signed by " Dinwiddie," and addressed to " Sachems and Warriors of the Twightwees, our Friends and Brethren.''^ When Major Washington, acting under the instructions of the Governor of Virginia, visited the head waters of the Ohio, in 17.53, he was informed that the French, at that time, had four small forts on the JMississippi between New Orleans and the Illinois. At New Orleans there were " thirty-five compa- nies of forty men each, with a pretty strong fort mounting eight carriage guns ;" and at the Illinois there were " several companies and a fort mounting six guns." There was, also, a "small pahsadoed fort," on the Ohio at the mouth of the Wabash. In 1754, a plan was proposed, by Dr. Benjamin Franklin, for establishing strong English colonies in the territory north- west of the Ohio, to prevent "the dreaded junction of the French settlements in Canada with those of Louisiana." Dr. Franklin proposed to plant one colony in the valley of the river Scioto; and to erect small fortifications at the following points, viz:— at Buffalo creek on the river Ohio; at the mouth of Tioga on the south side of Lake Erie ; at Hockhocking, and at, or near, t'ue mouth of the Wabash. He also proposed that "Sandusky, a French fort near Lake Erie, should be taken; and all the little French forts south and west of the lakes, quite to the Mississippi, be removed, or taken and garrisoned by the English." "Every fort," he said, " should have a small settle- ment around it ; as the fort would protect the settlers, and the settlers defend the fort and supply it with provisions."* In May, 1754, De Villiers, an officer at Fort Du Quesne, sent the Sieur de Jumonville, at the head of a small party, with a formal summons to Washington requiring him to withdraw with his forces from the territories of France. This party was attacked on the 28th of j\Iay by the troops under Washington, at a place called the Little Meadows. Jumonville was slain, and all his men either killed or captured. Soon after this *FrankHn''s Writings, edited by Sparks, iii, 70. HISTORICAL NOTES. 71 event, Washington was told that De Vilhers, at the head of a force consisting of nine hundred men, French and Indians, was marching against him : Having, at this time, only about three hundred men under his command, he retreated to the Great Meadows, and on the first of July, at that place, began to for- tify a rude post which he called Fort Necessity.* On the 3d day of July, 1754, the post was attacked by the forces under De ViUiers. After a gallant defence Washington agreed to capitulate on terms which were proposed by De Villiers. The conduct of the French officer was, on this occasion, honorable and magnanimous. It was stipulated in the articles of capitu- lation that Washington and his weak and reduced detachment should march from the fort with the honors of war, and carry with them their military stores and baggage. De Villiers, in giving an account of the action says, " On the 4th at the dawn of day I sent a detachment to take possession of the fort. The garrison defiled, and the number of their dead and wounded excited my pity, in spite of the resentment which I felt for the manner in which they had taken away the life of my brother."! When information reached England concerning the erection of Fort Du Quesne, and the defeat of the provincial forces under Washington, the British government gave orders for a vigorous preparation for war. The Enghsh colonies were directed to take up arms, and act with united exertions against the French in North America. In February, 1755, Major-General Edward Braddock arrived at Alexandria, in Virginia, with the forty-fourth and forty- eighth regiments of British Regulars, commanded by Sir Peter Halket and Colonel Dunbar. On his arrival in Virginia, Brad- dock immediately began to make preparations to carry a strong expedition against Fort Du Quesne ; and, on the 12th of June, having received a reinforcement of about one thousand provin- cial troops he began his march from Will's creek, (afterwards *The site of Fort Necessity at the Great Meadows is three or four hundred yards south of what is now called the National Road, four miles from the foot of Laurel Hill. — fButler. tAlludin;; to the death of Juraonville. 73 HISTORICAL NOTES. called Fort Cumberland.) * with an army which amounted to somewhat more than two thousand effective men. General Braddock was a strict disciplinarian, and a man of courage; but he was " very haughty, positive, and difficult of access." f These latter qualities contributed in no small degree to bring about the disastrous and fatal defeat which he encountered on this expedition. When his army reached the Little Meadows^ about four days' march from Fort Du Quesne, he was inform- ed that the French at that fort expected a reinforcement of five hundred regular troops. On receiving this information Braddock left Colonel Dunbar, with about eight hundred men, to bring up the provisions, stores, and heavy baggage, as fast as the nature of the service would permit; and with the other twelve hundred men, together with ten pieces of cannon and the necessary ammunition, he " marched on with so much expedition that he seldom took time to reconnoitre the woods or the thickets he was to pass through, as if the nearer he approached the enemy the farther he was removed from dan- ger."! H® pressed forward with his forces, and on the 9th of July re-crossed the Monongahela, at a fording place about eight miles from Fort Du Quesne. Colonel Washington, Sir Peter Halket, and other officers had earnestly entreated General Braddock to proceed with caution, and to employ, as scouting parties, some friendly Indians who hsd joined him. But his conceit of his abiUties as a commander induced him to neglect these counsels; and the Indians, who would have been his safest guards against an ambush or surprise, " were so disgust- ed by the haughtiness of his behavior that most of them for- sook his banners," After crossing the Monongahela on the 9th, the army enter- ed upon " a level plain elevated but a few feet above the sur- face of the river, and extending northward about half a mile from its margin : then commenced a gradual ascent, at an angle of about three degrees, which terminated in hills of a consider- able height at no great distance beyond. The road to Fort *About one hundred and five miles soutli east from Pittsburgh. tSmolIett. i Smollett. HISTORICAL NOTES. 73 Du Quesne led over this plain, and up this ascent." Colonel Dunbar was at this time about forty miles behind Braddock. Leaving the English forces in these positions, it is necessary to turn, for a moment, to regard the operations of the French. Early in July, the commandant of Fort Du Quesne received from Indian and French scouts, information which led him to believe that the army under General Braddock amounted to three thousand men. M. Contrecoeur was preparing to evac- uate the fort, and retreat before a force which he supposed to be so greatly superior to that which was then under his own command: but M. de Beaujeu, a captain in the French service, " proposed to head a detachment of French and Indians, and meet the enemy on their march." The Indians were, in some degree, opposed to this design; but the entreaties of M. de Beaujeu finally induced them to accompany him. He was also joined by Captains M. Dumas, and Liguery. The 7th and 8th days of July were passed in making preparations for the attack; and, on the 9tii, a force consisting of about two hun- dred and fifty French and six hundred Indians lay in ambush, seven miles from Fort Du Quesne, on the borders of the route which Braddock had determined to follow after crossing the Monongahela. The English forces, after crossing the river on the 9th, were formed in three divisions, which was the order of march. The division in advance, led by Colonel Gage, was composed of three hundred men, this was followed by a division of two hundred men, and next came the General with the columns of artillery, the main body of the army, and the baggage. After these divisions passed the plain which extended a few hundred yards from the river, their route lay over an ascending ground covered with trees and high grass. At the commencement of this ascent began a ravine, eight or ten feet deep, which, as it extended up the rising ground, "formed a figure nearly resem- bling that of a horse-shoe." The first and second divisions under Braddock had passed into this hollow, and the British columns in advance had reached the rising ground, when the French and Indians, from their places of concealment, poured 10 74 HISTORICAL NOTES. a destructive fire upon the front and the left flank of their enemy. The English columns in front returned a fire so heavy that the Indians, thinking it proceeded from artillery, began to waver. M. Beaujeu was at this moment mortally wounded, and the command devolved on M. Dumas. This officer soon removed the fears of the Indians, and, in their mode of warfare, they kept up an incessant fire upon the right and left flanks of the English, while the French force under Dumas maintained its position on the rising ground near the head of the ravine.* When the attack commenced, Braddock began to move rapidly forward to the support of the divisions in front; but before this movement could be effected, the columns in front gave way, and " fell back upon the artillery and the other columns of the army, causing extreme confusion, and striking the whole mass with such a panic that no order could be restored." t Notwithstanding the orders of the General to the contrary, the three companies of Virginia troops took positions behind trees and other coverts, and fought in the Indian manner. These troops "showed a good deal of bravery, and were nearly all killed ; out of three companies that were there, scarcely thirty men were left alive. Captain Peyrouny, and all his offi- cers down to a corporal, were killed. Captain Poison had nearly as hard a fate, for only one of his was left." J Many of the Indians, gaining confidence by the confusion of the Brit- ish regulars, rushed from their coverts and carried on the car- nage with their tomahawks. In the midst of the slaughter, Braddock himself, who was unwisely brave, struggled in vain to form his men in platoons and columns. In the meantime nearly all his officers were killed or wounded. The whole number of officers in the engagement was eighty-six, of whom twenty-six were killed and thirty-seven wounded. Sir Peter Halket fell by the first fire, at the head of his division. Col. *The distance from the head of the ravine to the ford where the troops crossed the Monongahela, was about one hundred and eighty .eight perches. tin a letter to Governor Dinwiddie, Washington wrote as follows : " It is conjectu- red, 1 believe with much truth, that two-thirds of both killed and wounded, received their shot from our own cowardly regulars, who gathered themselves into a body contrary to orders ten or twelve deep, would then level, fire, and shoot down the men before them." JWashington. HISTORICAL NOTES. 75 Washington, who was one of the aids of General Braddock, escaped without a wound, though four bullets passed through his coat, and two horses were shot under him.* Braddock had three horses shot under him ; but his obstinacy seemed to increase with the danger,f and he continued his efforts to main- tain the conflict, until at last he received a mortal wound from a musket ball which passed through his right arm and lungs. He was immediately carried from the field, and the remnant of the army then retreated in a very disorderly manner across the Monongahela. The Indians, being attracted by the plun- der which they found on the field, did not pursue the retreat- ing forces, who continued their flight until they arrived at the camp of Colonel Dunbar, where the unfortunate Braddock died, on the 13th of July. All the stores except those neces- sary for immediate use were then destroyed; the provincial troops returned to their homes ; and the British regulars were marched to Philadelphia, whei'e they went into quarters. In this conflict the loss of English private soldiers, killed and wounded, amounted to seven hundred and fourteen. Of this number about one half were killed. The artillery, ammunition and baggage of the defeated army, together with a number of letters of instruction to General Braddock, fell into the hands of the French. The loss on the side of the French was, in the words of an imperfect return, "three officers killed, and four wounded; about thirty soldiers and Indians killed, and as many wounded." France and Great Britain, soon after the defeat of General Braddock, began to send strong reinforcements from Europe to their respective colonies in America; but during a period of three years succeeding that defeat, the French remained undisturbed in possession of Fort Du Quesne. Meanwhile the settlements on the western frontiers of Pennsylvania, Mary- land, and Virginia, were destructively assailed by the Indians, and were generally broken up. By an act, of August, 1755, the General Assembly of "Virginia offered a reward of ten ♦Letter from Washington to his mother, dated July 18, 1755. fSmollett. 76 HISTORICAL NOTES. pounds sterling for every scalp of a hostile Indian above twelve years of age.* In the autumn of the year 175S, the French at Fort Du Quesne, having been informed of the approach of seven thou- sand English troops under the command of General Forbes,t dismantled the fort in the latter part of November, and, "to the number of about five hundred men,"J retreated to different French posts. A considerable number went to Venango, some continued their retreat to Presq'Isle, and others moved in boats,_ down the river Ohio. The fortifications were hastily repaired by the English, and garrisoned by four hundred and fifty men, chiefly provincial troops from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, under the command of Col. Mercer.|| The name of the post was then changed to Fort Pitt. The retreat of the French from Fort Du Quesne gave the English possession of the country on the borders of the Ohio, and at the same time produced an important change in the disposition of the Indian tribes of that region. It had on many occasions been the practice of war parties to assemble at Fort Du Quesne, for the purpose of making their destructive attacks on the frontiers of the English colonies ; but, finding the cur- rent of success to be running against the French, the Indians during the years 1760, 1761, and 1762, seemed to be willing to reconcile themselves to their powerful and persevering ene- mies; and before the close of the year 1764, nearly all the tribes that occupied the country between the Ohio and the northern lakes concluded treaties of peace and friendship with the English. In the month of September, 1759, Quebec, the strong hold *Hening's Stat, vi, 551. fBefore the army under General Forbes was put in motion, Major Grant was detached from the advanced post at Lyal-Henning, with about eight hundred men to reconnoitre Fort Du Quesne and the adjacent country. He imprudently invited an attack from the French and their Indian allies; and the result was that upwards of three hundred of the English detachment were killed and wounded, and Major Grant himself was made a prisoner. The remnant of the detachment, which was, probably, saved by the bravery and good conduct of Captain Bullitt, retreated to the main army. — [Vide Marshall's Col. His. 322. JWashington's writings, ii, 320. IIGordon's His. Pennsylvania, 368, HISTORICAL NOTES. 77 of the French in Canada, was taken by the EngUsh forces under Generals Wolfe, Monckton, and Townshend. The French forces were commanded by the Marquis de Montcalm. While the battle raged upon the heights of Abraham, Wolfe received a ball in his wrist: he hastily wrapped his handker- chief around the wound, and continued to encourage his troops. A moment afterwards a shot entered his groin. This wound he also concealed, and was advancing at the head of his grenadiers with their bayonets fixed, when a third bullet pierced his breast. Finding himself mortally wounded, and unable to stand, he leaned upon the shoulder of a lieutenant who sat down for that purpose. This officer, seeing the French give way, exclaimed " they fly! — they fly!" "Who fly?" cried the dying General, in a tone of great anxiety. When the lieutenant replied, " the French," Wolfe said, " then I de- part content." * The brave Montcalm was mortally wounded in the battle, and expired on the same day. When told that he could survive only a few hours, he calmly replied, " So much the better: I shall not then live to see the surrender of Quebec." In this battle the colossal French power in North America received a fatal stroke. The joy of the English colonists was great; and when the news of the surrender of Quebec reached England a day of solemn Thanksgiving was appointed by proc- lamation throughout the dominions of Great Britain.f In the course of the next year, 1760, Montreal, Detroit, Michilimack- inac, and all other posts within the government of Canada,' were surrendered by the Marquis de Vaudreuil to the English commander-in-chief. General Aml^erst, on condition that the French inhabitants should, during the war, be "protected in the free exercise of their religion, and the full enjoyment of their civil rights, leaving their future destinies to be decided by the treaty of peace." A definitive treaty of peace between France and England, was concluded at Paris, on the 10th of February, 1763. The ♦Belsham. — Marshall. — Smollett. tSmollett. 78 HISTORICAL NOTES. preliminary articles of the treaty had been adjusted and signed on the 3d of November, 1762. France by this treaty ceded to Great Britain not only Nova Scotia, Canada, and all their dependencies, but it v^^as agreed, in order to establish peace on solid and durable foundations, and to remove forever all sub- jects of dispute with regard to the British and French territo- ries on the continent of North America, that the confines between the dominions of his Britannic majesty and those of France, on this continent, should be fixed irrevocably " by a line drawn along the middle of the river Mississippi from its source to the river Ibberville, and from thence by a line drawn along the middle of this river, and the lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the sea;" and for this purpose France ceded in full right and guarantied to Great Britain, the river and port of Mobile, and every thing she possessed on the left side of the river Mississippi, except the town of New Orleans and the island on which it is situated. The navigation of the Missis- sippi was to be open and free in its whole length and breadth, from its source to the Gulf of Mexico, and particularly that part which is between the island of New Orleans and the right bank of the river, as well as the passage in and out of its mouth. The vessels of the subjects of the high contracting parties were not to be stopped, visited, nor subjected to the payment of any duty whatsoever.* In the month of November, 1762, France, by a secret con- vention, ceded all that part of Louisiana which lay westward of the river Mississippi to Spain. The province was to be de- livered whenever Spain should be ready to receive it: but this was not officially announced to the inhabitants of Louisiana, until the 21st of April, 1764; nor did Spain receive possession until the 17th of August, 1769,t ♦American State Papers, vol. x, 135, fRayn. ix, 222, 235. CHAPTER IV. In the fall of the year 1760, after Canada and its dependen- cies had been surrendered to the English, Major Robert Rogers at the head of a considerable force, was despatched from Mon- treal, by General Amherst, to take possession of Detroit and Michilimackinac ; which posts, according to the conditions of the capitulation, were to be given up by the French command- ants, and to be garrisoned by detachments of British soldiers. The forces under the command of Major Rogers were the first English troops that ever penetrated into that region. On his route from Montreal to the western part of Lake Erie, Major Rogers was received in a friendly manner by different tribes of Indians, who appeared to be gratified on hearing that the French had surrendered the country : but on drawing near to Detroit the English forces received a message from Pontiac, an Ottawa* chief of distinction, requesting them to stop, until he should arrive at their camp, and " see them with his own eyes." The messengers were also directed to represent their chief as the master and ruler of the country which the English had then entered. The troops were drawn up, and Pontiac soon arrived at their encampment. After the first salutation, he sternly demanded of Rogers to tell him the business on which the English had come, and how they had dared to ven- ture on his territories without his permission. Major Rogers, who was a prudent officer, replied that he had no design against the Indians; and that his only object was the removal of the French, who had been the means of preventing mutual ♦ Captain Jonathan Carver, who visited Detroit in 1766, says, perhaps erroneously, that Pontiac " was an enterprising chief, or head warrior of the Miamies." — [Carver's Travels, 96. 80 HISTORICAL NOTES. friendship and commerce between the Indian tribes and the EngUsh. He then ofiered a present of several belts of wam- pum. Pontiac received them ; and gave Major Rogers a small string of wampum, saying " I shall stand, till morning, in the path you are walking," — meaning by this expression, that the English detachment must not advance any farther without his permission. Before this conference was closed, he told Major Rogers that his warriors should bring some food to the Enghsh camp, if the soldiers were in want of it. To this the Major replied, that whatever provisions might be brought in should be well paid for. The troops were soon afterwards supplied with several bags of parched corn, and other necessaries. On the next morning Pontiac appeared in the English camp. He smoked the pipe of peace with Major Rogers, and declared that he thereby made peace with the British officer and his troops. He then told them that they should pass safely through his territories; and that his warriors should protect them from all hostile tribes. These were no idle promises. Pontiac accompanied Major Rogers to Detroit. He sent about one hundred Indian warriors to the assistance of a corps of troops who were driving a large number of cattle from Fort Pitt to Detroit for the use of the English forces. He also despatched messengers to several Indian towns, avowedly to inform the Indians that the English had his consent to march through the country, and take possession of the posts which had been occupied by the French. If the favors which Pontiac at first dispensed to the English were bestowed with sentiments of friendship, the disposition of the chief was soon changed. The feeUngs of implacable hostiUty with which he began to regard the English in 1'762, may be traced, first, to the influence of the French, who had been, for many years, the friends and allies of his tribe ; * and *Peace had not then been definitely concluded between France and England ; and while some of the French in the west aided and directed the bold genius of Pontiac, others remained in a state of neutrality. While addressing a grand council of Indians assem- bled at the river Aux Ecorces, Pontiac told them that the Great Spirit had appeared to a Delaware Indian, and spoke to hira thus : " Why do you suffer these dogs in red clothing HISTORICAL NOTES. 81 secondly, to the sullen and domineering temper of the English themselves. * In the com'se of the year 1762, while the Indians seemed to be satisfied with the subjugation of the French, and the British traders were beginning to carry on a traffic among the tribes that dwelt between the lakes and the Ohio, Pontiac and his partizans were secretly organizing a powerful confed- eracy, by means of which it was their intention to crush, at a single blow, the English power in the west. This great scheme was skilfully projected and cautiously matured. Among the different tribes reports were circulated of a design formed by the English for the entire extirpation of the Indians.f Early in the spring of 1763 the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies, Sacs, Foxes, Menominies, Miamies, [Twightwees,] Shawanees, Wyandots, and branches of some other tribes, were ready to make a simultaneous attack on all the British forts and trading posts in the country northwest of the Allegheny mountains* The attack was made in the month of May, 1763; and the Indians, without much opposition, took possession of the posts of Michilimackinac, Green Bay, St. Joseph, Ouiatenon, Miamis, Sandusky, Presq'Isle, Lebo^uf, and Venango. With the excep- tion of Michilimackinac, the fortifications at these places were then slight, being trading posts, and not properly military es- tablishments. A small number of English traders about these posts were killed; some escaped, and others were taken pris- oners, and remained in captivity until they were ransomed, or released on the return of peace. The British garrisons at Detroit and Fort Pitt, successfully resisted the attacks of the enemy; but the confederacy of hostile Indians made amends for these failures by spreading death and devastation along [the English] to enter your country and take the land I gave you? Drive them from it, and then, when you are in distress, I will lielp you." Pontiac also exhibited to the Indians a war belt, which he said the French king had sent over from France, ordering them to drive out the British and make way for the return of the French. — [Cass. — Lanraan. — Thatcher. *Some of the Ottawa Indians had been disgraced by blows received from the English. —[Cass. fDodsley's An. Reg. for 1763, vi, 23. u 82 HISTORICAL NOTES. the western frontiers of the provinces of New York, Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, and Virginia.* The fort at Michilimackinac, distant three hundred and twen- ty miles from Detroit, stood on the south side of the strait be- tween the lakes Huron and Michigan. There was connected with the fort an area of two acres. This area was enclosed with cedar-wood pickets, extending on one side so near to the edge of the water that a western wind sometimes drove the waves against the foot of the stockade. There were within the limits of the enclosure about thirty small houses, inhabited by French families. The only ordnance on the bastions of the fort were two small brass pieces. The garrison consisted of ninety men, besides two subalterns, and Major Etherington,t the commandant. The task of capturing this fort had been allotted to the Sacs and the Chippewas, and the warriors of these tribes effected their object by means of a very ingenious stratagem. Nearly four hundred Indian warriors were en- camped at Michilimackinac; and on the 4th of June, which was the birth-day of George III., these Indians began to amuse *" There is most melancholy News here. The Indians have broken out in divers Places, and have murdered Col. C. and his Family. An Indian has brought a War belt to Tusquerora, who says that Detroit was invested, and St. Dusky cut off. All Levy's goods are stopped at Tusquerora by the Indians; and last Night eight or ten men were killed at Beaver Creek. We hear of scalping every Hour. Messrs. Cray and Allison's Horses, twenty-five, loaded with Skins, are all taken." — [Letter dated 'Fort Pitt, May 31,' 1763.] "Last night I reached this place. I have been at Fort Cumberland several days, but the Indians having killed nine people there, made me think it prudent to remove from those parts, from which I suppose near five hundred families have runaway within thfs week. It was a most melancholy sight to sec such numbers of poor people, who had abandoned their settlement in such consternation and hurry, that they had scarcely any thing with them but their children." — [Letter dated 'Winchester, Virginia, June 22d,' 1763.] "I returned home last night. * * There has been a good deal said in the papers, but not more than is strictly true. Shippensburgh and Carlisle are now become our frontiers, none living at their plantations but such as have their houses stockaded. Upwards of two hundred women and children are now living in Fort Loudoun, a spot not more than one hundred feet square. I saw a letter from Col. S, late of the Virginia Regiment to Col. A. wherein lie mentions that Great-Brier and Jackson's River are depopulated — upwards of three hundred persons killed or taken prisoners; that for one hundred miles in breadth and three hundred in length, notone family is to be found in their plantations; by which means there are near twenty thousand people left destitute of their habitations." — [Letter dated 'Philadelphia, July 27th,' 1763 — Vide Thatcher's Indian Biog. ii, 113. fSome time before the attack was made on the fort, this officer was informed of the hostility of the Indians; but he would not believe the report. HISTORICAL NOTES. 83 themselves by playing at a favorite game of ball, which they called " baggatiway." This game is played with a bat and ball, the bat being about four feet long, curved, and terminating in a sort of racket. Two posts are placed in the ground at the distance of half a mile or more from each other. The Indians are then divided into two parties, and each party has its post. On the ground, midway between the two posts, is placed the ball ; and the players then endeavor to knock or throw it from the direction of their own post, and towards the post of their adversaries. The Indians played for some time with great animation, near the pickets of the fort, and part of the garrison went out to observe the progress of the game. In the ardor of the contest, the ball was sometimes, apparently by accident, thrown over the stockade. At such moments it was followed by numbers of both parties, who ran into and out of the fort with freedom. This artifice was repeated several times; when, finally, as the ball was thrown over the pickets, the Indians rushed into the enclosure and took possession of the fort. A furious attack was then made on the English soldiers, seventy of whom were killed and scalped.* The remainder, being about twenty men, were saved as prisoners. Early in the month of May, Pontiac appeared before Detroit at the head of three or four hundred warriors. These Indians, who were accompanied by their women and children, encamp- ed near the fort, without exciting at first, any suspicion in the mind of Major Gladwyn, the commandant. The post was then garrisoned by one hundred and thirty men, including officers.f Three rows of pickets, enclosing about an acre and a half, surrounded the fort, in the form of a square. There were block-houses at the corners, and over the gates. With a few exceptions the houses of the French inhabitants were situ- ated within the enclosure ; and an open space which was called iftLanman's His. of Micliigan, 143. — Captain Carver says "tlie Indians had tlie hu- manity to spare the lives of the greatest part of the garrison and traders; but they made Ihem all prisoners, and carried them off. However, some time after they took them to Montreal, where they were redeemed at a good price. "^[Carver's Travels, 13. fin addition to this number there were several English fur traders at Detroit. The value of the goods and commodities stored at this place, when Pontiac commenced his at- tack, has been estimated at five hundred thousand pounds sterling. 84 HISTORICAL NOTES, by the French Le chemin du Ronde, intervened between the houses and the pickets. The fortifications did not extend to the river Detroit, but a gate opened in the direction of that stream, in which, near the fort, the Beaver, an armed EngUsh schooner, was then moored. The ordnance of the fort con- sisted of two six-pounders, a few small brass pieces, and three mortars. Such was the condition of affairs about Detroit, on the 8th of May, 1763, when Pontiac proposed to hold a council with Major Gladwyn, saying to that officer that " the Indians desir- ed to take their new father, the king of England, by the hand." To th'fs proposal Major Gladwyn gave his assent, and it was agreed between the parties that the council should be held in the fort on the next day. In making this apparently friendly overture it was the object of Pontiac to gain admittance into the fort, at the head of a number of warriors who were armed with rifles which had been made so short that they could be concealed under the blankets of those who carried them. At a particular signal, which was to be given by the chief, these Indians were to massacre all the officers in the fort, and then open the gates to admit the other Indians, who were to rush in and complete the destruction of the garrison. Major Gladwyn obtained information of this schjeme before an opportunity occurred to execute it. "Carver states — and his account is substantially confirmed by tradition, as well as by other au- thorities * — that an Indian woman betrayed the secret. She had been employed by the commandant to make him a pair of moccasins out of elk-skin, and having completed them, she brought them into the fort on the evening of the day when Pontiac made his appearance, and his application for a coun- cil. The Major was pleased with them, directed her to convert the residue of the skin into articles of the same description, and having made her a generous payment, dismissed her. She went to the outer door, but there stopped, and for some time *Vide Thatcher's Indian Biog. ii, 93. — Lanman's His. Michigan, 122 Drake, bopk V. c. iii, p. S3 — McKenney's "Tour to the Lakes," 130, — Discourse of Governor Cass - Carver's Travels, 97. HISTORICAL NOTES. 85 loitered about, as if her errand was still unperformed. A ser- vant asked her what she wanted, but she made no answer. The Major himself observed her, and ordered her to be called in, when, after some hesitation, she replied to his enquiries, that as he had always treated her kindly, she did not like to take away the elk-skin, which he valued so highly ; she could never bring it back. The commandant's curiosity was, of course, excited, until the woman at length disclosed every thing which had come to her knowledge. Her information was not received with implicit credulity, but the Major thought it prudent to employ the night in taking active meas- ures for defence. His arms and ammunition were examined and arranged ; and the traders and their dependents, as well as the garrison were directed to be ready for instant service. A guard kept watch on the ramparts during the night, it being apprehended that the Indians might anticipate the preparations now known to have been made for the next day. Nothing, however, was heard after dark, except the sound of singing and dancing in the Indian camp, which they always indulge in upon the eve of any great enterprise. In the morning, Pontiac and a party of his warriors repaired to the fort. They were admitted without hesitation, and were conducted to the council-house, or the place assigned for the meeting, where Major Gladwyn and his officers were prepared to receive them; They perceived at the gate, and as they passed through the streets, an unusual activity and movement among the troops. The garrison was under arms, the guards were doubled and the officers were armed with swords and pistols, Pontiac enquired of the British commander what was the cause of this unusual appearance. He was answered, that it was proper to keep the young men to their duty, lest they should become idle and ignorant. The business of the council then commenced, and Pontiac proceeded to address Major Gladwyn. His speech was bold and menacing, and his manner and gesticulations vehement, and they became still more so as he approached the critical moment. When he was upon the point of making the preconcerted signal, the drums at the door of the council-house 86 HISTORICAL NOTES. suddenly rolled the charge, the guards levelled their pieces, and the British officers drew their swords from their scabbards. Pontiac was a brave man; but this unexpected and decisive proof that his plot was discovered, disconcerted him, and he failed to give his party the signal of attack. Major Gladwyn immediately approached the chief, and drawing aside his blan- ket, discovered the shortened rifle; and then, after stating his knowledge of tiie plan, and reproaching him for his treachery, ordered him from the fort. The Indians immediately retired, and as soon as they had passed the gate they gave a yell, and fired upon the garrison. They then proceeded to the commons where was living an aged English woman, with her two sons. These they murdered, and afterwards repaired to Hog Island, where a discharged sergeant resided with his family, who were all but one instantly massacred." During three or four days immediately succeeding these events, the Indians made several attempts to carry the fort by storm. At one time, a cart, filled with combustible materials set on fire, was wheeled up against the pickets; at another time the besiegers were about to set fire to the chapel, by shooting blazing arrows upon its roof; but the warriors of the wilderness gave up this intention, when they were told by a Jesuit missionary that such an act would bring down upon them the condemnation of the Great Spirit. The assailants made several attempts to cut away the pickets, so as to make a breach. On one occasion, when such an attempt was made, Major Gladwyn ordered his men to assist the Indians in cut- ting away some of the pickets. This was done ; and when an opening was made, the Indians began to rush into it; but they were suddenly and destructively repulsed by the discharge of a brass four-pounder which had been brought to bear upon the breach. After this repulse, the assailants did not at any time make a close assault upon the fort:* but they maintained a *"We have been besieged here two Months, by Six Hundred Indians. We have been on the Watch Night and Day, from the Commanding Officer to the lowest Soldier, from the 8th of May, and have not had our Cloatlis off, nor slept all Night since it began ; and shall continue so till we have a Reinforcement up. We then hope soon to give a good Account of the Savages. Their Camp lies about a Mile and a half from the Fort ; and that's the HISTORICAL NOTES. 87 pretty close siege throughout the months of May, June, July, and August, durmg a part of which time the English garrison were compelled to subsist on half rations. About the 3Ist of May, Lieutenant Cuyler, who had been despatched from Ni- agara, arrived at Point Pelee with ninety-seven men, manning twenty small boats laden with provisions and stores for the garrison at Detroit. A few hours after the arrival of the Eng- lish party at this place, they were surprised and defeated by a band of Pontiac's warriors, who took possession of all the boats, except one, in which an officer and thirty men escaped. Of the remainder of the party some w^ere killed, and others captured. The prisoners were then compelled to navigate the boats, in each of which the Indians placed a guard ; and thus the vessels, keeping close to the Canadian shore, moved up the Detroit river, attended by a considerable number of warriors, who marched along the banks. When the foremost boat arri- ved at a point nearly opposite to Detroit, four prisoners who were manning the boat determined to effect their escape or to perish in the attempt. They suddenly changed the course of the boat, and began to force her across the stream and towards the fort. The Indian guards, who attempted to stop them, after a short struggle leaped overboard, dragging with them one of the prisoners. TJie three who remained in the boat were fired on by the Indians, and one of the fugitives was wounded; but an armed vessel lying before Detroit opened a fire upon the Indians, and thus covered the retreat of the Eng- lish boatmen until they reached the vessel. The Indians then landed the boats, and took the rest of the prisoners to Hog- Island, where nearly all of them were put to death. In the early part of June, a strong detachment of Indians left the siege, and proceeded to Fighting Island, for the pur- pose of intercepting a vessel laden with arms and provisions for the relief of the garrison at Detroit. The Indians, in their canoes, annoyed the English vessel very much, until the latter nearest they choose to come now. For the first two or three Days we were attacked by three or four Hundred of them ; hut we gave them so warm a Reception that they don't care for coming to see us, tlio' tlicy now and tlien get behind a House or Garden and fire at us about threeor four Hundred yards' distance."— [Letter from Detroit, dated July C, 1763. 88 HISTORICAL NOTES. reached the point of the island, where, on account of the wind faihng, she was compelled to anchor. To deceive the Indians in regard to the strength of his crew, the captain had conceal- ed his men in the hold. Soon after dark the Indians embarked in their canoes and proceeded to board the vessel. " The men were silently ordered up and took their stations at the guns. The Indians were suffered to approach close to the vessel when the captain, by a stroke of a hammer on the mast, gave the signal for action. An immediate discharge took place, and the Indians precipitately fled, with many killed and wounded. The next morning the vessel dropped down to the mouth of the river, where she remained six days waiting for a wind. On the thirteenth she succeeded in ascending the river, and reaching the fort in safety." * Soon after these events occurred, Pontiac made some unsuc- cessful attempts to destroy the English vessels moored before Detroit. Large rafts constructed of combustible materials were towed to a certain position in the river, and there set on fire, with the expectation that the current would carry these burn- ing masses into contact with the vessels. A fleet of gun-boats, strongly armed, and having on board three hundred English regular troops under the command of Captain Dalyell, arrived at Detroit, late in the month of July. Soon after the arrival of this reinforcement, a battle was fought between the English and the Indians, at a place which, from the time of the engagement to the present day, has been called " Bloody Bridge." The English commander, in his official re- turns, gave the following minute account of this affair. " On the evening of the 30th July, Captain Dalyell, aid-de-camp to General Amherst, being arrived here with the detachment sent under his command, and being fully persuaded that Pontiac, the Indian chief, with his tribes, would soon abandon his de- sign, and retire, insisted with the commandant that they might easily be surprised in their camp, totally routed and driven out of the settlement; and it was thereupon determined that Cap- tain Dalyell should march out with two hundred and forty- *Thatclier, HISTORICAL NOTES. 89 seven men. Accordingly we marched about half an hour after two in the morning, two deep, along the great road by the river side, two boats up the river along shore, with a patteraro in each, with orders to keep up with the line of march, cover our retreat, and take off* our killed and Avounded ; Lieutenant Bean, of the Q.ueeTi's Independents, being ordered, with a rear guard, to convey the dead and wounded to the boats. About a mile and a half from the fort, we had orders to form into platoons, and, if attacked in front, to fire by street-firings. We then advanced, and, in about a mile farther, our advanced guard, commanded by Lieutenant Brown, of the 55th regiment, had been fired upon so close to the enemy's breastworks and cover, that the fire, being very heavy, not only killed and wounded some of his party, but reached the main body, which put the whole into a little confusion ; but they soon recovered their order, and gave the enemy, or rather their works, it being very dark, a discharge or two from the front, commanded by Captain Gray. At the same time, the rear, commanded by Captain Grant, were fired upon from a house, and some fen- ces about twenty yards on his left ; on which he ordered his own and Captain Hojjkins's companies to face to the left and give a full fire that way. After which, it appearing that the enemy gave way every where. Captain Dalycll sent orders to Captain Grant, to take possession of the above-said houses and fences; which he immediately did; and found in one of the said houses two men, who told him the enemy had been there long, and were well apprised of our design. Captain Grant then asked them the numbers ; they said above three hundred ; and that they intended, as soon as they had attacked us in the front, to get between us and the fort; which Captain Grant told Captain Dalyell, who came to him when the firing was over. And in about an hour after, he came to him again, and told Captain Grant he was to retire, and ordered him to march in the front, and post himself in an orchard. He then marched, and about half a mile farther on his retreat, he had some shots fired on his flank; but got possession of the orchard, which was well fenced; and just as he got there, he heard a warm firing 12 90 HISTORICAL NOTES. in the rear, having at the same time, a firing on his own post, from the fences and cornfields behind it. Lieutenant McDougal who acted as adjutant to the detachment, came up to him, (Captain Grant,) and told him, that Captain Dalyell was killed, and Captain Gray very much wounded, in making a push on the enemy, and forcing them out of a strong breastwork of cordwood, and an entrenchment which they had taken pos- session of; and that the command then devolved upon him. Lieutenant Bean immediately came up, and told him, that Captain Rogers had desired him to tell Captain Grant, that he had taken possession of a house, and that he had better retire with what numbers he had, as he (Captain Rogers) could not get off" without the boats to cover him, he being hard pushed by the enemy from the enclosures behind him, some of which scoured the road through which he must retire. Captain Grant then sent Ensign Pauli, with twenty men, back to attack a part of the enemy which annoyed his own post a little, and galled those that were joining him, from the place where Cap tain Dalyell was killed, and Captain Gray, Lieutenants Broivn and Luke, were wounded; which Ensign Pauli did, and killed some of the enemy in their flight. Captain Grant, at the same time, detached all the men he could get, and took possession of the enclosures, barns, fences, &c. leading from his own post to the fort, which posts he reinforced with the officers and men, as they came up. Thinking the retreat then secured, he sent back to Captain Rogers, desiring he would come oflT; that the retreat was quite secured, and the different parties ordered to cover one another successively, until the whole had joined; but Captain Rogers not finding it right to risk the loss of more men, he chose to wait for the armed boats, one of which ap- peared soon, commanded by Lieutenant Brehm, whom Captain Grant had directed to go and cover Captain Rogers^s retreat, who was in the next house. Lieutenant Brehm accordingly went and fired several shots at the enemy. Lieutenant Abbott, with the other boat, wanting ammunition, went down with Captain Gray. Lieutenant Broivn and some wounded men returned also, which Captain Grant supposes the enemy seeing HISTORICAL NOTES. 91 did not wait her arrival, but retired on Lieutenant Brehni's firing, and gave Captain Rogers, witii the rear, an opportunity to come off; so that the whole from the different posts joined without any confusion, and marched to the fort in good order, covered by the armed boats on the water side, and by our own parties on the country side, in view of the enemy, who had all joined, and were much stronger than at the beginning of the affair, as was afterwards told us by some prisoners that made their escape ; many having joined them from the other side of the river and other places. The whole arrived at the fort about eight o'clock, commanded by Captain Grant, whose able and skilful retreat is highly commended. "Return of killed and wounded of the several detachments near the Detroit, July 31, 1763. — Of the 55th Regiment: one sergeant, thirteen rank and file, killed ; one captain, two lieu- tenants, one drummer, twenty-eight rank and file, wounded. Of the Royal Americans : one rank and file killed ; one rank and file wounded. — Of the SOth Regiment: two rank and file killed ; three rank and file wounded. — Of the Queen's Rangers: two rank and file killed; one rank and file wounded. "Names of the officers: — 55th Regiment: Captain Gray, Lieutenant Luke, and Lieutenant Brown, wounded. "N. B. Captain Dalyell, killed, not included in the above."* Soon after this engagement, parties of the Pottawattamie and Huron tribes gave up their prisoners, and expressed a desire for peace. Other bands of Indians who had been enga- ged in the siege, retired disheartened to their villages and hunting grounds ; but the uncompromising hostility of Pontiac kept the English garrison at Detroit in a state of suspense until the spring of 1764. During the months of June and July, 1763, Fort Pitt was closely besieged by different war parties, consisting, generally, of Shawanees and Delaware warriors. But Captain Ewyerf and the garrison defended themselves, until they were rein- forced, early in August, by the arrival of several companies of *Drake, B. V. C. iii, p. 55. tGordon'3 His. Pa. 399 "Ecuyer."— Dodslcy's An. Register, for 1763. 92 HISTORICAL NOTES. regular troops under the command of Colonel Bouquet. This force, on its march from Carlisle to Fort Pitt, was attacked by a large number of Indians, near a stream called Bushy Run. The assailants were defeated with a loss of about sixty war- riors killed. The loss of the English was about fifty killed, and sixty wounded. On the fourth day succeeding this battle, the British troops reached Fort Pitt; and the hostile Indians im- mediately retreated from the neighborhood of that post : but, throughout the succeeding autumn and winter, they continued in detached parties, to wage war against the settlers on the western frontiers of the English colonies. Roused to a high degree of excitement by this destructive warfare, the British authorities determined to adopt strong measures for the pun- ishment and subjugation of the hostile tribes. In 1764, General Bradstreet, at the head of three thousand men, was ordered to proceed against the Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, and other Indian nations living near the borders of the lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan. About the same time, another strong force, under the command of Colonel Bouquet, was ordered to march against the Delawares, Shawanees, and other hostile tribes who inhabited the country lying between the lakes and the river. In addition to these measures, the Governor of Penn- sylvania, by a proclamation of the 7th of July, 1764,* oflTered bounties for the scalps or the capture of hostile Indians. The bounties were — For every male above ten years, captured, - - - $150 00 For every male above ten years, scalped, being kiUed, 134 00 For every female or male under ten years, captured, 130 00 For every female above ten years, scalped, being killed, 50 00 While General Bradstreet was on his way from Niagara to Detroit, he was met by delegates who bore overtures of peace from many of the northwestern tribes ; and soon after his arri- val at Detroit, which post he reached without opposition, all the tribes about that region concluded treaties of peace with the English. The chief Pontiac, however, took no part in the pacific negotiations. Having been deceived by the French, *Gordon's History of Pennsylvania, 438. HISTORICAL NOTES. 93 overpowered by the English, and deserted by the Indians, he retired to the Illinois country, where he was assassinated, in the year 1767.* On the 3d day of October, 1764, the forces under Colonel Bouquet, consisting of fifteen hundred men, moved from Fort Pitt, and, on the 25th of the same month, reached the forks of the Muskingum river, where they encamped. At this point. Colonel Bouquet held conferences with the Delawares, Shawa- nees, and bands of some other tribes. The Indians, who were in an impoverished and feeble state, gave pledges for their good behavior until peace should be fully concluded with Sir Wil- liam Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs. They also gave up two hundred and six prisoners, men, women and children. The English forces then returned to Fort Pitt, and a cessation of hostilities was proclaimed on the 5th of De- cember.f From this period until the year 1774, the Indians who occupied the country about the borders of the river Ohio, waged no war against the British colonies; although, in the meantime, many English colonists, disregarding the proclama- tion of the king, the provisions of treaties, the remonstrances of the Indians, and the prohibitory proclamations of the governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia, continued to harass the Indians, by making settlements upon their lands, and by killing a con- siderable number of their men, women, and children.J On the 30th of December, 1764, General Gage, commander- in-chief of the British forces in North America, having receiv- ed advices of the pacific disposition of the northwestern Indians issued the following proclamation, affecting the French inhab- itants of the Illinois country. "By his Excellency Thomas Gage, Major General of the King's Armies, Colonel of the 22d Regiment, General com- manding in chief all the forces of his Majesty in North Amer- ica, &c. &c. &c. "Whereas, by the peace concluded at Paris, on the 10th of February, 1763, the country of the Illinois has been ceded to ♦Carver's Travels, 104. fGordon, 437. tJefferson's Notes on Virginia, 312.— Gordon's His. Pennsylvania, 447. 94 HISTORICAL NOTES. his Britannic Majesty, and the taking possession of the said country of the Ilhnois, by the troops of his Majesty, though delayed, has been determined upon, we have found it good to make known to the inhabitants: — That his Majesty grants to the inhabitants of the Illinois the liberty of the Catholic religion, as it has already been granted to his subjects in Canada: he has consequently given the most precise and effective orders, to the end, that his new Roman Catholic subjects of the Illinois may exercise the worship of their religion according to the rites of the Roman church, in the same manner as in Canada: That his Majesty, moreover, agrees, that the French inhabi- tants, or others, who have been subjects of the most Christian King, may retire, in full safety and freedom, wherever they please, even to New Orleans, or any other part of Louisiana, although it should happen that the Spaniards take possession of it in the name of his Catholic Majesty; and they may sell their estates, provided it be to subjects of his Majesty, and transport their eftects, as well as their persons, without res- traint upon their emigration, under any pretence whatever, except in consequence of debts or of criminal process: That those who choose to retain their lands and become subjects of his Majesty, shall enjoy the same rights and privi- leges, the same security for their persons and effects, and lib- erty of trade, as the old subjects of the king : That they are commanded, by these presents, to take the oath of fidelity and obedience to his Majesty, in presence of Sieur Sterling, captain of the Highland Regiment, the bearer hereof, and furnished with our full powers for this purpose: That we recommend forcibly to the inhabitants, to conduct themselves like good and faithful subjects, avoiding by a wise and prudent demeanor, all cause of complaint against them: That they act in concert with his Majesty's officers, so that his troops may take peaceable possession of all the posts, and order be kept in the country ; by this means alone they will spare his Majesty the necessity of recurring to force of arms, and will find themselves saved from the scourge of a bloody HISTORICAL NOTES. 95 war, and of all the evils which the march of an army into their country would draw after it. We direct that these presents be read, published, and posted up in the usual places. Done and given at Head Quarters, New York. Signed with our hand, sealed with our seal at arms, and countersigned by our Secretary, this 3Qth December, 1764. THOMAS GAGE, [L. S.] By His Excellency, G. Maturin. In the month of July, 1765, M. de St. Ange, who was at that time the French commandant in the Illinois, evacuated Fort Chartres, and proceeded with a small force to St. Louis, a settlement which had been founded early in 1764, on the western bank of the Mississippi. A detachment of English troops then took possession of the evacuated fort, and the Brit- ish commandant in the Illinois country established his head- quarters at that place. Of the French population, while some took the oath of fidelity and obedience to the government of Great Britain, and continued to occupy their ancient posses- sions in and about the villages of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Prairie du Rocher, others removed to the territories on the western side of the river Mississippi, where the authority of France was still in force, although the country had been ceded to Spain. Fort Chartres which was rebuilt in 1756, was in shape an irregular quadrangle, with four bastions. The sides of the ex- terior polygon were about four hundred and ninety feet in extent.* The walls, which were of stone and plastered over, were two feet two inches thick, and fifteen feet high, with loop-holes at regular distances, and two port-holes for cannon in each face, and two in the flanks of each bastion. There were two sally-ports; and Avithin the wall was a banquette raised three feet for the men to stand upon, when they fired through the loop-holes. The buildings within the fort were the commandant's and the commissary's houses, the magazine ♦Hall. 96 HISTORICAL NOTES. of stores, the guard house, and two Imes of barracks. Within the gorge of one of the bastions was a prison with four dun- geons. In the gorges of the other three bastions were the powder magazine, the bake-house, and some smaller buildings* The commandant's house was ninety-six feet long and thirty feet deep, containing a dining room, a parlor, a bed-chamber, a kitchen, five closets, for servants, and a cellar. The commis- sary's house was built in a line with this edifice, and its propor- tions and distribution of apartments were the same. Opposite these were the store-house and guard-house , each ninety feet long by twenty-four feet deep. The former contained two large store rooms, with vaulted cellars under the whole, a large room, a bed-chamber, and a closet for the keeper. The guard- house contained soldiers' and officers' guard rooms, a chapel, a bed-chamber, and a closet for the chaplain ; and an artillery store room. The lines of the barracks, two in number, were never completely finished. They consisted of two rooms in each line for officers, and three for soldiers. The rooms were twenty-two feet square, with passages between them. All the buildings were of solid masonry. The ruins of this fort may still be seen, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, about twenty-five miles above the mouth of the river Kaskaskia, in the state of Illinois.* *In the writings of James Hall, who visited the site of Fort Chartres about the year 1832, there is an interesting account of these ruins. "Altliougli," says Hall, "the spot was familiar to my companion. It was with some difficulty that we found the ruins, which are now covered and surrounded with a young but vigorous and gigantic growth of forest trees, and with a dense undergrowth of bushes and vines, through which we forced our way with considerable labor. Even the crumbling pile itself is thus overgrown; the tall trees rearing their stems from piles of stones, and the vines creeping over the tottering walls. The build- ings were all razed to the ground, but the lines of the foundations could be easily traced. A large vaulted powder magazine remained in good preservation. The exterior wall, the most interesting vestige, as it gave the general outline of the whole, was thrown down in some places ; but in many retained something like its original height and form ; and it was curious to see in the gloom of a wild forest, these remnants of the architecture of a past age. One angle of the fort and an entire bastion had been undermined and swejit entirely away by the river, which, having expended its force in this direction, was again retiring, and a narrow belt of young timber had grown up between the water's edge and the ruins." CHAPTER V. The government of Great Britain liaving nominally extend- ed its dominion over the vast territories lying northvv^est of the river Ohio, the British commandants in those regions exer- cised their authority, without departing in a material manner from the policy which had been pursued by their French pre- decessors. In 1765, the aggregate number of French families within the limits of the northwestern territory (comprising the settlements about Detroit, those near the river Wabash, and the colony in the neighborhood of Fort Chartres,) did not, probably, exceed six hundred. Of these families, about eighty or ninety resided at Post Vincennes; about fourteen were settled at Fort Ouiatenon, on the river Wabash; and at the Twiarhtwee village, which was situated near the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers, there were nine or ten French houses.* These three small colonies were, at that time, the only white settlements in all the large territory which now lies within the boundaries of the state of Indiana. At Detroit and in the neighborhood of that place, there were about three hundred and fifty French families. The remainder of the French population resided at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Prairie du Rocher, and in the vicinity of those villages. The colonial policy which was adopted by Great Britain, immediately after the treaty of 1763, offered to the English colonists in North America no inducements to advance their settlements into the regions on the western side of the Alle- gheny mountains. By a proclamation of the 7th of October, 1763, the king forbade all his subjects "from making any pur- chases, or settlements whatever, or taking possession of any *Croghan's Journal. 13 98 HISTORICAL NOTES. of the lands, beyond the sources of any of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic ocean from the west or northwest;" and, at the suggestion of the English Board of Trade and Plantations, the British government took measures to confine the English settlements in America, " to such a distance from the sea coast as that those settlements should lie within the reach of the trade and commerce of Great Britain.* In pursuing this policy the government rejected the propositions of various individuals who proposed to establish English colonies in the west. In 1769, the commander-in-chief of the king's forces in North America wrote as follows to the Earl of Hillsborough, who presided over the Colonial Department: "As to increas- ing the settlements [northwest of the river Ohio] to respectable provinces, and to colonization in general terms in the remote countries, I conceive it altogether inconsistent with sound pol- icy. I do not apprehend the inhabitants could have any com- modities to barter for manufactures, except skins and furs, which will naturally decrease as the country increases in peo- ple, and the deserts are cultivated ; so that, in the course of a few years, necessity would force them to provide manufactures of some kind for themselves, and when all connexion upheld by commerce with the mother country shall cease, it may be expected that an independency in her government will soon follow. The laying open of new tracts of fertile country in moderate climates might lessen the present supply of the com- modities of America, for it is the passion of every man to be a landholder, and the people have a natural disposition to rove in search of good land, however distant." Similar to these opinions, were those of the royal Governor of Georgia, who, in a letter to the British Lords of Trade, wrote as follows : "This matter, my Lords, of granting large bodies of land in the back parts of any of his majesty's northern colonies, ap- pears to me in a very serious and alarming light; and I hum- bly conceive, may be attended with the greatest and worst of consequences ; for, my Lords, if a vast territory be granted to any set of gentlemen, who really mean to people it, and actu- ♦Report of the Board of Trade and Plantations to the Lords of the Privy Council. & HISTORICAL NOTES. 99 ally do so, it must draw and cany out a great number of peo- ple from Great Britain, and I apprehend they will soon become a kind of separate and independent people, who will set up for themselves; that they will soon have manufactures of their own; and in process of time they will become formidable enough to oppose his majesty's authority." In the course of the year 1770, several persons, from Vir- ginia and other British Provinces, explored and marked nearly all the valuable lands " not only on the Red Stone and other waters of the Monongahela, but along the Ohio as low as the Little Kanawha."* On the 20th of October, 1770, George Washington, Doct. Craik, Capt. Crawford, Joseph Nicholson, Robert Bell, William Harrison, Charles Morgan, and Daniel Rendon, embarked, at Pittsburgh, in a pirogue, and descended the river Ohio to the mouth of the Kanawha. They ascended the latter stream about fourteen miles ; killed five buffaloes on the 2d of Novem- ber; marked some large tracts of land above the mouth of the Kanawha ; and then returned to Pittsburgh. At this time the village of Pittsburgh was composed of about twenty log houses, inhabited by Indian traders ; and the garrison of Fort Pitt consisted of two companies of Royal Irish, commanded by Captain Edmonson. A proclamation of General Gage, which appeared in 1772, was the first official act of the British government that dis- turbed the quiet of the French settlements on the river Wa- bash, after the peace of 1763. That proclamation was in the words following: — " By his Excellency Thomas Gage, Lieutenant General of the King's Armies, Colonel of the 22d Regiment, General com- manding in chief all the forces of his Majesty in North Amer- ica, &c. &c. &c. " Whereas many persons, contrary to the positive orders of the King upon this subject, have undertaken to make settle- ments beyond the boundaries fixed by the treaties made with the Indian nations, which boundaries ought to serve as a bar- ♦Washington's Journal, of 1770. 100 HISTORICAL NOTES. rier between the whites and the said nations; and a great number of persons have estabUshed themselves, particularly on the river Ouabache, where they lead a wandering life, without government, and without laws, interrupting the free course of trade, destroying the game, and causing infinite disturbance in the country, which occasions a considerable injury to the af- fairs of the King, as well as to those of the Indians : His Ma- jesty has been pleased to order, and by these Presents orders are given in the name of the King, to all those who have estab- lished themselves on the lands upon the Ouabache, whether at St. Vincent * or elsewhere, to quit those countries instantly and without delay, and to retire, at their choice, into some one of the colonies of his Majesty, where they will be received and treated as the other subjects of his Majesty. Done, and given at Head Quarters, New York. Signed with our hand, sealed with our seal a:t arms, and countersigned by our Secretary, this 8th of April, 1772. — By order of the King. THOMAS GAGE. By His Excellency, G. Maturin, Sec. On the 14th of September, 1772, the French inhabitants settled at Post Vincennes, despatched a letter to General Gage, in which they stated that their possessions were held by "sacred titles;" that their settlement was of "seventy years standing;" and that their "lands had been granted by order and under the protection of his most Christian Majesty" the King of France. To this letter of the inhabitants of Post Vincennes, General Gage transmitted the following answer: " New York, April 2d, 1773. "Gentlemen: — I have received your letter of the 14th of September last, with the representations annexed, which I in- tend to cause, in a few days, to be transported to the feet of his Majesty. " As you claim your possession by sacred titles, insinuating that your settlement is of seventy years standing, and that the lands have been granted by order and under the protection of *Vincennes. HISTORICAL NOTES. 101 his most Christian Majesty, it is necessary that his Majesty should be informed very particularly upon these points ; and it is important to you, to give convincing proofs of all that you allege in this respect. " To this end, I have to demand, without delay, the name of every inhabitant at Vincennes and its neighborhood, and by what title each one claims ; if it is by a concession, the year of the concession must be added, as well as the name of the officer who made it, and the name of the Governor-General who approved and confirmed it with [word unintelligible and omitted, probably "the date" or "the page" or "num'ber"] also, of the records where each concession shall have been register- ed. That the report which I expect may be better understood, I annex hereto a form, which I beg you to follow exactly, and to put me as early as possible in a situation to push forward your business. I am, gentlemen. Your most humble, and most obedient servant, THOMAS GAGE. Mr. de St. Marie, and the other inhabitants settled at Post Vincennes." About this time, whilp the English colonies in North Amer» ica were rising in opposition to the policy of the government of Great Britain, the latter began to adopt measures to gain the attachment of the French population of Canada and the Illinois country. In the month of December, 1773, divers French inhabitants of the Province of Quebec, sent to the king a memorial, wherein they said: "The Province of Quebec, as it is now bounded, by a line passing through the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, is confined within too narrow limits. This line is only fifteen leagues distant from Montreal; and yet it is only on this side that the lands of the Province are fertile and that agriculture can be cultivated to much advan- tage. We desire, therefore, that as under the French Govern- ment our colony was permitted to extend over all the upper coun- tries known under the names of Michilimackinac, Detroit, and other adjacent places, as far as the Mississippi, so it may now 102 HISTORICAL NOTES. be enlarged to the same extent. And this re-annexation of these inland posts to this Province is the more necessary on account of the Fur Trade which the people of this Province carry on to them: Because, in the present state of things, as there are no Courts of Justice whose jurisdiction extends to those distant places, those of the Factors we send to them with our Goods to trade with the Indians for their Furs, who hap- pen to prove dishonest, continue in them, out of the reach of their creditors, and live upon the profits of the Goods entrust- ed to their care — which entirely ruins this colony, and turns these posts into harbors for rogues and vagabonds, whose wicked and violent conduct is often likely to give rise to wars with the Indians."* On the 2d of June, 1774, the British Parliament passed an act which extended the boundaries of the Province of Quebec so as to include the territories which now lie within the limits of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. The act also secured to the French inhabitants the free exercise of their religion, and to the Roman Catholic clergy those rights which were agreeable to the articles of capitulation at the time of the surrender of the Province. In addition to these privileges, the same act of Parliament restored to thg French inhabitants of the Province of Quebec, their ancient laws in civil cases, with- out a trial by jury.f The extension of the Province beyond the limits described in the proclamation of 1763, was "justified by the plea, that several French families were settled in remote parts of the country, beyond the former districts, and an entire colony was established among the Illinois Indians." J The ♦ American Archives, 4tb ser. i, p. 1848. tin 1764 a Court of King's Bench and a Court of Common Pleas were established in the Province of Canada. The Canadians were not opposed to the criminal law of England; but they objected to the course of the English law in civil trials. Their opposition to the trial by jury was remarkable; and they often said that "they thought it very extraordinary that English gentlemen should think their property safer in the determination of tailors and shosmakers, mixed with the people in trade, than in that of the judges." A Mr. Maseres, of Canada, when under an examination before the British House of Commons, In 1774, said "that the Canadians had no clear notions of government, having never been used to any such speculations." — [Proceedings on the Quebec bill in the British House of Commons, June. 1774. JBisset, i, 375. HISTORICAL NOTES. 103 privileges which were granted to the Roman Catholics, the great enlargement of the boundaries of Canada, and the estab- lishment of French laws and customs in that Province were regarded with sentiments of strong disapprobation by the English inhabitants of the British colonies in America. They viewed it as a stroke of ministerial policy, designed to secure the co-operation of the French in the subjugation of those col- onists who had opposed the Stamp act, and who were at that time arrayed in opposition to other arbitrary acts of the gov- ernment of Great Britain. Thus, the passage of the Quebec bill, while it secured the attachment of the French inhabitants of Canada, contributed in some degree to sever the political ties by which the English colonies in America were bound to the mother country. On the 22d of September, 1774, in a Convention which was held at Falmouth in the Province of Massachusetts, the assembly adopted a report which contained these words :^ — "As the very extraordinary and alarming act for establishing the Roman Catholic religion and French laws in Canada may introduce the French or Indians into our fron- tier towns, we recommend that every town and individual in this country should be provided with a proper stock of military stores, according to our Province law; and that some patriotic military officers be chosen in each town to exercise their sev- eral companies and make them perfect in the military art." The French colonists of America, perceiving that the people of the English provinces were inclined to deprive them of the privileges which had been granted to them by the Quebec act, ardently supported the cause of Great Britain during the early part of the American revolutionary war. At the French set- tlements in the country northwest of the Ohio, Indian war parties were often supplied with arms and ammunition, and sent to assail the western frontiers of the English colonies. Early in the year 1773, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the English traders in the west, the troops were withdrawn from Fort Pitt, by order of General Gage, and the Assembly of Pennsylvania refused to maintain a garrison at that post. Soon after this event occurred, many adventurers from Vir- 104 HISTORICAL NOTES. ginia, some from Maryland, and a few from North Carolina, crossed the Allegheny mountains for the purpose of surveying the lands and making settlements in the country on the south- ern borders of the river Ohio. The lands in the neighborhood of Fort Pitt were surveyed for the Proprietaries of Pennsyl- vania, in 1769, and " Magistrates were appointed to act there in the beginning of 1771."* In 1774, Governor Dunmore, from motives which have never been satisfactorily explained, began to encourage the English colonists to take warrants from him for lands in the west ; and, under the pretence that Fort Pitt was within the boundary of Virginia, he appointed magistrates to act at that place. One of these magistrates, John Conolly, who was also one of the patentees of a tract of land lying about the Falls of Ohio, collected a number of men, established a garrison at Fort Pitt, changed the name of that post to Fort Dunmore, and sent out small parties for the pur- pose of building forts lower down the river Ohio. In the latter part of April, 1774, a number of people being eno-ao-ed in looking out for settlements on the Ohio, informa- tion was spread among them, that the Indians had robbed some of the land-jobbers, as those adventurers were called. Alarmed for their safety they collected together at Wheeling creek. Hearing there that there were two Indians and some traders at a place not far above Wheeling, Michael Cresap, one of the party, proposed to way-lay and kill them. The propo- sition, though opposed,t was adopted. A party went up the river, with Cresap at their head, and killed the two Indians. The same afternoon it was reported that there was a party of Indians on the Ohio, a few miles below Wheeling. Cresap and his party immediately proceeded down the river, and en- camped on the banks. The Indians passed him peaceably, and encamped, below him, at the mouth of Grave-creek. Cresap *Letter from Gov. Penn to Lord Dunmore, 31st March, 1774. t "On our arrival at the Wheeling, being informed that there were two Indians with some traders near and above Wheeling, a proposition was made by the then Captain Mi- chael Cresap to way-lay and kill the Indians upon the river. This measure I opposed with much violence, alleging that the killing of these Indians might involve the country in a war." — [Letter of Col. Ebenezer Zane. HISTORICAL NOTES. 105 and his party attacked them and killed several. The Indians returned the fire, and wounded one of Cresap's party."* — Among the slain of the Indians were some of the family of the Cayuga Chief Logan, who had distinguished himself as the friend of white men. A few days after these murders were perpetrated, a party of thirty-two men, under one Daniel Greathouse, massacred twelve or thirteen Indians at a place near " Bakers Bottom," on the Ohio, about forty miles above Wheeling. This massacre was effected by means of a very dishonorable stratagem. A party of Indians, on their way down the Ohio, heard of the murders near Wheeling, and fear- ing to proceed, they encamped at the mouth of Big Yellow creek, opposite the house of one Joshua Baker, who had settled on a tract of land which was called Baker's Bottom. The party under Greathouse lay in ambush, while their leader crossed the river to the camp of the Indians, and under the mask of friend- ship counted their numbers, and found them too strong for an open attack with his force. While he was at the camp, he was cautioned by one of the Indian women to go home, because the Indian men were drinking, and angry on account of the murder of their relations. On leaving the camp, Greathouse invited the Indians to go over to the house of Baker, and drink. He then re-crossed the river, and requested Baker to give any of the Indians who might come over, as much rum as they might call for, " and get as many of them drunk as he possibly could" t Several Indians, among whom were two women and a little girl, crossed the river, and went to the house of Baker, where the men soon became intoxicated. Greathouse and his party then fell upon the drunken Indians, and slaughtered the men and women. The little Indian girl alone was spared. The party of Indians on the other side of the river, on hearing the report of guns, sent a canoe with two men in it to enquire what had happened. As soon as these two men landed on the beach, they were killed by the whites. A number of armed Indians, in another canoe, attempted to reach the shore some »Jefferson'3 Notes on Virginia, 332- tDoddridge'3 Notes, 227 Jcflerson's Notes, 334. 14 106 HISTORICAL NOTES. distance below Baker's house; but they were met by a fire from the party under Greathouse, which killed some, wounded oth- ers, and obliged the rest to retreat. The English settlers on the borders of the Ohio, knowing that the Indians, in consequence of these murders, would make war upon them, either moved away from the frontiers or pre- pared to defend themselves by building forts and block-houses. As soon as information of these events reached the seat of gov- ernment of Pennsylvania, the authorities of that Province des- patched messengers to assure the Indians that the acts of the white men who were commanded by Cresap and Greathouse, were not sanctioned by the people of Pennsylvania. Believing these assurances, the Indians, in detached parties composed of Mingoes, Delawares, and Shawanees, began to make war upon the settlers along the whole extent of the western frontiers of Virginia. To protect the western settlements, and to punish the hostile Indians, the government of that Province soon gave orders to raise an army of three thousand men. The southern division of this army, under the command of Colonel Andrew Lewis, was ordered to march through the Greenbriar country, to the mouth of the Great Kanawha river. The other division, under the command of Governor Dunmore, was to rendezvous at Fort Pitt, and from that point, descend the river Ohio, to form a junction with Colonel Lewis, at the mouth of the Kanawha. On the 20th of June, 1774, Governor Dunmore, who was then at Williamsburgh, the seat of government in Virginia, wrote as follows, to John Conolly, one of the Virginia magis- trates at Fort Pitt : " I hope you will prevail on the Delawares and the well affected part of the Mingoes to move off from the Shawanees. It is highly necessary that you continue at Fort Dunmore, [Fort Pitt,] and I think, therefore, that you could not do better than to send Captain William Crawford with what men you can spare to join him, and to co-operate with Colonel Lewis, or to strike a stroke himself, if he thinks he can do it with safety. * * * I would recommend it to all officers going out on parties to make as many prisoners as they can of HISTORICAL NOTES. 107 women and children; and should you be so fortunate as to re- duce those savages to sue for peace, / would not grant it to them on any terms till they ivere effectually chastised ; and then on no terms without bnnging in six of their heads as hostages for their good behavior, and these to be reUeved annually ; and that they trade with us only for what they may want." In the latter part of July, 1774, while Governor Dunmore and Colonel Lewis vvere raising troops for the main expedition, about four hundred men, under the command of Major Angus McDonald, crossed the Ohio at the mouth of Fish creek, below Wheeling, and marched into the Indian country to destroy the Shawanees villages on the Muskingum, near Wappatomica.* On arriving at a point within six or seven miles of the first village, the force under McDonald was met by a small party of Indians, and in the course of some skirmishes, which slightly interrupted the march of the troops, six Indians were killed, and several wounded. In the mean time the Indian women and children evacuated the villages and sought refuge in the woods. The party under Major McDonald arrived at the first village. "We set fire to the town," says an actor in these proceedings, " and destroyed every thing of value. * * * From this town we proceeded to the rest, five in number, all of which we burnt, together with about five hundred bushels of old corn, and every other thing they had. We also cut down and des- troyed about seventy acres of standing corn. No Indians appearing and provisions falling short, we returned to Wheel- ing." t Early in the month of September, about eleven hundred men, under the command of Colonel Andrew Lewis, commen- ced their march from camp Union, distant about one hundred and sixty miles from the mouth of the Great Kanawha, Pass- ing through the Greenbriar country, and down the valley of the Great Kanawha, these troops, about the 5th of October, 1774, reached the point of land formed by the confluence of the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers. On this point the army ♦About sixteen miles below the town of Coshocton, Ohio. tAmerican Archives, 4th series, i, 722. 108 HISTORICAL NOTES. encamped, in two lines, to await the arrival of the forces under Governor Dunmore. Scouts and hunters were daily sent out from the encampment; but no Indians were discovered until the morning of the lOth of October. On that morning, " by break of day," two soldiers left the camp and started up the river Ohio, for the purpose of killing game. After walking about a mile and a half, they discovered a large body of Indians who were apparently making preparations to march against the encampment of Colonel Lewis. The Indians fired on the two hunters, and killed one of them : the other ran back to the camp of the Virginians, and, being considerably frightened, reported that he had seen " a body of the enemy covering five acres of ground, as closely as they could stand." * Colonel Andrew Lewis immediately ordered two detachments, each of about one hundred and fifty men, to advance against the In- dians. These detachments, led by Colonel William Fleming, and Colonel Charles Lewis, marched out in two lines, and met the Indians in the same order, about four hundred yards from the camp. The battle commenced about sunrise ; and at the onset the heavy fire of the Indians forced the detachments un- der Lewis and Fleming to fall back until they were reinforced by a detachment of two hundred men under Major John Field. The Indians then retreated a little way, and taking positions behind trees and logs, extended their line of attack almost from the bank of the Ohio to that of the Kanawha. The Virginia forces immediately extended their line of battle, and, adopting the Indian mode of warfare, fought under the cover of trees. The conflict was then fiercely maintained, until about one o'clock, when it began to abate; but the belligerent forces, each party watching the other,t continued to fire occasional shots, until the Indians, at the approach of night, left the field. On that evening Colonel Christian reached the scene of action with a reinforcement of three hundred troops from Fincastle, Virginia; and in the course of the night the Indians retreated across the river Ohio. ♦Proceedings of the Historical Society of Virginia. t " Tliere we remained watching the Indians, and they us, till near night ; now and than firing as opportunity offered on either side." [Letter from an officer in the engagement, HISTORICAL NOTES. 109 In this engagement, the Indians (whose force amounted to eight or nine hundred men) were led, principally, by Cornstalk, a Shawanee ; Red Hawk, a Delaw'are ; Logan, a Cayuga, and Elenipsico, a son of Cornstalk. While the battle raged hotly, the Virginians often heard the voice of Cornstalk, the Shawa- nee, crying in loud tones to the Indians "5e strong! be strong!" On the morning of the 11th, twenty-one Indians were found dead, on the battle field : the bodies of twelve more were after- wards found in places where they had been concealed ; and it is probable that a considerable number of dead bodies were thrown into the rivers, during the engagement. The loss of the Virginians was seventy-five killed ; and one hundred and forty wounded. Among the killed were Colonel Charles Lewis and Major Field. Soon after the return of the expedition under Major Angus McDonald, Governor Dunmore with about one thousand men, descended the Ohio, from Fort Pitt to the mouth of the Hock- hocking. Here he built a small fortification, which he named Fort Gower, in honor of Earl Gower. From this point he resolved to march across the country to the Shawanee towns on the river Scioto. Some time before the battle was fought at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, he sent despatches to Colonel Andrew Lewis, to inform that officer of the change in the plan of operations. These despatches were received before the 10th of October. On the 17th- of October, Colonel Lewis, leaving at his en- campment a detachment of three hundred men to take care of the sick and wounded, crossed the Ohio with the remainder of the Virginia troops, and marched on his way to join Dunmore. In the mean time the Governor had penetrated the Indian country, and halted his army at Camp Charlotte, about eight miles from a Shawanee village Avhich stood on the banks of the river Scioto. Before the army reached this point, the remonstrances of the Governor of Pennsylvania, the interces- sion of the powerful Six Nations in behalf of the Shawanees, and the intimations of the Earl of Dartmouth, induced Gov- ernor Dunmore to change his policy in regard to the hostile 110 HISTORICAL NOTES. Indians. He determined to conclude a peace with them. On the 24th of October, Colonel Lewis, by an express from Dun- more, received an order to withdraw with his forces from the Indian country on the northwestern side of the Ohio. This command was not obeyed until Dunmore himself visited the camp of Colonel Lewis, " was introduced to his officers, and gave the order in person." * The army under Lewis then re- luctantly retired. Governor Dunmore returned to Camp Char- lotte, and opened a treaty of peace with the Shawanees and their confederates. The Indians agreed to give up their pris- oners, to restore the horses which had been taken from the whites, and to abandon the lands on the southeastern side of the river Ohio.f They gave hostages to Dunmore to secure the performance of these stipulations; and promised to meet him at Fort Pitt in the spring of the next year [1775,] for the purpose of concluding a definitive treaty of peace and friend- ship with the Virginians. J *Doddridge, 233. I " The Indians bave delivered up all the white prisoners in their towns, with the horses and other plunder they took from the inliabitants ; and even oftered to give up their own horses. They have agreed to abandon the lands on this [southeastern] side of the Ohio, which river is to be the boundary between them and the white people." — [Am. Arch, 4th series, i, 1014. JA deposition which was made at Pittsburgh, on the 4th of April, 1000, by John Gib- son, Esq. who was the first Secretary of the Indiana Territory, contains the following statements : — " This deponent further saith that in the year 1774, he accompanied Lord Dunmore on the expedition against the Shawanees and other Indians on the Scioto ; that on their arrival within fifteen miles of the towns, they were met by a flag, and a white man of the name of Elliott, who informed Lord Dunmore that the chiefs of the Shawanees had sent to request his Lordship to halt his army, and send in some person who under- stood their language; tliat this deponent, at the request of Lord Dunmore and the whole of the officers with him, went in ; that on his arrival at the towns, LOGAN, the Indian, came to where this deponent was sitting with Cornstalk and the other chiefs of the Shaw- anees, and asked him to walk out with him ; that they went into a copse of wood, where they sat down, when Logan, after shedding abundance of tears, delivered to him the speech nearly as related by Mr. Jeflerson in his Notes on the state of Virginia." The following is the speech of the chief Logan, as it appears in Jefferson's Notes, p. 91. " I appeal to any white man to say, if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; if he ever came cold and naked, and be clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said 'Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, HISTORICAL NOTES. Ill At Fort Gower, on the 5th of November, the officers of Dunmore's army held a meeting, at a which one of them spoke as follows: "Gentlemen: Having now concluded the campaign by the assistance of Providence, with honor and advantage to the colony and ourselves, it only remains that we should give our country the strongest assurance that we are ready at all times to the utmost of our power to maintain and defend her just rights and privileges. We have lived about three mouths in the woods, without any intelligence from Boston or from the delegates at Philadelphia.* It is possible, from the ground- less reports of designing men, that our countrymen may be jealous of the use such a body would make of arms in their hands at this critical juncture. That we are a respectable body is certain, when it is considered that we can live weeks without bread or salt, that we can sleep in the open air with- out any covering but that of the canopy of Heaven, and that our men can march and shoot with any in the known world. Blessed with these talents let us solemnly engage to one an- other, and our country in particular, that we will use them to no purpose but for the honor and advantage of America in general, and of Virginia in particular. It behooves us, then^ for the satisfaction of our country, that we should give them our real sentiments, by way of Resolves, at this very alarming crisis." The following resolutions were then adopted by the meeting, without a dissenting voice, and ordered to be pub- lished in the Virginia Gazette. ^'Resolved, That we will bear the most faithful allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third, while his Majesty delights to reign over a brave and free people ; that we will, at the ex- pense of life and every thing dear and valuable, exert ourselves in support of the honor of his Crown and the dignity of the murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it : I have killed many : I have fully glutted my vengeance ; for my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one." *Thc Continental Congress, which convened on the 5th September, 1774. 112 HISTORICAL NOTES. British Empire. But as tiie love of liberty, and attachments to the real interests and just rights of America, outweigh every other consideration, we resolve that w-e will exert every power within us for the defence of American liberty, and for the sup- porting of her just rights and privileges; not in any precipitate, riotous, and tumultuous manner; but when regularly called forth by the unanimous voice of our countrymen. *^ResoIved, That we entertain the greatest respect for His Excellencv the Right Honourable Lord Dunmore, who com- manded the expedition against the Shawanees, and who, we are confident, underwent the great fatigue of this singular cam- paign from no other motive than the true interest of this country." Thus closed the expedition of John Murray, Earl of Dun- more, the last British governor of the province of Virginia. He arrived at Williamsburgh, in that province, on the 4th of December, 1774; but he never returned to the valley of the Ohio, to conclude a treaty of peace and friendship with the Indians. In the course of the years 1775 and 1776, by means of the operations of Land Companies,* and the perseverance of indi- vidual adventurers, several hundred settlers were added to the white population of the country lying between the Allegheny mountains and the river Ohio. In the mean time the English colonies in North America, acting wisely and justly in this in- stance, renounced their allegiance to Great Britain, and decla- red that they were, " and of right ought to be, free and inde- *0n tlie ITth of Mnrcli, 1775, Col. Richard Henderson and company, at a public coun- cil held on a branch of the river Holston, obtained from three distinguished Cherokee chiefs a deed for the territory bounded as follows: "Beginning on the Ohio river at the mouth of Kentucky, C enorn, or what, by the English, is called Louisa river; from thence, running up the said river and the most northwardly branch of the same, to the head spring thereof; thence, a southeast course to the top ridge of Powel's mountain ; thence westwardly along the ridge of the said mountain unto a point from which a northwest course will hit or strike the bend syiring of the most southwardly branch of Cumberland river; thence down the said river, including all its waters to the Ohio river; thence up the said river as it mean. dors to the beginning, &c." For this territory it appears that the Cherokee Indians recei- ved from Henderson and company " the sum of ten thousand pounds of lawful money of Great Britain," or " ten thousand pounds sterling in merchandise." — [Vide Butler's His. Kentucky, 2d ed. 14, 503. HISTORICAL NOTES. 113 pendent states." By the authority of the Continental Congress, commissioners were appointed to reside at Fort Pitt for the purpose of making treaties with the Indians in that region: and messengers were sent with pacific overtures from the new government to the southern and the northwestern tribes. To defeat the object of this policy, the British commandants and the loyal British traders in the country northwest of the Ohio, encouraged and supported by a considerable number of French auxiliaries, incited the Indians to assail the frontiers of the con- federated" states. From the speeches of two distinguished Del- aware chiefs, Buckongahelas and White Eyes, an inference may be drawn concerning the nature of the appeals which, about this time, were made to the Indians. Buckongahelas, who was the friend of the king of Great Britain, spoke to the Indians thus: "Friends! Listen to what I say to you! You see a great and powerful nation divided ! You see the father fight- ing against the son, and the son against the father ! The father has called on his Indian children, to assist him in punishing his children, the Americans, who have become refractory. I took time to consider what I should do ; whether or not I should receive the hatchet of my father, to assist him. At first I look- ed upon it as a family quarrel, in which I was not interested. However, at length, it appeared to me that the father was in the right; and his children deserved to be punished a little. That this must be the case, I concluded from the many cruel acts his offspring had committed from time to time on his Indian children, in encroaching on their land, stealing their property, shooting at, and murdering, without cause, men, women, and children. Yes ! even murdering those, who at all times had been friendly to them, and were placed for protection under the roof of their father's house — the father himself standing sentry at the door at the time.* Friends! often has the father been obliged to settle, and make amends for the wrongs and mischiefs done to us by his refractory children; yet these do not grow better. No: they remain the same; and will con- tinue to be so, as long as we have any land left us. Look back •■Alluding to the murder of the Conestoga Indians See Gordon's His. Pa. 405. 15 114 HISTORICAL NOTES. at the murders committed by the Long-knives on many of our relations, who lived peaceable neighbors to them on the Ohio. Did they not kill them without the least provocation? Are they, do you think, better now than they were then?"* At this period a Delaware chief whose Indian name was Koguethagechton, but who was called, by the Americans, Cap- tain White Eyes, lived in the valley of the river Muskingum. In the course of his eftbrts to explain the causes which produ- ced the Revolutionary war, and to establish relations of friend- ship between his tribe and the United States, he sometimes addressed the Delawares, in substance, as follows: — "Suppose a father had a little son whom he loved and indulged while young, but growing up to be a youth, began to think of hav- ing some help from him; and making up a small pack, bade him carry it for him. The boy cheerfully takes the pack, fol- lowing his father with it. The father, finding the boy willing and obedient, continues in his way; and as the boy grows stronger, so the father makes the pack in proportion larger: yet as long as the boy is able to carry the pack, he does so without grumbling. At length, however, the boy, having arri- ved at manhood, while the father is making up the pack for him, in comes a person of an evil disposition, and learning who was the carrier of the pack, advises the father to make it heav- ier, for surely the son is able to carry a large pack. The father listening rather to the bad adviser, than consulting his own judgment and the feelings of tenderness, follows the advice of the hard-hearted adviser, and makes up a heavy load for his son to carry. The son, now grown up, examining the weight of the load he is to carry, addresses the parent in these words : * Dear father, this pack is too heavy for me to carry ; do pray lighten it: I am willing to do what I can; but I am unable to carry this load.' The father's heart having by this time be- come hardened, and the bad adviser caUing to him, 'whip him, if he disobeys and refuses to carry the pack,' now in a peremp- tory tone, orders his son to take up the pack and carry it off, or he will whip him, and already takes up a stick to beat him. ♦Heckewelder. HISTORICAL NOTES. • 115 * So ! ' says the son, ' am I to be served thus, for not doing what I am unable to do! Well, if entreaties avail nothing with you, father — and it is to be decided by blows whether or not I am able to carry a pack so heavy — then I have no other choice left me, but that of resisting your unreasonable demand, by my strength; and so, striking each other, we may see who is the strongest.' " * ♦Heckewelder. — [The speeches which were delivered by Buckongahelas and others, in favor of the king of Great Britain, were prepared by officers in the British Indian depart- ment ; and the reported speech of Captain White Eyes, in favor of the American colonies, was prepared by a committee of the Continental Congress, adopted by that body on the 13th of July, 1775, and delivered to an assemblage of Indians at Pittsburgh, in the fall of the same y£ar Vide Am. Archives, 4th series, ii, p. 1880. CHAPTER VI. The events which have been related in the preceding chap- ter, show^ that, before the close of the year 1774, the govern- ment of Great Britain abandoned the project of confining the settlements of the English colonists in America to the regions lying on the eastern side of the Allegheny mountains. Indeed, the British ministry, soon after the year 1765, began to per- ceive that this project was impracticable. Although they re- jected various propositions for erecting new colonies in the interior parts of North America, yet this policy did not mate- rially check the growth of the English settlements in the west. In 1769, Lieutenant-Colonel John Wilkins,* British command- ant at Fort Chartres, in the Illinois country, granted several large tracts of land to English traders. This officer declared that these grants were made, because " the cultivation of lands not then appropriated, was essentially necessary and useful to- wards the better peopling and settlement of the said country, as well as highly advantageous to his Majesty's service, in the raising, producing, and supplying, provisions for his Majesty's troops, then stationed, or thereafter to be stationed, in the said country of the Illinois." f On the 5th of July, 1773, at a public council held at the village of Kaskaskia, an association of English traders and merchants, who styled themselves "the Illinois Land Com- pany," obtained from ten chiefs, of the Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Peoria tribes, a deed for two very large tracts of land on *This officer signed his name and title thus: — "John Wilkins, Esquire. Lieutenant- Colonel of his Majesty's Eighteenth or Royal Regiment of Ireland, Governor and Com- mandant throughout the Illinois country." tLaws of the U. S. i, 509. HISTORICAL NOTES. 117 the east side of the river Mississippi. The first tract was bounded thus : " Beginning at the mouth of the Heron creek, called by the French the river of Mary, being about a league below the nnouth of the Kaskaskias river; thence a northward of east course, in a direct line back to the Hilly Plains, eight leagues, or thereabouts, be the same more or less ; thence, the same course, in a direct line to the Crab-tree Plains, seventeen leagues, or thereabouts, be the same more or less ; thence, the same course, in a direct line to a remarkable place, known by the name of the Big Buffalo Hoofs, seventeen leagues, or there-r abouts, be the same more or less; thence, the same course, in a direct line to the Salt Lick creek, about seven leagues, be the same more or less ; thence, crossing the said creek, about one league below the ancient Shavt-anees town, in an easterly or a little to the north of east course, in a direct line to the river Ohio, about four leagues, be the same more or less ; then down the Ohio, by the several courses thereof, until it empties itself into the Mississippi, about thirty-five leagues, be the same more or less; and then up the Mississippi, by the several courses thereof, to the place of beginning, thirty-three leagues, or thereabouts, be the same more or less." The second tract was bounded as follows: "Beginning at a place or point in a direct line opposite to the mouth of the Missouri river; thence up the Mississippi, by the several courses thereof, to the mouth of the Illinois river, about six leagues, be the same more or less; and then up the Illinois river, by the several courses thereof, to Chicagou or Garlick creek, about ninety leagues or thereabouts, be the same more or less; then nearly a northerly course, in a direct line, to a certain place I'emarkable, being the ground on which an engagement or battle was fought, about forty or fifty years ago, between the Pewaria and Renard Indians, about fifty leagues, be the same more or less; thence, by the same course, in a direct line, to two remarkable hills close together, in the middle of a large prairie or plain, about fourteen leagues, be the same more or less ; thence, a north of east course, in a direct line, to a remarkable spring, known by the Indians by the name of Foggy spring, about fourteen leagues, be the same 118 HISTORICAL NOTES. more or less; thence, the same course, in a direct Une, to a great mountain to the northward of the White Buffalo Plain, about fifteen leagues, be the same more or less ; thence, nearly a southwest course, in a direct line, to the place of beginning, about forty leagues, be the same more or less." The purchase of these territories was made for the Illinois Land Company,* by a certain William Murray, who was then a trader in the Illinois country; and from the deed of conveyance it appears that the price which the Indians by agreement received was, two hundred and fifty blankets, two hundred and sixty strouds, three hundred and fifty shirts, one hundred and fifty pairs of Stroud and half thick stockings, one hundred and fifty stroud breech-clothes, five hundred pounds of gunpowder, four thou- sand pounds of lead, one gross of knives, thirty pounds of Ver- million, two thousand gun flints, two hundred pounds of brass kettles, two hundred pounds of tobacco, three dozen gilt looking glasses, one gross gun worms, two gross awls, one gross of fire steels, sixteen dozen of gartering, ten thousand pounds of flour, five hundred bushels of Indian corn, twelve horses, twelve horned cattle, twenty bushels of salt, twenty guns, and five shillings in money, f The Indian deed was attested by ten persons, and recorded, on the 2d of September, 1773, in the office of a notary public at Kaskaskia. By a proclamation of the 2lst of March, 1775, Governor Dunmore ordered, that all the vacant land of his Majesty within the colony of Virginia, *'6e surveyed in districts and laid out in lots of from one hundred to one thousand acres,''^ and ^put up to public sale." . *The names of the members of this association were, William Murray, Moses Franks, and Jacob Franks, of the city of London, Esquires; David Franks, John Inglis, Bernard Gratz, Michael Gratz, Alexander Ross, David Sproat, and James Milligan, all of the- city of Philadelphia, in the province of Pennsylvania, merchants ; Moses Franks of the same city, Attorney at Law; Andrew Hamilton and William Hamilton, of the same city, gentlemen ; Edmund Milne, of the same city, goldsmith and jeweller ; Joseph Simons and Levi Andrew Levi, merchants of the town of Lancaster, in the province of Pennsylvania ; Thomas Min- shall, esquire, of York county, Pennsylvania; Robert Callender and William Thompson, esquires, of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania; John Campbell, merchant, of Pittsburgh, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania; and George Castles and James Rumsey, merchants, of the Illinois country. fLawB U. S. i, 500. HISTORICAL NOTES. 119 In the year 1775, after the expedition of Lord Dunmore against the Shawanees, Louis Viviat, a merchant of the lUinois country, commenced a negotiation with the Piankeshaw In- dians for the purchase of two large districts of country lying upon the borders of the river Wabash. Viviat acted as the agent of an association of individuals which was denominated the " Wabash Land Company;" and, at Post Vincennes, on the 18th day of October, 1775, he obtained from eleven Pianke- shaw chiefs, a deed, of which a copy is here inserted: "To all people to whom these Presents shall come: — Know ye, that we, Tabac, or Tobacco, Montour, La Grand Couette, Ouaouaijao, Tabac, junior. La Mouche Noire, or the Black Fly, Le Maringouin, or Musquito, Le Petit Castor, or the Little Beaver, Kiesquibichias, Grelot, senior, and Grelot, junior, chiefs and sachems of the several tribes of the Piankeshaw nation of Indians, and being, and effectually representing, all the several tribes of the Piankeshaw Indians, send greeting: Whereas Louis Viviat, of the Illinois country, merchant^ one of the grantees hereinafter named, as well for himself as on the parts and behalfs of the several other grantees herein also after named, did, at several conferences publicly held with us, the said chiefs and sachems, at the towns and villages. Post Saint Vincent and Vermillion, treat and confer for the purchase of certain tracts of land belonging and appertaining unto us, and to the several tribes of our nation, whom we represent: And whereas we, the said chiefs and sachems, have delibe- rately and maturely considered, for ourselves and our posteri- ties, and consulted with the other natives of our several tribes, respecting the proposals made as aforesaid to us, the said chiefs and sachems, by the said Louis Viviat, on behalf of himself and others: And whereas we, the said chiefs and sachems, as well as all the other natives of the several tribes of our nation, are fully satisfied and contented, for the consideration herein- after mentioned, to grant and confirm unto the said Louis Viviat, and to the other grantees hereinafter mentioned, the several quantities and tracts of lands hereinafter bounded and described. 120 HISTORICAL NOTES. Now^ know ye, therefore, that we, the said chiefs and sa- chems of the Piankeshaw nation aforesaid, in full and public council assembled, at the town or village of Post Saint Vincent aforesaid, for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings, to us in hand paid by the said Louis Viviat, and for and in con- sideration of the following goods and merchandise, to us, the said Tabac, or Tobacco, Montour, La Grand Couette, Ouaoua- ijao, Tabac, junior. La Mouche Noire, or the Black Fly, Le Maringouin, or Musquito, Le Petit Castor, or the Little Beaver, Kiesquibichias, Grelot, senior, and Grelot, junior, for the use of the several tribes of our nation, well and truly deUvered in full council aforesaid, that is to say: Four hundred Blankets, twenty-two pieces of stroud, two hundred and fifty shirts, twelve gross of star gartering, one hundred and twenty pieces of ribbon, twenty-four pounds of Vermillion, eighteen pairs velvet laced housings, one piece of malton, fifty-two fusils, thirty-five dozen large buckhorn-handle knives, forty dozen couteau knives, five hundred pounds of brass kettles, ten thousand gun flints, six hundred pounds of gunpowder, two thousand pounds of lead, four hundred pounds of tobacco, forty bushels of salt, three thousand pounds of flour, three horses; also, the following quantities of silver wai'e, viz: eleven very large armbands, forty wristbands, six whole moons, six half-moons, nine ear-wheels, forty-six large crosses, twenty- nine hairpipes, sixty pairs of earbobs, twenty dozen small cros- ses, twenty dozen nose crosses, and one hundred and ten dozen brooches, the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, released, enfeoffed, ratified, and fully confirmed, and by these Presents do grant, bargain, sell, alien, release, enfeoff, ratify, and fully confirm, unto the said Louis Viviat, the right honorable John Earl of Dunmore, Governor of the colony and dominion of Virginia; the honor- able John Murray, son of the said Earl, Moses Franks and Jacob Franks, of the city of London, in the kingdom of Great Britain, Esquires ; Thomas Johnson, jr.. Esquire, Attorney at Law, and John Davidson, merchant, both of the city of Anna- polis, in the province of Maryland; WilHam. Ru?sell, Esquire, HISTORICAL NOTES. 121 Matthew Ridley, Robert Christie, sen. and Robert Christie, jr., • of Baltimore town, in the said province of Maryland, mer- chants; Peter Campbell, of Piscataway, in Maryland, mer- chant; William Geddes, ot Newtown Chester, in Maryland, Esq. collector of his Majesty's Customs; David Franks, mer- chant, and Moses Franks, attorney at law, both of the city of Philadelphia, in the province of Pennsylvania; William Mur- ray, and Daniel Murray, of the Illinois country, merchants; Nicholas St. Martin, and Joseph Page, of the same place, gen- tlemen ; Francis Perthuis, late of Quebec city, in Canada, but now of Post St. Vincent aforesaid, gentlemen; their heirs and assigns, equally to be divided, or to his most sacred Majesty George the Third, by the grace of God., of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth, his heirs and successors, for the use, benefit, and behoof, of all the said several above named grantees, their heirs and assigns, in severalty as aforesaid ; (by whichever of these tenures they may most legally hold the same:) the two several tracts or parcels of lands, hereinafter bounded and described, viz: One tract or parcel of land, situate, lying, and being on both sides of the Ouabache river, beginning at the mouth of a rivulet called Riviere du Chat, or Cat River, where it empties itself into the Ouabache river aforesaid, being about fifty-two leagues distant from and above Post St. Vincent aforesaid; thence down the Ouabache, by the several courses thereof, to a place called Point Coupee, (about twelve leagues above Post St. Vincent,) being forty leagues, or thereabouts, in length on the said river Ouabache, from the place of beginning, with forty leagues in width or breadth on the east side, and thirty leagues in breadth or width on the west side, of the Ouabache river aforesaid ; to be continued along from the place of beginning to Point Coupee aforesaid : And also one other tract or parcel of land situated, lying, and being on both sides of the Ouabache river aforesaid, beginning from the mouth of White river, where it empties itself into the Ouabache river, (about twelve leagues below Post St. Vincent,) thence down the Ouabache river, by the several courses thereof, until it empties itself into the Ohio 16 122 HISTORICAL NOTES. river, being from the said Wliite river to the Ohio, fifty-three leagues in length, or thereabouts, be the same more or less, with forty leagues in width or breadth on the east side, and thirty leagues in width or breadth on the west side of the Ouabache river aforesaid; (the intermediate space of twenty- four leagues, or thereabouts, between Point Coupee and the mouth of the White river aforesaid, being reserved for the use of the inhabitants of Post St. Vincent aforesaid, with the same width or breadth on both sides of the Ouabache river, as is here- by granted in the two other several tracts of land above bound- ed and described,) the aforesaid two several tracts of land hereby bargained and sold, from the first place of beginning to the Ohio river, consisting, together, of ninety-three leagues in length on the Ouabache river, and, on both sides thereof inclu- sive, seventy leagues in width or breadth, and that during its whole course as aforementioned, exclusive of, and besides, the reservation of twenty-four leagues in length, and seventy leagues in width or breadth, for the inhabitants of Post St, Vincent, reserved as aforesaid. And the said chiefs and sach- ems, for themselves, and for the several other natives of their nation, whom they fully and eflfectually represent, and their and every of their posterities, do hereby guaranty, engage, promise, covenant, and agree, to and with the several above- named grantees, their heirs, and assigns, and every of them, that they, the said several abovenamed grantees, their heirs and assigns, and every of them, shall and may, at all times, forever, hereafter have and enjoy the full, free, and undisturbed navigation of the said Ouabache river, from its confluence with the Ohio to its source ; as well as of all the other several rivers running through the lands hereby bargained and sold, any thing herein contained to the contrary, or supposed to be, in anywise, notwithstanding: And, also, all minerals, ores, trees, woods, underwoods, waters, water courses, profits, commodi- ties, advantages, rights, liberties, privileges, hereditaments, and appurtenances, whatsoever, to the said two several tracts of land belonging or in any wise appertaining: And, also, the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents. HISTORICAL NOTES. 123 issues, and profits, thereof, and of every part and parcel there- of; and all the estate, right, title, interest, use, property, pos- session, claim, and demand, of them the said Tabac or Tobacco, &c. chiefs and sachems aforesaid, and of all and every other person and persons whatsoever, of or belonging to the said Piankeshavv nation of Indians, of, into, and out of, the premises and every part and parcel thereof; to have and to hold the said two several tracts or parcels of land, and all and singular the said granted and bargained premises, with the appurtenances, unto the said Louis Viviat, &c., their heirs or assigns, forever, in severalty, or unto his Majesty, his heirs, and successors, to and for the only use, benefit, and behoof, of the said grantees, their heirs and assigns, forever, as aforesaid. And the said Tabac, or Tobacco, &c. for themselves and for all the several tribes of their nation, and all and every other nation, or nations, tributaries, and dependents on the said Pian- keshaw Indians, and their, and every of their, posterities, the said several tracts of land and premises, and every part and parcel thereof, against them the said several abovenamed chiefs and sachems, and the said Piankeshaw Indians, and their tribu- taries and dependents, and all and every of their posterities, unto all the severally above named grantees, their heirs, and assigns, in severalty, or unto his said Majesty, his heirs, and successors, to and for the only use, benefit, and behoof, of the said grantees, their heirs, and assigns, in severalty as aforesaid, shall and will warrant, and forever defend, by these Presents." This deed, which conveyed to the purchasers about thirty- seven millions four hundred and ninety-seven thousand and six hundred acres, was signed by the grantees, attested by a num- ber of the inhabitants of Post Vincennes, and subsequently registered in the office of a Notary Public at Kaskaskia.* The commencement and progress of the Revolutionary war frustra- ted the schemes of the Illinois and the Wabash Land Compa- *0n the 29th of April, 1780, the Illinois Land Company and the Wabash Land Com. pany were united under the name of "The United Hlinois and Wabash Land Companies." The agents of the united companies applied to Congress for a confirmation of a i)art of their claim, in the years 1781, 1791, 1797, 1804, and 1810 ; but all thsse applications were re- jected. 124 HISTORICAL NOTES. nies, and prevented these associations from planting English settlements in the teiritories to the possession of which they had acquired only an imperfect claim. From 1768 to 1776, Jean Baptiste Racine, alias St. Marie, who was the principal officer at Post Vincennes, granted many lots of land to French settlers about that village, but none of these lots were very large. In the meantime the French pop- ulation at post Vincennes, at Ouiatenon and at the Twightwee village, enjoyed a state of almost unrestrained freedom. Living in the heart of " the wilderness, without taxes, and in friend- ship with the Indians, they passed their lives in hunting, fish- ing, trading in furs, and raising a few esculents and a little corn for their families. Many of them had intermarried with the Indians, whose amity was by these ties secured and streno-thened." * Soon after the Declaration of American Independence, the British Lieutenant Governor at Detroit, sent messages and proclamations t to' the Indian villages and the French trading posts in the country northwest of the river Ohio, for the pur- pose of inciting the inhabitants of that region to wage a san- guinary war against the settlers on the western frontiers of the United States. The British Lieutenant Governor gave stand- ing rewards for scalps, but he seldom offered rewards for pris- oners. The Continental Congress adopted a less sanguinary policy, and offered rewards for prisoners, but none for scalps.J In the month of May, 1777, on the appearance of a procla- mation issued. by the commandant Edward Abbott, a number of the inhabitants of Post Vincennes took the oath of fidelity to the government of Great Britain. The form of this oath, as it was prescribed by an act of the British Parliament, was as follows: — "I, A. B. do sincerely promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to his majesty King George, and him will defend to the utmost of my power, against all traitorous conspiracies, and attempts whatsoever, which shall be made against his person, crown and dignity ; and I will do *VoIney. tProceedings of Council of Virginia, June 18th, 1779. JSecret Jour. Congress, i, 46. HISTORICAL NOTES. 125 my utmost endeavors to disclose and make known to his ma- jesty, his heirs and successors, all treasons and traitorous con- spiracies and attempts, which I shall know to be against him or any of them ; and all this I do swear, without any equivo- cation, mental evasion, or secret reservation ; and renouncing all pardons and dispensations from any power or person whom- soever, to the contrary. So help me God." In the summer of 1777, small war-parties from the north- western tribes, roused by the effects of the British policy, jeal- ous of the loss of their favorite hunting grounds, and enraged at the massacre of a distinguished Shawanee chief,* began to assail the settlements and forts which had been established by the whites on the southeastern borders of the river Ohio. In the western parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky, at this era, a fort was not only a place of defence: it was the res- idence of a small number of families belonging to the same neighborhood; and it consisted of cabins, block-houses, and stockades. "A range of cabins commonly formed one side at least of the fort. Divisions, or partitions of logs, separated the cabins from each other. The walls on the outside were ten or twelve feet high ; the slope of the roof being turned wholly inward. A very few of these cabins had puncheon floors; the greater part were earthen. The block-houses were built at the *Late in the spring of 1777, the chiefs Cornstalk, Redhawk, and another Indian visi- ted the fort at the mouth of the Great Kanawha river. At this place a Captain Arbuckle was the commanding officer. "Cornstalk stated to the Captain, that, with the exception of himself, and the tribe to which he belonged, all the nations had joined the English, and that, unless protected by the whites, 'they would have to run with the stream.' Captain Arbuckle thouglit proper to detain the Cornstalk chief and his two companions as hostages for the good conduct of the tribe to which they belonged." Elenipsico, a son of Cornstalk, on going to the fort to enquire after his father, was captured and confined. Soon after this event, two Indians who had concealed themselves in the woods on the bank of the Kanawha, killed a white man as he was returning from hunting. "The dead body was brought over the river," and "there was a general cry amongst the men who were present, 'Let us kill the Indians in the fort.' Immediately a gang, witli a Captain Hall at their head, went to^ the house where the hostages were confined. The old chief Cornstalk rose up to meet them at the door, but instantly received seven bullets through his body. His son and his other two fellow hostages were instantly despatched witli bullets and tomahawks. Thus fell the Shawanee war chief, Cornstalk, wlio, like Logan his companion in arms, was con- spicuous for intellectual talent, bravery, and misfortune." — Doddridge, 237 — Drake, book v. c. iii, p. 48. 126 HISTORICAL NOTES. angles of the fort. They projected about two feet beyond the outer walls of the cabms and stockades. Then' upper stories were about eighteen inches every way larger in dimensions than the under one — leaving an opening at the commencement of the second story to prevent the enemy from making a lodge- ment under their walls. In seme forts, instead of block-houses the angles of the fort were furnished with bastions. A large folding gate, made of thick slabs, nearest the spring, closed the fort. The stockades, bastions, cabins, and block-house walls, were furnished with port holes at proper heights and distances. The whole of the outside was made completely bullet-proof." In many instances these forts were made without the aid of a single nail or spike of iron, because " such things were not to be had. In some places, less exposed, a single block-house, with a cabin or two, constituted the whole fort." * From 1777 to 1784, the rude fortifications of the western settlers were seldom attacked boldly by strong Indian war parties. A credible actor f among the adventurous class of men who first settled in Kentucky, thus described the Indian mode of making war : " The Indians in besieging a place are seldom seen in force upon any quarter ; but dispersed, and act- ing individually, or in small parties. They conceal themselves in the bushes or weeds, or behind trees or stumps of trees; or waylay the path, or fields, or other places where their enemies resort; and when one or more can be taken down, in their opinion, they fire the gun, or let fly the arrow, aimed at the mark. If necessary they retreat: if they dare, they advance upon their killed, or crippled adversary; and take his scalp, or make him prisoner, if possible. They aim to cut off the garri- son supplies, by killing the cattle ; and they watch the water- ing places, for those who go for that article of primary neces^ sity; that they may by these means reduce the place to their possession, or destroy its inhabitants in detail. * * * In the night they will place themselves near the fort gate ready to sacrifice the first person who shall appear in the morning. In *Doddridge, 117. tCol. J. Floyd Batler's History of Kentucky, 33. HISTORICAL NOTES. 137 the day, if there be any cover — such as grass, a bush, a large clod of earth, or a stone as big as a bushel — they will avail themselves of it to approach the fort, by slipping forward on their bellies, within gunshot; and then, whoever appears first, gets the fire; while the assailant makes his retreat behind the smoke from the gun. At other times they approach the walls or palisades with the utmost audacity, and attempt to fire them or to beat down the gate. They often make feints to draw out the garrison on one side of the fort, and if practicable enter it by surprise on the other. And when their stock of provision is exhausted, this being an individual affair, they supply them- selves by hunting; and again frequently return to the siege, if by any means they hope to get a scalp. * * * Such was the enemy who infested Kentucky, and with whom the early ad- venturers had to contend. In the combat, they were brave; in defeat, they were dexterous; in victory they were cruel. Neither sex, nor age, nor the prisoner, were exempted from their tomahawk or scalping knife.. They saw their perpetual enemy taking possession of their hunting ground; to them the source of amusement, of supply, and of traffic, and they were determined to dispute it to the utmost of their means. * * * In the most difficult times the Indians were obliged to retire into the woods; sometimes in pursuit of game; sometimes as to a place of safety; and, generally by night they withdrew to encamp at a distance. In these intervals the white men would plough their corn, or gather their crop, or get up their cattle, or hunt the deer, the bear, and buffalo, for their own food." In the summer of the year 177S, Colonel George Rogers Clark, a native of Albemarle county in Virginia, led a memo- rable expedition against the ancient French settlements about Kaskaskia, and Post Vincennes. With respect to the magni- tude of its design, the valor and perseverance with which it was carried on, and the momentous results which were produ- ced by it, this expedition stands without a parallel in the an- nals of the valley of the Mississippi. The particulars * of the ♦Extracted from the MS. "Memoirs of Gen. George Rogers Clark, composed by Iiim- (elf at the united desire of Presidents Jefferson and Madison." 128 HISTORICAL NOTES. most interesting events that occurred in the progress of this remarkable enterprise, are here related in the plain style of the commander of the expedition. "It was at this period," [1775,] says Clark, in his memoir, " that I first had thoughts of paying some attention to the interests of this country.* The proprietors, Henderson and Company, took great pains to ingratiate themselves in the favor of the people ; but, too soon for their interest, they began to raise on their lands, which caused many to complain. A few gentlemen made some attempts to persuade the people to pay no attention to them. I plainly saw that they would work their own ruin ; as the greatest security they had for the coun- try would be that of making it the interest of the people to support their claim. * * * I ]eft the country in the fall of 1775, and returned in the spring following. While in Virginia I found there were various opinions respecting Henderson and Company's claim. Many thought it was good: others doubted whether or not Virginia could, with propriety, have any pre- tensions to the country. This was what I wanted to know. I immediately fixed on my plans; namely: that of assembling the people; getting them to elect Deputies; and sending them to treat with the Assembly of Virginia, respecting the condi- tion of the country. If valuable conditions were procured, we could declare ourselves citizens of the state: otherwise we might establish an Independent Government; and, by giving away a great part of the lands, and disposing of the remainder we would not only gain great numbers of inhabitants, but in a good measure protect them. To carry this scheme into eff'ect I appointed a general meeting at Harrodstown, on the 6th of June, 1776, and stated that something would be proposed to the people that very much concerned their interest. The reason I had for not publishing what I wished to be done, be- fore the day, was that the people should not get into parties on the subject: and as every one would wish to know what was to be done, there would be a more general meeting. But, unfortunately, it was late in the evening of that day before I ^Kentucky. HISTORICAL NOTES. 129 could get to the place. The people had been in some confu- sion; but at last concluded that the whole design was to send Delegates to the Assembly of Virginia, with a petition praying the Assembly to accept them as such; to establish a new coun- ty, &;c. The polls were opened, and before I had arrived, they had far advanced in the election, and had entered with such spirit into it, that I could not get them to change the principle, that of Delegates with petitions to that of Deputies under the authority of the people. In short, I did not take much pains. Mr. Gabriel Jones and myself were elected ; the papers were prepared; and in a few days we set out for Williams- burgh, in the hope of arriving before the Assembly, then sitting, should rise. * * * We proceeded on our journey as far as Bottetourt county, and there learned that we were too late; for the Assembly had already risen. We were now at a loss, for some time, to determine what to do ; but concluded that we should wait until the fall session. In the meantime I should go to Williamsburgh, and attempt to procure some powder for the Kentuckians, and watch their interests. We parted. Mr. Jones returned to Holston, to join the forces that were raising in order to repel the Cherokee Indians, (as they had lately commenced hostilities,) and myself proceeded to the Governor of Virginia. " Mr. Henry, the Governor, lay sick at his seat in Hanover, where I waited on him, and produced my vouchers. He ap- peared much disposed to favor the Kentuckians, and wrote by me to the Council, on the subject. I attended them. My application was for five hundred pounds of powder, to be con- veyed to Kentucky, as an immediate supply. After various questions and consultations, the Council agreed to furnish the supply ; but as we were a detached people, and not yet united to the state of Virginia, and uncertain, until the sitting of the Assembly, whether we should be, they would only lend us the ammunition as friends in distress ; but that I must become answerable for it, in case the Assembly should not receive us as citizens of the state. I informed them that it was out of my power to pay the expense of carriage and guards neces- 17 130 HISTORICAL NOTES. sary for those supplies — that the British ofRcers on our fron- tiers were making use of every effort to engage the Indians in the war — that the people might be destroyed for the want of this small supply — and that I was in hopes they would con- sider these matters, and favor us by sending the ammunition at public expense. They replied that they were really dispo- sed to do every thing for us in their power, consistent with their office — which I believed. After making use of many arguments to convince me that even what they proposed was a stretch of power, they informed me that ' they could venture no farther.' An order was issued to the keeper of the maga- zine to deliver me the ammunition. I had for twelve months past reflected so much on the various situations of things, res- pectmg ourselves and the continent at large, that my resolution was formed before I left the Council Chamber. I resolved to return the order I had received, and immediately repair to Kentucky, knowing that the people would readily fall into my first plan ; as what had passed had almost reduced it to a cer- tainty of success. I wrote to the Council, and enclosed the order, informing them that I had weighed the matter, and found that it was out of my power to convey those stores at my own expense, such a distance through an enemy's country — that I was sorry to find we should have to seek protection elsewhere, which I did not doubt of getting — that if a country was not worth protecting, it was not worth claiming, &c. What passed on the reception of this letter, I cannot tell. It was, I suppose, nothing more than what might be expected by a set of gentlemen zealous in the welfare of their country, and fully apprised of what they might expect to take place in Ken- tucky. I was sent for. Being a little prejudiced in favor of my mother country, I was willing to meet half way. Orders were immediately issued, dated August 23d, 1776, for convey- ing those stores to Pittsburgh, and there to await further orders from me. "Things being amicably settled, I wrote to Kentucky, giv- ing information of what I had done; and recommended them to send to Pittsburgh, and convey the ammunition by water to HISTORICAL NOTES. 131 their own country. This they never received. I waited until the fall session, when I was joined by my colleague, Mr. Jones. We laid our papers before the Assembly. They resolved that we could not take our seats as members ; but that our business should be attended to. Colonel Henderson, one of the pur- chasers of the Cherokees, being present, retarded our business. Colonel Arthur Campbell, one of the members, being also oppo- sed to our having a new county, wished us annexed to the county on the frontiers of which we lay, and which he repre- sented. This caused it to be late in the session* before we got a complete establishment of a county by the name of Ken- tucky. * * * * The commandants of the different towns ef the. Illinois and Wabash, I knew were busily engaged in exci- ting the Indians. Their reduction became my first object; expecting, probably, that it might open a field for further ac- tion. I sent two young hunters to those places [in the summer of 1777] as spies, with proper instructions for their conduct, to prevent suspicion. Neither did they, nor any one in Kentucky ever know my design until it was ripe for execution.f They ^December 7, 1776. fSilas Deane, who early in 1776 was commissioned by authority of Congress to go to France as a political and commercial agent, wrote as follows to the Committee of Secret Correspondence : "Paris, 1st December, 1776. "To effect any considerable loan in Europe is perhaps difficult. * * * It is obvious, that let the loan be made when it will, it must have a day fixed for payment, and respect to some fund appropriated to that purpose. The relying on future taxes is holding up to the people a succession of distresses and burthens which are not to cease even with the war itself; whereas, could they have a prospect of paying the expenses of the war at the close of it, and enjoying the remainder of their fortunes clear of incumbrance, it must greatly encourage and animate both the public and private spirit in pushing it on with vigor. * * * The good and wise part, the lovers of lilicrty and human happiness, look forward to the establishment of American freedom and independence as an event, which will secure to them and theil: descendants an asylum from the efl'ccts and violence of despotic power, daily gaining ground in every part of Europe. From these and other considerations on which I need not be minute, emigration from Europe will be prodigious, immediately on the estab- lishment of American independence. The consequence of this nmst be the rise of the lands already settled ; and a demand for new or uncultivated land. On this demand I conceive a certain fund may now be fixed. * * * I trace the river Ohio from its junction to its head, thence north to Lake Erie, on the south and west of that lake to Fort Detroit, which is in the latitude of Boston ; thence a west course to the Blississippi, and return to the place of my departure. These three lines, of near one thousand miles each, include an immense territory in a fine climate, well watered, and by accounts exceedingly fertile: it is not in 132 HISTORICAL NOTES. returned to Harrodstown with all the information I could reasonably have expected. I found from them that they had but Uttle expectation of a visit from us ; but that things were kept in good order, the militia trained, &c. that they might, in case of a visit be prepared — that the greatest pains were taken to inflame the minds of the French inhabitants against the Americans, notwithstanding they could discover traces of affection in some of the inhabitants — that the Indians in that quarter were engaged in the war, &c. " When I left Kentucky, October 1st, 1777, I plainly saw that every eye was turned towards me, as if expecting some stroke in their favor. Some doubted my return, expecting I would join the army in Virginia. I left them with reluctance, promising them that I would certainly return to their assist- ance, which I had predetermined. On my arrival at Williams- burgh, I remained a considerable time, settling the accounts of the Kentucky militia, and making remarks of every thing I saw or heard, that could lead me to the knowledge of the disposition of those in power. Burgoyne's army having been captured, and things seeming to wear a pleasing aspect, on the 10th December I communicated my design to Governor Henry. At first he seemed to be fond of it : but, to detach a party at so great a distance, (although the service performed might be of great utility,) appeared daring and hazardous, as nothing but secrecy could give success to the enterprise. To lay the matter before the Assembly, then sitting, would be dangerous, as it would soon be known throughout the frontiers ; and pro- bably the first prisoner taken by the Indians would give the alarm, which would end in the certain destruction of the party. He had several private councils, composed of select gentlemen. After making every inquiry into my proposed plans of operation (and particularly that of a retreat, in case of misfortune, across the Mississippi into the Spanish territory,) habited by any Europeans of consequence, and the tribes of Indians are inconsiderable, and will decrease faster than the lands can possibly be demanded for cultivation. To this I ask your attention as a resource amply adequate, under proper regulations, for defraying the whole expense of the war, and the sums necessary to be given the Indians in purchase of the native right." — Sparks' Dip. Cor. of American Revolution, i, 77. HISTORICAL NOTES. 133 the expedition was resolved upon ; and as an encouragement to those who would engage in said service, an instrument of writing was signjed, wherein those gentlemen promised to use their influence to procure from the Assembly three hundred acres of land for each in case of success. The Governor and Council so warmly engaged in the success of this enterprise, that I had very little trouble in getting matters adjusted; and on the 2d day of January, 1778, received my instructions, and iei,200 for the use of the expedition, with an order on Pitts- burgh for boats, ammunition, &c. Finding from the Governor's conversation in general to me, on the subject, that he did not wish an implicit attention to his instructions should prevent my executing any thing that would manifestly tend to the good of the public, on the 4th I set forward, clothed with all the authority that I wished. I advanced to Major Wm. Smith £150 to recruit men on Holston, and to meet me in Kentucky. Captain Leonard Helm, of Fauquier, and Captain Joseph Bow- man, of Frederick, were to raise each a company, and on the [1st?] February arrive at Red Stone Old Fort.* "Being now in the country where all arrangements were to be made, I appointed Captain Wm. Harrod, and many other officers to the recruiting service; and contracted for flour and other stores that I wanted. * * * J received information from Captain Helm that several gentlemen took pains to counteract his interest in recruiting, as no such service was known of by the Assembly. Consequently he had to send to the Governor to get his conduct ratified. I found, also, opposition to our interest in the Pittsburgh country. As the whole was divided into violent parties between the Virginians and Pennsylva- nians, respecting territory, the idea of men being raised for the state of Virginia affected the vulgar of the one party : and, as my real instructions were kept concealed, and only an instru- ment from the Governor, written designedly for deception, was made public, wherein I was authorized to raise men for the defence of Kentucky, many gentlemen of both parties con- ceived it to be injurious to the public interest to draw off" men »Now Brownsville, on the river Monongahela. 134 HISTORICAL NOTES. at so critical a moment for the defence of a few detached in- habitants, who had better be removed, &c. These circum- stances caused some confusion in the recruiting service. On the 29th March, I received a letter from Major Smith, by ex- press, informing me that he had raised four companies on Hol- ston, to be marched immediately to Kentucky, agreeably to his orders; and an express from Kentucky informed me that they had gained considerable strength since I left that quarter. This information of four companies being raised, with Bow- man's and Helm's, which I knew were on their way to join me at Red Stone, caused me to be more easy respecting recruits than otherwise I should have been. The officers only got such as had friends in Kentucky, or those induced by their own interest, and desire to see the country. Meeting with several disappointments, it was late in May before I could leave the Red Stone settlement, with those companies, and a consider- able number of families and private adventurers. Taking in my stores at Pittsburgh and Wheeling, I proceeded down the river with caution. * * * * CHAPTER VII. On arriving with his forces at the Falls of the Ohio, Colonel Clark took possession of an island which contained about seven acres. He divided this island among a small number of families, for whose protection he constructed some light fortifications. Of the four companies that were recruited by Major Smith, on the Holston, only one had arrived in Kentucky ; and when Clark disclosed to the troops his daring designs against Post Vincennes and Kaskaskia, he was deserted by the greater part of that company. Another obstacle interfered with his plans. He found that the settlers of Kentucky, owing to the hostile temper of the Indians, could not at that time hazard a material diminution of the strength of their forts by joining the expe- dition under his command. The memoir of Clark proceeds: — "On the [24th] of June, 1778, we left our little island, and run about a mile up the river in order to gain the main channel ; and shot the falls at the very moment of the sun being in a great eclipse, which caused various conjectures among the superstitious. As I knew that spies were kept on the river, below the towns of the Illinois, I had resolved to march part of the way by land ; and of course left the whole of our baggage, except as much as would equip us in the Indian mode. The whole of our force, after leaving such as was judged not competent to the expected fatigue, consisted only of four companies, command- ed by Captains John Montgomery, Joseph Bowman, Leonard Helms, and William Harrod. My force being so small to what I expected, owing to the various circumstances already men- tioned, I found it necessary to alter my plans of operation. 136 HISTORICAL NOTES. As Post Vincennes at. this time was a town of considerable force, consisting of near four hundred miUtia, with an Indian town adjoining, and great numbers continually in the neigh- borhood, and in the scale of Indian affairs of more importance than any other, I had thought of attacking it first; but now found that I could by no means venture near it. I resolved to begin my career in the Illinois, where there was more inhabitants, but scattered in different villages, and less danger of being immediately overpowered by the Indians: in case of necessity we could probably make our retreat to the Spanish side of the Mississippi; but if successful, we might pave our way to the possession of Post Vincennes. " I had fully acquainted myself that the French inhabitants in those western settlements had great influence among the Indians in general, and were more beloved by them than any other Europeans — that their commercial intercourse was uni- versal throughout the western and northwestern countries — and that the governing interest on the lakes was mostly in the hands of the English, who were not much beloved by them. These, and many other ideas similar thereto, caused me to resolve, if possible, to strengthen myself by such train of con- duct, as might probably attach the French inhabitants to our interest, and give us influence at a greater distance than the country we were aiming for. These were the principles that influenced my future conduct; and, fortunately, I had just received a letter from Colonel Campbell, dated Pittsburgh, informina; me of the contents of the treaties* between France and America. As I intended to leave the Ohio at Fort Mas- sac, three leagues below the Tennessee, I landed on a small *0n the 6th of February, 1778, France acknowledged the independence of the United States, and concluded a treaty of amity and commerce, and a treaty of alliance with the new Republic. The British ministry considered these acts equivalent to a declaration of war by France against Great Britain. The first article of the Treaty of Alliance between the United States and France, was fixed in these words ; " Art. I. If war should break out between France and Great Britain during the continuance of the present war between the United States and England, his Majesty and the United States shall make it a common cause, and aid each other mutually with their good offices, their counsels, and their forces, according to the exigence of conjunctures, as becomes good and faithful allies." This Treaty of Alliance was annulled by an act of Congress, on the 7th of July, 1798. HISTORICAL NOTES. 137 island in the mouth of that river, in order to prepare for the march. In a few hours after, one John Duft' and a party of hunters coming down the river, were brought to by our boats. They were men formerly from the states, and assured us of their happiness in the adventure. * * * * They had been but lately from Kaskaskia, and were able to give us all the intelli- gence we wished. They said that Governor Abbott had lately left Post Vincennes, and gone to Detroit on some business of importance — that Mr. Rochblave commanded at Kaskaskia, &c. — that the militia was kept in good order, and spies on the Mississippi — and that all hunters, both Indians and others, were ordered to keep a good look out for the Rebels — that the fort was kept in good order, as an asylum, &c. — but they beUeved the whole to proceed more from the fondness of par- ade than the expectation of a visit — that, if they received timely notice of us, they would collect and give us a warm reception, as they v/ere taught to harbor a most horrid idea of the barbarity of Rebels, especially the Virginians; but, that if we could surprise the place, which they were in hopes we might, they made no doubt of our being able to do as we pleased — that they hoped to be received as partakers in the enterprise, and wished us to put full confidence in them, and they would assist the guides in conducting the party. This was agreed to, and they proved valuable men. " The acquisition to us was great, as I had no intelligence from these posts, since the spies I sent twelve months past. But no part of their information pleased me more than that of the inhabitants viewing us as more savage than their neigh- bors, the Indians. I was determined to improve upon this, if I was fortunate enough to get them into my possession ; as I conceived the greater the shock I could give them at first, the more sensibly would they feel my lenity, and become more valuable friends. This I conceived to be agreeable to human nature, as I had observed it in many instances. Having every thing prepared, we moved down to a little gully a small dis- tance above Massac, in which we concealed our boats, and set out a northwest course. The weather was favorable: in 18 138 HISTORICAL NOTES. some parts water was scarce, as well as game; of course we suffered dri)ught and hunger, but not to excess. On the thh'd day John Saunders, our principal guide appeared confused; and we soon discovered that he was totally lost, without there was some other cause of his present conduct. I asked him various questions, and from his answers I could scarcely deter- mine what to think of him ; whether or not that he was lost, or that he wished to deceive us. * * * The cry of the whole detachment was that he was a traitor. He begged that he might be suffered to go some distance into a plain that was in full view to try to make some discovery whether or not he was right. I told him he might go; but that I was suspicious of him from his conduct — that from the first day of his being employed he always said he knew the way well — that there was now a different appearance — that I saw the nature of the country was such that a person once acquainted with it, could not in a short time forget it — that a few men should go with him to prevent his escape — and that if he did not discover and take us into the Hunter's Road that led from the east into Kaskaskia, which he had frequently described, I would have him immediately put to death; which I was determined to have done : but after a search of an hour or two he came to a place that he knew perfectly ; and we discovered that the poor fellow had been, as they call it, bewildered. "On the 4th of July, in the evening, we got within a few miles of the town, where we lay until near dark, keeping spies ahead, after which we commenced our march, and took pos- session of a house wherein a large family lived, on the bank of the Kaskaskia river, about three quarters of a mile above the town. Here we were informed that the people a few days before were under arms, but had concluded that the cause of the alarm was without foundation ; and that at that time there was a great number of men in town, but that the Indians had generally left it, and at present all was quiet. We soon pro- cured a sufficiency of vessels, the more in ease to convey us across the river. * * * * With one of the divisions I marched to the Fort, and ordered the other two into different quarters HISTORICAL NOTES. 139 of the town. If I met with no resistance, at a certain signal a general shout was to be given, and certain parts were to be immediately possessed; and men of each detachment, who could speak the French language, were to run through every street and proclaim what had happened ; and inform the inhab- itants that every person that appeared in the streets would be shot down. This disposition had its desired effect. In a very little time we had complete possession; and every avenue was guarded, to prevent any escape, to give the alarm to the other villages in case of opposition. Various orders had been issued not worth mentioning. I don't suppose greater silence ever reigned among the inhabitants of a place than did at this at present : not a person to be seen, not a word to be heard by them for some time ; but, designedly, the greatest noise kept up by our troops through every quarter of the town, and pat- roles continually the whole night round it; as intercepting any information was a capital object; and in about two hours the whole of the inhabitants were disarmed, and informed that if one was taken attempting to make his escape he should be immediately put to death." When Colonel Clark, by the use of various bloodless means, had raised the terror of the French inhabitants to a painful height, he surprised them and won their confidence and friend- ship, by performing, unexpectedly, several acts of justice and generosity. On the morning of the 5th of July, a few of the principal men were arrested, and put in irons. Soon after- wards, M. Gibault, the priest of the village, accompanied by five or six aged citizens waited on Clark, and said that the inhabitants expected to be separated, perhaps never to meet again, and they begged to be permitted to assemble in their church, and there to take leave of each other. Clark mildly told the priest that he had nothing to say against his religion ; that it was a matter which Americans left for every man to settle with his God: that the people might assemble in their church, if they would ; but that they must not venture out of town. Nearly the whole French population assembled at the church. The houses were deserted by all who could leave 140 HISTORICAL NOTES. them; and Clark gave orders to prevent any soldiers from entering the vacant buildings. After the close of the meeting at the church, a deputation, consisting of M. Gibault and sev- eral other persons, waited on Clark, and said " that their pre- sent situation was the fate of war, and that they could .submit to the loss of their property; but they solicited that they might not be separated from their wives and children ; and that some clothes and provisions might be allowed for their support." Clark feigned surprise at this request, and abruptly exclaimed, "Do you mistake us for savages? I am almost certain you do, from your language ! Do you think that Americans intend to strip women and children, or take the bread out of their mouths?" "My countrymen," said Clark, "disdain to make war upon helpless innocence. It was to prevent the horrors of Indian butchery upon our own wives and children, that we have taken arms and penetrated into this remote strong hold of British and Indian barbarity ; and not the despicable pros- pect of plunder. That now the king of France had united h^s powerful arms with those of America, the war would not, in all probability, continue long ; but the inhabitants of Kaskaskia were at liberty to take which side they pleased, without the least danger to either their property or families. Nor would their religion be any source of disagreement; as all religions were regarded with equal respect in the eye of the American law, and that any insult offered it, would be immediately pun- ished. And now, to prove my sincerity, you will please inform your fellow citizens, that they are quite at liberty to condupt themselves as usual, without the least apprehension. I am now convinced, from what I have learned since my arrival among you, that you have been misinformed, and prejudiced against us by British officers ; and your friends who are in con- finement shall immediately be released." * In a few minutes after the delivery of this speech, the gloom that rested on the minds of the inhabitants of Kaskaskia had passed away. The news of the treaty of alliance between France and the United States, and the influence of the magnanimous conduct of Clark, *Clark'» Memoir. HISTORICAL NOTES. 141 induced the French villagers to take the oath of allegiance to the state of Virginia. Their arms were restored to them, and a volunteer company of French militia joined a detachment under Captain Bowman, when that officer was despatched to take possession of Cahokia. The inhabitants of this small vil- lage, on hearing what had taken place at Kaskaskia, readily took the oath of allegiance to Virginia. The memoir of Clark proceeds: — "Post Vincennes never being out of my mind, and from some things that I had learned I had some reason to suspect that Mr. Gibault, the priest, was inclined to the American interest previous to our arrival in the country. He had great influence over the people at this period, and Post Vincennes was under his jurisdiction. I made no doubt of his integrity to us. I sent for him, and had a long conference with him on the subject of Post Vincennes. In answer to all my queries, he informed me that he did not think it worth my while to cause any military preparation to be made at the Falls of the Ohio, for the attack of Post Vin- cennes, although the place was strong and a great number of Indians in its neighborhood, who, to his knowledge, v>'ere gen- erally at war — that Governor Abbott had a few weeks before left the place on some business to Detroit — that he expected that when the inhabitants were fully acquainted with what had passed at the Illinois, and the present happiness of their friends, and made fully acquainted with the nature of the war, that their sentiments would greatly change — that he knew that his appearance there would have great weight, even among the savages — that if it was agreeable to me he would take this business on himself, and had no doubt of his being able to bring that place over to the American interest without my being at the trouble of marching against it — that his business being altogether spiritual, he wished that another person might be charged with the temporal part of the embassy ; but that he would privately direct the whole; and he named Doctor Lafont as his associate. " This was perfectly agreeable to what I had been secretly aiming at for some days. The plan was immediately settled, 142 HISTORICAL NOTES. and the two doctors, with their intended retinue, among whom I had a spy, set about preparing for their journey ; and set out on the 14th of July, with an address to the inhabitants of Post Vincennes, authorising them to garrison their own town them- selves, which would convince them of the great confidence we put in them, &c. All this had its desired effect. Mr. Gibault and his party arrived safe, and after their spending a day or two in explaining matters to the people, they universally acceded to the proposal (except a few emissaries left by Mr. Abbott, who immediately left the country,) and went in a body to the church, where the oath of allegiance was adminis- tered to them in the most solemn manner. An officer was elected, the fort immediately [garrisoned,] and the American flag displayed to the astonishment of the Indians, and every thing settled far beyond our most sanguine hopes. The people here immediately began to put on a new face, and to talk in a different style, and to act as perfect freemen. With a garrison of their own, with the United States at their elbow, their lan- guage to the Indians was immediately altered. They began as citizens of the United States, and informed the Indians that their old father the king of France was come to life again, and was mad at them for fighting for the English ; that they would advise them to make peace with the Americans as soon as they could, otherwise they might expect the land to be very bloody, &c. The Indians began to think seriously: throughout the country this was now the kind of language they generally got from their ancient friends of the Wabash and Illinois. Through the means of their correspondence spreading among the nations Dur batteries began now to play in a proper channel. Mr. Gibault and party, accompanied by several gentlemen of Post Vincennes, returned to Kaskaskia, about the first of August, with the joyful news. During his absence on this business, which caused great anxiety in me, (for without the possession of this post all our views would have been blasted,) I was ex- ceedingly engaged in regulating things in the Illinois. The reduction of these posts was tlie period of the enlistment of our troops. I was at a great loss at this time to determine how to HISTORICAL NOTES. 143 act, and how far I might venture to strain my authority. My instructions were silent on many important points, as it was impossible to foresee the events that would take place. To abandon the country, and all the prospects that opened to our view in the Indian department at this time, for the want of instruction in certain cases, I thought would amount to a reflection on government, as having no confidence in me. I resolved to usurp all the authority necessary to carry my points. I had the greater part of our [troops] re-enlisted on a different establishment — commissioned French officers in the country to command a company of the young inhabitants — established a garrison at Cahokia, commanded by Captain Bowman ; and another at Kaskaskia, commanded by Captain Williams. Post Vincennes remained in the situation as men- tioned. Colonel William Linn, who had accompanied us a Volunteer, took charge of a party that was to be discharged on their arrival at the Falls, and orders were sent for the removal of that post to the main land. Captain John Montgomery was despatched to Government with letters. * * * I again turned my attention to Post Vincennes. I plainly saw that it would be highly necessary to have an American officer at that post.- Captain Leonard Helm appeared calculated to answer my pm'pose: he was past the meridian of life, and a good deal acquainted with the Indian [disposition.] I sent him to com- mand at that post ; and also appointed him Agent for Indian Affairs in the department of the Wabash. * * * About the middle of August he set out to take possession of his new command. " An Indian chief called the Tobacco's Son, a Piankeshawy at this time resided in a village adjoining Post Vincennes. This man was called by the Indians ' The Grand Door to the Wabash;' and as nothing of consequence was to be under- taken by the league on the Wabash without his assent, I dis- covered that to win him was an object of signal importance. I sent him a spirited compliment by Mr. Gibault: he returned it. I now, by Captain Helm, touched him on the same spring that I had done the inhabitants, and sent a speech, Avith a belt 144 HISTORICAL NOTES. of wampura ; directing Captain Helm how to manage, if the chief was pacifically inclined, or otherwise. The captain arrived safe at Post Vincennes, and was received with accla- mations by the people. After the usual ceremony was over he sent for the Grand Door, and delivered my letter to him. After having it read, he informed the captain that he was happy to see him, one of the Big Knife Chiefs, in this town — it was here that he had joined the English against himj but he confessed that he always thought that they looked gloomy: that as the contents of the letter was a matter of great moment he could not give an answer for some time — that he must collect his coansellers on the subject; and was in hopes the captain would be patient. In shorty he put on all the courtly dignity that he was master of; and Captain Helm, following his example, it was several days before this business was finish- ed, as the whole proceeding was very ceremonious. At length the Captain was invited to the Indian council, and informed by the Tobacco that they had maturely considered the case in hand, and had got the nature of the war between the Eng- lish and us explained to their satisfaction ; that, as we spoke the same language and appeared to be the same people, he always thought that he was in the dark as to the truth of it: but now the sky was cleared up : that he found that the Big Knife was in the right — that perhaps if the English conquered they would serve them in the same manner that they intended to serve us — that his ideas were quite changed — and that he would tell all the red people on the Wabash to bloody the land no more for the English: he jumped up, struck his breast, called himself a man and a warrior, said that he was now a Big Knife, and took Captain Helm by the hand. His example was followed by all present, and the evening was spent in merriment. Thus ended this valuable negotiation and the saving of much blood. * * * * In a short time almost the whole of the various tribes of the different nations on the Wabash, as high as the Ouiatenon, came to Post Vincennes, and followed the example of the Grand Door Chief; and as expresses were continually passing between Captain Helm HISTORICAL NOTES. 145 and myself the whole time of these treaties, the business was settled perfectly to my satisfaction, and greatly to the advan- tage of the public. The British interest daily lost ground in this quarter, and in a short time our influence reached the Indians on the I'iver St. Joseph, and the border of Lake Michi- gan. The French gentlemen, at the different posts that we now had possession of, engaged warmly in our interest. They appeared to vie with each other in promoting the business; and through the means of their correspondence, trading among the Indians, and otherwise, in a short time the Indians of various tribes inhabiting the region of Illinois, came in great numbers to Cahokia, in order to make treaties of peace with us. From the information they generally got from the French gentlemen (whom they implicitly believed,) respecting us, they were truly alarmed; and, consequently, we were visited by the greater part of them, without any invitation from us: of course we had greatly the advantage, in making use of such language as suited our [interest.] Those treaties, which com- menced about the last of August and continued between three and four weeks, were probably conducted in a Avay difterent from any other known in America at that time. I had been always convinced that our general conduct with the Indians was wrong — that inviting them to treaties was considei'ed by them in a different manner to what we expected, and imputed, by them, to fear — and that giving them great presents con- firmed it. I resolved to guard against this, and I took good pains to make myself acquainted fully with the French and Spanish methods of treating Indians, and with the manners, genius, and disposition of the Indians in general. As in this quarter they had not yet been spoiled by us, I was resolved that they should not be. I began the business fully prepared, having copies of the British treaties." At the first great council which was opened at Cahokia, an Indian chief with a Belt of Peace in his hand, advanced to the table at which Colonel Clark was sitting: another chief, bear- ing the Sacred Pipe of the tribe, went forward to the table; and a third chief then advanced with fire to kindle the pipe. 19 146 HISTORICAL NOTES. When the pipe was lighted, it was figuratively presented to the heavens, then to the earth, and then to all the good spirits: thus invoking the heavens, the earth, and all the good spirits, to witness what was about to be done. After the observance of these forms, the pipe was presented to Clark, and afterwards to every person present. An Indian speaker then addressed the Indians as follows : " Warriors ! you ought to be thankful that the Great Spirit has taken pity on you, and cleared the sky, and opened your ears and hearts, so that you may hear the truth. We have been deceived by bad birds flying through the land; but we will take up the bloody hatchet no more against the Big Knife: and we hope, as the Great Spirit has brought us together for good, as he is good, that we may be received as friends, and that the Belt of Peace may take the place of the Bloody Belt," " I informed them," says Clark, " that I had paid attention ^ to what they had said ; and that on the next day I would give them an answer, when I hoped the ears and hearts of all people would be open to receive the truth w^hich should be spoken without deception. I advised them to keep themselves prepar- ed for the result of this day, on which, perhaps, their very existence as a nation depended, &c., and dismissed them — not suffering any of our people to shake hands with them, as peace was not yet concluded — telling them it was time enough to give the hand when the heart could be given also. They replied that ' such sentiments w^ere like men who had but one heart, and did not speak with a double tongue.' The next day I dehvered them the following speech: " Men and warriors ! pay attention to my words : You in- formed me yesterday, that the Great Spirit had brought us together ; and that you hoped, as he was good, that it would be for good. I have also the same hope, and expect that each party will strictly adhere to whatever may be agreed upon — whether it be peace or war — and henceforward prove our- selves worthy of the attention of the Great Spirit. I am a man and a warrior: not a counsellor. I carry War in my right hand; and in my left, Peace. I am sent by the Great Council HISTORICAL i\OTES. 147 of the Big Knife, and their friends, to take possession of all the towns possessed by the English in this country ; and to watch the motions of the Red People : to bloody the paths of those who attempt to stop the course of the river; but to clear the roads from us to those who desire to be in peace — that the women and children may walk in them without meeting any thing to strike their feet against. I am ordered to call upon the Great Fire for warriors enough to darken the land, and that the Red People may hear no sound, but of birds who live on blood. I know there is a mist before your eyes. I will dispel the clouds, that you may clearly see the cause of the war between the Big Knife and the English: then you may judge, for yourselves, which party is in the right: and if you are warriors, as you profess to be, prove it by adhering faith- fully to the party which you shall believe to be entitled to your friendship; and do not show yourselves to be squaws. " The Big Knives are very much like the Red People ; they don't know how to make blankets, and powder, and cloth. They buy these things from the English, from whom they are sprung. They live by making corn, hunting, and trade, as you and your neighbors, the French, do. But the Big Knives daily getting more numerous, like the trees in the woods, the land became poor, and hunting scarce; and having but little to trade with, the women began to cry at seeing their children naked, and tried to learn how to make clothes for themselves. They soon made blankets for their husbands and children; and the men learned to make guns and powder. In this way we did not want to buy so much from the English. They then got mad with us, and sent strong garrisons through our coun- try; as you see they have done among you on the lakes, and among the French. They would not let our women spin, nor our men make powder, nor let us trade with any body else. The English said we should buy every thing from them; and, since we had got saucy, we should give two bucks for a blanket, which we used to get for one : we should do as they pleased : and they killed some of our people, to make the rest fear them. This is the truth, and the real cause of the war between the 148 HISTORICAL NOTES. English and us, which did not take place for some time after this treatment. "But our women became cold and hungry, and continued to cry. Our young men got lost for want of counsel to put them in the right path. The whole land was dark. The old men held down their heads for shame; because they could not see the sun : and thus there was mourning for many years over the land. At last the Great Spirit took pity on us, and kindled a Great Counci) Fire, that never goes out, at a place called Philadelphia. He then stuck down a post, and put a war tom- ahawk by it, and went away. The sun immediately broke out: the sky was blue again : and the old men held up their heads, and assembled at the lire. They took up the hatchet — sharp- ened it — and put it into the hands of our young men — order- ing them to strike the English as long as they could find one on this side of the great waters. The young men immediately struck the war post, and blood was shed. In this way the war began ; and the English were driven from one place to another, until they got weak; and then they hired you Red People to fight for them. The Great Spirit got angry at this, and caused your old father, the French King, and other great nations to join the Big Knives, and fight with them against all their ene- mies. So the Eno;lish have become like deer in the woods; and you may see that it is the Great Spirit that has caused your waters to be troubled, because you have fought for the people he was mad with. If your women and children should now cry, you must blame yourselves for it, and not the Big Knives. "You can now judge who is in the right. I have already told you who I am. Here is a Bloody Belt and a White one ; take which you please. Behave like men: and don't let your being surrounded by the Big Knives, cause you to take up the one belt with your hands, while your hearts take up the other. If you take the bloody path you shall leave the town in safety, and may go and join your friends, the English. We will then try, like warriors, who can put the most stumbling blocks in each other's way, and keep our clothes longest stained with HISTORICAL NOTES. 149 blood. If, on the other hand, you should take the path of peace, and be received as brothers to the Big Knives, with their friends, the French, should you then listen to bad birds that may be flying through the land, you will no longer deserve to be counted as men ; but as creatures with two tongues, that ought to be destroyed without listening to any thing you might say. As I am convinced you never heard the truth before, I do not wish you to answer before you have taken time to counsel. We will, therefore, part this evening: and when the Great Spirit shall bring us together again, let us speak and think like men with but one heart and one tongue." " The next day after this Speech, a new fire was kindled with more than usual ceremony; an Indian Speaker came forward and said, ' They ought to be thankful that the Great Spirit had taken pity on them, and opened their ears and their hearts to receive the truth. He had paid great attention to what the Great Spirit had put into my heart to say to them. They believed the whole to be the truth; as the Big Knives did not speak hke any other people they had ever heai'd. They now saw they had been deceived, and that the English had told them lies, and that I had told them the truth — just as some of their old men had always told them. They now believed that we were in the right: and as the English had forts in their country, they might, if they got strong enough, want to serve the Red People as they had treated the Big Knives. The Red People ought, therefore, to help us; and they had, with a cheerful heart, taken up the Belt of Peace, and spurned that of War. They were determined to hold the former fast: and would have no doubt of our friendship, from the manner of our speaking — so diflerent from that of the English. They would now call in their warriors, and throw the tomahawk into the river, where it could never be found. They would suiler no more bad birds to fly through the land, disquieting the women and children. They would be careful to smooth the roads for their brothers, the Big Knives, when- ever they might wish to come and see them. Their friends should hear of the good talk I had given them ; and they hoped 150 HISTORICAL NOTES. I would send chiefs among them, with my eyes, to see myself that they were men and strictly adhered to all they had said at this great fire, which the Great Spirit had kindled at Cahokia, for the good of all people who would attend it.' " The sacred pipe was again kindled, and presented, figura- tively, to the heavens and the earth, and to air the good Spirits as witness of what had been done. The Indians and the white men then closed the council, by smoking the pipe, and shaking hands. With no material variation, either of the forms that were observed, or of the speeches that were made at this coun- cil, Colonel Clark and his officers, concluded treaties of peace with the Piankeshaws, Ouiatenons, Kickapoos, Illinois, Kas- kaskias, Peorias, and branches of some other tribes that inhab- ited the country between Lake Michigan and the river Missis- sippi. Governor Henry soon received intelligence of the successful progress of the expedition under the command of Clark. The French inhabitants of the villages of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Post Vincennes, having taken the oath of allegiance to the state of Virginia, the General Assembly of that state, in Octo- ber, 177S, passed an act which contained the following provis- ions, viz: — All the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia "who are already settled or shall hereafter settle on the idestern side of the Ohio, shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois county: and the Governor of this Com- monwealth, with the advice of the Council, may appoint a County Lieutenant, or Commandant-in-chief in that county, during pleasure, who shall appoint and commission so many Deputy Commandants, Militia officeni, and Commissaries, as he shall think proper in the difterent Districts, during pleasure; all of whom, before thev enter into ofiice, shall take the oath of fidelity to this Commonwealth, and the oath of office, ac- cording to the form of their own religion. And all civil offi- cers to which the inhabitants have been accustomed, necessary for the preservation of the peace, and the administration of justice, shall be chosen by a majority of the citizens in their respective Districts, to be convened for that purpose, by the HISTORICAL NOTES. 151 County Lieutenant or Commandant, or his Deputy, and shall be commissioned by the said County Lieutenant or Command- ant-in-chief." Before the provisions of this law were carried into effect, Henry Hamilton, the British Lieutenant Governor of Detroit, collected an army consisting of about thirty regulars, fifty French volunteers, and four hundred Indians. With this force he passed down the river Wabash, and took possession of Post Vincennes on the 15th of December, 177S. No attempt was made by the population to defend the town. Captain Helm * was taken and detained as a prisoner, and a number of the French inhabitants were disarmed. Soon after the reduction of Post Vincennes, the situation of Colonel Clark became perilous. Detached parties of hostile Indians began to appear in the neighborhood of his forces in the Illinois. He ordered Major Bowman to evacuate the fort at Cahokia, and join him at Kaskaskia. "I could see," says Clark, "but little probability of keeping possession of the coun- try; as my number of men was too small to stand a siege, and my situation too remote to call for assistance. I made all the preparation I possibly could for the attack, and was necessita- ted to set fire to some of the houses in town, to clear them out of the way. But, on the 29th of January, 1779, in the height of the hurry, a Spanish merchant, [Francis Vigo] who had been at Post Vincennes, arrived and gave the following intelli- gence: That Mr. Hamilton had weakened himself by sending his Indians against the frontiers, and to block up the Ohioj that he had not more than eighty men in garrison, three pieces of cannon, and some swivels mounted; that the hostile Indians were to meet at Post Vincennes in the spring, drive us out of *Tlie following anecdote is related in Butler's History of Kentucky, p. 80. — "When Governor Hamilton entered Vincennes, there were but two Americans there, Capt. Helm,- the commandant, and one Henry. The latter had a cannon well charged, and placed in the open fort gate, while Helm stood by it with a lighted match in his hand. Wlien Ham- ilton and his troops got within hailing distance, the American officer in aloud voice, crietf out ' Halt ! ' This stopped the movements of Hamilton, who, in reply, demanded a surren- der of the garrison. Helm e.\claimed, with an oath, • No man shall enter until I know the terms.' Hamilton answered, ' You shall have the honors of war ;' and then tlic fort was surrendered with its garrison of one officer and one private." 152 HISTORICAL NOTES. the Illinois, tind attack the Kentucky settlements, in a body, joined by their southern friends ; that all the goods were taken from the merchants of I'ost Vincennes for the King's use; — that the troops under Hamilton were repairing the fort, and expected a reinforcement from Detroit in the spring; that they appeared to have plenty of all kinds of stores ; that they were strict in their discipline ; but, that he did not believe they were under much apprehension of a visit ; and believed that, if we could get there undiscovered, we might take the place. In short, we got every information from this gentleman that we could wish for; as he had had good opportunities, and had taken great pains to inform himself with a design to give intel- ligence.* We now viewed ourselves in a very critical situa- tion-^ — in a manner cut oft' from any intercourse between us and the United States. We knew that Governor Hamilton, in the spring, by a junction of his northern and southern Indians, (which he had prepared for,) would be at the head of such a force that nothing in this quarter could withstand his arms — that Kentucky must immediately fall; and well if the desola^ tion would end there. If we could immediately make our way good to Kentucky, we were convinced that before we could raise a force even sufficient to save that country, it would be too late — as all the men in it, joined by the troops we had, would not be sufficient; and to get timely succor from the interior counties was out of the question. We saw but one alternative, which was to attack the enemy in their quarters. If we were fortunate, it would save the whole. It otherwise, it would be nothing more than what would certainly be the consequence if we should not make the attempt. * * * These, and many other similar reasons, induced us to resolve to at- tempt the enterprise, which met with the approbation of every individual belonfrino; to us. "Orders were immediately issued for preparations. The whole country took fire at the alarm ; and every order was executed with cheerfulness by every description of the inhabi- tants — preparing provisions, encouraging volunteers, &c. &;c.,- *Jefterson's CorreBpondence, i, 451 Clark's MS. Memoir. HISTORICAL NOTES. 153 and as we had plenty of stores, every man was completely rigged with what he could desire to withstand the coldest weather. * * * To convey our artillery and stores, it was concluded to send a vessel round by water, so strong that she might force her way. A large Mississippi boat was immedi- ately purchased, and completely fitted out as a galley, mount- ing two four-pounders, and four large swivels.* She was man- ned by forty-six men under the command of Captain John Rogers. He set sail on the 4th of February, with orders to force his way up the Wabash as high as the mouth of White River, and to secrete himself until further orders; but if he found himself discovered to do the enemy all the damage he could, without running too great a risk of losing his vessel; and not to leave the river until he was out of hope of our arri- val by land; but by all means to conduct himself so as to give no suspicion of our approach by land. We had great depend- ence on this galley. She was far superior to any thing the enemy could fit out without building a vessel: and, at the worst, if we were discovered, we could build a number of large pirogues, such as they possessed, to attend her, and with such a little fleet, perhaps, pester the enemy very much ; and if we saw it our interest, force a landing : at any rate, it would be sometime before they could be a match for us on the water. tF tP TV" vF *This vessel was called " The Willing.'* 20 CHAPTER Viri. " Every thing being ready, on the 5th of Febraary, after receiving a lecture and absolution from the priest, we crossed the Kaskaskia river with one hundred and seventy men: marched about three miles and encamped, where we lay until the [7th,] and set out. The weather wet, (but fortunately not cold for the season,) and a great part of the plains under water several inches deep. It was difficult and very fatiguing march- ing. My object was now to keep the men in spirits. I suftered them to shoot game on all occasions, and feast on it like Indian war-dancers ,- each company by turns inviting the others to their feasts; which was the case every night,- as the company that was to give the feast was always supplied with horses to lay up a sufficient store of wild meat in the course of the day : myself and principal officers putting on the woodsmen, shout- ing now and then, and running as much through the mud and water as any of them. Thus, insensibly, without a murmur, were those men led on to the banks of the Little Wabash, which we reached on the 13th, through incredible difficulties, far surpassing any thing that any of us had ever experienced. Frequently the diversions of the night wore off the thoughts of the preceding day. We formed a camp on a height which we found on the bank of the river, and suffered our troops tc amuse themselves. I viewed this sheet of water for some time with distrust ; but, accusing myself of doubting, I immediately set to work, without holding any consultation about it, or suf- fering any body else to do so in my presence: ordered a pirogue to be built immediately, and acted as though crossing the water would be only a piece of diversion. As but few could work at the pirogue, at a time, pains were taken to find HISTORICAL NOTES. 155 | ^^ rendezvous at Fort Steuben, " Lincoln, . l2o V ^ ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^ September. « " Jeflferson, . 50J 300 .Madison, 125^ Mercer, . 125 Fayette, 200 (( To rendezvous at Fort Wash- Bourbon, 125 f ington on the 15th September. Woodford, 85 i Mason, 40j 700 Pennsylvania was requested to furnish for the expedition the following numbers of men : HISTORICAL NOTES. 261 The county of Washington, 220 "^ To assemble at McMahen's .. ,--J I o, Allegheny, 60J September. " " Fayette, 110 •. creek, four miles below Westmoreland, 110 i Wheeling, on the 3d of 500 The United States' regular troops in the west were estima- ted, by General Harmar, at four hundred effective men. The militia were designed to act in concert with these troops ; and the manner of employing the whole force was arranged thus: Three hundred of the militia of Virginia were ordered to ren- dezvous at Fort Steuben, and, with the garrison of that fort, to march to Vincennes and join Major Hamtramck, who had orders to call for aid from the militia of Vincennes, and to move up the Wabash and attack any of the Indian villages on that river to which his force might be equal. The remaining twelve hundred of the militia were ordered to assemble at Fort Washington, and to join the regular troops at that post under the command of General Harmar. On the 19th of September, Governor St. Clair, in obedience to the instructions of the President of the United States, sent the following letter to the British commandant at Detroit: "Marietta, 19th September, 1790. " Sir: As it is not improbable that an account of the military preparations going forward in this quarter of the country may reach you, and give you some uneasiness, while the object to which they are to be directed is not perfectly known to you, I am commanded by the President of the United States to give you the fullest assurances of the pacific disposition entertained towards Great Britain and all her possessions; and to inform you explicitly that the expedition about to be undertaken, is not intended against the post you have the honor to command, nor any other place at present in the possession of the troops of his Britannic Majesty; but is on foot with the sole design of humbling and chastising some of the savage tribes whose dep- redations are become intolerable, and whose cruelties have of late become an outrage, not on the people of America only,- 262 HISTORICAL NOTES. but on humanity; which I now do in the most unequivocal manner. After this candid explanation, sir, there is every reason to expect, both from your own personal character, and from the regard you have for that of your nation, that those tribes will meet with neither countenance nor assistance from any under your command, and that you will do what in your power lies, to restrain the trading people, from whose instiga- tions there is too good reason to believe, much of the injuries committed by the savages has proceeded. I have forwarded this letter by a private gentleman, in preference to that of an officer, by whom you might have expected a communication of this kind, that every suspicion of the purity of the views of the United States might be obviated." The Virginia miUtia (from the counties of Madison, Mercer, Fayette, Bourbon, Woodford, and Mason, in the district of Kentucky,) began to assemble at the mouth of Licking river, about the middle of September. They were not well equipped for the expedition. Their arms were generally very bad, and unfit for service; and they were almost destitute of camp-ket- tles and axes. Soon after the arrival of the militia, however. General Harmar, in the midst of many difficulties, began to organize them. Colonel Trotter aspired to the command, al- though Colonel Hardin was the elder officer ; and some of the militia openly declared that unless they were placed under the command of Colonel Trotter they would return to their homes. In the course of two or three days they were formed into three battalions, under Majors Hall, McMullen, and Ray, with Lieu- tenant Colonel Trotter at their head. The Pennsylvania miUtia arrived at Fort Washington, about the 24th of September. They were very badly equipped ; and among them were many substitutes — old, infirm men, and young boys. They were formed into one battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel Truby and Major Paul; and the four battalions of militia were placed under the command of Colonel John Hardin, subject to the command of General Harmar, Tiie regular troops were formed into two small battalions, under Major .John Plasgrave Wyllys, and Major John Doughty. The company of Artillery, which HISTORICAL NOTES. 263 had three pieces of ordnance, was commanded by Captain William Ferguson. A small battalion of light troops, or mounted militia, was placed under the command of Major Fontaine. The whole of General Harmar's command may be stated thus: Three battalions Virginia Militia, One battalion Pennsylvania MiUtia, j- 1,133 One battalion Light troops, mounted. Two battalions Regular troops, 320 Total, - - - 1,453 On the 26th of September, the militia, under the command of Colonel Hardin, moved from Fort Washington and advanced into the country, in order to find feed for the cattle, and to open a road for the Artillery. The regular troops, under Gen- eral Harmar, marched on the 30th of September, and joined the militia on the 3d of October, when the order of march was arranged in the manner that follows. 264 HISTORICAL NOTES. ORDER OP MARCH. Spies and Guides. Advance Company. Pioneers Cavalry. Cavalry. McMullen's Battalion of Militia. FEDERAL TROOPS. o ^^ Si e o s e e > 1 >. il ^ -* • S t ;=; ^ •^ t '-' n .<\ . - Ammunition. Officers'' baggage, S^c. Flour and Salt. X X X X X X Cattle. X X X X X X X X X X X X HalVs battalion of Militia. o ?5 o ===== ^ Rear Guard. if HISTORICAL NOTES. 265 a a I— I Em 0) a 1^ ORDER OP ENCAMPMENT. Front Guard, Cavalry. CQ 1 1 . o> - 2 k5 i: 3 C3 bD £ , >. ^ cd S ,. QC ? •-< of 30 Militia, McMullen's Battalion. Military Stores, Cavalry. m I O ! CO 3 . ' ^^ o )f^ o W B- CD •< c rr pj pj >-< «-. m a . (ft p. o C3 £1 O Flour, &c; Cattle. CO o 2 5i Major Hall's battalion of Militia. Rear Guard, of 30 Militia. The daily movements of the army are recorded in a manu- script journal, which was kept by Captain John Armstrong, of the Regulars, as follows: "September 30, 1790. — The army moved from Fort Wash- ington, at half past ten o'clock, A. M. — marched about seven miles N. E. course — hilly, rich land. Encamped on a branch of Mill Creek. October 1st. — Took up the line of march at half past eight 34 266 HISTORICAL NOTES. o'clock: — passed through a level, rich country, watered by many small branches, waters of Mill Creek. At two o'clock halted one hour; and at four o'clock halted for the evening, on a small branch of Mill Creek — having marched about eight miles: general course a little to the westward of north. October 2d. — Moved forty-five minutes after seven o'clock: marched about ten miles a northwest course. The first five miles of this day's march was over a dry ridge to a Lick ; then five miles through a low swampy country to a branch of the waters of the Little Miami, where we halted one hour; and forty-five minutes after one o'clock moved on for five miles, a N. E. E. and S. E. course, and encamped in a rich and exten- sive bottom, on a muddy creek, a branch of the Little Miami. This day's march fifteen miles, and one mile from Colonel Hardin's command. October 3d. — The Army moved at eight o'clock : — passed Colonel Hardin's camp, and halted at Turtle Creek, about ten yards wide, where we were joined by Colonel Hardin's com- mand. Here the line of march was formed. — Two miles. October 4th. — The Army moved at half past nine o'clock: — passed through a rich country (some places broken) a N. E. course, and at three o'clock crossed the Little Miami, about forty yards wide : moved up it one mile, a north course, to a branch called Sugar Creek. Encamped. — Nine miles. 5th. — The Army moved from Sugar Creek forty-five min- utes after nine o'clock: marched through a level country, a N. E. course, up the Little Miami, having it often in view. The latter part of this day's march, through low glades, or marshy land. Halted at five o'clock on Glade Creek, a very lively, clear stream. — Ten miles. 6th. — The Army moved ten minutes after nine o'clock. The first five miles the country was brushy and somewhat broken: reached Chillicothe, an old Indian village : recrossed the Little Miami; at half past one o'clock halted one hour; and encamp- ed, at four o'clock, on a branch. — Nine miles, a N. E. course. 7th. — The Army moved at ten o'clock: the country brushy four miles, and a little broken until we came on the waters of HISTORICAL NOTES. 267 the Great Miami: — passed through several low prairies, and crossed the Pickaway fork or Mad River, which is a clear, Uvely stream, about forty yards wide: the bottom extensive, and very rich. Encamped on a small branch, one mile frpm the former. Our course the first four miles north, then north- west. — Nine miles. Sth. — The Army moved at half past nine o'clock: passed over rich land, in some places a little broken : passed several ponds, and through one small prairie, a N. W. course. — Seven miles. 9th. — The Army moved at half past nine o'clock: passed through a level, rich country, well watered : course N. W. — halted half past four o'clock, two miles south of the Great Miami. — Ten miles. 10th. — The Army moved forty-five minutes after nine o'clock: crossed the Great Miami: at the crossing there is a handsome high prairie on the S. E. side. The river about forty yards wide: two miles further, a N. W. course, passed through a large prairie. Halted on a large branch of the Great Miami at half past three o'clock. The country level and rich: the general course N. W. — Ten miles. 11th. — The Army moved at half past nine o'clock: marched a N. W. course seven miles to a branch where French traders formerly had a number of Trading houses — thence a N. course four miles, to a small branch, and encamped at five o'clock. The country we passed over is very rich and level. — Eleven miles. 12th. — The Army moved at half past nine o'clock: our course a little to the W. of N. W. — crossed a stream at seven miles and a half, running to the N. E. on which there are sev- eral old camps, much deadened timber, which continues to the river Auglaize, about a mile. Here has been a considerable village — some houses still standing. This stream is a branch of the Omi [Maumee] river, and is about twenty yards wide. From this village to our encampment our course was a little to the N. of W. Rich level land. — Fourteen miles. 13th. — The Army moved at ten o'clock: just before they 268 HISTORICAL NOTES. marched, a prisoner was brought in, and Mr. Morgan, from Fort Washington, joined us. We marched to the W. of N. W. four miles to a small stream, through low, swampy land — then a course a little to the N. of W. passing through several small prairies and open woods to an Indian village on a pretty stream. Here we were joined by a detachment from Fort Washington, with ammunition. — Ten miles. 14th. — At half past ten m the morning, Colonel Hardin was detached for the Miami village, with one company of Regulars and six hundred Militia — and the Army took up its line of march at eleven o'clock ; a N. W. course ; four miles a small branch — the country level — many places drowned lands in the winter season. — Ten miles. 15th. — The Army moved at eight o'clock, N. W. course, two miles, a small branch; then north a little west, crossing a stream, three miles, N. W. course — the Army halted at half past one o'clock, on a branch running west. — Eight miles. 16th. — The Army moved at forty-five minutes after eight o'clock: marched nine miles and halted, fifteen minutes after one o'clock. Passed over a level country, not very rich. Colo- nel Hardin, with his command, took possession of the Miami town yesterday [15th] at four o'clock — the Indians having left it just before. — Nine miles. 17th. — The Army moved at fifteen minutes after eight o'clock ; and at one o'clock crossed the Maumee river to the village. The river is about seventy yards wide ; a fine, trans- parent stream. The river St. Joseph, which forms the point on which the village stood, is about twenty yards wide, and, when the waters are high, navigable a great way up it. On the 18th I was detached, with thirty men, under the command of Colonel Trotter: on the 19th Colonei Hardin commanded in lieu of Colonel Trotter: attacked about one hun- dred Indians, fifteen miles west of the Miami village ; and from the dastardly conduct of the militia, the troops were obliged to retreat. I lost one sargeant, and twenty-one out of thirty men of my command. The Indians on this occasion gained a complete victory — having killed, in the whole, near one hun- HISTORICAL NOTES. 269 dred men, which was about then- number. Many of the militia threw away their arms without firing a shot, ran through the federal troops and threAv them in disorder. Many of the In- dians must have been killed, as I saw my men bayonet many of them. They fought and died hard." When the advanced detachment under the command of Colonel Hardin reached the Miami village, in the afternoon of the 15th of October, the Indians had deserted the place, leav- ing behind them some cows, and large quantities of corn and vegetables; and the militia, in parties of thirty or forty, regard- less of discipline, strolled about in search of plunder. In the afternoon of the 17th, the main body of the army arrived at the Miami village, and soon afterwards Major McMullen and others reported to General Harmar that the tracks of women and children had been discovered on an Indian path leading from the village, a northwest course, towards the Kickapoo towns. The General, supposing that the Indians, with their families and baggage, had encamped at some point not far from the Miami village, determined to make an effort to discover the place of their encampment, and to bring them to a battle. Accordingly on the morning of the ISth, he detached Colonel Trotter, Major Hall, Major Ray, and Major McMullen, with a force amounting to three hundred men, and composed of thirty regular troops, forty of Major Fontaine's light horse, and two hundred and thirty active riflemen. The detachment was fur- nished with three days' provision, and ordered to examine the country around the Miami village. After these troops under the command of Colonel Trotter had moved about one mile from the encampment, the light horsemen discovered, pursued, and killed an Indian on horseback. Before this party returned to the columns, a second Indian was discovered, when the four field officers left their commands and pursued the Indian ; leav- ing the troops for the space of about half an hour without any directions whatever. The flight of the second Indian was in- tercepted by the light horsemen, who despatched him after he had wounded one of their party. Colonel Trotter then changed the route of his detachment, and marched in various directions 270 HISTORICAL NOTES. until night, when he returned to the camp at the Miami village. On the 18th the following general orders were published: "Camp at the Miami village, ) October 18, 1790. \ " The General is much mortified at the unsoldier-like beha- viour of many of the men in the army, who make it a practice to straggle from the camp in search of plunder.* He, in the most positive terms, forbids this practice in future, and the guards will be answerable to prevent it. No party is to go beyond the line of sentinels without a commissioned officer, who, if of the militia, will apply to Colonel Hardin for his or- ders. The regular troops will apply to the General. All the plunder that may be hereafter collected, will be equally distri- buted amongst the army. The kettles, and every other article already taken, are to be collected by the commanding officers of battalions, and to be delivered to-morrow morning to Mr. Belli, the Quartermaster, that a fair distribution may take place. The rolls are to be called at troop and retreat beating, and every man absent is to be reported. The General expects that these orders will be pointedly attended to: they are to be read to the troops this evening. The army is to march to- morrow morning early for their new encampment at Chilli- cothe,t about two miles from hence. JOSIAH HARMAR, Brig. General." The return of Colonel Trotter to camp, on the evening of the 18th, was unexpected by General Harmar, and did not receive his approbation. Colonel Hardin asked for the com- mand of the same detachment for the remaining two days, and his request was granted. On the morning of the 19th, the de- tachment, under the command of Colonel Hardin, marched a northwest course on the Indian path which led towards the Kickapoo towns ; and after passing a morass about five miles distant from the Miami village, the troops came to a place *On tlie arrival of General Harmar at the Miami village, about two thirds of the militia dispersed in search of plunder. The General ordered cannon to be fired, merely to collect them; and at the same lime harangued the officers on the ill consequences of such conduct. tThis was a Shawanee village. HISTORICAL NOTES. 271 where, on the preceding day, a party of Indians had encamped. At this spot the detachment made a short halt, and the com- manding officer stationed the companies at points several rods apart. After the lapse of about half an hour the companies in front were ordered to move on; and Captain Faulkner's compa- ny was left on the ground, the Colonel having neglected to give him orders to march. The troops moved forward about three miles, when they discovered two Indians on footj who threw off their packs, and, the brush being thick, made their escape. About this time Colonel Hardin despatched Major Fontaine, with part of the cavalry, in search of Captain Faulkner, suppo- sing him to be lost ; and soon afterwards Captain Armstrong, who commanded the regulars, informed Colonel Hardin that a gun had been fired in front, which might be considered as an' alarm gun, and that he had seen the " tracks of a horse that had come down the road and returned." The Colonel, how- ever, moved on without giving any orders or making any arrangements for an attack; and when Captain Armstrong discovered the fires of the Indians at a distance, and informed Colonel Hardin of the circumstance, that officer, saying that the Indians would not fight, rode in front of the advanced col- umns until the detachment was fired on from behind the fires. The militia, with the exception of nine who remained with the regulars and were killed, immediately gave way and com- menced an irregular retreat, which they continued until they reached the main army. Hardin, who retreated with them, made several ineffectual attempts to rally them. The small band of regulars, obstinately brave, maintained their ground until twenty-two were killed, when Captain Armstrong, Ensign Hartshorne, and five or six privates, escaped from the carnage, eluded the pursuit of the Indians, and arrived at the camp of General Harmar. The number of Indians who were engaged on this occasion, cannot be ascertained.* They were led by a *Captain Armstrong, under oatli, estimated the number at one hundred men. Colonel Hardin, in a deposition which he made in 1791, estimated the number at about one hundred and fifty men. Some writers, on questionable authority, have estimated the number of Indians at seven hundred. 272 HISTORICAL NOTES. distinguished Miami chief, whose name was Mish-e-ken-o-quoh, which signifies the Little Turtle. The ground on which the action took place, lies about eleven miles from Fort Wayne, and near the point at which the Goshen state road crosses Eel river. On the morning of the 19th, the main body of the army un- der Harmar, having destroyed the Miami village, moved about two miles to a Shawanee village which was called Chillicothe,^ where, on the 20th, the General published the following orders : " Camp at Chillicothe, one of the Shawanese towns, -i on the Omee [Maumee] river, October 20th, 1790. ) " The party under command of Captain Strong is ordered to burn and destroy every house and wigwam in this village, to- gether with all the corn, &c. which he can collect. A party of one hundred men (militia) properly officered, under the com- mand of Colonel Hardin, is to burn and destroy effectually, this afternoon, the Pickaway town,* with all the corn, &c. which he can find in it and its vicinity* " The cause of the detachment being worsted yesterday was entirely owing to the shameful cowardly conduct of the militia who ran away, and threw down their arms, without firing scarcely a single gun. In returning to Fort Washington, if any officer or men shall presume to quit the ranks, or not to march in the form that they are ordered, the General will, most assuredly, order the artillery to fire on them. He hopes the check they received yesterday will make them in future obedient to orders. JOSIAH HARMAR, Brig. General." At ten o'clock, A. M. on the 21st, the army moved from the ruins of the Chillicothe village, marched about seven miles on the route to Fort Washington, and encamped. The night be- ing very clear. Colonel Hardin informed General Harmar that he thought it would be a good opportunity to steal a march on the Indians, as he had reason to beheve that they had returned to the towns as soon as the army had left them. Harmar did not seem to be willing to send a party back; but Hardin "urged *A Shawanese village. HISTORICAL NOTES. 273 the matter, informing the General that^ as he had been unfor- tunate the other day, he wished to have it in his power to pick the militia and try it again ; and at the same time endeavored to account for the men's not fighting ; and desired an opportu- nity to retrieve the credit of the militia." * In order to satisfy the request of Hardin, and to give the Indians a check, and thus prevent their harassing the army on its return to Fort Washington, General Harmar determined to send back a de- tachment of four hundred men. Accordingly, late on the night of the 21st a corps of three hundred and forty militia, and sixty regular troops under the command of Major Wyllys, were detached, that they might gain the vicinity of the Miami village, before day-break, and surprise any Indians who might be found there. The detachment marched in three columns. The regular troops were in the centre, at the head of which Captain Joseph Ashton was posted, with Major Wyllys and Colonel Hardin in his front. The militia formed the columns to the right and left. Owing to some delay, occasioned by the halting of the militia, the detachment did not reach the banks of the Maumee till some time after sun-rise. The spies then discovered some Indians and reported to Major Wyllys, who halted the regular troops, and moved the militia on some dis- tance in front, where he gave his orders and plan of attack to the several commanding officers of corps. Major Wyllys re- served to himself the command of the regular troops. Major Hall, with his battalion, was directed to take a circuitous route round the bend of the Maumee river, cross the St. Mary's, and there, in the rear of the Indians, wait until the attack should be brought on by Major McMullen's battalion, Major Fontaine's cavalry, and the regular troops under Major Wyllys, who were all ordered to cross the Maumee at and near the common fording place. It was the intention of Hardin and Wyllys to surround the Indian encampment; but Major Hall, who had gained his position undiscovered, disobeyed his orders by firing on a single Indian, before the commencement of the action. Several small parties of Indians were soon seen flying in difler- *Deposition of Col. Haidin, taken 14lh September, 1791- 35 274 HISTORICAL NOTES. ent directions, and the militia under McMuUen and the cavahy under Fontaine, pursued them in disobedience of orders, and left Major Wyllys unsupported. The consequence was that the regulars, after crossing the Maumee, were attacked by a superior force of Indians, and compelled to retreat, with the loss of Major Wyllys, and the greater part of their corps. Major Fontaine, at the head of the mounted militia, fell, with a number of his followers, in making a charge against a small party of Indians ; and on his fall the remainder of his troops dispersed. While the main body of the Indians, led by the Little Turtle, were engaged with the regulars near the banks of the Maumee, some skirmishing took place near the confluence of the rivers St. Mary's and St. Joseph, between detached par- ties of Indians and the militia under Hall and McMullen. After the defeat of the regulars, however, the militia retreated on the route to the main army; and the Indians, having suffered a severe loss, did not pursue them. About eleven o'clock, A. M. a single horseman reached the camp of Harmar with news of the defeat of the detachment. The General immediately or- dered Major Ray to march with his battalion to the assistance of the retreating parties ; but so great was the panic which pre- vailed among the militia that only thirty men could be induced to leave the main army. With this small number Major Ray proceeded a short distance towards the scene of action, when he met Colonel Hardin on his retreat. On reaching the en- campment of Harmar, Colonel Hardin requested the General to march back to the Miami village with the whole army; but Harmar said to him, "you see the situation of the army: we are now scarcely able to move our baggage: it will take up three days to go, and return to this place : we have no more forage for our horses : the Indians have got a very good scourg- ing; and I will keep the army in perfect readiness to receive them, should they think proper to follow." * The General, at this time, had lost all confidence in the militia. The bounds of the camp were made less, and, at eight o'clock, on the morn- ing of the 23d, the army took up the line of march for Fort ♦Deposition of Colonel Hardin, September 14, 1791. HISTORICAL NOTES. 275 Washington, and reached that place on the 4th of November, having lost in the expedition one hundred and eighty-three killed, and thirty-one wounded. Among the killed were Major Wyllys and Lieutenant Ebenezer Frotliingham, of the regular troops; and Major Fontaine, Captains Thorp, McMurtrey and Scott, Lieutenants Clark and Rogers, and Ensigns Bridges, Sweet, Higgens, and Thielkeld, of ihe militia. The Indians, whose loss was about equal to that of the whites, did not an- noy the army after the action of the 22d of October. During the progress of Harmar's operations against the Indians about the Miami town. Major Hamtramck, with the troops under his command, marched up the Wabash to the mouth of the river Vermillion, destroyed some deserted villa- ges, and returned to Vincennes, without meeting with any opposition on his march. CHAPTER XIV. A severe punishment was inflicted on the Miami and Shavv- anee tribes, by the troops under the command of General Harmar, in the fall of the year 1790; but the events which immediately followed the campaign did not accord with the expectations of the government of the United States. The expedition did not compel the hostile tribes to sue for peace; nor were the settlements on the borders of the river Ohio re- lieved from the evils of a revengeful, merciless, and destructive war. On the 8th of January, 1791, General Rufus Putnam, who was one of the " Ohio Company of Associates," and the founder of the settlement at Marietta, wrote to President Washington as follows : " Marietta, January 8, 1791. " Sir : The mischief which I feared has overtaken us much sooner than I expected. On the evening of the 2d instant, between sunset and daylight-in, the Indians surprised a new settlement of our people at a place on the Muskingum, called the Big Bottom, nearly forty miles up the river, in which dis- aster eleven men, one woman, and two children were killed : three men are missing, and four others made their escape. Thus, sir, the war which was partial before the campaign of last year, is, in all probability become general : for I think that there is no reason to suppose that we are the only people on whom the savages will wreak their vengeance, or that the number of hostile Indians have not increased since the late expedition. Our situation is truly critical. The Governor and Secretary both being absent, no assistance from Virginia or Pennsylvania can be had. The garrison at Fort Harmar, HTSTORTCAL NOTES. 277 consisting at this time of little more than twenty men, can aftbrd no protection to onr settlements ; and the whole number ot" men, in all our settlements, capable of bearing arms, inclu- ding all civil and military officers, do not exceed two hundred and eighty-seven, and these, many of them, badly armed. We are in the utmost danger of being swallowed up, should the enemy push the war with vigor during the winter. This I believe will fully appear by taking a short view of our several settlements, and I hope, justify the extraordinary measures * we have adopted, for want of a legal authority in the Terri- tory to apply for aid in the business. The situation of our people is nearly as follows : " At Marietta are about eighty houses in the distance of one mile, with scattering houses about three miles up the river. A set of mills at Duck creek, four miles distant; and ano- ther mill two miles up the Muskingum. Twenty-two miles up this river is a settlement, consisting of about twenty families : about two miles from them, on Wolf creek, are five families and a set of mills. Down the Ohio, and opposite the Little Kan- awha, commences the settlement called Belle Prairie, which extends down the river, with little interruption, about twelve miles, and contains between thirty and forty houses. Before the late disaster we had several other settlements, which are already broken up. I have taken the liberty to enclose the proceedings of the Ohio Company and Justices of the Sessions on this occasion, and beg leave, with the greatest deference, to observe, that, unless government speedily send a body of troops for our protection, we are a ruined people. The remo- val of the women and children, &c. will reduce many of the poorer sort to the greatest straits ; but, if we add to this the destruction of their corn, forage, and cattle, by the enemy, which is very probable to ensue, I know of no way they can be supported : but, if this should not happen, where these peo- ple are to raise bread another year, is not easy to conjecture; ♦Immediately after the disaster at Big Bottom, the Directors of tlie "Ohio Company of Associates" voted to raise ami pay troops, to be employed in the defence of their settle- ments. 278 HISTORICAL NOTES. and most of them have nothing left to buy with. But my fears do not stop here. We are a people so far detached from all others, in point of situation, that we can hope for no timely relief, in case of emergency, from any of our neighbors ; and among the numbers that compose our present military strength almost one half are young men, hired into the country, intend- ing to settle by and by. These, under present circumstances, will probably leave us soon, unless prospects should brighten ; and, as to new settlers, we can expect none in our present sit- uation : so that, instead of increasing in strength, we are like to diminish daily; and, if we do not fall a prey to the savages, we shall be so reduced and discouraged as to give up the settlement, unless government shall give us timely protection. It has been a mystery with some why the troops have been withdrawn from this quarter, and collected at the Miami; [Symmes' Purchase ;] that settlement is, I believe, within three or four days' march of a very populous part of Kentucky, from whence, in a few days, they might be reinforced with several thousand men ; whereas, we are not within two hundred miles of any settlement that can probably more than protect them- selves. But, I forbear suggestions of this sort, and will only observe further, that our present situation is truly distressing; and I do, therefore, most earnestly implore the protection of government, for myself and friends inhabiting these wilds of America. To this we conceive ourselves justly entitled; and so far as you, sir, have the means in your power, we rest assu- red that we shall receive it in due time. I have the honor to be, with the highest possible respect, sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, RUFUS PUTNAM." Immediately after the close of the expedition of Harmar, the fears of Indian depredations which prevailed among the settle- ments about Marietta, became general among the inhabitants of the western counties of Virginia. The delegates of the counties of Ohio, Monongahela, Harrison, Randolph, Green- briar, -Kanawha, and Montgomery, sent to the Governor of Virginia a joint memorial, in which they made the following HISTORICAL NOTES. 279 statement: "The defenceless condition of those counties, form- ing a Une of nearly four hundred miles along the Ohio river, exposed to the hostile invasion of their Indian enemies, desti- tute of every kind of support, is truly alarming: for notwith- standing all the regulations of the General Government in that country, we have reason to lament that they have been hith- erto ineffectual for our protection: nor, indeed, could it happen otherwise: for the garrisons kept by the continental troops on the Ohio river, if they are of any use, it must be to the Ken- tucky settlements; as they immediately cover that country. To us they can be of no service, being from two to four hun- dred miles below our frontier settlements. * * * We further beg leave to observe that we have reason to fear that the con- sequences of the defeat of our army by the Indians, on the late expedition, will be severely felt on our frontiers : as there is no doubt but that the Indians will, in their turn, (being flushed with victory,) invade our settlements, and exercise all their horrid murder upon the inhabitants thereof, whenever the weather will permit them to travel. Then is it not better to support us where we are, be the expense what it may, than to oblige such a number of your brave citizens, who have so long supported, and still continue to support, a dangerous frontier, (although thousands of their relatives in the flesh have, in the prosecution thereof, fallen a sacrifice to savage inventions) to quit the country, after all they have done and suffered, when you know that a frontier must be supported somewhere." The memorial was signed by Benjamin Biggs and John Hen- derson, of Ohio county; John Evans, jr. and William McClee- ry, of Monongahela county ; George Jackson and John Prunty, of Harrison county; Cornelius Bogard and Abraham Claypool, of Randolph county; Andrew Donnally and George Clendinen, of Kanawha county ; Thomas Edgar and W. H. Cavendish, of Greenbriar county ; and H. Montgomery and R. SaAvyers, of Montgomery county. In consequence of the representations contained in this me- morial, the Legislature of Virginia, by a resolution of the 20th of December, 1790, authorized the Governor of that state to 280 HISTORICAL NOTES. , direct such temporary defensive operations in the frontier coun- ties, "as would secure the citizens thereof from the hostile in- vasions of the Indian enemy, until the General Government could enter into full and effectual measures to accomplish the said object," The Governor, Beverly Randolph, immediately despatched orders to the military commanding officers in the western counties, requiring them to raise, by the 1st of March, 1791, several small companies of Rangers, for the protection of the inhabitants of the frontier counties. Charles Scott, Esq. was appointed Brigadier General of the militia of the district of Kentucky, with authority to procure, by voluntary engage- ments, two hundred and twenty-six men, to range the most exposed parts of the frontiers of that district. An account of these proceedings of the legislative and execu- tive authorities of Virginia, was transmitted to the President of the United States, by Governor Randolph, on the 4th of January, 1791; and soon afterwards the General Government constituted a local Board of War for the district of Kentucky. This Board was composed of Brigadier General Charles Scott, Harry Innis, John Brown, Benjamin Logan, and Isaac Shelby. On the 3d of March, 1791, Congress passed "An act for raising and adding another regiment to the military establish- ment of the United States, and for making further provision for the protection of the frontiers." Governor St. Clair, by the advice and consent of the Senate, was invested with the chief command of about three thousand troops, to be raised and employed against the hostile Indians northwest of the Ohio; and on the 21st of March, 1791, the Secretary of War sent to St. Clair a letter of instructions, from which the follow- ing is an extract: " While you are making use of such desultory operations as in your judgment the occasion may require, you will proceed vigorously, in every preparation in your power, for the purpose of the main expedition ; and having assembled your force, and all things being in readiness, if no decisive indications of peace should have been produced, either by the messengers, or by the desultory operations, you will commence your march for HISTORICAL NOTES. 281 the Miami village, in order to establish a strong and permanent military post at that place. In your advance you will establish such posts of communication with Fort Washington, on the Ohio, as you may judge proper. The post at the Miami village is intended for awing and curbing the Indians in that quarter, and as the only preventive of future hostilities. It ought, there- fore, to be rendered secure against all attempts and insults of the Indians. The garrison which should be stationed there ought not only to be sufficient for the defence of the place, but always to afford a detachment of five or six hundred men, either to chastise any of the Wabash, or other hostile Indians, or to secure any convoy of provisions. The establishment of said post is considered as an important object of the campaign, and is to take place in all events. In case of a previous treaty, the Indians ore to be conciliated upon this point if possible; and it is presumed good arguments may be offered, to induce their acquiescence. * * * Having commenced your march upon the main expedition, and the Indians continuing hostile, you will use every possible exertion to make them feel the effects of your superiority : and after having arrived at the Miami vil- lage, and put your works in a defensible state, you will seek the enemy with the whole of your remaining force, and en- deavor, by all possible means, to strike them with great sever- ity. * * * In order to avoid future wars, it might be proper to make the Wabash, and thence over to the Maumee, and down the same to its mouth at Lake Erie, the boundary [ be- tween the people of the United States and the Indians,] except- ing so far as the same should relate to the Wyandots and Dela- wares, on the supposition of their continuing faithful to the treaties. But if they should join in the war against the United States, and your army be victorious, the said tribes ought to be removed without the boundary mentioned." On the 9th of March, 1791, General Henry Knox, Secretary of War, sent to Brigadier General Scott, of Kentucky, a letter of instructions, from which the following is an extract : "Sir: The issue and consequent effect of the expedition against the Miami towns, and the situation of affairs between 36 'i82 HISTORICAL NOTES. the United States and the Wabash, and other hostile Indians, northwest of the Ohio, are well known to you, and the inhabi- tants of Kentucky, generally, * * * It would afford high satis- faction to the President of the United States, could a firm peace be established, without further effusion of blood; and, although he conceives the sacred principles of humanity, and a regard to the welfare of the country, dictate that he should take every proper arrangement to bring the deluded Indians to a just sense of their situation, yet he is apprehensive that all lenient endeavors will be fruitless. He is, therefore, constrain- ed to calculate his ultimate measures, to impress the Indians with a strong conviction of the power of the United States, to inflict that degree of punishment which justice may require. That, for this purpose, he avails the public of the offers which you and the delegates of Kentucky, and the other frontier counties of Virginia, made, by your memorial of the 4th of December last, to combat the Indians according to your own modes of warfare. *' It is the result of information, from men of reputation in Indian affairs, that a body of five hundred picked men, mounted on good horses, by rapid incursions, would be equal to the as- sault of any of the Indian towns lying on the Wabash river, and that the probability would be highly in favor of surprising and capturing at least a considerable number of women and chil- dren. In this view of the object, and also estimating the con- sequent impressions such as a successful operation would make upon the Indians, by demonstrating to them that they are within our reach, and lying at our mercy ; and also, consider- ing from the before recited memorial and other information, that such an opportunity of acting by themselves in an Indian expedition, would be highly gratifying to the hardy and brave yeomanry of Kentucky, the President of the United States hereby authorizes an expedition of the magnitude, and upon the conditions hereinafter described." By the instructions which were subsequently contained in the letter of the Secretary of War, the Board of War for the district of Kentucky were authorized to send an expedition HISTORICAL NOTES. 283 of mounted men, not exceeding seven hundred and fifty, against the Wea towns on the river Wabash. The pay of each pri- vate engaged in the expedition was fixed at 66f cents per day; and the troops were directed to move from some point on the river Ohio, about the 10th of May, 1791. " The mounted vol- unteers or militia," said the Secretary, in his letter of instruc- tions, " are to proceed to the Wea, or Ouiatenon towns of In- dians, there to assault the said towns, and the Indians therein, either by surprise, or otherwise, as the nature of the circum- stances may admit — sparing all who may cease to resist, and capturing as many as possible, particularly women and chil- dren. And on this point it is the positive orders of the Presi- dent of the United States, that all such captives be treated with humanity ; and that they be carried and delivered to the com- manding officer of some post of the United States upon the Ohio." The President, also, authorized the Board of War to send a second expedition, and a third one against the Wabash Indians, provided the Major General, or commanding officer on the Ohio, should order the same under his hand and seal. On the 23d of May, 1791, Brigadier General Scott, at the head of about eight hundred mounted and armed men, having crossed the Ohio at the mouth of the Kentucky river, com- menced his march for Ouiatenon,* on the Wabash. In his official report of the 2Sth June, 1791, addressed to the Secre- tary of War, he made the following statements of the move- ments of the expedition under his command : " In the prosecution of the enterprise I marched four miles from the banks of the Ohio, on the 23d of May ; and on the 24th I resumed my march, and pushed forward with the ut- most industry, directing my route to Ouiatenon, in the best manner my guides and information enabled me ; though I found myself greatly deficient in both. By the 31st I had marched one hundred and thirty-five miles, over a country cut by four large branches of White River, and many smaller streams, *This "Ouiatenon," or Wea village, stood on the southern bank of the river Wabash, (on the tract of land which is now called -'Wea Prairie,") about eight miles below the site of the town of Lafayette, in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. 284 HISTORICAL NOTES. with steep muddy banks: during this march I traversed a country alternately interspersed with the most luxuriant soil, and deep clayey bogs, from one to five miles in width, render- ed almost impervious by brush and briars. Rain fell in tor- rents every day with frequent blasts of wind and thunder storms. These obstacles impeded my progress, wore down my horses, and destroyed my provisions. "On the morning of the 1st instant, [June,] as the army entered an extensive prairie, I perceived an Indian on horse- back, a few miles to the right. I immediately made a detach- ment to intercept him ; but he escaped. Finding myself dis- covered, I determined to advance with all the rapidity my circumstances would permit, leather with the hope than the expectation of reaching the object sought that day; for my guides were strangers to the country which I occupied. At one o'clock, having marched, by computation, one hundred and fifty-five miles from the Ohio, as I penetrated a grove which bordered on an extensive prairie, I discovered two small villa- ges to my left, at two and four miles distance. "My guides now recognised the ground, and informed me that the main town Avas four or five miles in my front, behind a point of woods which jutted into the prairie. I immediately detached Colonel John Hardin, with sixty mounted infantry, and a troop of light-horse under Captain McCoy, to attack the villages to the left, and moved on briskly with my main body in order of battle, towards the town, the smoke of which was discernible. My guides were deceived with respect to the sit- uation of the town : for, instead of standing at the edge of the plain through which I marched, I found it on the low ground bordering on the Wabash: on turning the point of woods, one house presented in my front. Captain Price was ordered to assault that with forty men. He executed the command with great gallantry, and killed two warriors. " When I gained the summit of the eminence which over- looks the villages on the banks of the Wabash, I discovered the enemy in great confusion, endeavoring to make their escape over the river in canoes. I instantly ordered Lieutenant Colo- HISTORICAL NOTES. 285 nel-commandant Wilkinson to rush forward with the first bat- talion. The order was executed with promptitude, and this detachment gained the bank of the river just as the rear of the enemy had embarked; and, regardless of a brisk fire kept up from a Kickapoo town on the opposite bank, they, in a few minutes, by a well directed fire from their rifles destroyed all the savages with which five canoes were crowded. To my great mortification the Wabash was many feet beyond fording at this place : I therefore detached Colonel Wilkinson to a ford two miles above, which my guides informed me was more practicable.* " The enemy still kept possession of the Kickapoo town : I determined to dislodge them; and for that purpose ordered Captain King's and Logsdon's companies to march down the river below the town, and cross, under the conduct of Major Barbee. Several of the men swam the river, and others passed in a small canoe. This movement was unobserved; and my men had taken post on the bank before they were discovered by the enemy, who immediately abandoned the village. About this time word was brought me that Colonel Hardin was en- cumbered with prisoners, and had discovered a stronger village further to my left than those I had observed, which he was proceeding to attack. I immediately detached Captain Brown with his company, to support the Colonel: but the distance being six miles, before the Captain arrived the business was done, and Colonel Hardin joined me a little before sunset, hav- ing killed six warriors, and taken fifty-two prisoners. Captain Bull, the warrior who discovered me in the morning, had gain- ed the main town, and given the alarm, a short time before me; but the villages to my left were uninformed of my ap- proach, and had no retreat. " The next morning I determined to detach my Lieutenant Colonel-commandant, with five hundred men, to destroy the important town of Keth-tip-e-ca-nunk, eighteen miles from my camp, and on the west side of the Wabash ; but, on exam- *Wilkinson moved the first battalion up to the fording place, found the river impassa- ble, and returned to Ouiatcnon. 286 HISTORICAL NOTES. ination, I discovered my men and horses to be so crippled and worn down by a long laborious march, and the active exer- tions of the preceding day, that three hundred and sixty men only, could be found in a capacity to undertake the enterprise, and they prepared to march on foot. Colonel Wilkinson marched with this detachment at half after five in the evening, and returned to my camp the next day at one o'clock, having marched thirty-six miles in twelve hours, and destroyed the most im.portant settlement of the enemy in that quarter of the federal territory. " Many of the inhabitants of this village [Ouiatenon] were French, and lived in a state of civilization. By the books, let- ters, and other documents, found there, it is evident that place was in close connection with, and dependent on, Detroit. A large quantity of corn, a variety of household goods, peltry, and other articles were burned with this village, which con- sisted of about seventy houses, many of them well finished. "Misunderstanding the object of a white flag, which appear- ed on an eminence opposite to me in the afternoon of the first, I liberated an aged squaw, and sent with her a message to the savages, that, if they would come in and surrender, their towns should be spared, and they should receive good treatment. It was afterwards found that this white flag was not intended as a signal of parley, but was placed there to mark the spot where a person of distinction among the Indians, who had died some time before, was interred. " On the 4th, I determined to discharge sixteen of the weak- est and most infirm of my prisoners, with a [written] talk to the Wabash tribes. My motives to this measure were, to rid the army of a heavy incumbrance, to gratify the impulsions of humanity, to increase the panic my operations had produced, and, by distracting the councils of the enemy, to favor the views of government; and I flatter myself these objects will justify my conduct, and secure the approbation of my country. On the same day, [4th,] after having burned the towns and ad- jacent villages, and destroyed the growing corn and pulse, I began my march for the Rapids of Ohio, where I arrived the HISTORICAL NOTES. . 287 14th June, without the loss of a single man by the enemy, and five only wounded ; having killed thirty-two, chiefly warriors of size and figure, and taken fifty-eight prisoners. " It is with pride and pleasure I mention that no act of inhu- manity has marked the conduct of the volunteers of Kentucky on this occasion. Even the inveterate habit of scalping the dead ceased to influence. I have delivered forty-one prisoners to Captain Ashton, of the first United States regiment, at Fort Steuben, for which I have his receipt. I sincerely lament that the weather, and the consequences produced by it, rendered it impossible for me to carry terror and desolation to the head of the Wabash. The corps I had the honor to command was equal to the object; but the" condition of my horses, and state of my provisions, were insuperable obstacles to my own inten- tions, and the wishes of all." When Brigadier General Scott released sixteen weak and infirm prisoners at Ouiatenon, he gave them a written speech, of which the following is a copy : " To the various tribes of the Piankeshaws, and all the Nations of Red People, lying on the waters of the Wabash River. "The sovereign council of the thirteen United States have long patiently borne your depredations against their settle- ments on this side of the great mountains, in the hope that you would see your error, and correct it, by entering with them into the bonds of amity and lasting peace. Moved by compassion, and pitying your misguided councils, they have frequently addressed you on this subject, but without effect. At length their patience is exhausted, and they have stretched forth the arm of power against you. Their mighty sons and chief warriors have at length taken up the hatchet : they have penetrated far into your country, to meet your warriors, and punish them for their transgressions. But you fled before them, and declined the battle, leaving your wives and children to their mercy. They have destroyed your old town, Ouiatenon, and the neighboring villages, and have taken many prisoners. Resting here two days, to give you time to collect your strength, they have proceeded to your town of Keth-tip-e-ca-nunk ; but 288 HISTORICAL NOTES. you again fled before them, and that great town has been destroyed. After giving you this evidence of their poM^er they have stopped their hands, because they are merciful as strong; and they again indulge the hope that you will come to a sense of your true interest, and determine to make a lasting peace with them, and all their children, for ever. " The United States have no desire to destroy the Red Peo- ple, although they have the power: but, should you decline this invitation, and pursue your unprovoked hostilities, their strength will again be exerted against you. Your warriors will be slaughtered — your towns and villages ransacked and destroyed — j'our wives and children carried into captivity — and you may be assured that those who escape the fury of our mighty chiefs, shall find no resting place on this side the great lakes. The warriors of the United States wish not to distress or destroy women and children, or old men; and, although policy obliges them to retain some in captivity, yet compassion and humanity have induced them to set others at liberty, who will deliver you this talk. Those who are carried off will be left in the care of our great chief and warrior General St. Clair, near the mouth of the Miami, and opposite the Licking river, where they will be treated with humanity and tenderness. If you wish to recover them, repair to that place by the first day of July next, determined, with true hearts, to bury the hatchet and smoke the pipe of peace. They will then be restored to you; and you may again set down in security at your old towns, and live in peace and happiness, unmolested by the children of the United States, who will become your friends and protectors, and will be ready to furnish you with all the necessaries you may require. But, should you foolishly persist in your warfare, the sons of war will be let loose against you, and the hatchet will never be buried until your country is des- olated, and your people humbled to the dust. "Given under my hand and seal, at the Ouiatenon town, this 4th day of June, 179L CHARLES SCOTT, Brigadier General." HISTORICAL NOTES. 289 On the 25th of June, 1791, Governor St. Clair, while he was making preparations to march a strong military force to the Miami village, wrote to the Board of War of the district of Kentucky, and authorized them to send a second expedition not exceeding five hundred mounted men, against the Indian villages on the Wabash. At Danville, on the 5th of July, the Board of War invested Brigadier General James Wilkinson with the command of the second expedition, and the troops were ordered to rendezvous at Fort Washington, by the 20th of July, " well mounted on horseback, well armed, and provi- ded with thirty days' provisions." On the first of August, Wilkinson, at the head of about five hundred and twenty-five men, moved from the neighborhood of Fort Washington, and, after making a feint towards the Miami village, directed his march towards the Indian village of Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua, which stood on the northern bank of Eel River, about six miles from the point where that stream enters the river Wa- bash** In an official report of the 24th August, 1791, addres- sed to Governor St. Clair, Brigadier General Wilkinson made the following statements: "I quitted my camp on the 7th [August,] as soon as I could see my way, crossed one path at three miles distance, bearing northeast, and at seven miles I fell into another, very much used, bearing northwest by north, which I at once adopted as the direct route to my object, and pushed forward with the utmost despatch. I halted at twelve o'clock to refresh the horses, and examine the men's arms and ammunition ; marched again at half after one; and at fifteen minutes before five I struck the Wabash, about one and a half leagues above the mouth of Eel River, being the very spot for which I had aimed from the commencement of my march. I crossed the river, and following the path a north by east course, at the distance of two and a half miles, my reconnoitering party announced Eel River in front, and the town on the opposite bank. I dis- mounted, ran forward, and examined the situation of the town *EeI river enters the Wabash at the site of the town of Logansport, in Cass County. Indiana. 37 290 HISTORICAL NOTES. as far as was practicable, without exposing myself; but the whole face of the country, from the Wabash to the margin of Eel River, being a continued thicket of brambles, black jacks, weeds and shrubs of different kinds, it was impossible for me to get a satisfactory view, without endangering a discovery. I immediately determined to post two companies on the bank of the river, opposite to the town, and above the ground I then occupied, to make a detour with Major Caldwell and the se- cond battalion, until I fell into the Miami trace, and by that route to cross the river above, and gain the rear of the town, and to leave directions with Major McDowell, who command- ed the first battalion, to lie perdue until I commenced the at- tack, then to dash through the river with his corps and the advanced guard, and assault the houses in front and upon the left. In the moment I was about to put this arrangement into execution, word was brought me that the enemy had taken the alarm, and were flying. I instantly ordered a general charge, which was obeyed with alacrity. The men, forcing their way over every obstacle, plunged through the river with vast intrepidity. The enemy was unable to make the smallest resistance. Six warriors, and (in the hurry and confusion of the charge) two squaws and a child, were killed ; thirty-four prisoners were taken, and an unfortunate captive released, with the loss of two men killed and one wounded. " I found this town scattered along Eel River for full three miles, on an uneven, scrubby oak barren, intersected altern- ately by bogs almost impassable, and impervious thickets of plum, hazle, and black jacks. Notwithstanding these difficul- ties, if I may credit the report of the prisoners, very few who were in town escaped. Expecting a second expedition, their goods were generally packed up and buried. Sixty warriors had crossed the Wabash to watch the paths leading from the Ohio. The head chief, with all the prisoners, and a number of families, were out digging a root which they substitute in the place of the potato ; and about one hour before my arrival, all the warriors, except eight, had mounted their horses, and rode up the river to a French store to purchase ammunition. This HISTORICAL NOTES. 291 ammunition had arrived from the Miami village that very day, and the squaws informed me was stored about two miles from the town. I detached Major Caldwell in quest of it; but he failed to make any discovery, although he scoured the country for seven or eight miles up the river. " I encamped in the town that night, and the next morning I cut up the corn, scarcely in the milk, burnt the cabins, mounted my young warriors, squaws, and children, in the best manner in my power, and leaving two infirm squaws and a child, with a short talk, I commenced my march for the Kickapoo town in the prairie. I felt my prisoners a vast incumbrance ; but I was not in force to justify a detachment, having barely five hundred and twenty-three rank and file, and being then in the bosom of the Ouiatenon country, one hundred and eighty miles removed from succor, and not more than one and a half day's march from the Pottawattamies, Shawanees, and Delawares. " Not being able to discover any path in the direct course to the Kickapoo town, I marched by the road leading to Tippe- canoe, in the hope of finding some diverging trace which might favor my design. I encamped that evening about six miles from Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua, the Indian name of the town I had destroyed, and marched next morning at four o'clock. My course continued west until nine o'clock, when I turned to the northwest, on a small hunting path, and, at a short distance, I launched into the boundless prairies of the west, with the inten- tion to pursue that course until I could strike a road which leads from the Pottawattamies of Lake Michigan immediately to the town I sought. With this view, I pushed forward through bog after bog, to the saddle skirts, in mud and water; and after persevering for eight hours, I found myself environed on all sides, with morasses which forbade my advancing, and, at the same time, rendered it difficult for me to extricate my little army. The way by which we had entered was so much beat and softened by the horses, that it was almost impossible to return by that route ; and my guides pronounced the morass in front, impassable. A chain of thin groves, extending in the direction of the Wabash, at this time presented itself to my •292 HISTORICAL NOTES. left. It was necessary I should gain these groves; and, for this purpose, I dismounted, went forward, and leading my horse through a bog, to the armpits in mud and water, with great difficulty and fatigue I accomplished my object; and, changing my course to south by west, I regained the Tippe- canoe road at five o'clock, and encamped on it at seven o'clock, after a march of thirty miles, which broke down several of my horses. I am the more minute in detailing the occurrences of this day, because they produced the most unfavorable eJETects. " I was in motion at four o'clock next morning, and at eight o'clock my advanced guard made some discoveries which indu- ced me to believe we were near an Indian village. I immedi- ately pushed that body forward in a trot, and followed with Major Caldwell and the second battalion; leaving Major McDowell to take the charge of the prisoners. I reached Tippecanoe at twelve o'clock, which had been occupied by the enemy, who watched my motions and abandoned the place that morning. After the destruction of this town, in June last, the enemy had returned and cultivated their corn and pulse, which I found in high perfection, and in much greater quan- tity than at I'Anguille, [the French name of Ke-na-pa-com-a- qua.] To refresh my horses, and give time to cut down the corn, I determined to halt till the next moi-ning, and then to resume my march to the Kickapoo town, on the prairie, by the road which leads from Ouiatenon to that place. In the course of the day, I had discovered some murmurings and dis- content amongst the men, which I found, on enquiry, to pro- ceed from their reluctance to advance farther into the enemy's country. This induced me to call for a state of the horses and provisions; when, to my great mortification, two hundred and seventy horses were returned lame and tired, with barely five days' provisions for the men. Under these circumstances I was compelled to abandon my designs upon the Kickapoos of the prairies, and, with a degree of anguish not to be compre- hended but by those who have experienced similar disappoint- ments, I marched forward to a town of the same nation, situate about three leagues west of Ouiatenon : as I advanced to that HISTORICAL NOTES. 293 town the enemy made some show of fighting me, but vanished at my approach. I destroyed this town, consisting of thirty houses, with a considerable quantity of corn in the milk, and the same day I moved on to Ouiatenon, where I forded the Wabash, and proceeded to the site of the villages on the mar- gin of the prairie, where I encamped at seven o'clock. At this town, and the villages destroyed by General Scott, in June, we found the corn had been replanted, and was now in high culti- vation, several fields being well ploughed ; all which was de- stroyed. On the 12th I resumed my march, and, falling into General Scott's return trace, I arrived, without any material incident, at the Rapids of the Ohio, on the 21st instant, [Au- gust,] after a march, by accurate computation, of four hundred and fifty-one miles from Fort Washington. " The volunteers of Kentucky have on this occasion acquit- ted themselves with their usual good conduct: but, as no op- portunity offered for individual distinction, it would be unjust to give one the plaudits to which they all have an equal title. I cannot, however, in propriety, forbear to express my warm approbation of the good conduct of my Majors, McDowell and Caldwell ; and of Colonel Russell, who, in the character of a volunteer, without commission, led my advance; and I feel myself under obligations to Major Adair and Captain Parker, who acted immediately about my person, for the services they rendered me, by most prompt, active, and energetic exertions. " The services which I have been able to render, fall short of my wishes, my intentions, and my expectations. But, sir, when you reflect on the causes which checked my career and blasted my designs, I flatter myself you will believe every thing has been done which could be done in my circumstances. I have destroyed the chief town of the Ouiatenon nation, and made prisoners of the sons and sisters of the king: I have burnt a respectable Kickapoo village, and cut down at least four hun- dred and thirty acres of corn, chiefly in the milk. The Ouia- tenons, [Weas,] left without houses, home, or provisions, must cease to war, and will find active employ to subsist their squaws and children during the impending winter." 294 HISTORICAL NOTES. The three successive expeditions, under Harmar, Scott, and Wilkinson, fell with considerable severity on the tribes of the Miami and Shawanee nations. Many of their people were killed; their principal villages were plundered and destroyed; their cultivated fields were laid waste ; and a number of their men, women, and children, were taken and carried into cap- tivity. But, impressed with the opinion that the United States wished to deprive them of their lands and to exterminate their race, these tribes, instead of being subdued by their misfortunes, were aroused to a state of angry excitement which bordered on desperation. To aid them in their war against the United States they called to their assistance numbers of warriors from the Delaware, Wyandot, Kickapoo, Pottawattamie, Ottawa, Chippewa, and other northern tribes ; and while Governor St. Clair was making preparations to establish a military post at the Miami village, the Miami chief Little Turtle, the Shawanee chief Blue Jacket, and the Delaware chief Buck-ong-a-helas, were actively engaged in an effort to organize a confederacy of tribes sufficiently powerful to drive the white settlers from the territory lying on the northwestern side of the river Ohio. These chiefs received counsel and aid from Simon Girty, Alex- ander McKee, Matthew Elliott,*' and from a number of British, French, and American traders, who generally resided among the Indians, and supplied them with arms and ammunition, in exchange for furs and peltries. At this time the government of Great Britain still supported garrisons at the posts of Niagara, Detroit, and Michilimackinack, notwithstanding it was decla- red, by the seventh article of the definitive treaty of peace of 1783, that the king of Great Britain would " with all conve- nient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any negroes or property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his forces, garrisons, and fleets, from the United States, and from every post, place, and harbor within the same."t It is here proper to note the grounds on Avhich Great Britain, from 1783 to 1796, refused to withdraw her *McKee and Elliott were subordinate agents in the Pritish Indian Department. fT.aws United States, i. 205. HISTORICAL NOTES. 295 garrisons from the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. The fourth article of the treaty of peace of 1783, was in these words, viz: "It is agreed that the creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted." * On the Sth of December, 1785, John Adams, Esq. American Minister at London, laid before the British Secretary of State, a memorial which contained the following passages : " Although a period of three years has elapsed since the sig- nature of the preliminary treaty, and of more than two years since that of the definitive treaty, the posts of Oswegatchy, Oswego, Niagara, Presque Isle, Sandusky, Detroit, Michili- mackinack, with others not necessary to be particularly enu- merated, and a considerable territory round each of them, all within the incontestible limits of the United States, are still held by British garrisons, to the loss and injury of the United States. The subscriber, therefore, in the name and behalf of the said United States, and in obedience to their express com- mands, has the honor to require of his Britannic Majesty's Ministry, that all his Majesty's armies and garrisons be forth- with withdrawn from the United States, from all and every of the posts and fortresses herein before enumerated, and from every other post, place, and harbor within the territory of the United States, according to the true intention of the treaties aforesaid." f On the 28th of February, 1786, the British Secretary of State, Lord Carmarthen, in an answer to Mr. Adams, said, " I have to observe to you, sir, that it is his Majesty's fixed deter- mination, upon the present as well as every other occasion, to act in perfect conformity to the strictest principles of justice and good faith. The seventh article both of the provisional and of the definitive treaties between his Majesty and the Uni- ted States clearly stipulates the withdrawing with all conve- nient speed, his Majesty's armies, garrisons, and fleets, from *Lawa United States, i, 204. fSecrct Journal of Congress, iv. 186. 296 HISTORICAL NOTES. the said United States, and from every post, place, and harbor within the same; and no doubt can possibly arise respecting either the letter or spirit of such an engagement. The fourth article of the same treaties as clearly stipulates, that creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the re- covery of the full value in sterling money, of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted. The little attention paid to the fulfil- ling this engagement on the part of the subjects of the United States in general, and the direct breach of it in many particular instances,* have already reduced many of the King's subjects to the utmost degree of difficulty and distress: nor have their applications for redress, to those whose situations in America naturally pointed them out as the guardians of the public faith, been as yet successful in obtaining them that justice to which, on every principle of law as well as of humanity, they were clearly and indisputably entitled. The engagements entered into by treaty ought to be mutual and equally binding on the respective contracting parties. It would, therefore, be the height of folly as well as injustice, to suppose one party alone obliged to a strict observance of the public faith, while the other might remain free to deviate from its own engagements, as often as convenience might render such deviation necessary, though at the expense of its own national credit and impor- tance. I flatter myself, however, sir, that justice will speedily be done to British creditors ; and, I can assure you, sir, that whenever America shall manifest a real determination to fulfil her part of the treaty, Great Britain will not hesitate to prove her sincerity to co-operate in whatever points depend upon her for carrying every article of it into real and complete effect." f In the answer from Lord Carmarthen to Mr. Adams, the government of the United States saw the ostensible grounds on which Great Britain continued to keep possession of the important military and trading posts at Niagara, Detroit, and :tchief happened at that place, and the fire was put out: so he kindled a council fire at Fort Harmar, where near six hundred Indians of different nations attended. The Six Nations then renewed and confirmed the treaty of Fort Stan- wix; and the Wyandots and Delawares renewed and confirm- ed the treaty of Fort Mcintosh: some Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies, and Sacs, were also parties to the treaty of Fort Harmar. " Brothers : All these treaties we have here with us. We have also the speeches of many chiefs who attended them, and who voluntarily declared their satisfaction with the terms of the treaties. " Brothers : After making all these treaties, and after hear- ing the chiefs express freely their satisfaction with them, the United States expected to enjoy peace, and quietly to hold the lands ceded by them. Accordingly large tracts have been sold and settled, as before mentioned. And, now, brothers, we an- * The French settlement at Gallipolis. 44 346 HISTORICAL NOTES. swer explicitly, that, for the reasons here stated to you, it is impossible to make the river Ohio the boundary between your people and the people of the United States. " Brothers : You are men of understanding, and if you con- sider the customs of white people, the great expenses which attend their settling in a new country, the nature of their im- provements, in building houses and barns, and clearing and fencing their lands, how valuable the lands are thus rendered, and thence how dear they are to them, you will see that it is now impracticable to remove our people from the northern side of the Ohio. Your brothers, the English, know the nature of white people, and they know, that, under the circumstances which we have mentioned, the United States cannot make the Ohio the boundary between you and us. "Brothers: You seem to consider all the lands in dispute on your side of the Ohio, as claimed by the United States; but suffer us to remind you that a large tract was sold by the Wyandot and Delaware nations to the state of Pennsylvania. This tract lies east of a line drawn from the mouth of Beaver creek, at the Ohio, due north to Lake Erie. This line is the western boundary of Pennsylvania, as claimed under the char- ter given by the King of England to your ancient friend Wil- liam Penn : of this sale made by the Wyandot and Delaware nations, to the state of Pennsylvania, we have never heard any complaint. " Brothers : We are, on this occasion, obliged to make a long speech. We again desire you to hear us patiently. The busi- ness is of the highest importance, and a great many words are necessary fully to explain it : for we desire you may perfectly understand us ; and there is no danger of your forgetting what we say, because we will give you our speech in writing. "Brothers: We have exphcitly declared to you, that we cannot now make the Ohio river the boundary between us. This agrees with our speech to your deputies at Niagara, 'that in order to establish a just and permanent peace, some conces- sions would be necessary on your part, as well as on ours.' "Brothers: The concessions which we think necessary on HISTORICAL NOTES. 347 your part are, that you yield up, and finally relinquish to the United States, some of the lands on your side of the river Ohio. The United States wish to have confirmed all the lands ceded to them by the treaty of Fort Harmar ; and, also, a small tract of land at the Rapids of the Ohio, claimed by General Clark, for the use of himself and warriors : and, in considera- tion thereof, the United States would give such a large sum, in money or goods, as was never given at one time, for any quan- tity of Indian lands, since the lohite people first set their foot on this island. And because those lands did, every year, fur- nish you with skins and furs, with which you bought clothing and other necessaries, the United States will now furnish the like constant supplies : and, therefore, besides the great sum to be delivered at once, they will every year, deliver you a large quantity of such goods as are best suited to the wants of your- selves, your women, and children. " Brothers : If all the lands, before mentioned, cannot be de- livered up to the United States, then we shall desire to treat and agree with you on a new boundary line ; and for the quan- tity of land you relinquish to us within that new boundary line we shall stipulate a generous compensation, not only for a large sum, to be paid at once, but for a yearly rent, for the benefit of yourselves and your children forever. " Brothers : Here you see one concession, which we are wil- ling to make on the part of the United States. Now, listen to another, of a claim which probably has more disturbed your minds than any other whatever. " Brothers : The commissioners of the United States have formerly set up a claim to your whole country, southward of the Great Lakes, as the property of the United States; grounding this claim on the treaty of peace with your father, the King of Great Britain, who declared, as we have before mentioned, the middle of those lakes, and the waters which unite them, to be the boundaries of the United States. " Brothers : We are determined that our whole conduct shall be marked with openness and sincerity. We therefore frankly tell you, that we think those commissioners put an erroneous 348 HISTORICAL NOTES. construction on that part of our treaty with the King. As he had not purchased the country of you, of course he could not give it away. He only relinquished to the United States his claim to it. That claim was founded on a right acquired by treaty, with other white nations, to exclude them from pur- chasing, or settling, in any part of your country; and it is this right which the King granted to the United States. Before that grant, the King alone had a right to purchase of the In- dian nations, any of the lands between the Great Lakes, the Ohio, and the Mississippi, excepting the part within the char- ter boundary of Pennsylvania ; and the King, by the treaty of peace, having granted this right to the United States, they alone have now the right of purchasing: so that, now, neither the King, nor any of his people, have any right to interfere wiih the United States, in respect to any part of those lands. All your brothers, the English, know this to be true ; and it agrees with the declarations of Lord Dorchester, to your dep- uties, two years ago at Quebec. " Brothers : We now concede this great point. We, by the express authority of the President of the United States, ac- knowledge the property, or right of soil, of the great country above described, to be in the Indian nations, so long as they desire to occupy the same. We only claim particular tracts in it, as before mentioned, and the general right granted by the King, as above stated, and which is well known to the English and Americans, and called the right of pre-emption, or the right of purchasing of the Indian nations disposed to sell their lands, to the exclusion of all other white people whatever. " Brothers : We have now opened our hearts to you. We are happy in having an opportunity of doing it ; though we should have been more happy to have done it in the full coun- cil of your nations. We expect soon to have this satisfaction, and that your next deputation will take us by the hand, and lead us to the treaty. When we meet, and converse with each other freely, we may easily remove any difficulties which may come in the way of peace. ^ HISTORICAL NOTES. 349 "At Captain Elliott's, at the mouth of Detroit river, 3Ist July, 1793. BENJAMIN LINCOLN, ^ Commissioners BEVERLEY RANDOLPH, y of the TIMOTHY PICKERING, J United States." After the foregoing speech had been interpreted, the com- missioners gave it, in writing, to the Indian deputation, with a white belt crossed with thirteen stripes of black wampum. The deputation then said, that, as it was too late to make any reply on that day, they would speak to the commissioners on the next morning. " In Council, August 1st, 1793. Present, as yesterday. The Wyandot chief Sa-wagh-da-wunk, [Carry-one-about] arose and spoke. Simon Girty interpreted. " Brothers : We are all bro- thers you see here now. Brothers: It is now thi*ee years since you desired to speak with us. We heard you yesterday, and understood you well — perfectly well. We have a few words to say to you. Brothers : You mentioned the treaties of Fort Stanwix, Beaver creek, * and other places. Those treaties were not complete. There were but a few chiefs who treated with you. You have not bought our lands. They belong to us. You tried to draw off some of us. Brothers : Many years ago, we all know that the Ohio was made the boundary. It was settled by Sir William Johnston. This side is ours. We look upon it as our property. Brothers : You mentioned Gen- eral Washington. He and you know you have your houses and your people on our land. You say you cannot move them off: and we cannot give up our land. Brothers : We are sorry we cannot come to an agreement. The line has been fixed long ago. Brothers: We don't say much. There has been much mischief on both sides. We came here upon peace, and thought you did the same. We shall talk to our head warriors. You may return whence you came, and tell Washington." The council here breaking up. Captain Elliott went to the Shawanee chief Ka-kia-pilathy, and told him that the last part * Fort Mcintosh. 350 HISTORICAL NOTES. ♦ of the speech was wrong. That chief came back, and said it was wrong. Girty said that he had interpreted truly what the Wyandot chief spoke. An explanation took place ; and Girty added, as follows : " Brothers : Instead of going home, we wish you to remain here for an answer from us. We have your speech in our breasts, and shall consult our head warriors." The deputation of Indians were then told that the commission- ers would wait to hear again from the council at the Rapids of the Maumee. On the 16th of August, 1793, Messrs. Lincoln, Randolph, and Pickering, received the following answer (in writing,) to their speech of the 31st of July. " To the Commissioners of the United States. Brothers: We have received your speech, dated the 31st of last month, and it has been interpreted to all the different nations. We have been long in sending you an answer, because of the great im- portance of the subject. But, we now answer it fully; having given it all the consideration in our power. " Brothers : You tell us that, after you had made peace with the King, our father, about ten years ago, ' it remained to make peace between the United States and the Indian nations who had taken part with the King. For this purpose, commission- ers were appointed, who sent messages to all those Indian na- tions, inviting them to come and make peace;' and, after reci- ting the periods at which you say treaties were held, at Fort Stanwix, Fort Mcintosh and Miami, all which treaties, accord- ing to your own acknowledgment, were for the sole purpose of making peace, you then say, ' Brothers, the commissioners who conducted these treaties, in behalf of the United States, sent the papers containing them to the general council of the States, who supposing them satisfactory to the nations treated with, proceeded to dispose of the lands thereby ceded.' "Brothers: This is telling us plainly, what we always un- derstood to be the case, and it agrees with the declarations of those few who attended those treaties, viz: That they went to meet your commissioners to make peace ; hut, through fear, were obliged to sign any paper that was laid before them ; and it has HISTORICAL NOTES. 351 since appeared that deeds of cession were signed by them^ in- stead of treaties of peace. " Brothers : You then say, ♦ After some time it appears that a number of people in your nations were dissatisfied with the treaties of Fort Mcintosh and Miami, therefore the council of the United States appointed Governor St. Clair their commis- sioner, with full power, for the purpose of removing all causes of controversy, relating to trade, and settling boundaries, be- tween the Indian nations in the northern department, and the United States. He accordingly sent messages, inviting all the nations concerned to meet him at a council fire he kindled at the falls of the Muskingum. While he was waiting for them, some mischief happened at that place, and the fire was put out : so he kindled a council fire at Fort Harmar, where near six hundred Indians of different nations, attended. The Six Na- tions then renewed and confirmed the treaty of Fort Stanwix ; and the Wyandots and Delawares renewed and confirmed the treaty of Fort Mcintosh: some Ottawas, Chippewas, Potta- wattamies, and Sacs, were also parties to the treaty of Fort Harmar.' Now, brothers, these are your words; and it is necessary for us to make a short reply to them. " Brothers : A general council of all the Indian confederacy was held, as you well know, in the fall of the year 1788, at this place ; and that general council was invited by your com- missioner Governor St. Clair, to meet him for the purpose of holding a treaty, with regard to the lands mentioned by you to have been ceded by the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort Mcintosh. "Brothers: We are in possession of the speeches and letters which passed on that occasion, between those deputed by the confederate Indians, and Governor St. Clair, the commissioner of the United States. These papers prove that your said com- missioner, in the beginning of the year 1789, after having been informed by the general council, of the preceding fall, that no bargain or sale of any part of these Indian lands would be con- sidered as valid or binding, unless agreed to by a general coun- cil, nevertheless persisted in collecting together a few chiefs of 352 HISTORICAL NOTES. two or three nations only, and with them held a treaty for the cession of an immense country, in which they were no more interested, than as a branch of the general confederacy, and who were in no manner authorized to make any grant or con- cession whatever. " Brothers : How then was it possible for you to expect to enjoy peace, and quietly to hold these lands, when your com- missioner was informed, long before he held the treaty of Fort Harmar, that the consent of a general council was absolutely necessary to convey any part of these lands to the United States? The part of these lands which the United States now wish us to relinquish, and which you say are settled, have been sold by the United States since that time. " Brothers : You say, ' the United States wish to have con- firmed all the lands ceded to them by the treaty of Fort Har- mar, and also a small tract at the Rapids of the Ohio, claimed by General Clark, for the use of himself and his warriors. And, in consideration thereof, the United States would give such a large sum of money or goods, as was never given, at any one time, for any quantity of Indian lands, since the white people first set their feet on this island. And, because these lands did every year furnish you with skins and furs, with which you bought clothing, and other necessaries, the United States will now furnish the like constant supplies. And, therefore, besides the great sum to be delivered at once, they will every year deliver you a large quantity of such goods as are best fitted to the wants of yourselves, your women, and children.' " Brothers : Money, to us, is of no value ; and to most of us unknown : and, as no consideration whatever can induce us to sell the lands on which we get sustenance for our women and children, we hope we may be allowed to point out a mode by which your settlers may be easily removed, and peace thereby obtained. " Brothers : We know that these settlers are poor, or they would never have ventured to live in a country which has been in continual trouble ever since they crossed the Ohio. Divide, therefore, this large sum of money, which you have offered to us, among these people. Give to each, also, a proportion of what HISTORICAL NOTES. 353 you say you would give to us, annually, over and above this very large sum of money ; and, we are persuaded, they would most readily accept of it, in lieu of the lands you sold them. If you add, also, the great sums you must expend in raising and paying armies, with a view to force us to yield you our country, you will certainly have more than sufficient for the purposes of re-paying these settlers for all their labor and their improvements. "Brothers: You have talked to us about concessions. It appears strange that you should expect any from us, who hav^e only been defending our just rights against your invasions. We want peace. Restore to us our country, and we shall be enemies no longer. " Brothers : You make one concession to us by offering us your money; and another by having agreed to do us justice, after having long, and injuriously withheld it: we mean in the acknowledgment you have now made, that the King of Eng- land never did, nor ever had a right to give you our country, by the treaty of peace. And you want to make this act of common justice a great part of your concessions; and seem to expect that, because you have at last acknowledged our inde- pendence, we should, for such a favoi', surrender to you our country. "Brothers: You have talked, also, a great deal about pre- emption, and your exclusive right to purchase Indian lands, as ceded to you by the King, at the treaty of peace. " Brothers : We never made any agreement with the King, nor with any other nation, that we would give to either the exclusive right of purchasing our lands: and we declare to you that we consider ourselves free to make any bargain or cession of lands, whenever and to whomsoever we please. If the white people, as you say, made a treaty that none of them but the King should purchase of us, and that he has given that right to the United States, it is an aftair which concerns you and him, and not us. We have never parted with such a power. "Brothers: At our general council held at the Glaize last fall, we agreed to meet commissioners from the United States, 45 354 HISTORICAL NOTES. for the purpose of restoring peace, provided they consented to acknowledge and confirm our boundary line to be the Ohio: and we determined not to meet you, until you gave us satis- faction on that point. That is the reason we have never met. We desire you to consider, brothers, that our only demand is the peaceable possession of a small part of our once great coun- try. Look back, and review the lands from whence we have been driven to this spot. We can retreat no farther; because the country behind hardly affords food for its present inhabi- tants; and we have, therefore, resolved to leave our bones in this small space to which we are now confined. " Brothers : We shall be persuaded that you mean to do us justice, if you agree that the Ohio shall remain the boundary line between us. If you will not consent thereto, our meeting will be altogether unnecessary. This is the great point which we hoped would have been explained before you left your homes, as our message, last fall, was principally directed to- obtain that information. " Done in general council, at the foot of the Maumee Rapids, the 13th day of August, 1793. NATIONS. Wyandots, Miajiies, Mohicans, Seven Nations, of Canada, Ottawas, Connoys, Pottawattamies, Messasagoes, Delawares, Senegas, of the Glaize, Chippewas, Nantakokies, Shawanees, Munsees, Creeks, Cherokees." The commissioners of the United States immediately sent the following brief answer to the confederate Indians at the Rapids of the Maumee : " To the Chiefs and Warriors of the Indian Nations, assem- bled at the foot of the Maumee Rapids : — Brothers : We have just received your answer, dated the 13th instant, to our speech of the 31st of last month, which we delivered to your deputies at this place. You say it was interpreted to all your nations ; and we presume it was fully understood. We therein expli- citly declared to you, that it icas now impossible to make the HISTORICAL NOTES. 355 river Ohio the boundary between your lands and the lands of the United States. Your answer amounts to a declaration, that you will agree to no other boundary than the Ohio. The negotiation is therefore at an end. We sincerely regret that peace is not the result; but, knowing the upright and liberal views of the United States, which, as far as you gave us an opportunity, we have explained to you, we trust that impartial judges will not attribute the continuance of the war to them. "Done at Captain Elliott's, at the mouth of Detroit river, the I6th day of August, 1793. BENJAMIN LINCOLN, 1 Commissioners BEVERLEY RANDOLPH, \ of the TIMOTHY PICKERING, J United States." On the 17th of August, the commissioners left the mouth of the Detroit river. They arrived at Fort Erie on the 23d, and immediately despatched the following letter to Major General Wayne, at Fort Washington: " Fort Erie, 23d August, 1793. "Sir: We are on our return home from the mouth of De- troit river, where we lay four weeks waiting for the Indians to close their private councils at the Rapids of the Maumee, that we might all remove to Sandusky and open the treaty. But, after sending repeated deputations to us, to obtain answers to particular questions, they finally determined not to treat at all. This final answer was received on the 16th instant; when we immediately began to embark to recross Lake Erie. Although we did not etfect a peace, yet we hope that good may here- after arise from the mission. The tranquillity of the country northwest of the Ohio, during the (supposed) continuance of the treaty, evinced your care of our safety ; and we could not leave this quarter without returning you our unfeigned thanks. We are, sir, yours, &c. BENJAMIN LINCOLN, BEVERLEY RANDOLPH, TIMOTHY PICKERING." CHAPTER XVII. Owing to various causes, which have been sufficiently ex- plained in the preceding chapters, the overtures of peace which were made by the government of the United States to the northwestern Indians were rejected by those tribes. On the 5th of October, 1793, Major General Wayne addressed to the Secretary of War a letter from which the following is an ex- tract : " Head Quarters, Hobson's Choice, ) Near Fort Washington, 5th October, 1793. ) " Agreeably to the authority vested in me by your letter of the 17th of May, 1793, I have used every means in my power to bring forward the mounted volunteers from Kentucky, as you will observe by the enclosed correspondence wdth His Ex- cellency Governor Shelby, and Major General Scott, upon this interesting occasion. I have even adopted their own proposi- tion by ordering a draught of the miUtia, which I consider as the dernier resort, and from which I must acknowledge that I have but little hopes of success ! Add to this, that we have a considerable number of officers and men sick and debilitated, from fevers, and other disorders incident to all armies. But, this is not all : we have recently been visited by a malady call- ed the influenza, which has pervaded the whole line in a most alarming and rapid degree. Fortunately this complaint has not been fatal except in a few instances ; and I have now the pleasure of informing you that we are generally recovered, or in a fair way ; but our effisctive force will be much reduced. * * * After leaving the necessary garrisons at the several posts, (which will generally be composed of the sick and inva- HISTORICAL NOTES. 357 lids,) 1 shall not be able to advance beyond Fort Jetlerson with more than twenty-six hundred regular effectives, officers inclu- ded. What auxiliary force we shall have is yet to be deter- mined: at present their numbers are only thirty-six guides and spies, and three hundred and sixty mounted volunteers. This is not a pleasant picture; but something must be done immedi- ately, to save the frontiers from impending savage fury. '* I will, therefore, advance to-morrow, with the force I have in order to gain a strong position about six miles in front of Fort Jefferson, so as to keep the enemy in check (by exciting a jealousy and apprehension for the safety of their women and children,) until some favorable circumstance or opportunity may present to strike with effect. The present apparent tran- quillity on the frontiers, and at the head of the line, is a con- vincing proof to me, that the enemy are collected or collecting in force, to oppose the Legion, either on its march, or in some unfavorable position for the cavalry to act in. Disappoint them in this favorite plan or manoeuvre, they may probably be tempted to attack our lines. In this case I trust they will not have much reason to triumph from the encounter. They can- not continue long embodied for want of provision ; and, at their breaking up, they will most certainly make some desperate effort upon some quarter or other. Should the mounted volun- teers [from Kentucky] advance in force, we might yet compel those haughty savages to sue for peace before the next opening of the leaves. * * * Knowing the critical situation of our infant nation, and feeling for the honor and reputation of gov- ernment, (which I will support with my latest breath,) you may rest assured that I will not commit the Legion unneces- sarily : and unless more powerfully supported than I at present have reason to expect, I will content myself by taking a strong position advanced of Fort Jefferson, and, by exerting every power, endeavor to protect the frontiers, and to secure the posts and army during the winter, or until I am honored with your further orders." In a letter from Major General Wayne to the Secretary of War, dated " Camp, south-west branch of the [Great] Miami, 358 HISTORICAL NOTES. six miles advanced of Fort Jefferson, October '23d, 1793," the writer said, " I have the honor to inform you, that the Legion took up its line of march from Hobson's Choice, on the 7th instant, and arrived at this place in perfect order, and without a single accident, at ten o'clock in the morning of the 13th, when I found myself arrested for want of provision. Notwith- standing this defect, I do not despair of supporting the troops in our present position, or rather at a place called Still Water, at an intermediate distance betvi^een the field of [St. Clair's] battle and Fort Jefferson. * * * The safety of the western frontiers, the reputation of the Legion, the dignity and interest of the nation, all forbid a retrograde manceuvre, or giving up one inch of ground we now possess, until the enemy are com- pelled to sue for peace. The greatest difficulty which at pre- sent presents, is that of furnishing a sufficient escort to secure our convoys of provisions and other supplies from insult and disaster; and, at the same time, to retain a sufficient force in camp to sustain and repel the attacks of the enemy, who ap- pear to be desperate and determined. We have recently ex- perienced a little check to our convoys, which may probably be exaggerated into something serious by the tongue of fame, before this reaches you. The following is, however, the fact, viz: Lieutenant Lowry of the 2d sub-legion and Ensign Boyd of the 1st, with a command consisting of ninety non-commis- sioned officers and privates, having in charge twenty wagons, belonging to the Quartermaster General's department, loaded with grain, and one of the Contractor's [wagons] loaded with stores, were attacked early in the morning of the 17th instant, about seven miles advanced of Fort St. Clair, by a party of Indians. Those gallant young gentlemen (who promised at a future day to be ornaments to their profession,) together with thirteen non-commissioned officers and privates, bravely fell, after an obstinate resistance against superior numbers, being abandoned by the greater part of the escort upon the first dis- charge. The savages killed, or carried off, about seventy hor- ses, leaving the wagons and stores standing in the road, which have all been brought to this camp without any other loss or HISTORICAL NOTES. 359 damage except some trifling articles. One company of light infantry, and one troop of dragoons have been detached this morning to reinforce four other companies of infantry, com- manded by Colonel Hamtramck, as an escort to the Quarter- master General's and Contractor's wagons and pack-horses. I have this moment received the return of the mounted volun- teers * [from Kentucky] under General Scott, recently arrived and encamped in the vicinity of Fort Jefferson. I shall imme- diately order a strong detachment of those volunteers as a fur- ther reinforcement to Colonel Hamtramck. I fear the season is too far advanced to derive that essential service, which, oth- erwise, might be expected from them. Whether they can act with effect or not is yet eventual. It is reported that the In- dians at Auglaize have sent their women and children into some secret recess or recesses, from their towns ; and that the whole of the warriors are collected or collecting in force. The savages, however, cannot continue long embodied, for want of provisions. On the contrary, we have, by great exertions, secured in this camp seventy thousand rations, I expect one hundred and twenty thousand in addition by the return of the present convoy, unless they meet with a disaster — a thing that can scarcely happen should my orders be duly executed, which I have no cause to doubt, from the character, vigilance, and experience of the commanding officer, [Colonel Ham- tramck,] A great number of men, as well as officers, have been left sick and debilitated at the respective garrisons,! from a malady called the influenza. Among others, General Wilkin- son has been dangerously ill. He is now at Fort Jefferson, and on the recovery. I hope he will soon be sufficiently re- stored to take his command in the Legion." The approach of winter, which was regarded as an unfavor- able season for carrying on active hostilities against the Indians, induced General Wayne to dismiss the Kentucky militia, and to place the regular troops in winter quarters. On a tributary of the southwest branch of the Big Miami river he erected * About one thousand men. t Forts Washington, Hamilton, St. Clair, and Jefferson. 360 HISTORICAL NOTES. Fort Greenville,* where he established his head-quarters. On the 23d of December, 1793, he ordered eight companies of infantry, and a detachment of artillery, under the command of Major Henry Burbeck, to take possession of the ground on which St. Clair was defeated in 1791, and to erect a fortifica- tion at that place. This order was executed, and the new post was called Fort Recovery.f When this fort was built and garrisoned. General Wayne received, from some of the hostile tribes, a message in which they expressed a desire to make peace with the United States. The terms, however, on which Wayne proposed to enter into pacific negotiations, were either evaded or rejected by the Indians ; many of whom were led to believe, early in 1794, that Great Britain would, in the course of that year, assist them in then' attempt to force the American settlers to retire from the territory lying on the northvs^estern side of the Ohio. J It is necessary here to refer to the unsettled and critical state of the relations which existed at this period between the United States of America and the governments of Great Brit- ain, France, and Spain. The French nation, which, in 1778, under the government of Louis XVI. had established treaties of commerce and alliance with the United States, was, during the year 1793, convulsed to its centre by the progress of an extraordinary and sanguinary revolution, terribly marked by its anarchy, massacres, cruelty, and impiety. The revolution- ists formed a new constitution, abolished royalty, beheaded Louis XVI. and his wife, suppressed religious communities, prohibited the wearing of ecclesiastical costumes, abolished % This fort stood in the vicinity of the site on which the town of Greenville, in Darke County, Ohio, now stands. t The site on whicli Fort Recovery was built lies on the bank of one of the head branch- es of the river Wabash, in the southwestern part of Mercer County, Ohio, about one mile and a quarter east of the eastern boundary of Indiana. J On the 10th of February, 1794, Lord Dorchester, the Governor General of Canada, told a number of Indian chiefs, wha were assembled in council at Quebec, "that he should not be surprised if Great Britain and the United States were at war in the course of the year;" and, in April, 1794, three companies of British troops moved from Detroit to the foot of the Rapids of the Maumee, where, acting under the direction of Lieutenant Gover- nor Simcoe, they built and garrisoned a fort on the left hank of the river. HISTORICAL NOTES. 361 » Sundays, instituted what was called the worship of Reason, armed near a million of soldiers,* and engaged in a war in which they were opposed by the arms of England, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Piedmont, the two Sicilies, and the Roman States. At this time the govei'nment of the United States was press- ed with business "equally delicate, difficult and disagreeable."! On the 8th of April, 1793, Mr. Genet, Minister Plenipotentiary of the French Republic, arrived at Charleston, in South Caro- lina, where he was received with enthusiasm by the Governor of the state and the citizens, who remembered with sentiments of gratitude the essential aid which the people of the United States had received from France during the latter years of the American Revolutionary war. The secret instructions which were given by the Executive Council of France to Mr. Genet, on his departure for the United States, contained the following passage : " As it is possible that the false representations which have been made to Congress of the situation of our internal affairs — of the state of our maritime force — of our finances, and especially of the storms with which we are threatened, may make her ministers, in the negotiations which citizen Ge- net is instructed to open, adopt a timid and wavering conduct, the Executive Council charges him, in the expectation that the American Government will finally determine to make a common cause with us, to take such steps as will appear to him exigen- cies may require, to serve the cause of liberty and the freedom of the people." J Holding the opinion that the government of the United States would finally determine to make a " common cause^' with France, the French Executive Council had fur- nished Mr. Genet with blank commissions for privateers, to be delivered " to such French or American owners as should ap- ply for the same ;" and he had, also, in his possession, "officers' commissions, in blank, for several grades in the army." Even * Letter (dated June 14, 1793,) from the French Minister Genet, to Mr. Jefferson, Sec- retary of State. t Jefferson's Correspondence, iii. 248. I Am. State Papers— Foreign Relations, i. 709 — Pitkin's Pol. and Civ. His. ii. 361. 46 362 HISTORICAL N0TE8. before he reached Philadelphia, the seat of government, the British Minister laid before the President a list of complaints, founded principally on the proceedings of Mr. Genet, who, at Charleston, undertook to authorize the fitting and arming of vessels, enlisting men, and giving commissions to cruize and commit hostilities on nations with whom the United States were at peace. * Although the President and his Cabinet wished to see the cause of republicanism triumph in France, they determined, at this crisis, to maintain the neutrality of the United States, how- ever general the war might be in Europe ; and on the 22d of April, 1793, twenty-three days before Mr. Genet arrived at the seat of government, Washington issued a proclamation in which it was declared that " the duty and interest of the Uni- ted States required that they should, with sincerity and good faith, adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial to- wards the belligerent" powers " of Europe ; and that " it was the disposition of the United States to observe such conduct towards those powers respectively." The proclamation, also, exhorted and warned the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever tending to con- travene such a disposition ; and declared that those citizens of the United States, who might render themselves liable to pun- ishment, under the law of nations, by committing, aiding, or abetting hostilities against any of the belligerent powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles which were deemed contraband, would not receive the protection of the United States, t Mr. Genet, on the 16th of May, arrived at Philadelphia, where he was received by the administration as the accredited Minister of the French Republic; yet, in defiance of the spirit of the proclamation of neutrality, he continued to distribute military commissions to American citizens, and to authorize not only the enlisting of such citizens, but the arming in Amer- ican ports, of vessels engaged in the service of France. On the * Am. State Papers^Foreign Relations, i. 150, 706 — Pitkin, ii. 367. t Am. State Papers — Foreign Relations, i. 140. HISTORICAL NOTES. 363 22d of June, 1793, Mr. Jefterson, Secretary of State, received a coimnuuication from Mr. Genet, in which that minister said, " Do not punish the brave individuals of your nation who ar- range themselves under our banner, knowing perfectly well, that no law of the United States gives to the government the sad power of arresting their zeal by acts of rigor. The Amer- icans are free: they are not attached to the glebe like the slaves of Russia: they may change their situation when they please."* Holding and expressing these opinions, disregarding the remon- strances of Washington and his cabinet, and encouraged by the sympathy of a large portion of the people of the United States, Mr. Genet authorized some of his officers in South Carolina and Georgia, to enlist men, and lead an expedition against the Spaniards of Florida; and, about the 2d of October, 1793, he despatched four Frenchmen, (Charles Delpeau, Mathurin, La Chaise, and Gignoux,) from Philadelphia, with a number of blank commissions, and with instructions to proceed to Ken- tucky, and raise an army of two thousand men, under the au- thority of the French RepubUc, for the purpose of invading the Spanish possessions of Louisiana.f General George Rogers Clark accepted a commission from the agents of Genet, agreed to command the proposed expedition against Louisiana, and issued proposals for raising troops. In these proposals, he styled himself " Major General in the armies of France, and comman- der-in-chief of the French revolutionary legions on the Missis- sippi;" and called "for volunteers for the reduction of the Spanish forts on the Mississippi, for opening the trade of that river, and giving freedom to its inhabitants." "All persons serving on the expedition, to be entitled to one thousand acres of land ; those that engage for one year will be entitled to two thousand; if they serve three years, or during the present war with France, they will have three thousand acres of any unap- propriated land that may be conquered ; the officers in propor- * Am. State Papers — Foreign Relations, i. 15G. t As early as the month of August, 1793, Genet, Iiaving been informed of the state of public opinion in Kentucky on the subject of tlic navigation of the Mississippi, projected an expedition from that state against the Spaniards of Tiouisiana. 364 HISTORICAL NOTES. tion, pay, &c. as other French troops; all lawful plunder to be equally divided according to the custom of war; those who serve the expedition will have their choice of receiving their lands, or one dollar per day." * The extraordinary pretensions and the unwarrantable acts of Mr. Genet, and the many complaints and remonstrances, which, in consequence of his proceedings, were laid before the government of the United States by the minister of Great Britain and the commissioners of Spain, who then resided at Philadelphia, finally induced Washington to request the Re- public of France to recall its minister. On the 16th of August, 1793, Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of State, despatched to Gouver- neur Morris, American minister at Paris, a letter containing an account of the conduct of Mr. Genet, with instructions to lay the same before the French government. In this letter Mr. Jefferson said, " When the government forbids their citi- zens to arm and engage in the war, he [Genet] undertakes to arm and engage them. When they forbid vessels to be fitted in their ports for cruising on nations with w^hom they are at peace, he commissions them to fit and cruise. When they forbid an unceded jurisdiction to be exercised within their ter- ritory by foreign agents, he undertakes to uphold that exercise, and to avow it openly. * * * That friendship, which dictates to us to bear with his conduct yet awhile, lest the interests of his nation here should suffer injury, will hasten them to replace an agent w^hose dispositions are such a misrepresentation of theirs, and whose continuance here is inconsistent with order, peace, respect, and that friendly correspondence which we hope will ever subsist between the two nations. His govern- ment will see, too, that the case is pressing. That it is impos- sible for two sovereign and independent authorities to be going on within our territory, at the same time, without collision. They will foresee that if Mr. Genet perseveres in his proceed- ings, the consequences would be so hazardous to us, the exam- ple so humiliating and pernicious, that we may be forced even * H. Marshall's His. Kentucky, ii. 100, 102, 103.— Pitkin, il. 381 Butler's His. Ken- tucky, 224. — Am. State Papers, Foreign Relations, i. 454 to 460. HISTORICAL NOTES. 365 to suspend his functions before a successor can arrive to con- tinue them. If our citizens have not already been shedding each other's blood, it is not owing to the moderation of Mr. Genet, but to the forbearance of the government." * A copy of this letter from the Secretary of State to Gouver- neur Morris, was sent to Mr. Genet, who, on the ISth of Sep- tember, 1793, wrote to Mr. Jefferson a letter which contained the following remarkable expressions: -'It is in the name of the French people, that I am sent to their brethren — to free and sovereign men. It is then for the representatives of the Amer- ican people, and not for a single man, to exhibit against me an act "of accusation, if I have merited it. A despot may singly permit himself to demand from another despot the recall of his representative, and to order his expulsion in case of refusal. This is what the Empress of Russia did with respect to myself, from Louis XVI. But in a free state it cannot be so, unless order be entirely subverted; unless the people, in a moment of blindness, choose to rivet their fetters, in making to a single individual the abandonment of their most precious rights. * * * You are made to reproach me with having indiscreetly given to my official proceedings a tone of color, which has induced a belief, that they did not know, in France, either my character or my manners. I will tell you the reason, sir: it is that a pure and warm blood runs with rapidity in my veins ; that I love passionately my country ; that I adore the cause of liber- ty; that I am always ready to sacrifice my life to it; that to me, it appears inconceivable, that all the enemies of tyranny, that all virtuous men, do not march with us to the combat ; and that, when I find an injustice is done to my fellow citizens, that their interests are not espoused with the zeal which they merit, no consideration in the world would hinder either my pen or my tongue from tracing, from expressing my pain. 1 will tell you then without ceremony, that I have been ex- tremely wounded, sir: 1st, That the President of the United States was in a hurry, before knowing what I had to transmit * Am. State Papera — Foreign Relations, i. 170. 366 HISTORICAL NOTES. to him, on the part of the French Repubhc, to proclaim senti- ments, on which decency and friendship should at least have drawn a veil. 2d, That he did not speak to me at my lirst audience, but of the friendship of the United States towards France, without saying a word to me, without announcing a single sentiment, on our Revolution ; while all the towns from Charleston to Philadelphia, had made the air resound with their most ardent wishes for the French Republic. 3d, That he had received and admitted to a private audience, before my arrival, Noailles and Talon, known agents of the French coun- ter-revolutionists, who have since had intimate relations with two members of the Federal Government. 4th, That this first Magistrate of a free people, decorated his parlor with certain medallions of Capet* and his family, which served at Paris as signals of rallying. 5th, That the first complaints which were made to my predecessor on the armaments and prizes which took place at Charleston on my arrival, were, in fact, but a paraphrase of the notes of the English minister. 6th, That the Secretary of War, f to whom I communicated the wish of our governments of the Windward Islands, to receive promptly some fire-arms and some cannon, which might put into a state of defence possessions guarantied by the United States, had the front to answer with an ironical carelessness, that the prin- ciples established by the President, did not permit him to lend us so much as a pistol. 7th, That the Secretary of the Treas- ury, J with whom I had a conversation on the proposition which I made to convert almost the whole American debt, by means of an operation of finance authorized by law, into flour» rice, grain, salted provisions, and other objects of which France had the most pressing need, added to the refusal which he had already made officially of favoring this arrangement, the positive declaration, that, even if it were practicable, the United States could not consent to it, because England would not fail to con- sider this extraordinary reimbursement furnished to a nation * Louis XVI. t General Henry Knox. J Alexander Hamilton. ^ HISTORICAL NOTES. 367 with which she is at war, as an act of hostihty. 8th, That, by instructions from the President of the United States, the American citizens who ranged themselves under the banners of France, have been prosecuted and arrested ; a crime against Hberty unheard of, of which a virtuous and popular jury aven- ged with eclat the defenders of the best of causes. 9th, That incompetent tribunals were suffered to take cognizance of facts relative to prizes which treaties interdict them expressly from doing; that, on their acknowledgment of their incompetency, this property, acquired by the right of war, was taken from us, that it was thought ill of, that our consuls protested against these arbitrary acts, and that, as a reward for his devotion to his duty, the one at Boston was imprisoned as a malefactor. 10th, That the President of the United States took on himself to give to our treaties arbitrary interpretations, absolutely contrary to their true sense, and that, by a series of decisions which they would have us receive as laAvs, he left no other indemnification to France for the blood she spilt, for the trea- sure she dissipated in fighting for the independence of the United States, but the illusory advantage of bringing into their ports the prizes made on their enemies, without being able to sell them. 11th, That no answer is yet given to the notifica- tion of the decree of the National Convention for opening our ports in the two worlds to the American citizens, and granting the same favors to them as to the French citizens — advantages which will cease if there be a continuance to treat us with the same injustice. 12th, That he [Washington] has deferred, in spite of my respectful insinuations, to convoke Congress imme- diately, in order to take the true sentiments of the people, to fix the political system of the United States, and to decide whether they will break, suspend, or tighten their bands with France — an honest measure, which would have avoided to the General Government much contradiction and subterfuge, to me much pain and disgust, to the local governments, embar- rassments so much the greater, as they found themselves placed between treaties, which are laws, and decisions of the Federal Government, which are not: in fine, to the tribunals, duties so 368 HISTORICAL NOTES. much the more painful to fulfil, as they have been often under the necessity of giving judgments contrary to the intentions of the government. It results from all these facts, sir, that I could not but be profoundly aftected with the conduct of the Federal Government towards my country." * By letters of the 9th of November, 1793, President Wash- ington requested Isaac Shelby, Governor of Kentucky, and Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, to " take all the measures in the course of the law," and, " if necessary, to use effectual military force" for the prevention of any hostile enterprise against the possessions of Spain on the Mississippi. Governor St. Clair immediately published a proclamation in his territory informing the citizens of the contemplated invasion, and warn- ing them of the dangerous consequences of participating in it. The Governor of Kentucky, on the 13th of January, 1794, wrote to Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of State of the United States, a letter which contained the following passage : " I have great doubts, even if they [the agents and officers of Genet] do at- tempt to carry their plan into execution, (provided they man- age their business with prudence,) whether there is any legal authority to restrain or punish them, at least before they have actually accomplished it: for, if it is lawful for any one citizen of this state to leave it, it is equally so for any number of them to do it. It is also lawful for them to carry with them any quantity of provisions, arms, and ammunition ; and, if the act is lawful in itself, there is nothing but the particular intention with which it is done that can possibly make it unlawful ; but I know of no law w^hich inflicts a punishment on intention, only, or a criterion by which to decide what would be suffi- cient evidence of that intention, if it was a proper subject of legal censure. I shall, upon all occasions, be averse to the ex- ercise of any power which I do not consider myself as being clearly and explicitly invested with ; much less would I assume a power to exercise it against men who I consider as friends * Am, State Papers — Foreign Relations, i. 172. HISTORICAL NOTES. 369 and brethren, in favor of a man whom I view as an enemy and a tyrant. I shall also feel but little inclination to take an active part in punishing or restraining any of my fellow citi- zens for a supposed intention, only to gratify or remove the fears of the minister to a prince, who openly Avithholds from us an invaluable right, and who secretly instigates against us a most savage and cruel enemy. But, whatever may be my private opinion as a man, as a friend to liberty, an American citizen, and an inhabitant of the western waters, I shall, at all times, hold it as my duty to perform whatever may be consti- tutionally required of me, as Governor of Kentucky, by the President of the United States." * In the state of Kentucky, the friends of the Republic of France continued their efforts to raise an army for the inva- sion of Louisiana. They enlisted men, purchased boats, pro- visions, arms, and ammunition, and fixed the place of rendez- vous at the falls of the river Ohio, from which point they ex- pected to move, with two thousand men, on the 15th of April, 1794. At this time, while the foreign and domestic affairs of the American government were in a critical condition, the fact that the sympathy of a very large portion of the people of the United States was strongly enlisted in the cause of France, did not escape the jealous vigilance of the governments of Great Britain and Spain. Hence, at Quebec, on the 10th of Febru- ary, 1794, Lord Dorchester told a number of Indian chiefs " that he should not be surprised if Great Britain and the Uni- ted States were at war in the course of the year." Soon after this declaration was made Lieutenant Governor Simcoe was ordered to establish a British military post at the foot of the Rapids of the river Maumee, in the heart of the Indian coun- try; and, early in the spring of 1794, a messenger from the Spaniards west of the Mississippi, arrived among the Indians, who were assembled at the Rapids of the Maumee. This mes- senger was "charged with a war speech, offering assistance from the Spanish settlements about the Mississippi."! * Am. State Papers — Foreign Relations, i. 456. t Stone's Life of Brant, ii. 375. 47 370 HISTORICAL NOTES. In the month of February, 1794, Mr. Fauchet arrived m the United States, and was received as the accredited mhiister of the French RepubHc, in the place of Mr. Genet. The new- minister condemned the conduct of his predecessor, and, for a brief period of time '• used all the means in his power to pre- vent [French] armaments in the United States." * On the 24th of March, 1794, President Washington publish- ed the following proclamation : — "Whereas I have received information that certain persons, in violation of the laws, have presumed, under color of a foreign authority, to enlisi citizens of the United States and others, within the state of Kentucky, and have there assembled an armed force, for the purpose of invading and plundering the territories of a nation at peace with the United States: And, whereas, such unwarrantable measures, being contrary to the laws of nations, and to the duties incumbent on every citizen of the United States, tend to disturb the tranquillity of the same, and to involve them in the calamities of war : And, whereas, it is the duty of the Ex- ecutive to take care that such criminal proceedings should be suppressed, the offenders brought to justice, and all good citi- zens cautioned against measures likely to prove so pernicious to their country and themselves, should they be seduced into similar infractions of the laws. I have, therefore, thought pro- per to issue this proclamation, hereby solemnly w^arning every person not authorized by the laws, against enlisting any citi- zen or citizens of the United States, or levying troops, or as- sembling any persons within the United States for the purpo- ses aforesaid, or proceeding in any manner to the execution thereof, as they will answer the same at their peril : And I do, also, admonish and require all citizens to refrain from enlisting, enrolling, or assembling themselves for such unlawful purposes; and from being in any way concerned, aiding, or abetting therein, as they tender their own welfare; inasmuch as all lawful means will be strictly put in execution for securing obe- dience to the laws, and for punishing such daring and danger- * Am. State Papers — Foreign Relations, i. 588. HISTORICAL NOTES. 371 ous violations. And I do, moreover, charge and require all courts, magistrates, and other officers whom it may concern, according to their respective duties, to exert the powers in them severally vested, to prevent and suppress all such unlaw- ful assemblages and proceedings, and to bring to condign pun- ishment those who may have been guilty thereof, as they re- gard the due authority of government, and the peace and wel- fare of the United States. In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. Done at Phila- delphia, the 24th day of March, 1794, and of the independence of the United States of America, the eighteenth. Go. WASHINGTON." On the 31st of March, seven days after the publication of the Ibregoing proclamation, Washington despatched orders and instructions to General Wayne, requiring that officer to send a "detachment to take post at Fort Massac;* and to erect a strong redoubt and blockhouse, with some suitable cannon from Fort Washington." In obedience to this requi- sition, General Wayne ordered Major Thomas Doyle, with a small detachment consisting of infantry and artillery, to move from Fort Washington down the river Ohio, and fortify the site of old Fort Massac. Major Doyle was furnished with the following instructions, which were marked "secret and confi- dential." — "It has not been unknown to you, that a number of lawless people, residing on the waters of the Ohio, in defi- ance of the national authority, have entertained the daring de- sign of invading the territories of Spain. The atrocity of this measure, and its probable effects, are pointed out in the proc- lamation of the President of the United States, herewith deliv- ered to you. If this design should be persisted in, or hereafter revived, and any such parties should make their appearance in the neighborhood of your garrison, and you should be well in- * Fort Massac, or "the old Cherokee fort," stood an the northern bank of tlie Ohio, about eight miles below the mouth of the Tennessee river. It is said that the name of this place had its origin in the massacre of a small number of Frenchmen who made an attempt in the early part of the 18th century, to establish a trading post at this point. 372 HISTORICAL NOTES. formed that they are armed and equipped for war, and enter- tain the criminal intention described in the President's procla- mation, you are to send to them some person in whose veracity you could confide, and if such person should be a peace officer he would be the most proper messenger, and warn them of their evil proceedings, and forbid their attempting to pass the fort at their peril. But if, notwithstanding every peaceable effort to persuade them to abandon their criminal design, they should still persist in their attempts to pass down the Ohio, you are to use every military means in your power for pre- venting them, and for which this shall be your sufficient justi- fication, -provided you have taken all the pacific steps before directed." The discouraging conduct of the new French minister, the proclamation of the President, the passage, by Congress, of a law " providing for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States," *' and the erection of a military post at Fort Massac, finally forced the friends of the French Republic to abandon, reluctantly, an expedition which was planned and almost prepared, "for the reduction of the Spanish forts on the Mississippi, for opening the trade of that river, and giving freedom to its inhabitants." On the morning of the 30th day of June, 1794, an escort con- sisting of ninety riflemen and fifty dragoons, commanded by Ma- jor McMahon, was attacked by " a numerous body of Indians, under the walls of Fort Recovery." f The Indians, who were probably assisted by a small number of British agents and French Canadian volunteers, made several attacks on the fort within the space of about twenty-four hours, when they reti- red. In these attacks the Americans lost twenty-two men killed, thirty wounded, and three missing. They also lost two hundred and twenty-one horses, killed, wounded and missing. Among the officers killed, were Major McMahon, Captain *Laws of the United States, ii. 425. t Am. State Papers — Indian Affairs, 1. 487. — Tlie number of Indians wlio were engaged in this attack on Fort Recovery, lias been variously estimated at from seven hundred to fifteen hundred men. HISTORICAL NOTES. 373 Hartshorne, Lieutenant Craig, and Cornet Torry. Captain Alexander Gibson, (who was the commandant at Fort Recov- ery,) Captain Taylor, of the dragoons, and Lieutenant Drake, of the infantry, were distinguished for their gallant conduct. The Indians left eight or ten warriors dead on the field; al- though " they were employed during the night, which was dark and foggy, in carrying off their dead [and wounded] by torch light." * On the 26th of July, 1794, Major General Scott, with about sixteen hundred mounted volunteers from Kentucky, arrived at Fort Greenville, and joined the regular troops under the command of Wayne ; and, on the 2Sth of July the united for- ces commenced their march for the Indian towns on the Mau- mee river. On the banks of St. Mary's river, at a point about twenty-four miles northward of Fort Recovery, Wayne erect- ed and garrisoned a small post which he named Fort Adams. The army moved from this position on the 4th of August, and arrived, on the 8th of the same month, at the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers. In a letter, dated at this place on the 14th of August, 1794, and addressed to the Secretary of War, General Wayne said, " I have the honor to inform you that the army under my command took possession of this very important post on the morning of the Sth instant — the enemy on the preceding evening, having abandoned all their settle- ments, towns, and villages, with such apparent marks of sur- prise and precipitation, as to amount to a positive proof that our approach was not discovered by them, until the arrival of a Mr. Newman, of the Quartermaster General's Department, who deserted from the army near the St. Mary's. * * * I had made such demonstrations, for a length of time previously to taking up our line of march, as to induce the savages to expect our advance by the route of the Miami villages, to the left, or towards Roche de Bout, by the right ; which feints appear to have produced the desired effect, by drawing the attention of the enemy to those points, and gave an opening for the army *Letter from Wayne to the Secretary of War, dated "Greenville, 7th July, 1794." 374 HISTORICAL NOTES. to approach undiscovei'ed by a devious, i. e in a central direc- tion. Thus, sir, we have gained possession of the grand empo- rium of the hostile Indians of the west, without loss of blood. The very extensive and highly cultivated fields and gardens, show the work of many hands. The margin of those beautiful rivers, the Miamies of the Lake [or Maumee] and Auglaize, appear like one continued village for a number of miles, both above and below this place; nor have I ever before beheld such immense fields of corn, in any part of America, from Canada to Florida. We are now employed in completing a strong stockade fort, with four good block houses, by way of bastions, at the confluence of Auglaize and the [Maumee,] which I have called Defiance. * * * Every thing is now pre- pared for a forward move to-morrow morning, towards Roche de Bout, or foot of the Rapids. * * * Yet I have thought pro- per to offer the enemy a last overture of peace ; and as they have every thing that is dear and interesting now at stake, I have reason to expect that they will listen to the proposition mentioned in the enclosed copy of an address,* despatched yesterday by a special flag [Christopher Miller,] who I sent under circumstances that will ensure his safe return, and which may eventually spare the eff'usion of much human blood. But should war be their choice, that blood be upon their own heads. America shall no longer be insulted with impunity. *This letter was addressed "To the Delawares, Shawaiiese, Miamies, and VVyaiidots, and to each and every of them ; and to all other nations of Indians, northwest of tl:e Ohio, whom it may concern." It contained the following passage : — "Brothers : Be no longer deceived or led astray by tlie false promises and language of the bad white men at the foot of the Rapids; they have neither the power nor inclination to protect you. No longer shut your eyes to your true interest and happiness, nor your ears to this last overture of peace. But, in pity to your innocent women and children, come and prevent the further effusion of your blood; let them experience the kindness and friendship of the United States of America, and the invaluable blessings of peace and tranquillity." The letter, also, invited "each and every hostile tribe of Indians to appoint deputies" to meet Wayne, without delay, between the mouth of Auglaize and ttie foot of the Rapids of the Maumee, "in order to settle the preliminaries of a lasting peace." Miller, the bearer of the letter, left Fort Defiance at four o'clock, P. M. on the 13th of August : on the 16th, he brought an answer from some of the hostile Indians to General Wayne, in which they said "that if he waited where he was ten days, and then sent Miller for them, they would treat with him; but that if he advanced they would give him battle." HISTORICAL NOTES. 375 To an all-powerful and just God I therefore connnit myself and gallant army." General Wayne moved with his forces from Fort Defiance, on the 15th of August, 1794, and directed his march towards the British fort at the foot of the Rapids of the river Maumee. On the 20th of August he gained a decisive victory over the army of the Indians. The battle was fought on the left bank of the Maumee, almost within the reach of the guns of the British fort. The following account of this engagement was transmitted, by General Wayne, to the Secretary of War. "Head Quarters, [Fort Defiance,] Grand Glaize, 28th August, 1794. "Sir: It is with infinite pleasure that I now announce to you the brilliant success of the Federal army under my command, in a general action with the combined force of the hostile In- dians, and a considerable number of the volunteers and militia of Detroit, on the 20th instant, on the banks of the Maumee, in the vicinity of the British post and garrison, at the foot of the Rapids. The army advanced from this place [Fort Defi- ance] on the 15th, and arrived at Roche de Boui on the 18th: the 19th was employed in making a temporary post* for the reception of our stores and baggage, and in reconnoitering the position of the enemy, who were encamped behind a thick brushy wood and the British fort. *'At eight o'clock on the morning of the 20th, the army again advanced in columns, agreeably to the standing order of march ; the Legion on the right, its flank covered by the Mau- mee ; one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left, under Brigadier General Todd, and the other in the rear under Brig- adier General Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volun- teers moved in front of the Legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep sufficiently advanced, so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action, it being yet undetermined whether the Indians would decide for peace or war. *This post, which was called "Fort Deposit," was about seven miles from the British fort at the foot of tlie Rapids. 376 HISTORICAL NOTES. "After advancing about five miles Major Price's corps re- ceived so severe a fire from the enemy, who were secreted in the woods and high grass, as to compel them to retreat. The Legion was immediately formed in two lines, principally in a close thick wood, which extended for miles on our left, and for' a very considerable distance in front; the ground being cover- ed with old fallen timber, probably occasioned by a tornado, Avhich rendered it impracticable for the cavalry to act with eftect, and afforded the enemy the most favorable covert for their mode of warfare. The savages were formed in three lines, within supporting distance of each other, and extending for near two miles, at right angles with the river. I soon dis- covered, from the weight of the fire and extent of their lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their favorite ground, and endeavoring to turn our left flank. I therefore gave orders for the second line to advance and sup- port the first; and directed Major General Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages, with the whole of the mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route; at the same time I ordered the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms, and rouse the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up, to deliver a close and well directed fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them time to load again. " I also ordered Captain Mis Campbell, who commanded the legionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy next the river, and which afforded a favorable field for that corps to act in. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and promptitude ; but such was the impetuosity of the charge by the first line of infantry, that the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers, were drove from all their coverts in so short a time, that, al- though every possible exertion was used by the officers of the second line of the Legion, and by Generals Scott, Todd, and Barbee, of the mounted volunteers, to gain their proper posi- tions, but part of each could get up in season to participate in the action ; the enemy being drove, in the course of one hour, more than two miles, through the thick woods already men- HISTORICAL NOTES. 377 tioned, by less than one half their numbers. From every ac- count the enemy amounted to two thousand combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine hun- dred.* This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving our victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle, which terminated under the influence of the guns of the British garrison, as you will observe by the enclos- ed correspondence between Major Campbell, the commandant, and myself, upon the occasion. "The bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the army, from the Generals down to the Ensigns, merit my high- est approbation. There were, however, some, whose rank and situation placed their conduct in a very conspicuous point of view, and which I observed with pleasure, and the most lively gratitude. Among whom, I must beg leave to mention Brigadier General Wilkinson, and Colonel Hamtramck, the commandants of the right and left wings of the Legion, whose brave example inspired the troops. To those I must add the names of my faithful and gallant aids-de-camp, Captains De Butt and T. Lewis, and Lieutenant Harrison, who with the Adjutant General, Major Mills, rendered the most essential service by communicating my orders in every direction, and by their conduct and bravery exciting the troops to press for victory. Lieutenant Covington, upon whom the command of the cavalry now devolved, cut down two savages with his own hand, and Lieutenant Webb one, in turning the enemy's left flank. The wounds received by Captains Slough and Prior, and Lieutenant Campbell Smith, an extra aid-de-camp to Gen- eral Wilkinson, of the legionary infantry, and Captain Van Rensselaer, of the dragoons, Captain Rawlins, Lieutenant k The exact number of Iiuliaiis engaged in this action, against Wayne's army, has never been ascertained. There were, however, about 450 Delawares, 175 Mianiies, 275 Shawa- nees, 225 Ottawas, 275 Wyandots, and a small number of Senecas, Pottawattamies, and Chippcwas. The number of white men who fought in defence of the Indians in this en- gagement, was about seventy, including a corps of volunteers from Detroit, under the command of Captain Caldwell. 48 378 HISTORICAL NOTES, McKenny, and Ensign Duncan, of the mounted volunteers, bear honorable testimony of their bravery and conduct. "Captains H. Lewis and Brock, with their companies of light infantry, had to sustain an unequal fire for some time, which they supported with fortitude. In fact^ every officer and soldier, who had an opportunity to come into action, dis- played that true bravery which will always ensure success. And here permit me to declare, that I never discovered more true spirit and anxiety for action, than appeared to pervade the whole of the mounted volunteers ; and I am well persuaded that, had the enemy maintained their favorite ground for one half hour longer, they would have most severely felt the prow- ess of that corps. But, whilst I pay this tribute to the living, I must not neglect the gallant dead, among whom we have to la- ment the early death of those worthy and brave officers. Cap- tain Mis Campbell, of the dragoons, and Lieutenant Towles, of the light infantry, of the Legion, who fell in the first charge. " Enclosed is a particular return of the killed and wounded.* The loss of the enemy was more than double to that of the Federal army. The woods were strewed for a considerable distance with the dead bodies of Indians,! ^^^ their white aux- iliaries, the latter armed with British muskets and bayonets. " We remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and cornfields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol shot of the garrison, who were compelled to remain tacit spectators to this general devastation and con- flagration, among which were the houses, stores, and property of Colonel McKee, the British . Indian Agent, and principal stimulator of the war now existing between the United States and the savages. * According to this return, the regular troops lost twenty-six killed, and eighty.seven wounded. The loss of the Kentucky volunteers was seven killed, and thirteen wounded. Nine regulars and two volunteers died of their wounds, before the 28th of August, 1794. t A "Daily Journal of Wayne's Campaign," says, "the enemy giving way in all quar- ters * * * left us in possession of their dead to the number of forty." — [Am. Pion. i. 318- HISTORICAL NOTES. 379 " The army returned to this place [Fort Defiance] on the 27th, by easy marches, laying waste the villages and cornfields for about fifty miles on each side of the Maumee. There re- mains yet a great number of villages, and a great quantity of corn, to be consumed or destroyed, upon Auglaize and the Maumee above this place, which will be effected in the course of a few days. In the interim, we shall improve Fort Defiance, and, as soon as the escort returns with the necessary supplies from Greenville and Fort Recovery, the army will proceed to the Miami villages, in order to accomplish the object of the campaign. It is, however, not improbable that the enemy may make one desperate effort against the army ; as it is said that a reinforcement was hourly expected at Fort Miami* from Niagara, as well as numerous tribes of Indians living on the margin and islands of the lakes. This is a business rather to be wished for than dreaded, whilst the army remains in force. Their numbers will only tend to confuse the savages, and the victory will be the more complete and decisive, and which may eventually ensure a permanent and happy peace. Under these impressions, I have the honor to be your most obedient and very humble servant, ANTHONY WAYNE. • The Hon. Major General H. Knox, Secretary of War." Immediately after the action of the 20th of August, the American troops continued their march down the northwest- ern banks of the Maumee, and encamped within view of the British fort.f While the American army occupied this position, (from the afternoon of the 20th to the forenoon of the 23d,) five lettes passed between General Wayne and Major Camp- bell, the commandan.t of Fort Miami. Copies of these letters here follow : « At the time of the action of the 20th of August, the garrison of this fort consisted of about 250 regulars and 200 militia. There were "fou,r nine-pounders, two large howitzers and sis six-pounders mounted in the fort, and two swivels." — [Am. State Papers. t This fort, which was called "Fort Miami" [or Maumee] stood on the northwestern hank of the river Maumee, at or near the site on which Maumee city, (in Lucas County, Ohio,) now stands 380 HISTORICAL NOTES. [ NUMBER I.] '•Miami [Maumee] River, August 21, 1794. "Sir: An army of the United States of America, said to be under your command, having taken post on the banks of the Miami [Maumee] for upwards of the last twenty-four hours, almost within the reach of tlie guns of this fort, being a post belonging to His Majesty the King of Great Britain, occupied by His Majesty's troops, and Avhich I have the honor to com- mand, it becomes my duty to inform myself, as speedily as possible, in what light I am to view your making such near approaches to this garrison. I have no hesitation, on my part, to say, that I know of no war existing between Great Britain and America. I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your most obedient and very humble servant, WILLIAM CAMPBELL, Major 24th Regiment, Commanding a British post on the banks of the Miami. To Major General Wayne, &c." [number II.] " Camp on the bank of the Miami, [Maumee,] August 21, 1794. "Sir: I have received your letter of this date, requiring from me the motives which have moved the army under my com- mand to the position they at present occupy, far within the acknowledged jurisdiction of the United States of America. Without questioning the authority or the propriety, sir, of your interrogatory, I think I may, without breach of decorum, observe to you, that, were you entitled to an answer, the most full and satisfactory one was announced to you from the muzzles of my small arms, yesterday morning, in the action against the horde of savages in the vicinity of your post, which terminated gloriously to the American arms ; but, had it continued until the Indians, &c. were driven under the influence of the post and guns you mention, they would not have much impeded the progress of the victorious army under my command, as no HISTORICAL NOTES. 381 such post was established at the commencement of the present war between the Indians and the United States. I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your most obedient and very humb'le servant, ANTHONY WAYNE, Major General, And Commander-in-chief of the Federal Army. To Major William Campbell, &c." [number III.] « Fort Miami, August 22d, 1794. " Sir : Although your letter of yesterday's date fully authori- zes me to any act of hostility against the army of the United States of America in this neighborhood, under your command, yet, still anxious to prevent that dreadful decision, which, per- haps, is not intended to be appealed to by either of pur coun- tries, I have forborne, for those two days past, to resent those insults you have offered to the British flag flying at this fort, by approaching it within pistol shot of my works, not only singly, but in numbers, with arms in their hands. Neither is it my wish to wage war with individuals; but, should you, after this, continue to approach my post in the threatening manner you are at this moment doing, my indispensable duty to my king and country, and the honor of my pj'ofession, will oblige me to have recourse to those measures, which thousands of either nation may hereafter have cause to regret, and which, I solemnly appeal to God, I have used my utmost endeavors to arrest. I have the honor to be, sir, with much respect, your most obedient and very humble servant, WILLIAM CAMPBELL, Major 24th Regiment, Commanding at Fort Miami. Major General Wayne, &c. [ number IV.] " Camp, banks of the Miami, 22d August, 1794: "Sir: In your letter of the 21st instant, you declare, " Ihave no hesitation, on my part, to say, that I know of no war exist- 382 HISTORICAL NOTES. ing between Great Brkain and America.'' I, on my part, de- clare the same, and that the only cause I have to entertain a contrary idea at present, is the hostile act you are now in commission of, i. e. by recently taking post far within the well known and acknowledged limits of the United States, and erecting a fortification in the heart of the settlements of the Indian tribes now at war with the United States. This, sir, appears to be an act of the highest aggression, and destructive to the peace and interest of the Union. Hence, it becomes my duty to desire, and I do hereby desire and demand, in the name of the President of the United States, that you immedi- ately desist from any further act of hostility or aggression, by forbearing to fortify, and by withdrawing the troops, artillery, and stores, under your orders and direction, forthwith, and removing to the nearest post occupied by His Britannic Ma- jesty's troops at the peace of 1783, and which you will be per- mitted to do unmolested by the troops under my command. I am, with very great respect, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant, ANTHONY WAYNE. Major William Campbell, &c. [number v.] " Fort Miami, 22d August, 1794. "Sir: I have this moment the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this date ; in answer to which I have only to say, that, being placed here in the command of a Brit- ish post, and acting in a military capacity only, I cannot enter into any discussion, either on the right or impropriety of my occupying my present position. Those are matters that I con- ceive will be best left to the ambassadors of our different na- tions. Having said this much, permit me to inform you that I certainly will not abandon this post at the summons of any power whatever, until I receive orders to that purpose from those I have the honor to serve under, or the fortune of war should oblige me. I must still adhere, sh, to the purport of my letter this morning, to desire that your army, or individuals HISTORICAL iNOTES. 383 belonging to it, will not opproach within reach of my cannon, without expecting the consequences attending it. Although 1 have said in the former part of my letter, that my situation here is totally military, yet, let me add, sir, that I am much deceived, if His Majesty, the King of Great Britain, had not a post on this river, at and prior to the period you mention. I have the honor to be, sir, with the greatest respect, your most obedient and very humble servant, WILLIAM CAMPBELL, Major 24th Regiment, Commanding at Fort Miami. To Major General Wayne, 6z:c." CHAPTER XVIIL On the 14th of September, 1794, the army under the com- mand of Wayne moved from Fort Defiance and marched to- wards the deserted Miami village which stood at the conflu- ence of the rivers St. Joseph and St. Mary's. The troops reached that place on the 17th of September; and, on the 18th, General Wayne reconnoitered the ground, and selected a site for a fort. On the 22d of October, a fort was completed and garrisoned by a strong detachment, consisting of infantry and artillery, under the command of Colonel John F. Ham- tramck, who gave to the new fortification the name of Fort Wayne. The mounted volunteers of Kentucky moved from the Miami village on the 14th of October, on their way to Fort Washington, where, soon after their arrival, they were mustered and discharged. On the 28th of October, the main body of the regular froops marched from Fort Wayne on the route to Fort Greenville; at which post, on the 2d of Novem- ber, General Wayne again established his head-quarters. The Indians, who were defeated on the 20th of August, 1794, retired, disappointed and disheartened, to the borders of Maumee Bay : and, while Wayne continued to send messages to them, renewing his overtures of peace and friendship and inviting them to visit Fort Greenville for the purpose of con- cluding a treaty with the United States, Lieutenant Governor Simcoe, Colonel McKee and other officers of the British Indian department, persuaded Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, Buck-ong-a- he-Ls, and other distinguished chiefs, to agree to hold an In- dian Council at the mouth of Detroit river. After the action of the 20th of August, there was a general suspension of hos- HISTORICAL NOTES. 385 tilities on the part of the Indians, who seemed to be inclined to determine for war or peace, " according to the certainty or uncertainty of effectual support from the British." * A war between Great Britain and the United States at this juncture, was, however, prevented mainly by the prudence and firmness of Washington, seconded by the diplomatic skill of John Jay, who, on the 19th of April, 1794, was appointed Envoy Extra- ordinary from the United States of America to the Court of St. James, " for the purpose of confirming, between the United States of America and His Britannic Majesty, perfect harmony and a good correspondence, and of removing all grounds of dissatisfaction." t On the 19th of November, 1794, at London, after protracted and perplexing negotiations, Mr. Jay and William Wyndham (Lord Grenville) concluded a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between the United States and Great Britain. This treaty was comprised in twenty-nine articles, the first of which was in the words following: "There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace, and a true and sincere friend- ship, between His Britannic Majesty, his heirs and successors, and the United States of America; and between their respec- tive countries, territories, cities, towns, and people of every degree, without exception of persons or places." By the se- cond article of the treaty, the King of Great Britain agreed to withdraw, on or before the 1st day of June, 1796, all his troops and garrisons from all posts and places within the boundary lines assigned to the United States by the treaty of peace of 1783. During the winter of 1794-5, General Wayne was visited at his head-quarters by parties of Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippe- was, Pottawattamies, Sacs, Miamies, Delawares, and Shawa- nees ; who, respectively, signed preliminary articles of peace, and agreed to meet Wayne at Greenville, on or about the 15th of June, 1795, with all the sachems and war chiefs of their * Am. State Papers — Indian Affairs, p. 529. t Letters of credence from VVasliingtou to Jolin Jay — Am. State Papers — Foreign Rela lions, i. 471 49 386 HISTORICAL NOTES. nations, for the purpose of concluding a definitive treaty of peace between the United States and the Indian tribes of the northwestern territory. Early in the month of June, 1795, strong deputations from various tribes arrived at Greenville. The treaty of Fort Har- mar, which was concluded at the mouth of the Muskingum, on the 9th of January, 1789, was selected by General Wayne as the foundation upon which the Indians were required to begin negotiations for peace. In the course of these negotiations, which were carried on from the 16th of June to the 10th of August, some of the Indian chiefs were unwilling to acknowl- edge the validity of the treaty of Fort Harmar. The Little Turtle, a Miami chief, addressing General Wayne on the 18th of July, said, " You have told me that the present treaty should be founded upon that of Muskingum. I beg leave to observe to you, that that treaty was effected altogether by the Six Nations, who seduced some of our young men to attend it, to- gether with a few of the Chippewas, Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, and Pottawattamies. I beg leave to tell you that I am entirely ignorant of w^hat was done at that treaty."* On the 19th of July, Blue Jacket, a distinguished Shawanee chief, being in private conference with General Wayne, said, " Brother : I am very happy, that, notwithstanding all the diffi- culties and obstructions I had to encounter from my relations and others at Detroit, I have succeeded so far in bringing my people to you at this time. I expect intelligence this day of the approach of more of them. I have briefly acquainted you with these things. I repeat my assurances of the sincerity of my sentiments and resolution, to be, for the future, a steady friend to the United States." On the 21st of July, in council, Masass, a Chippewa chief, spoke to General Wayne, in behalf of the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawattamies, who were called "the three fires." The following is an extract from his speech: " Elder Brother: When you yesterday read to us the treaty of Muskingum, I under- * Minutes and proceedings of the Treaty at Greenville Am. State Papers — Indian Affairs— p. 567. HISTORICAL NOTES. 387 stood you clearly : at that treaty we had not good interpreters, and we were left partly unacquainted with many particulars of.it. I was surprised when I heard your voice, through a good interpreter, say that we had received presents and com- pensation for those lands which were thereby ceded. I tell you, now, that we, the three fires, never were informed of it. If our uncles, the Wyandots, and grandfathers, the Delawares, have received such presents, they have kept them to them- selves. I always thought that we, the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawattamies, were the true owners of those lands, but now I find that new masters have undertaken to dispose of them; so that, at this day, we do not know to whom they, of right, belong. We never received any compensation for them. I don't know how it is, but ever since that treaty, we have be- come objects of pity, and our fires have been retiring from this country. Now, elder brother, you see we are objects of com- passion; and have pity on our weakness and misfortunes; and, since you have purchased these lands, we cede them to you: they are yours. Perhaps, at a future day, your younger bro- thers may be made happy, by becoming your children, should you extend to us your paternal protection." Soon after Masass closed his remarks on the 21st, the Miami chief, Little Turtle, addressed to General Wayne the following speech: "I wish to ask of you and my brothers present, one question. I would be glad to know what lands have been ce- ded to you, as I am uninformed in this particular. I expect that the lands on the Wabash, and in this country, belong to me and my people. I now take the opportunity to inform my brothers of the United States, and others present, that there are men of sense and understanding among my people, as well as among theirs, and that these lands were disposed of without our knowledge or consent. I was yesterday surprised, when I heard from our grandfathers, the Delawares, that these lands had been ceded by the British to the Americans, when the for- mer were beaten by, and made peace with, the latter; because you had before told us that it was the Wyandots, Delawares, 388 HISTORICAL NOTES. Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatlamies, and Sauckejs, [Sacs,] who had made this cession." * On the 2'2d of July, in council at Greenville, Little Turtle spoke as follows: "Gekeral Wayne: I hope you will pay at- tention to what 1 now say to you. I wish to inform you where your younger brothers, the Miamies, live, and, also, the Potta- wattamies of St. Joseph's, together with the Wabash Indians. You have pointed out to us the boundary line between the In- dians and the United States, but now I take the liberty to in- form you that that line cuts off' from the Indians a large por- tion of country which has been enjoyed by my forefathers time immemorial, without molestation or dispute. The print of my ancestors' houses are every where to be seen in this portion. I was a little astonished at hearing you, and my bro- thers who are now present, telling each other what business you had transacted together heretofore at Muskingum, con- cerning this country. It is well knoAvn by all my brothers present, that my forefather kindled the first fire at Detroit; from thence he extended his lines to the head waters of Scioto; from thence, to its mouth ; from thence, down the Ohio, to the mouth of the Wabash, and from thence to Chicago, on Lake Michigan; at this place I first saw my elder brothers, the Shawanees. I have now informed you of the boundaries of the Miami nation, where the Great Spirit placed my forefather a long time ago, and charged him not to sell or part with his lands, but to preserve them for his posterity. This charge has been handed down to me. I was much surprised to find that my other brothers differed so much from me on this subject: for their conduct would lead one to suppose, that the Great Spirit, and their forefathers, had not given them the same charge that was given to me ; but, on the contrary, had direct- ed them to sell their lands to any white man who wore a hat, as soon as he should ask it of them. Now, elder brother, your younger brothers, the Miamies, have pointed out to you their country, and also to our brothers present. When I hear your ♦ Minutes and proceedings of the Treaty at Greenville. HISTORICAL NOTES. 3S9 remarks and proposals on this subject, I will be ready to give you an answer. I came with an expectation of hearing you say good things, but I have not yet heard what I expected."* Tarke, or Crane, the chief of the Wyandots, then arose and made a speech, from which the following passages are copied: "Elder Brother: [General Wayne:] Now listen to us! The Great Spirit above has appointed this day for us to meet to- gether. I shall now deliver my sentiments to you, the fifteen fires. I view you lying in a gore of blood. It is me, an In- dian, who has caused it. Our tomahawk yet remains in your head. The English gave it to me to place there. Elder Bro- ther : I now take the tomahawk out of your head ; but, with so much care, that you shall not feel pain or injury. I will now tear a big tree up by the roots, and throw the hatchet into the cavity which they occupied, where the waters will wash it away where it can never be found. Now I have buried the hatchet, and I expect that none of my color will ever again find it out. I now- tell you, that no one in particular can justly claim this ground : it belongs, in common, to us all : no earthly being has an exclusive right to it. The Great Spirit above is the true and only owner of this soil, and he has given us all an equal right to it. * * * Brother : You have proposed to us to build our good work on the treaty of Muskingum: that treaty I have always considered as formed upon the fairest principles. You took pity on us Indians. You did not do as our fathers the British agreed you should. You might by that agreement have taken all our lands ; but you pitied us, and let us hold part. I always looked upon that treaty to be binding upon the United States and us Indians." f In council, on the 24th of July, General Wayne delivered the following speech, before the assembled Indians : " Brothers : The Ottawas, Chippewas and Pottawattamies, open your ears, and be attentive: I have heard with very great pleasure, the sentiments delivered by Masass, as the unanimous voice of your three nations. When Mash-i-pi-nash-i-wish, your uncle, * Minutes and proceedings of tlie Treaty of Greenville. f Minutes and proceedings of tlic Treaty of Greenville. 390 HISTORICAL NOTES. came to me, last winter, I took him to my bosom, and deliv- ered him the keys of all my forts and garrisons ; and my heart rejoices when I look around me, and see so many of your chiefs and warriors assembled here, in consequence of that happy meeting. It will give infinite pleasure to General Washington, the great chief of the fifteen fires, when I inform him you have thrown the hatchet with so strong an arm, that it has reached the middle, and sunk to the bottom of the great lake, and that it is now so covered with sand, that it can never again be found. The belt which was given to Wassung,* many years since, establishing a road between you and the fifteen fires, I now return, renewed, and cleared of all the brush and brambles with which time had scattered it. " Brothers, of the three great fires : You say that you thought you were the owners of the land that was sold to the fifteen fires, at the treaty of Muskingum ; but, you say, also, that you never received any compensation for those lands. It was always the wish and the intention of the fifteen fires that the true owners of those lands should receive a full compensa- tion for them: if you did not receive a due proportion of the goods, as original proprietors, it was not the fault of the United States: on the contrary, the United States have twice paid for those lands ; first at the treaty of [Fort] Mcintosh, ten years ago, and next at that of Muskingum, six years since. Younger brothers : Notwithstanding these lands have been twice paid for, by the fifteen fires, at the places I have mentioned, yet, such is the justice and liberality of the United States, that they will now, a third time, make compensation for them. [A large string to the three fires.] " Brothers, the Miamies : I have paid attention to what the Little Turtle said two days since, concerning the lands which he claims. He said his fathers first kindled the fire at Detroit, and stretched his line from thence to the head waters of Scioto; thence, down the same, to the Ohio ; thence, down that river to the mouth of tiie Wabash ; and from thence to Chicago, on the southwest end of Lake Michigan, and observed that his t A Chippewa Indian. HISTORICAL NOTES. 391 forefathers had enjoyed that country undisturbed, from time immemorial. Brothers : These boundaries enclose a very large space of country, indeed ; they embrace, if I mistake not, all the lands on which all the nations now present live, as well as those which have been ceded to the United States. The lands which have been ceded have, within these three days, been acknowledged by the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies, Wyandots, Delawares, and Shawanees. The Little Turtle says, the prints of his forefathers' houses are every where to be seen within these boundaries. Younger brother, it is true, these prints are to be observed; but, at the same time, we dis- cover the marks of French possessions throughout this country, which were established long before we were born. These have, since been in the occupancy of the British, who must, in their turn, relinquish them to the United States, when they, the French and Indians, will be all as one people. [A white string.] " I will point out to you a few places where I discover strong traces of these establishments; and, first of all, I find at Detroit a very strong print, where the fire was first kindled by your forefathers: next at Vincennes, on the Wabash; again at Mus- quiton, on the same river; a little higher up that stream, they are to be seen at Ouiatenon. I discover another strong trace at Chicago ; another on the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan ; I have seen distinctly the prints of a French and a British post at the Miami villages, and of a British post at the foot of the Rapids, now in their possession ; prints, very conspicuous, are on the Great Miami, which were possessed by the French for- ty-five years ago ; and another trace is very distinctly to be seen at Sandusky. It appears to me, that, if the Great Spirit, as you say, charged your forefathers to preserve their lands entire for their posterity, they have paid very little regard to the sacred injunction: for I see they have parted with those lands to your fathers the French, and the English are now, or have been, in possession of them all; therefore, I think the charge urged against the Ottawas, Chippewas, and the other Indians, comes with a bad grace indeed, from the very people who perhaps set them the example. The English and French 392 HISTORICAL NOTES. both wore hats ; and yet your forefathers sold them, at various times, portions of your lands: however, as I have ah'eady ob- served, you shall now receive from the United States further valuable compensation, for the lands you have ceded to them by former treaties. " Younger brothers : 1 will now inform you who it was who gave us these lands, in the first instance : it was your fathers the British, who did not discover that care for your interest which you ought to have experienced. This is the treaty of peace, made between the United States of America and Great Britain, twelve years ago, at the end of a long and bloody war, when the French and Americans proved too powerful for the British. On these terms they obtained peace. [Here part of the treaty of 1783 was read.] Here you perceive that all the country south of the great lakes has been given up to America ; but the United States never intended to take that advantage of you, which the British placed in their hands : they wish you to enjoy your just rights, without interruption, and to promote your happiness. The British stipulated to surrender to us all the posts on their side of the boundary agreed on. I told you some days ago, that treaties should ever be sacredly fulfilled by those who make them ; but the British, on their part, did • not find it convenient to relinquish those posts as soon as they should have done; however, they now find it so, and a precise period is accordingly fixed for their delivery. I have now in my hand the copy of a treaty, made eight months since, be- tween them and us, of which I will read you a little. [First and second articles of Mr. Jay's treaty read.] By this solemn agreement, they promise to retire from Michilimackinack, Fort St. Clair, Detroit, Niagara, and all other places on this side of the lakes, in ten moons from this period, and leave the same to full and quiet possession of the United States. "Brothers: All nations present, now listen to me! Having now explained those matters to you, and informed you of all things I judged necessary for your information, we have noth- ing to do but to bury the hatchet, and draw a veil over past misfortunes. As you have buried our dead with the concern HISTORICAL NOTES. 393 of brothers, so I now collect the bones of your slain warriors, put them into a deep pit, which I have dug, and cover them carefully over with this large belt, there to remain undisturbed. I also dry the tears from your eyes, and wipe the blood from your bodies, with this soft, white Unen : no bloody traces will ever lead to the graves of your departed heroes ; with this I wipe all such entirely away. I deliver it to your uncle, the Wyandot, who will send it round amongst you. [A large belt with a white string attached.] 1 now take the hatchet out of your heads, and with a strong arm throw it into the centre of the srreat ocean, where no mortal can ever find it ; and I now deliver to you the wide and straight path to the fifteen fires, to be used by you and your posterity for ever. So long as you continue to follow this road, so long will you continue to be a happy people: you see it is straight and wide, and they will be bhnd indeed, who deviate from it. I place it also in your uncle's hands, that he may preserve it for you. [A large road belt.] I will, the day after to-morrow, show you the cessions you have made to the United States, and point out to you the lines which may, for the future, divide your lands from theirs; and, as you will have to-morrow to rest, I will order you a double allowance of drink ; because we have now buried the hatchet, and performed every necessary ceremony, to render propitious our renovated friendship." * In council with the Indians, on Monday, the 27th of July, General Wayne read the several articles of the proposed trea- ty ; t and, in explanation of the third article, spoke as follows : "Younger brothers: I wish you clearly to understand the ob- ject of these reservations : they are not intended to annoy, or impose the smallest degree of restraint on you, in the quiet en- joyment and full possession of your lands ; but to connect the settlements of the people of the United States, by rendering a passage from one to the other more practicable and convenient, and to supply the necessary wants of those who shall reside at them. They are intended, at the same time, to prove conve- * Minutes and proceedings of the Treaty of Greenville. t See Appendix F. 50 391 HISTORICAL NOTES. nient and advantaoeous to the different tribes of Indians resi- ding and hunting in their vicinity, as trading posts will be established at them, to the end that you may be furnished with goods in exchange for your skins and furs, at a reasonable rate. You will consider that the principal part of the now proposed reservations were made and ceded by the Indians, at an early period to the French : the French, by the treaty of peace of 1763, ceded them to the British; who, by the treaty of 1783, ceded all the posts and possessions they then held, or to which »they had any claim, south of the great lakes, to the United States of America. The treaty of Muskinrrum embraced al- most all these reservations, and has been recognized by the representatives of all the nations now present, during the course of last winter, as the basis upon which this treaty should be founded." On the 28th of July, the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Potta- wattamies said that they w^ere united in opinion, and that they fully agreed to the articles of the treaty proposed by General Wayne. The Sun, a Pottawattamie chief, said to Wayne — " I shall now dispose of this belt. [A war belt.] I live too far from the lakes, and my arm is not long enough to throw it into the centre of any of them ; neither have I strength sufficient to tear up a big tree and bury it beneath its roots; but 1 will put it from me as elfectually, by surrendering it into your hands, as by doing with it any thing else. You may burn it if you please, or transform it into a necklace for some handsome squaw ; and thus change its original design and appearance, and prevent, for ever, its future recognition. It has caused us much misery, and I am happy in parting with it." On the 29th of July, Tarke, (or Crane,) chief of the Wyan- dots, presented to General Wayne a written address * from the Wyandots, Delawares, and Shawanees. The following is an extract from this address : " Brothers, of the fifteen united fires, listen ! You have requested of us all, to give you an account of the nation, or nations, the true owner of the soil ♦ This address was signed by -J. Williams, agent aud commissioner for the chiefs and warriors of Sandusky." HISTORICAL NOTES. 395 northwest of the Ohio, of the boundaries you have laid oft' two days ago. We will ask you a lew questions. Did you not, in the last war betw^een you and the British, divide the country? He gave one part to you, and the other })art he reserved for himself. We are well aajuainted that you are master of the lands, and you have now thought proper to return a large tract of the country to us again. Brothers: We leave the dis- posal of the coujitrt/ icholli/ in your breast. Make the bounda- ries that shall divide the lands between our nations, as we, the Wyandots, Delawares, and Shaw'anees, wish to know if we are entitled to any part of it. W^e wish to inform you of the impropriety of not fixing the bounds of every nation's rights: for, the manner it now lies in, would bring on disputes forever between the difterent tribes of Indians; and we wish to be by ourselves, that we may be acquainted how far we might extend our claims, that no one may intrude on us nor we upon them." After the letter from the Wyandots, Delaw^ares, and Shaw- anees was read, Little Turtle, the principal Miami chief, arose and spoke as follows: "Elder brother, and all you present:* I am n-oino; to sav a few words in the name of the Pottawatta- mies, Weas, and Kickapoos. It is well known to you all, that people are appointed on those occasions, to speak the senti- ments of others ; therefore am I appointed for those three nations. Elder brother: You told your younger brothers, when we first assembled, that peace was your object; you swore your interpreters before us, to the faithful discharge of their duty, and told them the Great Spirit would })unish them, did they not perform it. You told us that it was not you, but the President of the fifteen fires of the United States who spoke to us; that, whatever he should say should be firm and lasting; that it was impossible he should say what was not true. Rest assured that your younger brothers, the Miamies, Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawattamies, Shawanees, Weas, Kickapoos, Pian- *Tlic numbers of tho ditTcient niitions of liulians present at, and parties to, the treaty of Greenville, were as follows : Wyandots, 180 — Delawares, 381 — Sliawanccs, 143— Otta- was, 45 — Chippewas, 46 — Pottawattamies, 240 — Miamies and Eel Rivers, 73 — Weas and Piankcshaws, 12 — Kickapoos and Kaskaskias, 10. Total, 1,130. — [Minutes and proceed- ings of the Treaty of tlrpenville. 396 HISTORICAL NOTES. keshaws, and Kaskaskias, are well pleased with your words, and are persuaded of their sincerity. You have told us to con- sider of the boundaries you showed us; your younger brothers have done so, and now proceed to give you their answer. "Elder brother: Your younger brothers do not wish to hide their sentiments from you. I wish them to be the same with those of the Wyandots and Delawares. You have told us, that most of the reservations you proposed to us, belonged to our fathers, the French and the British. Permit your younger bro- thers to make a few observations on this subject. Elder bro- ther: We wish you to listen with attention to our words. You have told your younger brothers, that the British imposed falsehoods on us, when they said the United States wished to take our lands from us, and that the United States had no such design : You pointed out to us the boundary line, which cross- ed a little below Loromie's store, and struck Fort Recovery, and run from thence to the Ohio, opposite the mouth of Ken- tucky river. Elder brother: You have told us to speak our minds freely, and we now do it. This line takes in the greater and best part of your brother's hunting ground; therefore, your younger brothers are of opinion, you take too much of their lands away, and confine the hunting of our young men within limits too contracted. Your brothers, the Miamies, the proprietors of those lands, and all your younger brothers pres- ent, wish you to run the line as you mentioned, to Fort Re- covery, and to continue it along the road, from thence to Fort Hamilton, on the Great Miami river. This is what your bro- thers request you to do, and you may rest assured of the free navigation of that river, from thence to its mouth, for ever. Brother: Here is the road we wish to be the boundary between us. What lies to the east, we wish to be yours ; that to the west, we would desire to be ours. [Presenting a road belt.] "Elder brother: In speaking of the reservations, you say they are designed for the same purpose as those for which our fathers, the French and English, occupied them. Your young- er brothers now wish to make some observations on them. Elder brother : Listen to me with attention. You told us you HISTORICAL NOTES. 397 discovered on the Great Miami, traces of an old fort. It was not a French fort, brother: it was a fort built by me. You perceived another at Loromie's: 'tis true a Frenchman once lived there for a year or two. The Miami villages were occu- pied as you remarked ; but, it was unknown to your younger brothers, until you told them, that we had sold land there to the French or English. I was much surprised to hear you say that it was my forefathers had set the example to the other Indians, in sellina; their lands. I will inform vou in what man- ner the French and English occupied those places. Elder bro- ther : These people were seen by our forefathers first at De- troit: afterwards we saw them at the Miami village — that glorious gate, which your younger brothers had the happiness to own, and through which all the good words of our chiefs had to pass, from the north to the south, and from the east to the west. Brothers, these people never told us they wished to purchase our lands from us. "Elder brother: I now give you the true sentiments of your younger brothers, the Miamies, with respect to the reservation at the Miami villages. We thank you for kindly contracting the limits you at first proposed. We wish you to take this six miles square on the side of the river where your fort now stands, as your younger brothers wish to inhabit that beloved spot again. You shall cut hay for your cattle wherever you please, and you shall never require in vain the assistance of your younger brothers at that place. Elder brother: The next place you pointed to was the Little River, and said you want- ed two miles square at that place. This is a request that our fathers, the French and British, never made us: it was always ours. This carrying place has heretofore proved, in a great degree, the subsistence of your younger brothers. That place has brought to us, in the course of one day, the amount of one hundred dollars. Let us both own this place, and enjoy in common the advantages it affords. You told us, at Chicago the French possessed a fort : we have never heard of it. We thank you for the trade you promised to open in our country ; and permit us to remark, that we wish our former traders may 398 HISTORICAL NOTES. be continued, and mixed with yours. Elder brother : On the subject of hostages, I have only to observe, that I trust all my brothers present are of my opinion with regard to peace and our future happiness. I expect to be with you every day when you settle on your reservations ; and it will be impossible for me or my people to withhold from you a single prisoner; therefore, we don't know why any of us should remain here. These are the sentiments of your younger brothers present, on these particulars." On the 30th of July, Little Turtle, at the request of the Kickapoos, Kaskaskias, and Weas, spoke in council of the wil- lino-ness of those tribes to accede to the several articles of the proposed treaty. The Wea chief. Little Beaver, said to Gen- eral Wayne, " You have asked for a reservation at the Ouia- tenon ; I hope you will put a trader there on the spot formerly occupied by one. We would wish Captain Prior to be our trader. I can't give you any lands there, brother: I will lend you some as long as you want it. Elder brother : You have told us of a place possessed by the French, called Musquiton. We have lived at our village a long time ; it is surprising that we should never know any thing about it. The French lived at Vincennes, where they were permitted to settle by my fore- fathers, who told them they should have a small quantity of land for the cattle, &c. on the east, but none on the west side of the Wabash." Masass, a Chippew^a chief, in the course of a short speech, said, " Elder brother : I have listened to all your words, and to those of my brothers. It would be very wrong in me to raise objections lo what has been done, as you have explained to us your treaty with Great Britain. You say at the fort of De- troit you intend to take a piece of land six miles deep from the river Rosine to Lake St. Clair. I now ask you, what is to be- come of our brothers, the French, who live on this land ? We look on them as our brothers and friends, who treated us well when abused by the British. We wish to know your senti- ments on the subject." HISTORICAL NOTES. 399 When Masass concluded his speech, General Wayne rose, and spoke as follows : " Younger brothers : All of you, listen with attention ! I shall now reply to what was said yesterday by the Wyandots. I will then answer the observations of the Little Turtle, made in behalf of the Miamies and Wabash tribes. Younger brothers, the Wyandots, Delawares, and Shawanees: I am pleased to hear you say, with one voice, for the second time, that I have done the greatest justice to you in dividing the lands of the United States from those of the Indian nations, by the boun- dary line which I have proposed. You request me to fix the boundaries that shall divide the lands between the respective tribes of Indians now present. Younger brothers : A moment's reflection will show you the impropriety, as well as impossi- bihty, of my acting in this business. You, Indians, best know your respective boundaries. I particularly recommend to all you nations present, to continue friendly and just to each oth- er : let no nation, or nations, invade, molest, or disturb, any other nation, or nations, in the hunting grounds they have heretofore been accustomed to live and hunt upon, within the boundary which shall now be agreed on ; and, above all, I en- join that no injury be offered to any nation, or nations, in con- sequence of the part any, or either of them, may have pursued, to establish a permanent and happy peace with the United States of America. Younger brothers, the Wyandots, and other Indians, of Sandusky, make your hearts and minds easy. Be assured that, as soon as circumstances will permit, a fort shall be established on the reserved lands, near the entrance of Sandusky Lake, which will always afford you protection against the common enemy, should any such presume to dis- turb our peace and mutual friendship. " Younger brothers, the Miamies : I have listened to you with attention; and have heard your observations upon the general boundary line proposed by me, as well as upon the proposed reservations. If my ears did not deceive me, I have heard all the other nations give their assent to the general boundary line, and to the reservations generally ; 1, therefore. 400 HISTORICAL NOTES. address you, the Miamies. You say that the general boundary line, as proposed by me, will take away some of your best hunting grounds ; and propose to alter it, and run it from Fort Recovery, through the centre of this place, and along the road to the Miami river, opposite Fort Hamilton. Younger bro- thers : This would be a very crooked, as well as a very difficult line to follow : because, there are several roads between this and Fort Hamilton, some of them several miles apart, which might certainly be productive of unpleasant mistakes and dif- ferences : that which I propose will be free from all difficulty and uncertainty. You all know Fort Recovery, as well as the mouth of Kentucky river : a straight line, drawn from one to the other, will never vary : they are two points which will ever be remembered, not only by all present, but by our chil- dren's children, to the end of time : nor will this line prevent your hunters, or young men, in the smallest degree, from pur- suing all the advantages which the chase affords ; because, by the seventh article, the United States of America grant liberty to all the Indian tribes to hunt within the territory ceded to the United States, without hindrance or molestation, so long as they demean themselves peaceably, and offer no injury to the people of the United States. "I find there is some objection to the reservation at Fort Wayne. The Little Turtle observes, he never heard of any cessions made at that place to the French. I have traced the lines of two forts at that point: one stood near the junction of the St. Josephs with the St. Mary's, and the other not far re- moved on the St. Mary's; and it is ever an established rule, among Europeans, to reserve as much ground around their forts "as their cannon can command: this is a rule as well known as any other fact. Objection has also been made res- pecting the portage between Fort Wayne and the Little river: and the reasons produced, are, that that road has been to the Miamies a source of wealth ; that it has, heretofore, produced them one hundred dollars per day. It may be so ; but let us enquire who, in fact, paid this heavy contribution. It is true the traders bore it in the first instance; but thev laid it on HISTORICAL NOTES. 401 their goods, and the Indians, of the Wabash, really and finally paid it : therefore, it is the Little Beaver, the Soldier, the Sun, and their tribes who have actually been so highly taxed. The United States will always be their carriers, to, and from, their different posts. Why should the United States pay the large sum of eight thousand dollars, annually, if they were not to enjoy the privilege of open roads to, and from, their reserva- tions ? And this sum of money the United States agree to pay for this and other considerations. And the share, which the Miamies will receive, of this annuity, shall be one thousand dollars. I will then enquire, of all the nations present, whether the United States are not acting the part of a tender father, to them and their children, in thus providing for them, not only at present, but for ever? The Miamies shall be at liberty, as usual, to employ themselves for private traders, whenever their assistance may be required; and those people who have lived at that glorious gate, the Miami villages, may now rekindle their fires at that favorite spot ; and henceforth, as in their happiest days, be at full liberty to receive from, and send to, all quarters, the speeches of their chiefs as usual ; and here is the road the Miamies will remember. [A road belt.] "Now, all ye chiefs and warriors, of every nation present, open your ears that you may clearly hear the articles of the treaty, now in my hand, again read, and, a second time ex- plained to you, that we may proceed to have them engrossed on parchment, which may preserve them for ever." The articles of the treaty were read a second time and ex- plained by General Wayne, who said — On the article respecting hostages : " I did not expect any objections to this particular; for I see no reason why you should hesitate at leaving ten of your people with me, until the return of our people from among you ; the promise of a mutual exchange of prisoners, made last winter, when we met at this place, you have not performed on your part. I have kept none of your flesh and blood ; nor would General Wash- ington, the great chief of the United States suffer me so to do: 51 402 HISTORICAL NOTES. the period will be short, and those who remain shall be kindly treated." On the Ouiatenon reservation: " The Little Beaver has asked for Captain Prior to reside, as a trader, at Ouiatenon: he shall reside at that place ; but Captain Prior is a warrior, not a tra- der. He shall have a few warriors with him, to protect the trade and the Indians in that quarter." On the reservation at Detroit : " Masass has asked, what will become of the French? The United States consider the French and themselves as one people; and it is partly for them and their accommodation, this reservation is made, whenever they become citizens thereof, as well as for the people of the fifteen fires." On the gift of the Isle de Bois Blanc: " In addition to the ces- sions which the three fires have made with such cheerfulness, of the reservations in their country, Mash-i-pi-nash-i-wish has in their name, made a voluntary gift to the United States, of the Isle de Bois Blanc, in Lake Michigan. The fifteen fires accept of this unasked for grant from the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawattamies, according to their intentions; and will always view it as an unequivocal mark of their sincere friend- ship." On trade : " The Little Turtle yesterd&y expressed a wish, that some of iheir former traders might be continued among them as a part of the number to be licensed by the United States. This is very fair and reasonable, and a certain number will be licensed accordingly, when properly recommended as good and honest men." General Wayne then said, " Brothers : All you nations now present, listen! You now have had, a second time, the pro- posed articles of treaty read and explained to you. It is now time for the negotiation to draw to a conclusion. I shall there- fore ask each nation individually, if they approve of, and are prepared to sign, those articles, in their present form, that they may be immediately engrossed for that purpose. I shall begin with the Chippewas, who, with the others who approbate the - measure, will signify their assent. You, Chippewas, do you HISTORICAL NOTES. 403 approve of these articles of treaty, and are you prepared to sign them? [A unanimous answer — yes.] You, Ottawas, do you agree? [A unanimous answer — yes.] You, Potta- wattamies? [A unanimous answer — yes.] You, Wyandots, do you agree? [A unanimous answer — yes.] You, Dela- wares? [A unanimous answer — yes,] You, Siiawanees ? [A unanimous answer — yes.] You, Miamies, do you agree? [A unanimous answer — yes.] You, Weas? [A unanimous answer — yes.] And you, Kickapoos, do you agree? [A unan- imous answer — yes.] The treaty shall be engrossed; and, as it will require two or three days to do it properly, on parch- ment, we will now part, to meet on the 2d of August: in the interim, we will eat, drink, and rejoice, and thank the Great Spirit for the happy stage this good work has arrived at." On the 3d of August, 1795, the treaty was signed by the sachems, chiefs, and principal men, of the Indian nations who inhabited the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio; and to each nation, respectively, a copy of the treaty, on paper, was delivered. A large quantity of goods, and many small ornaments, were then distributed among the Indians. On the 10th of August, in council. General Wayne, at the close of a short speech, said, " I now fervently pray to the Great Spirit, that the peace now established may be perma- nent, and that it may hold us together in the bonds of friend- ship, until time shall be no more. I also pray that the Great Spirit above may enlighten your minds, and open your eyes to your true happiness, that your children may learn to cultivate the earth, and enjoy the fruits of peace and industry. As it is probable, my children, that we shall not soon meet again in public council, I take this opportunity of bidding you all an affectionate farewell, and of wishing you a safe and happy re- turn to your respective homes and families." Thus the treaty of Greenville was concluded in a manner which was satisfactory to the government of the United States and acceptable to the Indian tribes who inhabited the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. Information of the treaty, and of the pacific disposition of the Indians, was 404 HISTORICAL NOTES. soon spread among the people of the eastern states of the American confederacy; and a full and constant tide of emi- gration began to flow from those states into the northwestern territory. Of the emigrants, some settled in the Western Re- serve of Connecticut ; some selected favorite sites on the banks of the Ohio ; the rich valleys of the rivers Scioto and Muskin- gum were settled by others ; and many, attracted by the fame of the fertile region which lies between the two Miami rivers, settled at various eligible places within the boundaries of Symmes' Purchase. On the 29th day of May, 1795, Governor St. Clair and two judges of the northwestern territory, (John Cleves Symmes and George Turner,) met at Cincinnati, in their Legislative capacity. In the course of their session, which ended on the 25th of August, 1795, they adopted and made thirty-eight laws, under the following titles, to wit : I. — A law subjecting real estate to execution for debt. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] II. — A law allowing domestic attachments. -[Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] III. — A law regulating domestic attachments. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] IV. — A law for the easy and speedy recovery of small debts. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] V. — A law concerning defalcation. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] VI. — A law for the trial and punishment of larceny, under a dollar and a half. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] The first section of this law contains the following declaration : " If any person shall be convicted, either by his or her own confession, or the testimony of credible evidence, before any two justices of the peace, in their respective counties, of hav- ing feloniously stolen any money, goods, or chattels, (the same being under the value of five shillings, now equal to one hun- dred and fifty cents,) the offender shall have judgment, to be immediately and publicly whipped, upon his or her bare back, not exceeding fifteen lashes ; or be fined in any sum, at the HISTORICAL NOTES. 405 discretion of the said justices, not exceeding three dollars; and, if able to make restitution, besides, to the party wronged ; pay- ing also the charges of prosecution and whipping : or, other- wise, shall be sent to the workhouse, to be kept at hard labor; and, for want of such workhouse, to be committed to prison, for such charges, for a term not exceeding twelve days." VII. — A law to prevent unnecessary delays in causes, after issue joined. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] VIII. — A law establishing courts of judicature. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] IX. — A law for the limitation of actions. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] X. — A law for the relief of persons conscientiously scrupu- lous to take an oath in the common form. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XL — A law for the recovery of fines and forfeitures, and directing how the same are to be estreated. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XII. — A law ascertaining and regulating the fees of the several officers and persons therein named. — [Adopted from the New York and Pennsylvania codes.] XIII. — A law for estabUshing orphans' courts. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XIV. — A law for the settlement of intestates' estates. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XV. — A law to license and regulate taverns. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XVI. — A law establishing the recorder's office. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XVII. — A law for raising county rates and levies. — [Found- ed on, and adopted from, the Pennsylvania code.] XVIII. — A law for the relief of the poor. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XIX. — A law concerning the probate of Avills, written or nuncupative. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XX. — A law regulating enclosures. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] 406 HISTORICAL NOTES. XXI. — A law as to the order of paying debts of persons deceased. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XXII. — A law concerning trespassing animals. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XXIII. — A law directing how husband and wife may con- vey their estates. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XXIV. — A law for the speedy assignment of dower. — [Adopted from the Massachusetts code.] XXV. — A law giving remedies in equity, in certain cases. — [Adopted from the Massachusetts code.] XXVI. • — A law against forcible entry and detainer. — [Adopted from the Massachusetts code.] XXVII. — A law annulling the distinction between petit treason and murder. — [Adopted from the Massachusetts code.] XXVIII. — A law declaring what laws shall be in force. — [Adopted from the Virginia code.] This law was comprised in the following words : " The common law of England, all statutes or acts of the British Parliament made in aid of the common law, prior to the fourth year of the reign of King James the First (and which are of a general nature, not local to that kingdom,) and also the several laws in force in this Territory, shall be the rule of decision, and shall be considered as of full force, until repealed by Legislative authority, or dis- approved of by Congress." XXIX. — A law to prevent trespassing by cutting of timber. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XXX. — A law repealing certain laws and acts, and parts of laws and acts. XXXI. — A law respecting divorces. — [Adopted from the Massachusetts code.] XXXII. — A law for the partition of lands. — [Adopted from the New York code.] XXXIII. — A law allowing foreign attachments. — [Adopted from the New Jersey code.] XXXIV. — A law concerning the duty and power of coro- ners. — [Adopted from the Massachusetts code.] HISTORICAL NOTES. 407 XXXV. — A law for continuing suits in the general and circuit courts. — [Adopted from the Virginia code.] XXXVI. — A law to suppress gaming. — [Adopted from the Virginia code.] XXXVII. — A law as to proceedings in ejectment, distress for rent, and tenants at will holding over. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] XXXVIII. — A law limiting imprisonment for debt, and sub- jecting certain debtors and delinquents to servitude. — [Adopted from the Pennsylvania code.] This law contained the follow- ing provisions : " No person shall be kept in prison, for debt or fines, longer than the second day of the sessions next after his or her commitment ; unless the plaintiff shall make it appear, that the person imprisoned hath some estate that he will not disclose : then, and in every such case, the court shall examine all persons suspected to be privy to the concealment of such estate; and if no sufficient estate be found, the debtor shall make satisfaction, by personal and reasonable servitude, ac- cording to the judgment of the court where such action is tried (but only if the plaintiff require it) not exceeding seven years, where such debtor is unmarried, and under the age of forty years ; unless it be the request of the debtor, who may be above that age : but if the debtor be married, and under the age of thirty-six, the servitude shall be for five years only; and with which the married man, upwards of thirty-six shall be privileged, if it be his request. Should the plaintiff refuse to accept such satisfaction according to the judgment of the court, as aforesaid, then the prisoner shall be discharged in open court, and the plaintiff be forever barred from any further or other action for the same debt." CHAPTER XIX. At San Lorenzo el Real, on the 27th of October, 1795, Thomas Pinckney, Envoy Extraordinary from the United States to the court of Spain, and the Duke of Alcudia, Prince of Peace, &c. concluded a treaty of friendship, limits and nav- igation, between the United States of America and the King of Spain. The second and the fourth articles of this treaty here follow: " Article 2. To prevent all disputes on the subject of the boundaries which separate the territories of the two high con- tracting parties, it is hereby declared and agreed as follows, to wit: The southern boundary of the United States, which divides their territories from the Spanish colonies of East and West Florida, shall be designated by a line beginning on the river Mississippi, at the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of latitude north of the equator, which from thence shall be drawn due east to the middle of the river Apalachi- cola, or Catahouche; thence along the middle thereof, to its junction with the Flint; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's river, and thence, down the middle thereof, to the Atlantic ocean. And it is agreed, that if there should be any troops, garrisons, or settlements of either party, in the terri- tory of the other, according to the above mentioned bounda- ries, they shall be withdrawn from the said territory within the term of six months after the ratification of this treaty, or sooner if it be possible; and that they shall be permitted to take with them all the goods and effects which they possess." "Article 4. It is likewise agreed, that the western boundary of the United States, which separates them from the Spanish HISTORICAL NOTES. 409 colony of Louisiana, is in the middle of the channel, or bed of the river Mississippi, from the northern boundary of the said stales to the completion of the thirty-first degree of latitude north of the equator. And His Catholic Majesty has likewise agreed, that the navigation of the said river, in its whole breadth, from its source to the ocean, shall be free only to his subjects and the citizens of the United States, unless he should extend this privilege to the subjects of other powers by special convention." This treaty between the United Slates of America and the kingdom of Spain, was ratified on the 3d of March, 1796 ; and on the 24th of May, in the same year, Andrew ElUcott was appointed commissioner, and Thomas Freeman surveyor, on the part of the United States, for the purpose of running the boundary line mentioned in the second article of the treaty. Before the close of the month of July, 1796, the British gar- risons, with their arms, artillery, and stores, were withdrawn from the posts within the boundaries of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. A detachment of American troops, consisting of sixty-five men, under the command of Captain Moses Porter, took possession of the evacuated fort at Detroit, on or about the ISth of July, 1796. In Septem- ber, 1796, Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the northwestern territory, proceeded to Detroit, erected the county of Wayne, and established the civil authority of the United States in that quarter. The ratification of the treaty of amity, commerce, and navi- gation, between the United States and Great Britain, was re- garded by the government of France as an alteration and sus- pension of the treaty which was made between France and the United States, in 1778; and, in July, 1796, the French Executive Directory charged the government of the United States with a breach of friendship, an abandonment of neu- trality, and a violation of tacit engagements.* A treaty of alli- ance, offensive and defensive, was concluded between France * Am. State Papers — Foreign Relations, i. 730. 52 410 HISTORICAL NOTES. and Spain, on the I9th of August, 1796; and, on the 11th of December, 1796, James Monroe, American minister at Paris, was informed by Ch. de la Croix, French minister of Foreign Affairs, that the Executive Directory of France " would no longer recognise nor receive a minister plenipotentiary from the United States, until after a reparation of the grievances demanded of the American government." * In the course of the years of 1795, 1796, and 1797, before the Spanish posts on the eastern side of the Mississippi were given up to the United States, some efforts Avere made by the agents of France and Spain, to induce the people of the west- ern country to separate themselves from the American union, and to establish, in conjunction with Spain and France, an independent government on the western side of the Allegheny mountains. After the death of Wayne, f General James Wil- kinson obtained the command of the United States troops in the west ; and, in the month of June, 1797, the Baron de Car- ondelet, Governor General of Louisiana, sent one of his agents, Thomas Power, to General Wilkinson, with a letter in which Wilkinson was requested to delay the march of the American troops for the posts on the Mississippi, until the adjustment of certain questions which were then pending between the Uni- ted States and the government of Spain. The real object of the mission of Thomas Power was to ascertain the opinions and sentiments of the western people on the subject of a sepa- ration of the Union. The following passages are extracted from the secret instructions which were given to Power by the Baron de Carondelet, on the 26th of May, 1797: " On your journey, you will give to understand adroitly, to those persons to whom you have an opportunity of speaking, that the delivery of the posts which the Spaniards occupy on the Mississippi, to the troops of the United States, is directly opposed to the interest of those of the west, who, as they must * Am. State Papers— Foreign Relations, i. 746. t Wayne died at Presque Isle, in December, 1796. He was buried on the southern shore of Lake Erie. In 1809 his remains were removed to his native county, by his son, Isaac Wayne. HISTORICAL NOTES. 411 one day separate from the Atlantic states, would find theni' selves without any communication with lower Louisiana, from whence they ought to expect to receive powerful succors in artillery, arms, ammunition, and money, either publicly or se- cretly, as soon as ever the western states should determine on a separation, which must insure their prosperity and their independence ; that, for this reason. Congress is resolved on risking every thing to take those posts from Spain ; and that it would be forging fetters for themselves, to furnish it with mili- tia and means, which it can only find in the western states. These same reasons, diftlised abroad by means of the public papers, might make the strongest impressions on the people, and induce them to throw oflf the yoke of the Atlantic states. * * * If a hundred thousand dollars distributed in Kentucky would cause it to rise in insurrection, I am very certain, that the minister, in the present circumstances, would sacrifice them with pleasure ; and you may, without exposing yourself too much, promise them to those who enjoy the confidence of the people, with another equal sum to arm them, in case of necessity, and twenty pieces of field artillery. " You will arrive without danger, as bearer of a despatch for the General, where the army may be, whose force, discip- line, and disposition, you will examine with care; and you will endeavor to discover, with your natural penetration, the Gene- ral's disposition. I doubt that a person of his disposition would prefer, through vanity, the advantages of commanding the army of the Atlantic states, to that of being the founder, the libera- tor, in fine, the Washington of the western states : his part is as brilhant as it is easy ; all eyes are drawn towards him ; he possesses the confidence of his fellow citizens, and of the Ken- tucky volunteers: at the slightest movement, the people will name him the General of the new republic; his reputation will raise an army for him, and Spain as well as France will fur- nish him the means of paying it. On taking Fort Massac, we will send him instantly arms and artillery; and Spain, limiting herself to the possession of the forts of Natchez and Walnut Hills, as far as fort Confederation, will cede to the western 412 HISTORICAL NOTES. states all the eastern bank to the Ohio, which will form a very extensive and powerful republic, connected by its situation and by its interest, with Spain, and in concert with it, will force the savages to become a party to it, and to confound them- selves in time with its citizens. " The public are discontented with the new taxes ; Spain and France are enraged at the connection of the United States with England ; the army is weak and devoted to Wilkinson ; the threats of Congress authorize me to succor, on the spot and openly, the western states: money will not then be want- ing to me, for I shall send without delay, a ship to Vera Cruz in search of it, as well as of ammunition: nothing more will consequently be required, but an instant of firmness and reso- lution to make the people of the west perfectly happy. If they suffer this instant to escape them, and we are forced to deliver up the posts, Kentucky and Tennessee, surrounded by the said posts, and without communication with Lower Louisiana, will ever remain under the oppression of the Atlantic states." * The emissary. Power, passed through Tennessee, Kentucky, and the northwestern territory, as far as Detroit, where, late in the month of August, he found General Wilkinson. A letter dated "Detroit, September 4, 1797," from Wilkinson to Cap- tain Robert Buntin, of Vincennes, contains the following pas- sages : " I fear the Spaniards will oblige us to go to blows with them — in which case you know they must go to the wall. I shall pursue every means in my power to preserve to our coun- try the blessings of peace; but shall make every preparation for war, and will be guarded against surprise. Mr. Power delivered me a letter from the Baron Carondelet, in which he states a variety of frivolous reasons for not dehvering the posts, and begs that no more troops may be sent down the Missis- sippi, before certain adjustments take place between our res- pective courts. I have put aside all his exceptions, and have called on him in the most solemn manner to fulfil the treaty, as he regards the interest or honor of his master; and have * Am. State Papers — Miscellaneous, ii. 103. HISTORICAL NOTES. 413 hopes that my letter may produce some change in the conduct of the Dons. * * Although Mr. Power has brought me this let- ter, it is possible it might be a mask to other purposes : I have, therefore, for his accommodaticm and safety put him in care of Captain Shaumburgh, who will see him safe to New Madrid, by the most direct route. I pray you to continue your vigi- lance, and give me all the information in your power. I am just from Michilimackinack, having visited that post to see it put in a state of defence." On the 5th of December, 1797, Power wrote to Don Manuel Gayoso, Spanish Governor at Natchez, a letter from which the following is an extract : " Having informed him [General Wil- kinson] of the proposals of the Baron [de Carondelet,] he pro- ceeded to tell me that it was a chimerical project, which it was impossible to execute: that the inhabitants of the western states, having obtained by treaty all they desired, would not wish to form any other political or commercial alliances ; and that they had no motive for separating themselves from the interests of the other states of the union, even if France and Spain should make them the most advantageous offers ; that the fermentation which existed four years back is now appeased ; that the depredations and vexations which American commerce suffered from the French privateers had inspired them with an implacable hatred for their nation ; that some of the Kentuck- ians had proposed to him to raise three thousand men to invade Louisiana, in case a war should be declared between the Uni- ted States and Spain; that the latter had no other course to pursue, under Ihe present circumstances, but to comply fully with the treaty." In the same letter, Power said, "A great portion of the principal characters in Kentucky, Cumberland, [Tennessee,] and the Northwest Territory have been insti- gators of the expedition of Genet and Clark against this pro- vince ; consequently they are enemies of those who are [en- emies] of the French; more than one half of the rest are those who take the greatest interest in a more intimate union of the western states with us ; and many of those who remain, (as they are not desirous of gaining conquests over Spain, but 414 HISTORICAL NOTES. only to preserve the limits and privileges marked in the treaty) will do what they can in order to avoid hostilities."* In a letter, written at Cincinnati, under the date of " June 3d, 1797," and addressed to Timothy Pickering, American Se- cretary of State, Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the North- western Territory, said — "I seize the occasion to transcribe for you some paragraphs from a western letter. The Span- iards are reinforcing their upper posts on the Mississippi. Gen- eral Howard, an Irishman, in quality of commander-in-chief, with upwards of three hundred men, is arrived at St. Louis, and employed in erecting very formidable works. It likewise appears, through various channels, that they are inviting a great number of the Indians of the Territory to cross the Mis- sissippi; and, for this express purpose, Mr. Lorromie, an officer in the pay of the crown, made a tour through all this country last fall ; since which time several Indians have been sent on the same errand, and generally furnished with plenty of cash to defray their expenses. A large party of Delawares passed down on White River, about the 6th of May, on their way to the Spanish side, bearing the national flag of Spain, some of them from St. Louis. They [the Spaniards] have above the mouth of the Ohio, on the Mississippi, several row galleys with cannon." The refusal of the French Republic to receive a minister from the United States — the angry decrees of the Executive Directory of France — the depredations which were committed by vessels of that nation on American commerce — and the at- tempts which were made by Spain and its emissaries to sever the Union! finally induced the American Government, in 1798, to adopt and enforce various measures of defence and retalia- tion. Among these measures the most important were — * Am. State Papers — Miscellaneous, ii. 108. t Vide History of Kentucky, by H. Marshall, i. 258, 283, 316 : ii. 219, 250. — History of Louisiana, by Barbe Marbois, 152, 162.— Writings of Washington, (edited by Jared Sparks,) x. 355, 356, 360, 387: xii, 96. — Life of Washington, by John Marshall, ii. 250, 257, 261, 270, 332, 334, 393, 410: Wilkinson's Memoirs : — Americaii^State Papers, Mis- cellaneous, i. from p. 704 to p. 713, and from p. 922 to p. 939 : ii. fromrj). 79 to p. 127. — American State Papers, Foreign Relations, vol. 1 : vol. ii. from p. 14 to p. 103. HISTORICAL iNOTES. 415 First : — An act authorizing tiie President of the United States to raise a provisional army. — Approved by the President, John Adams,* on the 2Sth of May, 1798. Second: — An act of Congress to suspend the commercial intercourse between the United States and France and the de- pendencies thereof. — Approved on the 13th of June, 1798. Third: — An act to authorise the defence of the merchant vessels of the United States against French depredations. — Ap- proved on the 25th of June, 1798. Fourth: — An act concerning alien enemies. — Approved on the 25th of June, 1798. [The first section of this law was com- prised in the words following : — Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled, That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States at any time during the continuance of this act,t to order all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof, to depart out of the territory of the United States, within such time as shall be expressed in such order; which order shall be served on such alien by delivering him a copy thereof, or leaving the same at his usual abode, and returned to the office of the Secretary of State, by the Marshal or other person to whom the same shall be directed. And in case any aUen so ordered to depart, shall be found at large within the United States after the time lim- ited in such order for his departure, and not having obtained a license from the President to reside therein, or having obtained such license, shall not have conformed thereto, every such alien shall, on conviction thereof, be imprisoned for a term not ex- ceeding three years, and shall never after be admitted to be- come a citizen of the United States. Provided always, and be it further enacted, That if any alien so ordered to depart, shall prove, to the satisfaction of the President, by evidence to be * John Adams, second President of the United States, was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1797. tThc act was limited to tlie time of two years from and after its passage. 416 HISTORICAL NOTES. taken before such person or persons as the President shall di- rect, who are for that purpose hereby authorized to administer oaths, that no injury or danger to the United States will arise from suffering such alien to reside therein, the President may grant a license to such alien to remain within the United States, for such time as he shall judge proper, and at such place as he shall designate. And the President may also require of such alien to enter into a bond to the United States, in such penal sum as he may direct, with one or more sufficient sureties, to the satisfaction of the person authorized by the President to take the same, conditioned for the good behavior of such alien during his residence in the United States, and not violating his license, Avhich license the President may revoke whenever he shall think proper."] * . Fifth : — An act in addition to the act entitled " An act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States." — Approved on the 14th of July, 1798. Here follows the 2d sec- tion of this act: — " And he it further enacted. That if any person shall write, print, utter, or pubhsh; or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered, or published, or shall, knowingly and willingly, assist in waiting, printing, uttering, or publishing, any false, scandalous, and malicious writing or writings, against the government of the United States, or either house of the Con- gress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either house of the said Congress, or the President, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States ; or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the Presi- dent of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the constitution of the United States ; or to resist, oppose, or defeat, any such law or act ; or to aid, encourage, or abet, any hostile design of any foreign na- tion against the United States, their people, or government, * Laws of the United Sates, iii- 66. HISTORICAL NOTES. 417 then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished, by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by impri- sonment not exceeding two years."* On the 2d of July, 179S, President Adams sent to the Sen- ate of the United States a communication, in which he nomi- nated the venerable Ex-President, George Washington, to the office of " Lieutenant General and commander-in-chief of the armies raised or to be raised for the service of the United States." The Senate confirmed this nomination on the 3d of July: on the 13th of the same month, Washington accepted the new commission and addressed to Mr. Adams a letter, from which the following is an extract: — "I cannot express how greatly affected I am at this new proof of public confidence, and the highly flattering manner in which you have been pleased to make the communication ; at the same time I must not conceal from you my earnest wish, that the choice had fal- len upon a man less declined in years, and better qualified to encounter the usual vicissitudes of war. You know, sir, what calculations I had made relative to the probable course of events on my retiring from office, and the determination I had con- soled myself with, of closing the remainder of my days in my present peaceful abode: you will, therefore, be at no loss to conceive and appreciate the sensations I must have experien- ced to bring my mind to any conclusion that would pledge me, at so late a period of life, to leave scenes I sincerely love, to en- ter upon the boundless field of public action, incessant trouble, and high responsibility. " It was not possible for me to remain ignorant of, or indiffer- ent to, recent transactions. The conduct of the Directory of France towards our country; their insidious hostility to its government; their various practices to withdraw the affections of the people from it ; the evident tendency of their acts and those of their agents to countenance and invigorate opposition ; their disregard of solemn treaties and the laws of nations ; their war upon our defenceless commerce ; their treatment of our « Laws of the United States, iii. 98. 53 418 HISTORICAL NOTES. ministers of peace, and their demands, amounting to tribute ; could not fail to excite in me corresponding sentiments with those my countrymen have so generally expressed in their af- fectionate addresses to you. Believe me, sir, no one can more cordially approve of the wise and prudent measures of your administration. They ought to inspire universal confidence; and will, no doubt, combined with the state of things, call from Congress such laws and means as will enable you to meet the full force and extent of the crisis. Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely wished and endeavored to avert war, and ex- hausted, to the last drop, the cup of reconciliation, we can with pure hearts appeal to heaven for the justice of our cause ; and may confidently trust the final result to that Providence who has heretofore, and so often, signally favored the people of these United States."* In the beginning of the year 1798, the government of Spain seemed to expect that Great Britain would send an expedition from Canada, through the A^orthwestern Territory, against the province of Louisiana. To quiet the anxiety of Spain, on this subject, and to protect the territory of the United States, Pre- sident Adams, on the 4th of February, 1798, instructed Gene- ral Wilkinson to employ all the force within his power, both militia and regulars, if necessary, to oppose the English or any other foreign nation, " who should presume to attempt a viola- tion of the territory of the United States, by an expedition through it, against their enemies." During the summer of 1798, the Spaniards retired reluctantly from the posts within the ter- ritory of the United States. On the 5th of October, 1798, Gen- eral Wilkinson established his head quarters at Loftus' Heights, where Fort Adams was soon afterwards erected. This Fort stood on the left bank of the river Mississippi, about six miles north of the 31st degree of north latitude, f In the month of September, 1798, the French Minister of For- eign Affairs, Charles Maurice Talleyrand, intimated, indirectly, ♦ Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the U. S. of America i. 291. t Wilkinson's Memoirs, i. 434. HISTORICAL NOTES. 419 to Mr. Murray, American minister in Holland, that the Repub- lic of France was disposed to preserve peace with the United States, and desired to renew negotiations to eflect that object. Negotiations were soon afterwards commenced at Paris and carried on until the 30th of September, ISOO; on which day a treaty of peace and commerce was concluded between the United States and the Republic of France.* By a treaty con- cluded at St. Ildefonso, on the 1st of October, 1800, Spain agreed to retrocede to France the province of Louisiana, with the same extent that it had when France possessed it: and, on the 30th of April, 1803, France sold and ceded Louisiana (in its greatest extent,) to the United States for a sum about equal to fifteen millions of doUars.t At a legislative session which was commenced at Cincinnati on the 23d of April, 1798, and closed on the 7th of May, in the same year, Winthrop Sargent, acting as Governor of the northwestern territory, and John Cleves Symmes, Joseph Gil- man, and Return Jonathan Meigs, jr. judges of the territory, adopted and published eleven laws, under the following titles : I. — A law to confer on certain associations of the citizens of this territory the powers and immunities of corporations or bodies politic in law. — Adopted from the Pennsylvania code, and published on the 1st day of May. II. — A law for the punishment of maiming or disfiguring. — Adopted from the Kentucky code, and published on the 1st day of May. [This law was comprised in the following words: " Whosoever on purpose and of malice aforethought by laying in wait shall unlawfully cut out or disable the tongue, put out an eye, slit or bite the nose, ear or hp, or cut ofl["or disable any limb or member with the intention in so doing to maim or dis- figure such person, or shall voluntarily, maliciously and of pur- pose, pull or put out an eye while fighting or otherwise, every such offender, his or her aiders, abettors and counsellors shall be sentenced to undergo a confinement in the jail of the county in which the offence is committed, for any time not less than *Vide Am. State Papers, For. Relations, ii. 295,344, 345. t Vide Am. Stale Papers — Foreign Relations, ii. from p. 507 to 695: 420 HISTORICAL NOTES. one month nor more than six months, and shall also pay a fine not less than fifty dollars, and not exceeding one thousand dol- lars ; one fourth of which shall be to the use of the territory, and three fourths thereof to the use of the party grieved, and for want of the means of payment the offender shall be sold to service by the court before which he is convicted, for any time not exceeding five years, the purchaser finding him food and raiment during the term."] III. — A law vesting certain powers in justices of the peace in criminal cases. --Adopted from the Massachusetts code, and published on the 1st day of May. IV. — A law for the equal division and distribution of insol- vent estates. — Adopted from the Connecticut code, and pub- lished on the 1st day of May. V. — A law to provide for the improvement of the breed of horses. — Adopted from the Kentucky code, and published on the 1st day of May. VI. — A law directing the mode of proceeding in civil cases. — Adopted from the Massachusetts code, and published on the 1st day of May. VIL — A law in addition to a law entitled "a law ascertain- ing the fees of the several officers and persons therein named." — Published on the 1st day of May. VIII. — A law for the purpose of including all unsettled and unimproved tracts or parcels of land and subjecting them to taxation." — Adopted from an act of the state of Kentucky, and published on the 1st day of May. IX. — A law rendering the acknowledgment of deeds more easy. — Adopted from the Connecticut code, and published on the 1st day of May. [This law contained the following pro- vision : " All grants and deeds made of houses and lands may be acknowledged before one of the judges of the territory, jus- tice of the common pleas, or justice of the peace, any former law to the contrary notwithstanding."] X. — A law for establishing a land office. — Adopted from the Kentucky code, and published on the 1st of May. HISTORICAL NOTES. 421 XL — An act repealing certain laws and parts of laws. — Published on the 1st day of May. [Parts of two laws, (one concerning the fees of officers, &c. and the other relating to county levies,) were repealed by this act.] By an act of Congress, approved on the 7th of April, 1798,* the Territory of Mississippi was established ; and, on the 2d of May, Winthrop Sargent was nominated to the office of Gov- ernor of that territory. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate of the United States, on the 7th of May. On the 26th of June, in the same year, William Henry Harrison was nomi- nated to the office of Secretary of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and the nomination was confirmed by the Senate on the 28th of the same month. On the 29th day of October, 1798, Governor St. Clair issued a proclamation in which he directed the qualified voters of the northwestern territory to hold elections in their respective counties on the third Monday of December, and to elect rep- resentatives to a General Assembly, which he ordered to con- vene at Cincinnati on the 22d day of January, 1799. The representatives met at Cincinnati, and, in order to establish a Legislative Council according to the provisions of the Ordi- nance of 1787, nominated ten persons, whose names were sent to the President of the United States. Governor St. Clair then prorogued the meeting of the representatives to the 16th day of September, 1799. On the 2d of March, 1799, President Adams selected from the list of ten nominees, the names of Jacob Burnet, James Findlay, Henry Vanderburgh, Robert Oliver, and David Vance, and nominated these persons to be the Legislative Council of the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. On the next day the nomination was confirmed by the Senate, f A few members of the Territorial Legislature met at Cin- cinnati on the 16th of September, 1799, but the two Houses were not properly organized until the 24th of September. Henry Vanderburgh was elected President of the Legislative * Laws of the United States, iii. 39. t Journal of the Executive proceedings of the Senate of tlic United States, i. 323. 422 HISTORICAL NOTES. Council. In the same body, William C. Schenk was elected Secretary; George Howard, Door-keeper, and Abner Cary, Sergeant-at-Arms. The names of the members of the House of Representatives were as follows: From the county of Hamilton. — WilHam Goforth, WiUiam McMillan, John Smith, John Ludlow, Robert Benham, Aaron Cadwell, [or Caldwell,] and Isaac Martin. From the county of Ross. — Thomas Worthington, Samuel Finley, Elias Langham, and Edward Tiffin. From the county of Wayne. — Solomon Sibley, Charles F. Chobert de Joncaire, and Jacob Visger. From the county of Adams. — Joseph Darlington, and Na- thaniel Massie. From the county of Knox. — Shadrach Bond. From the county of Jeflerson. — James Pritchard. From the county of Washington. — Return Jonathan Meigs. The House of Representatives elected Edward Tiffin, Speak- er; John Reilly, Clerk; Joshua Rowland, Door-keeper; and Abraham Cary, Sergeant-at-Arms.* On the 25th of September, Governor St. Clair addressed the Territorial Legislature, and, after calling the attention of that body to various subjects, closed his message in the following words : " The providing for, and the regulating the lives and morals of the present and of the rising generation, for the re- pression of vice, and immorality, and for the protection of vir- tue and innocence, for the security of property, and the pun- ishment of crimes, is a sublime employment. Every aid in my power will be afforded, and. I hope we shall bear in mind, that the character and deportment of the people, and their happi- ness, both here and hereafter, depend very much upon the genius and spirit of their laws." On the 3d of October, 1799, the Territorial Legislature elected a Delegate to Congress from the northwestern terri- tory. William H. Harrison, who was elected, received eleven votes ; and Arthur St. Clair, jr. (son of Governor St. Clair,) received ten votes. * Atwater's History of Ohio, 162. HISTORICAL NOTES. 423 In the course of their session, which was terminated on the 19th of December, 1799, the Legislative Council and House of Representatives passed forty-eight acts. Of these acts, Governor St. Clair approved thirty-seven, and vetoed eleven. Among these eleven rejected acts there were six that related to the erection of new counties. The following is a list of the titles of the laws which were passed by the Legislature and approved by the Governor : I. — An act to confirm and give force to certain laws, enact- ed by the Governor and Judges of the Territory. — Approved on the 28th of October. II. — An act regulating the admission and practice of attor- neys and counsellors at law. — Approved on the 29th of Octo- ber. III. — An act regulating enclosures. — Approved on the 29th of October. IV. — An act providing for the service and return of process in certain cases. — Approved on the 29th of October. V. — An act regulating the interest of money, and fixing the same at six per centum per annum, and for preventing usury. — Approved on the 15th of November. VI. — An act authorizing and regulating arbitrations, — Ap- proved on the 15th of November. VII. — An act to establish and regulate ferries. — Approved on the 15th of November. VIII. — An act making promissory notes and inland bills of exchange negotiable. — Approved on the 15th of November. IX. — An act to prevent trespassing by cutting of timber. — Approved on the 15th of November. X. — An act supplemental to an act entitled "an act to pre- vent trespassing by cutting of timber." — Approved on the 19th of December. XI. — An act regulating grist-mills and millers. — Approved on the 2d of December. XII. — An act to regulate the disposition of water-crafts of certain descriptions, found gone or going adrift, and of estray animals. — Approved on the 2d of December. 424 HISTORICAL NOTES. XIII. — An act for the prevention of vice and immorality. — Approved on the 2d of December. [This act was designed to prevent Sabbatli-breaking, profane swearing, drunkenness, du- elling, cock-fighting, running horses on public highways, and gambling at billiards, cards, dice, shovel-board, &c.] XIV. — An act to create the office of a Territorial Treasurer and an Auditor of Public Accounts. — Approved on the 2d of December. XV. — An act estabUshing courts for the trial of small causes. — Approved on the 2d of December. XVI. — An act providing for the appointment of constables. — Approved on the 2d of December. XVII. — An act to ascertain the number of free male inhab- itants, of the age of twenty-one, in the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and to regulate the elec- tions of representatives for the same. — Approved on the 6th of December. XVIII. — An act to prevent the introduction of spirituous liquors into certain Indian towns. — Approved on the 6th of December. XIX. ^ — An act regulating the firing of woods, prairies, and other lands. — Approved on the 6th of December. XX. — An act establishing and regulating the militia. — Approved on the 13th of December. XXI. — An act defining and regulating privileges in certain cases. — Approved on the 6th of December. XXII. — An act for allowing compensation to the members of the House of Representatives, who attended to put in nomi- nation the members of the Legislative Council, and for defray- ing the incidental expenses accrued thereon. — Approved on the 13th of December. XXIII. — An act for the relief of poor persons imprisoned for debt. — Approved on the 13th of December. XXIV. — An act for opening and regulating public roads and highways. — Approved on the 13th of December. XXV. — An act levying a territorial tax on land. — Appro- ved on the 19th of December. [By this act the owners of HISTORICAL NOTES. 425 lands within tiie territory were taxed, for every hundred acres of first rate land, eighty-five cents; for every hundred acres of second rate land, sixty cents ; for every hundred acres of third rate land, twenty-five cents; and so in proportion for a greater or smaller quantity.] XXVI. — An act to regulate county levies. — Approved on the 19th of December. XXVII. — An act allowing and regulating prison bounds. — Approved on the 19th of December. [The prison bounds al- lowed by this act did not extend in any direction more than two hundred yards from the jail.] XXVIII. — An act for the appointment of county treasurers. — Approved on the 19th of December. XXIX. — An act for allowing compensation to the members of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and to the officers of both Houses. — Approved on the 19th of De- cember. [This act allowed to each member of the Legislature the sum of three dollars, " for each and every day's attendance on the business of legislation," and " at the commencement and ending of every session, three dollars for every fifteen miles of the estimated distance, by the most usual road, from his place of residence to the seat of the Assembly." To the Secretary of the Council, the sum of three dollars per day, "for his services in attending to the business of the Council, and the additional sum of three dollars per day for clerk hire and incidental expenses." To the Clerk of the House of Rep- resentatives, three dollars per day for his services, " and the additional sum of four dollars per day for clerk hire and inci- dental expenses." To the Sergeantat-Arms for both Houses two dollars per day; and to the Door-keeper of each, one dol- lar and fifty cents per day, during the session.] XXX. — An act to regulate the enclosing and cultivating of common fields. — Approved on the 19th of December. XXXT. — An act regulating the fees of the constables in the several counties within this territory. — Approved on the 19th of December. 54 426 HISTORICAL NOTES. XXXII. — All act to encourage the killing of wolves. — Ap- proved on the 19th of Decenxber. XXXIII. — An act for the punishment of arson. — Approved on the 19th of December. XXXIV. — An act for allowing compensation to the Attor- ney-General of the territory, and to the persons prosecuting the pleas, in behalf of the territory, in the several counties. — Approved on the 19th of December. XXXV. — An act supplementary to the act entitled " a law for the relief of the poor." — Approved on the 19th of Decem- ber. XXXVI. — An act appropriating moneys for the payment of the debts due from this territory, and making appropriations for the ensuing year. — Approved on the 19th of December. XXXVII. — An act repealing certain laws and parts of laws. — Approved on the 19th of December. On the 30th of December, 1799, the President of the United States nominated Charles Willing Byrd to the office of Secre- tary of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio ; and, on the next day the Senate confirmed the nomination. On the 7th of May, 1800, the President of the United States approved an act of Congress entitled " an act to divide the ter- ritory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio into two separate governments." * The following copy of this act shall close the introduction to the History of Indiana: " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the 4th day of July next, all that part of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence, north, until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purposes of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory. « Laws of the United Sates, iii- 367. HISTORICAL NOTES. 427 Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That there shall be estab- lished within the said Territory a government, in all respects similar to that provided by the ordinance of Congress, passed on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, for the Territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio: and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to, and enjoy, all and singular the rights, privileges and advan- tages, granted and secured to the people by the said ordinance. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That the officers of the said Territory, who, by virtue of this act, shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall, respectively, exercise the same powers, perform the same duties, and receive for their services the same compensations, as, by the ordinance afore- said, and the laws of the United States, have been provided and established for similar officers in the Territory of the Uni- ted States northwest of the river Ohio. And the duties and emoluments of superintendent of Indian Affairs shall be united with those of Governor: Provided, That the President of the United States shall have power, in the recess of Congress, to appoint and commission all officers herein authorized ; and their commissions shall continue in force until the end of the next session of Congress. Sec. 4. x\nd be it further enacted. That so much of the ordi- nance for the government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, as relates to the organization of a General Assembly therein, and prescribes the powers thereof, shall be in force and operate in the Indiana Territory, when- ever satisfactory evidence shall be given to the.Governor there- of, that such is the wish of a majority of the freeholders, not- withstanding there may not be therein five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years and upwards : Pro- vided, That until there shall be five thousand free male inhab- itants, of twenty-one years and upwards, in said Territory, the whole number of Representatives to the General Assembly shall not be less than seven, nor more than nine, to be appor- tioned by the Governor to the several counties in said territory 428 HISTORICAL NOTES. agreeably to the number of free males of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, which they may respectively contain. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed so as in any manner to affect the government now in force in the Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, further than to prohibit the exer- cise thereof within the Indiana Territory, from and after the aforesaid fourth day of July next : Provided, That, whenever that part of the Territory of the United States which lies to the eastward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running thence, due north, to the territorial Une between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into an independent state, and admitted into the union on an equal footing with the original states, thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently the boundary line be- tween such state and the Indiana Territory, any thing in this act contained to the contrary notwithstanding. Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That, until it shall be otherwise ordered by the Legislatures of the said Territories, respectively, Chillicothe, on Scioto river, shall be the seat of the government of the Territory of the United States north- west of the Ohio river; and that Saint Vincennes, on the Wabash river, shall be the seat of the government for the Indiana Territory." APPENDIX APPENDIX. A— Page 199. TREATY OF FORT xVI'INTOSH. Articles of a treaty concluded at Fort M'Intosli, the twenty-first day of January, one thou- sand seven hundred and eichty-five, between the Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States of America, of the one part, and the sachems and warriors of the Wyan- dot, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa nations of the other. The Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States in Congress assembled, give peace to the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa nations of Indians, on the follow- ing conditions : Art 1. Three chiefs, one from among the Wyandot, and two from among the Delaware nations, shall lie delivered up to the Commissioners of the United States, to be by them re- tained till all the prisoners, white and black, taken by the said nations, or any of them, shall be restored. Art. 2. The said Indian nations do acknowledge themselves and all their tribes to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other sovereign whatsoever. Art. 3. The boundary line between the United States and the Wyandot and Delaware nations, shall begin at the mouth of the River Cayahoga, and run thence up the said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of Muskingum ; then down the said branch to the forks at the crossing place above Fort Lawrence ; then westerly to the por- tage of the Big Miami, which runs into the Oliio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French in one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two ; then along the said portage to the Great Miami or Ome River, and down the south-east side of the same to its mouth ; thence along the south shore of Lake Erie, to the mouth of Cava, hoga, where it began. .\rt. 4. The United States allot all the lands contained within the said lines to the Wy- andot and Delaware nations, to live and to hunt on, and to such of the Ottawa nation as now live thereon ; saving and reserving for the establishment of trading posts, six miles square at the mouth of Miami or Ome River, and tlie same at the portage on that brnncli of the Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, and the same on the lake of Sandusky where the fort formerly stood, and also two miles square on each side of the lower rapids of Sandusky River, which posts and the lands annexed to them, shall be to the use and under the gov- ernment of the United States. Art. 5. If any citizen of the United States, or other person, not being nn Indian, shall attempt to settle on any of the lands allotted to the Wyandot and Delaware nations in this treaty, except on the lands reserved to the United States in the preceding article, such per- son shall forfeit the protection of the United States, and the Indians may punish him as they please. 432 APPENDIX Art. 6. The Indians who sign this treaty, as well in behalf of all their tribes as of them selves, do acknowledge the lands east, south, and west, of the lines described in the third article, so far as the said Indians formerly claimed the same, to belong to the United States ; and none of their tribes shall presume to settle upon the same, or any part of it. Art. 7. The post of Detroit, with a district beginning at the mouth of the River Rosine, on the west end of Lake Erie, and running west six miles up the southern bank of the said river, thence northerly and always six miles west of the strait, till it strikes the Lake St. Clair, shall be also reserved to the sole use of the United States. Art. 8. In the same manner, the post of Michilimackinac, with its dependencies, and twelve miles square about the same, shall be reserved to the use of the United States. Art. 9. If any Indian or Indians shall commit a robbery or murder on any citizen of the United States, the tribe to which such offenders may belong, shall be bound to deliver them up at the nearest post, to be punished according to the ordinances of the United States. Art. 10. The Commissioners of the United States, in pursuance of the humane and liberal views of Congress, upon this treaty's being signed, will direct goods to be distributed among the different tribes for their use and comfort. SEPARATE ARTICLE. It is agreed that the Delaware chiefs, Kelelamand, or Colonel Henry, Hengue Pushees, or the Big Cat, Wicocalind, or Captain White Eyes, who took up the hatchet for the Uni- ted States, and their families, shall be received into the Delaware nation, in the same situ- ation and rank as before the war, and enjoy their due portions of the lands given to the Wyandot and Delaware nations in tliis treaty, as fully as if they had not taken part with America, or as any other person or persona in the said nations. Go. Clark, Richard Butler, Arthur Lee, witness: Daunghquot, his x mark, Saml. J. Atlee,) P. Commission- Abraham Kuhn, his x mark, Fras. Johnston,) ers. Ottawerreri, his x mark, Alex. Campbell, Hobocan, his x mark, Jos. Harmar, Lieut. Col. Com't, Walendightun, his x mark, Alex. Lowrey, Talapoxic, his x mark, Joseph Nicholas, Interpreter, Wingenum, his x mark, I. Bradford, Packelant, his x mark, George Slaughter, Gingewanno, his x mark. Van Swearingen, . Waanoos, his x mark, John Boggs, Konalawassee, his x mark, G. Evans, Shawnaqum, his x mark, D. Luckett. Quecookkia, his x mark. TREATY OF FORT ST AN WIX — Page 311. Articles of a treaty concluded at Fort Stanwix, on the twenty-second day of October, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four, between Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee, Commissioners Plenipotentiary from the United States, in Congress assem- bled, on the one part, and the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations, on the other. The United States of America give peace to the Senekaa, Mohawks, Onondagas, and Cayugas, and receive them into their protection upon the following conditions: APPENDIX, 433 Art. 1. Six hostages shall be immediately delivered to the commissioners by the said nations, to remain in possession of the United States, till all the prisoners, white and black, which were taken by the said Senekas, Mohawks, Onondagas, and Cayugas, or by any of thera, in the late war, from among the people of the United States, shall be delivered up. Art. 2. The Oneida and Tuscarora nations shall be secured in the possession of the lands on which they are settled. Art. 3. A line shall be drawn, beginning at the mouth of a creek, about four miles east of Niagara, called Oyonwayea, or Johnston's Landing Place, upon the lake, named by the Indians Oswego, and by us Ontario ; from thence southerly, in a direction always four miles east of the carrying path, between lake Erie and Ontario, to the mouth of Tehosero- ron, or Buffalo creek, on Lake Erie; thence south, to the north boundary of the state of Pennsylvania ; thence west, to the end of the said north boundary ; thence south, along the west boundary of the said state, to the river Ohio; the said line, from the mouth of the Oyonwayea to the Ohio, shall be the western boundary of the lands of the Six Nations; so that the Six Nations shall and do yield to the United States, all claims to the country west of the said boundary ; and then they shall be secured in the peaceful possession of the lands they inhabit, east and north of the same, reserving only six miles square, round the fort of Oswego, to the United States, for the support of the same. Art. 4. The commissioners of the United States, in consideration of the present circum- stances of the Six iNations, and in execution ef the humane and liberal views of the United States, upon the signing of the above articles, will order goods to be delivered to the saidSix Nations, for their use and comfort. Oliver Wolcott, Kichard Butler, Arthur Lee, MOHAWKS. Onogwendahonji, his x mark, Touighnatogon, his x mark, ONONDAG.VS, Oheadarighton, his x mark, Kendarindgon, his x mark, SENEKAS. Tayagonendagighti, his x mark, Tehonwaeaghrigagi, his x mark, ONEIDAS. Otyadoncnghti, his x mark, Dagaheari, his x mark, CAVUGA. Oraghgoanendagen, his x mark, TUSKARORAS. Ononghsawenghti, his x mark, Tharondawagon, his x mark, SENBEA ABEAL. Kayenthoghke, his x mark. WITNESSES. Sam. Jo. Atlee, Wm. Maclay, Fras. Johnson, Aaron Hill, Alexander Campbell, Saml. Kirkland, Missionary, James Dean, Saml. Montgomery, Derick Lane, Capt., John Mercer, Lieut., William Pennington, Lieut., Mahlon Hord, Ensign, Hugh Peebles. Pennsylvania Com- missioners. 55 434 APPENDIX B— Page 199. AN ORDINANCE, ETC. All ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in the Western Territory. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the territory ceded by individual states, to the United States, which has been purchased of the Indian inhabitants, shall be disposed of in the following manner : A surveyor from each state shall be appointed by Congress, or a committee of the States, who shall take an oath for the faithful discharge of his duty, before the geographer of the United States, who is hereby empowered and directed to administer the same ; and the like oath shall be administered to each chain-carrier, by the surveyor under whom he acts. The geographer, under whose direction the surveyors shall act, shall occasionally form such regulations for their conduct, as he shall deem necessary ; and shall have authority to suspend them for misconduct in office, and shall make report of the same to Congress, or to the committee of the States ; and he shall make report in case of sickness, death, or re- signation, of any surveyor. The surveyors, as they are respectively qualified, shall proceed to divide the said terri- tory into townships of six miles square, by lines running due north and south, and others crossing these at right angles, as near as may be, unless where the boundaries of the late Indian purchases may render the same impracticable, and then they shall depart from this rule no farther than such particular circumstances may require. And each surveyor shall be allowed and paid at the rate of two dollars for every mile in length lie shall run, includ- ing the wages of chain-carriers, markers, and every other expense attending the same. The first line running north and south as aforesaid, shall begin on the River Ohio, at a point that shall be found to be due north from the western termination of a line which has been run as the southern boundary of the State of Pennsylvania ; and the first line running east and west, shall begin at the same point, and shall extend throughout the whole terri- tory ; provided, that nothing herein shall be construed, as fixing the western boundary of the State of Pennsylvania. The geographer shall designate the townships or fractional parts of townships, by numbers, progressively, from south to north ; always beginning each range with No. 1 ; and the ranges shall be distinguished by their progressive numbers to the westward. The first range, extending from the Ohio to the Lake Erie, being marked No. 1. The geographer shall personally attend to the running of the first east and west line ; and shall take the latitude of the extremes of the first north and south line, and of the mouths of the principal rivers. The lines shall be measured with a chain ; shall be plainly marked by chaps on the trees, and exactly described on a plat ; whereon shall be noted by the surveyor, at their proper distances, all mines, salt springs, salt licks, and mill seats, that shall come to his knowl- edge ; and all water courses, mountains, and other remarkable and permanent things, over or near which such lines shall pass, and also the quality of the lands. The plats of the townships, respectively, shall be marked, by subdivisions, into lots of one mile square, or 640 acres, in the same direction as the external lines, and numbered from 1 to 36 ; always beginning the succeeding range of the lots with the number next to that with which the preceding one concluded, .^nd where, from the causes beforemen- tioned, only a fractional part of a township shall be surveyed, the lots protracted thereon shall bear the same numbers as if the township had been entire. And the surveyors, in running the external lines of the townships shall, at the interval of every mile, mark cor- ners for the lots which are adjacent, always designating the same in a different manner from those of the townships. APPENDIX. 435 Tlie geographer and surveyors shall pay the utmost attention to the variation of the magnetic neeJIe, and shall run and note all lines by the true meridian, certifying with eve- ry plat what was the variation at the times of running the lines thereon noted. Ab soon as seven ranges of townships, and fractional parts of townships, in the direction from south to north, shall have been surveyed, the geographer shall transmit plats thereof to the board of treasury, who sliall record the same, with the report, in well bound books to be kept for that purpose. And tlie geographer shall make similar returns, from time to time, of every seven ranges, as they may be surveyed. The secretary of war shall have recourse thereto, and shall take by lot therefrom a number of townships and fractional parts of townships, as well from those to be sold entire, as from those to be sold in lots, as will be equal to one-seventh part of the whole of such seven ranges, as nearly as may be, for the use of the late continental army; and he shall make a similar draught, from time to time, until a sufficient quantity is drawn to satisfy the same, to be applied in manner hereinafter directed. The board of treasury shall, from time to time, cause the remaining numbers, as well those to be sold entire as those to be sold in lots, to be drawn for, in the name of the thirteen states, respectively, according to the quotas in the last preceding re- quisition on all the states: provided, that in case more land than its proportion is allotted for sale in any state at any distribution, a deduction he made therefor at the next. The board of treasury shall transmit a copy of the original plats, previously noting thereon the townships and fractional parts of townships, which shall have fallen to the several states, by the distribution aforesaid, to the commissioners of the loan office of the several states, who, after giving notice of not less than two, nor more than six months, by causing advertisements to be posted up at the court houses or other noted places in every county, and to be inserted in one newspaper published in the states of their residence, respectively, shall proceed to sell the townsliips or fractional parts of townships, at public vendue, in the following manner, viz : the township or fractional part of a township No. 1, in the first range, shall be sold entire ; and No. 2, in the same range, by lots ; and thus, in alternate order, through the whole of the first range. The township or fractional part of a township No. 1, in the second range sliall be sold by lots; and No. 2, in the same range, entire ; and so, in alternate order, through the whole of the second range ; and the third range shall he sold in the same manner as the first, and the fourth in the same manner as the second; and thus, alternately, throughout all the ranges: provided, that none of the lands within the said territory be sold under the price of one dollar the acre, to be paid in specie or loan office certificates, reduced to specie value by the scale of depreciation, or cer- tificates of liquidated debts of the United States, including interest, besides the expense of the survey and other charges thereon, which are hereby rated at thirty-six dollars the township, in specie or certificates as aforesaid, and so in the same proportion, for a frac- tional part of a township or of a lot, to be paid at the time of sales, on failure of which pay- ment the said lands shall again be offered for sale. There shall be reserved for the United States out of every township, the four lots, being numbered 8, 11, 26. 29, and out of every fractional part of a township, so many lots of the same numbers as shall be found thereon, for future sale. There shall be reserved the lot No. 16, of every township, for the maintenance of public schools within the said township ; also, one-third part of all gold, silver, lead, and copper mines, to be sold, or otherwise dis- posed of, as Congress shall hereafter direct. When any township or fractional part of a township, shall have been sold as aforesaid, and the money or certificates received therefor, the loan officer shall deliver a deed in the following terms : The United States of America, to all to whom these presents shall rome, greeting : 436 APPENDIX. Know ye, that for the consideration of dollars, we have granted, and lieieby do grant and confirm, unto , the township (or fractional part of the town- ship, as the case may be) numbered , in the range , excepting therefrom, and re- serving, one-third part of all gold, silver, lead, and copper mines, within the same ; and the lots no 8, 11, 26, and 29, for future sale or disposition, and the lot No 16, for the main- tenance of public schools. To have to the said , his heirs and assigns, for- ever ; (or, if more than one purchaser, to the said , their heirs and assigns, forever, as tenants in common.) In witness whereof, A. B. commissioner of the loan of- fice in the State of , hath, in conformity to the ordinance passed by the United States, in Congress assembled, the twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1785, hereunto set his hand and affixed his seal, this day of , in the year of our Lord , and of the independence of the United States of America . And when any township, or fractional part of a township, shall be sold by lots as afore- said, the commissioner of the loan office shall deliver a deed therefor in tlie following form : The United States of America, to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting : Know ye, that for the consideration of dollars, we have granted and hereby do grant and confirm, unto , the lot (or lots, as the case may be, in the township or fractional part of the township, as the case may be) numbered , in the range , excepting and reserving one third part of all gold, silver, lead, and copper mines, within the same, for future sale or disposition. To have to the said , his heirs and assigns, forever; (or, if more than one purchaser, to the said , their heirs and assigns, forever, as tenants in common.) In witness whereof, A. B. com- missioner of the continental loan office in the State of , hath, in conformity to the ordinance passed by the United States in Congress assembled, the twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1785, hereunto set his hand and affixed his seal, this day of , in the year of our Lord , and of the independence of the United States of America . Which deeds shall be recorded in proper books, by the commissioner of the loan office, and shall be certified to have been recorded, previous to their being delivered to the purcha- ser, and shall be good and valid to convey the lands in the same described. The commissioners of the loan offices, respectively, shall transmit to the board of trea- sury, every three months, an account of the townships, fractional parts of townships, and lots, committed to their charge; specifying therein the names of the persons to whom sold, and the sums of money or certificates received for the same ; and shall cause all certificates by them received, to be struck through with a circular punch ; and they shall be duly charged in the books of the treasury with the amount of tlie moneys or certificates, dis- tinguishing the same, by them received as aforesaid. If any township, or fractional part of a township or lot, remains unsold for eighteen months after the plat shall have been received by the commissioners of the loan office, the same shall be returned to the board of treasury, and shall be sold in such manner as Con- gress may hereafter direct. And whereas Congress, by their resolutions of September 16th and 18th, in the year 1776, and the 12th of August, 1780, stipulated grants of land to certain officers and sol- diers of the late continental army, and by the resolution of the 22d September, 1780, stip- ulated grants of land to certain officers in the hospital department of the late continental army ; for complying, therefore, with puch engagements, be it ordained, that the Secretary of War, from the returns in his office, or such other sufficient evidence as the nature of the case may admit, determine who are the objects of the above resolutions and engagements, and the quantity of land to which such persons or their representatives are, respectively, entitled, and cause the townships or fractional parts of townships, herein before reserved APPENDIX. 437 for the use of the late continental army, to be drawn for in such manner as he shall deem expedient, to answer the purpose of an impartial distribution. He shall, from time to time, transmit certificates to the commissioners of the loan offices of the different states, to the lines of which the military claimants have respectively belonged, specifying the name and rank of the party, the terms of his engagement and time of his service, and the division, brigade, regiment, or company, to which he belonged, the quantity of land he is entitled to, and the township or fractional part of a township and range out of which his portion is to be taken. The commissioners of the loan offices shall execute deeds for such undivided proportions, in manner and form herein before mentioned, varying only in such a degree as to make the same conformable to the certificate from the secretary of war. Where any military claimants of bounty in lands shall not have belonged to the line of any particular state, similar certificates shall be sent to the board of treasury, who shall execute deeds to the parties for the same. The secretary of war, from tlie proper returns, shall transmit to the board of treasury a certificate, specifying the name and rank of the several claimants of the hospital depart- ment of the late continenal army, together with the quantity of land each claimant is entitled to, and the township or fractional part of a township and range out of which his portion is to be taken ; and thereupon the board of treasury shall proceed to execute deeds to such claimants. The board of treasury, and tlie commissioners of the loan offices in the states, shall, within eighteen months, return receipts to the secretary of war, for all deeds which have been delivered, as also all the original deeds which remain in their hands for want of ap- plicants, having been first recorded ; which deeds, so returned, shall be preserved in the office, until the parties or their representatives require the same. And be it further ordained. That three townships adjacent to Lake Erie be reserved, to be hereafter disposed of by Congress, for the use of the officers, men, and others, refugees from Canada, and the refugees from Nova Scotia, who are or may be entitled to grants of land under resolutions of Congress now existing, sr which may hereafter be made respect- ing them, and for such other purposes as Congress may hereafter direct. And be it further ordained. That the towns of Gnadenhutten, Schoenbrun, and Salem, on the Muskingum, and so much of the lands adjoining to the said towns, with the buildings and improvements thereon, shall be reserved for the sole use of the christian In- dians, who were formerly settled there, or the remains of that society, as may, in the judgment of the geographer, be sufficient for them to cultivate. Saving and reserving always, to all officers and soldiers entitled to lands on the north- west side of the Ohio, by donation or bounty from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and to all persons claiming under them, all rights to which they are so entitled, under the deed of cession executed by the delegates for the State of Virginia, on the 1st day of March, 1784, and the act of Congress accepting the same : and to the end that the said rights may be fully and effectually secured, according to the true intent and meaning of the said deed of cession and act aforesaid, be it ordained, that no part of the land included between the rivers called Little Miami and Scioto, on the north-west side of the River Ohio, be sold, or in any manner alienated, until there shall first have been laid off and appropriated for the said officers and soldiers, and persons claiming under them, the lands they are entitled to, agreeably to the said deed of cession and act of Congress accepting the same. Done by the United States in Congress assembled, the 20tli day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, and of our sovereignty and independence the ninth. RICHARD H. LEE, President. Charles Thomson, Secretary. 438 APPENDIX, SUPPLEMENT. A supplement to an ordinance, entitled "An ordinance for ascertaining tlie mode of dis- posing of lands in the western territory. Whereas it is found to be inconvenient to execute that part of the land ordinmce, passed May 20, 1785, which directs that certain proportions of lands be allotted to the several states, to be sold by the loan officers in each state. And whereas a sufficient quantity of lands, for satisfying the bounties due to the late army, was set apart by the act of Congress, passed the 22d of October last whereby further drafts for satisfying military bounties in lands from the townships lately surveyed, are become unnecessary : Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That so much of the said or- dinance, passed May 20, 1785, as ordains that certain parts of the townships therein di- rected to be surveyed, shall be drawn for in the name of the thirteen states, respectively, according to the quotas in the last preceding requisitions, in all the states, in order that the same be sold by the said loan officers ; and also, that the secretary oT war shall take by lot from the townships when surveyed, certain proportions of land for the use of the late army, so far as the same may respect further drafts, be and the same are hereby repealed. Be it further ordained. That the board of treasury be, and they hereby are, authorized and directed, to sell those parts of the seven ranges of townships surveyed in the western territory, which are not already sold or drawn for the use of the late army, in the same manner, on the same conditions, and under the same restrictions and limitations, as were prescribed in the resolutions of Congress of April 21st, 1787, e.xcept as to the place of sale, and the daily continuance thereof, which may be so far varied, that the said board may commence the sales at New York or Philadelphia, and adjourn the same from time to time to any part or parts of the United States which they may judge most proper for the purpose. Be it further ordained, That the secretary of war issue warrants for bounties of land to the several officers and soldiers of the late continental army who may be entitled to such bounties, or to their respective assigns or legal representatives, certifying therein the rank or station of each officer, and the line, regiment, corps, and company, in which the officer or soldier served. Be it further ordained. That tlie geographer, by warrant under his hand and seal, ap- point one surveyor to each of the two tracts or districts of land set apart for satisfying the said bounties by the act of Congress of the 22d of October last ; and that the persons enti- tled to lands by virtue of warrants issued as aforesaid, shall be at liberty to locate them on any part of the two tracts of lands set apart as aforesaid ; provided, that each location and survey shall be bounded on one side by one of the external boundaries of one of the tracts aforesaid, or by some prior survey therein ; and the e-\ternal lines of each survey shall run east and west, north and south, such parts thereof excepted as may border upon a river bounding the district, and the several surveys shall be in squares, unless where restrained by such river, or by the lines of former surveys ; and provided also, that in every location there shall be a combination of as many warrants as shall make the same at least six miles square, and no interstices shall be left between surveys less than six miles wide. Be it further ordained. That each surveyor, upon making any survey, shall protract and lay the same down in a general map, to be kept and preserved, and shall make a record of each survey in a book to be kept for that purpose, and make out and deliver a copy of the survey, certified under his hand, to the proprietor or proprietors thereof and the surveyor shall retain in his hands all warrants by him laid out and located, until he can transmit the same to the board of treasury, which he shall do within one year after laying out the land, certifying thereon, under his hand, that the same is satisfied. That the surveyors to be ap- pointed as herein before directed, shall be entitled to receive, for the services enjoined APPENDIX. 439 iliem by this ordinance, so much only as sliall be allowed and fixed by tlie governor and judges of the western territory, and shall be liable to he displaced by tlie geographer for neglect of duty, or other misbehavior ; in vvhicli case he shall supply any vacancy so hap- pening by a new appointment. That each surveyor who may be appointed under this or- dinance, before he enters upon the duties of his office, shall take an oath or affirmation, that he will justly and truly execute the trust reposed in liiin as surveyor of a district of land in the western territory, according to the best of his skill and understanding, without favor or partiality : which oath or affirmation shall be taken before the governor or either of the judges of the western territory, or one of the justices of the supreme court in any of the United States, and being duly attested, shall be transmitted to the secretary of Con- gress, to be by him filed of record. That the maps and records before mentioned, shall, at all times, be subject to the orders of Congress, to be removed or deposited wherever they shall direct. That if any officer or soldier, or assignee or grantee of either, shall desire to have their bounty of land allotted in the townships or fractional parts thereof, lately drawn for the army by the secretary of war, out of the first four ranges of townships surveyed west of the Ohio, and shall cause such his desire, in writing, together with his land war- rant, to be deposited in the office of the secretary of war, before the first of July, 1789; the said secretary shall cause so much of the said townships which have been drawn for the army, to be drawn for by lot, as will satisfy the warrants so deposited, for which sur. veys shall be made out and delivered to the several proprietors, signed by the geographer of the United States, which surveys shall be recorded in a book by the geographer, and lodged in the treas\iry office. And whereas lands are set apart for satisfying military boun- ties, not only in the said districts and townships, but also within the limits of purchases made by several companies : Be it further ordained, That the persons who have purchased tracts of the federal lands, shall have credit for so much land as the warrants issued as aforesaid, and delivered by them to the board of treasury, cover; provided, that in no case deductions on account of military bounties shall exceed one-seventh part of the purchase. Passed July 9, 1788. C— Page 200. TREATY AT THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT MIAMI. Articles of a treaty concluded at the mouth of the Great Miami, on the north-western bank of the Ohio, the 31st day of January, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, be- tween the commissioners plenipotentiary of the United States of America, of the one part, and the chiefs and warriors of the Shawanee nation, of the other part. Art. 1. Three hostages shall be immediately delivered to the commissioners, to remain in the possession of the United States until all the prisoners, white and black, taken in the late war, from among the citizens of the United States, by the Shawanee nation, or by any other Indian or Indians residing in their towns, shall be restored. Art. 2. The Shawanee nation do acknowledge the United States to be the sole and abso- lute sovereigns of all the territory ceded to them by a treaty of peace, made between them and the king of Great Britain, the fourteenth day of January, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four. Art. 3. If any Indian or Indians of the Shawanee nation, or any other Indian or Indians residing in their towns, shall commit murder or robbery on, or do any injury to, the citi- 440 APPENDIX. zens of the United States, or any of them, that nation shall deliver such offender or offenders to the officer commanding the nearest post of the United States, to be punished ac- cording to the ordinances of Congress , and in like manner, any citizen of the United States, who shall do an injury to any Indian of the Shawanee nation, or to any other Indian or In- dians residing in their towns, and under their protection, shall be punished according to the laws of the United States. Art. 4. The Shawanee nation having knowledge of ihe intention of any nation or body of Indians to make war on the citizens of the United States, or of their counselling together for that purpose, and neglecting to give information thereof to the commanding officer of the nearest post of the United States, shall be considered as parties in such war, and be pun- ished accordingly : and the United States shall, in like manner, inform the Shawanees of any injury designed against them. Art. 5. The United States do grant peace to the Shawanee nation, and do receive them into their friendship and protection. Art. 6. The United States do allot to the Shawanee nation, lands within their territory to live and hunt upon, beginning at the south line of the lands allotted to the Wyandot and Delaware nations, at the place where the main branch of the Great Miami, which falls into the Ohio, intersects said line ; then down the river Miami, to the fork of that river, next below the old fort which was taken by the French in one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two ; thence due west to the river de la Pause ; then down that river to the River Wabash ; beyond which lines none of the citizens of the United States shall settle, nor dis- turb the Shawanees in their settlement and possessions. And the Shawanees do relinquish to the United States, all title, or pretence of title, they ever had to the lands east, west, and south, of the east, west, and south lines before described. Art. 7. If any citizen or citizens of the United States, shall presume to settle upon the lands allotted to the Shawanees by this treaty, he or they shall be put out of the protection of the United States. In testimony whereof, the parties hereunto have affixed their hands and seals' the day and year first above mentioned. WITNESSES : G. Clark, W. Finney, Maj. B. B. Richard Butler, Thos. Doyle, Capt- B. B. Saml. H. Parsons, Nathan McDowell, Ensign, Aweecony, his x mark, John Saffenger, Kakawipilathy, his x mark, Henry Govy, Malunthy, his mark, Kagy Galloway, his x mark, Musquauconocah, his x mark, John Boggs, Meanymsecah, his x mark, Sam. Montgomery, Waupaucowela, his x mark, Daniel Elliott, Nihipeewa, his mark, James Rinker, Nihinessicoe, his x mark, Nathl. Smith, Attest. Alexander Campbell, Sec'ry Com'rs. Tetebockshicka, his x mark, Isaac Zane, (Wyandot) his x mark. The Half King of the Wyandots,) x The Crane of the Wyandots, J ^ Capt. Pipe, of the Delawares, his x mark, Capt. Bohongehelas, his x mark, Joseph Suffrein, his x mark, or Kemepemo Shawno, The Big Cat of the Delawares, his x mark, Pierre Droullar. APPENDIX. 441 D— rage 22L ORDINANCE OF JULY 13, 1787. An Ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. Be it ordained by tlic United States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one district ; subject, liovvever, to be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient. Be it ordained by tlie autliority aforesaid, That tlie estates both of resident and nonresi- dent proprietors in the said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among their children, and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts ; the descend- ants of a deceased child or grand child to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them : and where there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin, in equal degree; and among collaterals, the children of a de- ceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their de- ceased parents' share ; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half blood; saving in all cases to the widow of the intestate, her third part of the real estate for life, and one third part of the personal estate; and this law relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the legislature of the district. And until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by three witnes- ses; and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delivered, by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved, and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after proper magistrates, courts and registers shall be appointed for that purpose ; and personal property may be transferred by delivery ; saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, Saint Vincnts, and the neighboring villages, who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs, now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property. Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, Tliat there shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for the term of three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress : he shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein, in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his office. There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a secretary, whose commis- sion shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked ; he shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein, in five hundred acres of land, while in the exer- cise of his office ; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the legislature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his executive department; and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, ev- ery six months, to the secretary of Congress: There shall also be appointed a court, to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction, and reside in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate, in five hun- dred acres of land, while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall con- tinue in force during good behavior. The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district, such laws of the original states, criminal and civil, as may be necessary, and best suited to the circumstairces of the district, and report them to Congress, from time to time , which 56 442 APPENDIX. laws eball be In force In the district, until ilie organization of the general aBsembly tlicrein, unless disapproved of by Congress ; but afterwards the legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit. The governor for the time being, shall be commander in chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same, below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. Previous to the organization of the general assembly, the governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in each county or township, as he shall find necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After the general assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall he regulated and defined by the said assembly; hut all magistrates and other civil officers not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be oppointed by the governor. For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been e.xtinguished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such alter, ations as may thereafter be made by the legislature. So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants, of full age, in the district, opon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships, to represent them in the general assembly ; provided that, for every five hundred free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on, progressively, with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty-five ; after which the number and proportion of representatives shall be regula. ted by the legislature ; provided, that no person be eligible or qualified to act as a reprcsen. tative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years, and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two hundred acres of land within the same ; provided also, that a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the states, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative. The representatives thus elected, shall serve for the term of two years; and in case of the death of a representative, or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term. The general assembly, or legislature, shall consist of the governor, legislative council, and a house of representatives. The legislative council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress ; any three of whom to be a quorum : and the members of the council shall be nominated and appointed in the fol- lowing manner, to wit . As soon as representatives shall be elected, the governor shall ap- point a time and place for them to meet together, and when met, they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names lo Congress ; five of whom Congress shall appoint and com- missiou to serve as aforesaid : and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the council, by death or removal from office, the house of representatives shall nominate two persons, qualified ae aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress ; one of whom Congrew shall appoint and commission for the residueof the term : And every five years, APPENDIX. 443 four months at leaat before tie expiration of the time of service of the members of council, the said house slia!! nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return ihetr names to Congress ; five of whom Congress sliall appoint ami commission to serve as members of the council five years, unless sooner removed. And tlic governor, legislative council, aaA bouse of representatives shall have authority to make laws, in all cases, for the good gov- ernment of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance estab- lished and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the house, and by a majority in the council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent ; but no bill or legis- lative act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The governor shall havo power to convene, prorogue, and dissolve, the general assembly, when in liis opinion it shall be expedient. The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity, and of office; the governor before the president of Congress, and all other officers before the governor. Aa soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district, the council and house assembled, in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a riglit of debating, but not of voting during this temporary government. And for extending the fundamental principles of civil -md religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws, and constitutions, are erected ; to fix and establish those principles as th.e basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory ; to provide, also, for the establish- ment of states, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with tlie original states, at as early a period as may be consistent with the general interest : It is hereby ordained and declared, by the aathority aforesaid, That the following artl- cles shall be considered as articles of compact, between the ori'^inal states and the peopla and states in the said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common con- sent, to wit : Art. 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory. Art. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury ; of a proportionate representation of the people in the legislature, and of judicial proceedings according to the course of the common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offences, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate ; and no cruel or unusual punishments sl;all be inflicted. No man shall be deprived of his liberty or prop- erty, but by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land, and should the public exigen- cies make it necessary, for the common preservation, to take any person's property, or to demand his particular services, full compensation shall be made for the same. And, in the just preservation of rights and property, it is understood and declared that no law ought ever to be made, or have force in the said territory, that shall, in any manner whatever. Interfere with, or aff"ect, private contracts or engagement?, bona fide, and without fraud, previously formed. Art. 3. Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the mc.ins of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall olways be observed towards the Indiana ; their lands and pro. party shall never bo taken from ihcm without their consent ; and in their property, rights, and liberty, they never shall be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful ware au thorizcd by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity ihall, from tim« to tims. 444 APPENDIX, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to tliem, and for preserving peace and friend ship with them. Art. 4. The said territory, and the states which may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America, subject to the articles of confederation, and to such alterations therein as shall be constitutionally made ; and to all the acts and ordinances of the United States in Congress assembled, conformable there- to. The inhabitants and settlers in the said territory shall be subject to pay a part of the federal debts, contracted or to be contracted, and a proportional part of the expenses of government, to be apportioned on them by Congress, according to the same common rule and measure by which apportionments thereof shall be made on the other states; and the taxes for paying their proportion, shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the district or districts, or new states, as in the original states, within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled. The legislatures of those districts, or new states, shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled, nor with any regulations Congress may find ne. cessary, lor securing the title in such soil, to the bona fide purchasers. No tax shall be imposed on lands the property of the United States; and in no case shall nonresident pro- prietors be taxed higher than residents. The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between tlie same, shall be common highways, and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory, as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other states that may he admitted into the confederacy, without any tax, impost, or duty therefor. Art. 5, There shall be formed in the said territory not less than three, nor more than five states; and the boundaries of the states, as soon as Virginia shall alter her act of ces. sion,and consent to the same, shall become fixed and established as follows, to wit: the western state in the said territory, shall be bounded by the Mississippi, the Ohio, and Wa- bash rivers ; a direct line drawn from the Wabash and Post Vincents, due north, to the territorial line between the United States and Canada; and by the said territorial line to the Lake of the Woods and Mississippi. The middle states shall be bounded by the said direct line, the Wabash, from Post Vincents to the Ohio, by the Ohio, by a direct line drawn due north from tlie mouth of the Great Miami to the said territorial line, and by the said territorial line. The eastern state shall be bounded by the last mentioned direct line, the Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the said territorial line : provided, however, and it is further understood and declared, that the boundaries of these three states shall be subject so far to be altered, that, if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have au- thority to form one or two states in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through tlie southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. And whenever any of the said states shall have sixty thousand free inhabitants therein, such state shall be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress of the United States, on an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatever ; and shall be at liberty to form a permanent constitution and state government ; provided the constitution and government, so to be formed, shall be republican, and in conformity to the principles con- tained in tliese articles; and, so far as it can be consistent with the general interest of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at an earlier period, and when there may be a less number of free inhabitants in tl.e state tliau sixty thousand. Art. 6. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly con- victed : provided always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original states, sucli fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service, as aforesaid. APPENDIX. 445 Be it ordained by the autlioiity aforesaid, That the resolutions of the 23d of April, 1784, relative to the subject of this ordinance, be, and the same are hereby repealed and declared null and void. Done, &c. E— Page 236. TREATIES AT FORT HARMAR. WITH THE SIX NATIONS. Articles of a treaty made at Fort Harmar, the ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine, between Arthur St. Clair, esquire, governor of the territory of the United States of America, nortliwest of the river Ohio, and commissioner plenipotentiary of the said United States, for removing all causes of controversy, regulating trade, and settling boundaries, between the Indian nations in the northern department and the said United States, of the one part, and the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations, of the other part, viz . Art. 1. Whereas the United States, in Congress assembled, did, by their commissioners, Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee, esquires, duly appointed for that purpose, at a treaty held with the said Six Nations, viz: witli the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Tuscaroras, Cayugas, and Senekas, at Fort Stanwix, on the twenty-second day of October one thousand seven hundred and eighty .four, give peace to the said nations, and receive them into their friendship and protection : And whereas the said nations have now agreed to and with tlie said Arthur St. Clair, to renew and confirm all the engagements and stip- ulations entered into at the beforementioned treaty at Fort Stanwix : and whereas, it was then and there agreed, between the United States of America and the said Six Nations, that a boundary line should be fixed between the lands of the said Six Nations and the territory of the said United States, which boundary line is as follows, viz : Beginning at the mouth of a creek, about four miles east of Niagara, called Ononwayea, or Johnston's Landing Place, upon the lake named by the Indians Oswego, and by us Ontario ; from thence southerly, in a direction always four miles east of the carrying place, between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, to the mouth of Tehoseroron, or Buffalo creek, upon Lake Erie : thence south, to the northern boundary of the state of Pennsylvania ; thence west, to the end of the said north boundary ; thence south, along the west boundary of the said state to the river Ohio. The said line, from the mouth of Ononwayea to the Ohio, shall be the western boundary of tlic lands of the Six Nations, so that the Six Nations shall and do yield to the United States, all claim to the country west of tlio said boundary ; and then they shall he secured in the possession of the lands they inhabit cast, north, and south of the same, reserving only six miles square, round the fort of Oswego, for the support of the same. The said Six Nations, except the Mohawks, none of whom have attended at this time, for and in consideration of the peace then granted to them, the presents they then received, as well as in consideration of a quantity of goods, to the value of three thousand dollars, now delivered to them by the said Arthur St. Clair, the receipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge, do hereby renew and confirm the said boundary line in the words beforementioned, to the end that it may be and remain as a division line between the lands of the said Six Nations and the territory of the United States, forever. And the under- signed Indians, as well in their own names as in the name of their respective tribes and nations, their heirs and descendants, for the considerations beforementioned, do release, quit claim, relinqui.sh, and cede, to the United States of America, all the lands west of the 446 "* APPENDIX. Bald bo>indary or division line, and between the said line and the strait, from the mouth of Ononwayea and Buffalo creek, for them, the said United States of America, to have and to hold the same in true and absolute propriety, forever. Art. 2. Tlie United States of America confirm to the Six Nations, all the lands which they inhabit, lying eaet and north of the beforementioned boundary line, and relinquish and quit claim to the same and every part thereof, excepting only six miles square round the fort of Oswego, which six miles square round said fort is again reserved to the United States by these presents. Art. 3. The Oneida and Tuscarora nations are also again secured and confirmed in the possession of their respective lands. Art. 4. The United States of America renew and confirm the peace and friendship en- tered into with the Six Nations, (except the Moiiawks,) at the treaty beforementioned, held at Fort Stanwix, declaring the same to be perpetual. And if the Mohawks shall, within six months, declare their assent to the same, they shall be considered as included. Done at Fort Harmar, on the Muskingum, the day and year first above written. In witness wliereof, the parties have hereunto, interchangeably, set their hands and seals. Ar. St. Clair, Cageaga, or Dogs round the Fire, Sawedowa, or The Blast, Kiondushowa, or Swimming Fish, Oncahye, or Dancing Feather, Sohaeas, or Falling Mountain, Otachsaka, or Broken Tomahawk, his x mark, Tckahias, or Long Tree, his x mark, Onechsetee, or Loaded Man, his x mark, Kiahtulaho, or Snake, Aqueia, or Bandy Legs, Kiandogewa, or Big Tree, his x mark, Owenewa, or Thrown in the Water, his x mark, Gyantwaia, or Cornplanter, his x mark, Gyasota, or Big Cross, his x mark, Kanassee, or New Arrow, Achiout, or Half Town, Anachout, or The Wasp, his x mark, Chishekoa, or Wood Bug, his x mark, Sessewa, or Big Bale of a Kettle, Sciahowa, or Council Keeper, Twanias, or Broken Twig, Sonachshowa, or Full Moon, Cachunwasse. or Twenty Canoes, IN PRESENCE OP Hickonquash, or Tearing Assunder. Jos. Harmar, lieut, col. comdg. 1st U. S. Regiment, jind brig. gen. by brevet. Richard Butler, Jno. Gibson, Will. M'Curdy, captain, Ed. Denny, ensign, Ist U. S. Regiment, A. Hartshorn, ensign, Robt. Thompson, ensign, 1st U. S. Regiment, Fran. Leile, ensign, Josep Nicholai. *" APPENDIX. 447 SEPARATE ARTICLE OF THE NEXT PRECEDING TREATY. Should a robbery or murder be committed by an Indian or Indians of the Six Nations, upon the citizens or subjects of the United States, or by the citizens or subjects of the Uni- ted States, or any of them, upon any of the Indians of the said nations, the parties accused of the same shall be tried, and if found ^'uilty, be punished according to the laws of the state, or of the territory of the United States, as the case may be, where the same was committed. And should any horses be stolen, either by the Indians of the said nations, from the citizens or subjects of tlie United States, or any of them, or by any of the said citizens or subjects from any of the said Indians, they may be reclaimed into whose posses- sion soever they may have come; and, upon due proof, shall be restored, any sale in open market notwithstanding ; and the persons convicted shall be punished witli the utmost se- verity the laws will admit. And the said nations engage to deliver the persons that may be accused, of their nations, of either of the beforementioned crimes, at the nearest post of the United States, if the crime was committed within the territory of the United States ; or to the civil authority of the state, if it shall have happened within any of the United States. AR. ST. CLAIR, WITH THE WYANDOTS, &C. Articles of a treaty made at Fort Harraar, between Arthur St. Clair, governor of the terri- tory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, and commissioner plenipotentiary of the United States of America, for removing all causes of controversy, regulating trade and settling boundaries, with the Indian nations in the northern department, of the one part; and tlie sachems and warriors of the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pattawatiraa, and Sac nations, on the other part. Art. 1. Whereas, the United States in Congress assembled, did, by their commissioners, George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee, esquires, duly appointed for that purpose, at a treaty holden with the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, and Chippewa nations, at Fort M'Intosh, on the twenty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-five, conclude a peace with the Wyandots, Delawares, Ottawas, and Chippewas, and take them into their friendship and protection : And whereas, at the said treaty, it was stipulated that all prisoners that had been made by those nations, or either of them, should be delivered up to the United States. And whereas the said nations have now agreed to, and with the aforesaid Arthur St. Clair, to renew and confirm all the engagements they had made with the United States of America, at the beforementioned treaty, e.xcept so far as are altered by these presents. And there are now in the possession of some individuals of these nations, certain prisoners, who have been taken by others not in peace with the said United States, or in violation of the treaties subsisting between the United States and them ; the said nations agree to deliver up all the prisoners now in their hands (by what means soever they may have come into their possession) to the said gov- ernor St. Clair, at Fort Ilarmar ; or, in his absence, to the ofliccr commanding tliere, as BOon as conveniently may be ; and for the true performance of this agreement, they do now agree to deliver into his hands, two persons of the Wyandot nation, to be retained in the hands of the United States as hostages, until the said prisoners are restored ; after which they shall be sent back to their nation. Art. 2. And whereas, at the beforementioned treaty, it was agreed between the United Stales and said nations, that a boundary line should be fixed between tlie lands of those nations and the territory of the United States, which boundary is as follows, viz : Beginning 448 APPENDIX. at tlie mouth of Cayahoga river, and runniii? thence up the said river to the portage be- tween that and the Ti'scarawa branch of Muskingum, then down the said branch to the forks at the crossing place above Fort Lawrence, tlience westerly to the portage on that branch of the Big Miami river which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood wliich was taken by the French in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hun- dred and fifty-two, then along the said portage to the Great Miami or Omie river, and down the southeast side of the same to its mouth ; thence along the southern shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of Cayahoga, where it began. And the said Wyandot, Delaware, Otta- wa, and Chippewa nations, for and in consideration of the peace then granted to them by the said United States, and the presents they then received, as well as of a quantity of goods to the value of six thousand dollars, now delivered to them by the said Arthur St. Clair, the receipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge, do, by these presents, renew and confirm the said boundary line ; to the end that the same may remain as a division line between the lands of the United States of America and the lands of said nations, forever. And the undersigned Indians do hereby, in their own names, and the names of their re- spective nations and tribes, their heirs and descendants, for the consideration above men- tioned, release, quit claim, relinquish, and cede to the said United States, all the land east, south, and west, of the lines above described, so far as the said Indians formerly claimed the same ; for them the said United States to have and to hold the same, in true and abso- lute propriety, forever. Art. 3. The Uuited States of America do, by these presents, relinquish and quit claim to the said nations respectively, all the lands lying between the limits above described, for them, the said Indians, to live and hunt upon, and otherwise to occupy as they shall see fit ; but the said nations, or either of them, shall not be at liberty to sell or dispose of the same, or any part thereof, to any sovereign power, except the United States; nor to the subjects or citizens of any other sovereign power, nor to the subjects or citizens of the United Slates. Art. 4. It is agreed between the said United States and the said nations, that the indi- viduals of said nations shall be at liberty to hunt within the territory ceded to the United States, without hindrance or molestation, so long as they demean themselves peaceably. and offer no injury or annoyance to any of the subjects or citizens of the said United States. Art. 5. It is agreed, that, if any Indian or Indians, of the nations beforeraentioncd, shall commit a murder or robbery on any of the citizens of the United States, the nation or tribe to which the offender belongs, on complaint being made, shall deliver up the person or persons complained of, at the nearest post of the United States ; to the end that he or they may be tried, and, if found guilty, punished according to the laws established in the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio, for the punishment of such offences, if the same shall have been committed within the said territory ; or according to the laws of the state where the offence may have been committed, if the same has happened in any of the United States. In like manner, if any subject or citizen of the United States shall commit umrder or robbery, on any Indian or Indians of the said nations, upon com. plaint being made thereof, he or they shall be arrested, tried, and punished agreeable to the laws of the state, or of the territory wlierein the offence was committed; that nothing may interrupt the peace and harmony now established between the United States and said nations. Art. 6. And whereas the practice of stealing horses has prevailed very much, to the great disquiet of the citizens of the United States, and, if persisted in, cannot fail to in. volve both the United States of America and the Indians in endless animosity, it is agreed that it shall be put an entire stop to on both sides; nevertheless, should some individuals. APPENDIX. 449 in defiance ol' tliis agreement, and of the laws provided against such ofienccs, continue to make depredations of that nature, the person convicted thereof shall be punished with the utmost severity the laws of the respective states, or territory of the United States north- west of the Ohio, where the offence may have been committed, will admit of: and all horses so stolen, either by the Indians from the citizens or subjects of the United States, or by the citizens or subjects of the United States from any of the Indian nations, may be reclaimed, into whose possession soever they may have passed, and, upon due proof, shall be restored ; any sales in market ouvert, notwithstanding. And the civil magistrates in the United States respectively, and in the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio, shall give all necessary aid and protection to Indians claiming such stolen horses. Art. 7. Trade shall be opened with the said nations, and they do hereby respectively engage to afford protection to the persons and property of such as may be duly licensed to reside among them for the purposes of trade, and to their agents, factors, and servants ; but no person shall be permitted to reside at their towns, or at their hunting camps, as a trader, who is not furnished with a license for that purpose, under the hand and seal of the governor of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio, for the time being, or under the hand and seal of one of his deputies for the management of Indian affaire; to the end that they may not be imposed upon in their traffic. And if any person or per- sons shall intrude themselves without such license, they promise to apprehend him or them, and to bring them to the said governor, or one of his deputies, for the purpose before men- tioned, to be dealt with according to law ; and that they may be defended against persona who might attempt to forge such licenses, they further engage to give information to the said governor, or one of his deputies, of the names of all traders residing among them, from time to time, and at least once in every year. Art. 8. Should any nation of Indians meditate a war against the United Slates, or either of them, and the same shall come to the knowledge of the before mentioned nations, or either of them, they do hereby engage to give immediate notice thereof to the governor, or, in his absence, to the officer commanding the troops of the United States at the nearest post. And should any nation, with hostile intentions against the United States, or either of them, attempt to pass through their country, they will endeavor to prevent the same, and in like manner give information of such attempt to the said governor or commanding officer, as soon as possible, that all causes of mistrust and suspicion maybe avoided between them and the United Slates: in like manner, the United States shall give notice to the said Indian nations, of any harm that may be meditated against them, or either of them, that shall come to their knowledge; and do all in their power to hinder and prevent the same, that the friendship between them may be uninterrupted. Art. 9. If any person or persons, citizens or subjects of the United States, or any other person not being an Indian, shall presume to settle upon the lands confirmed to the said nations, he and they shall be out of the protection of the United States , and the said na- tions may punish him or them in such manner as they see fit. Art. 10. The United States renew the reservations heretofore made in the before men- tioned treaty at fort M'Intosh, for the establishment of trading posts, in manner and form following ; that is to say : six miles square at the mouth of the Miami or Omie rivers ; six miles square at the portage upon that branch of the Miami which runs into the Ohio; six miles square upon the lake Sandusky, where the fort formerly stood ; and two miles square upon each side the Lower Rapids, on Sandusky river ; which posts, and the lands annexed to thena, shall be for the use and under the government of the United States. Art. 11. The post at Detroit, with a district of land beginning at the mouth of the river Rosine, at the west end of lake Erie, and running up the southern bank of said river sfx miles; thence northerly, and always six miles west of the strait, until it strikes the lake Ht. Clair, shall be reserved for the use of the United States. 57 450 APPENDIX. Art. 12. In like manner, the post at Michilimackinac, with its dependencies, and twelve miles square about the same, shall be reserved to the sole use of the United States. Art. 13. The United States of America do hereby renew and confirm the peace and friendship entered into with the said nations, at the treaty before mentioned, held at Fort M'Intosh ; and the said nations again acknowledge themselves, and all their tribes, to be under the protection of the said United States, and no other power whatever. Art. 14. The United States of America do also receive into their friendship and pro- tection, the nations of Pattawatimas and Sacs; and do hereby establish a league of peace and amity between them respectively ; and all the articles of this treaty, so far as they apply to these nations, are to be considered as made and concluded in all, and every part, expressly with them and each of them. Art, 15. And whereas, in describing the boundary before mentioned, the words, if strictly constructed, would carry it from the portage on that branch of the Miami which runs into the Ohio, over to the river Auglaize ; which was neither the intention of the In. dians, nor of the commissioners; it is hereby declared, that the line shall run from the said portage directly to the first fork of the Miami river, which is to the southward and east, ward of the Miami village, thence down the main branch of the Miami river to the said village, and thence down that river to lake Erie, and along the margin of the lake to the place of beginning. Done at Fort Harmar, on the Muskingum, this ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty. nine. In witness whereof, the parties have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals. Ar. St, Clair, l. s. Dclawares. Captain Pipe, his x mark, Peoutewatamie, his x mark, Wingenond, his x mark, Konatikina, his x mark, Pekelan, his x mark, Teataway, his x mark. Sacs. Tepakee, his x mark, Chippewas. Kesheyiva, his x mark, Nanamakeak, his x mark, Wetenasa, his x mark, Chippewas. Mesass, hia x mark, Paushquash, his x mark, Pawasicko, his x mark, Wyandots. Soskene, his x mark, Pewanakum, his x mark. Teyandatontec, his x mark, Cheyawe, his x mark, Doueyenteat, his x mark, Tarhe, his x mark, Pattawatimas. Terhataw, his x mark. Ottawas. Wewiskia, his x mark, Neagey, hia x mark, Windigo, his x mark, Datasay, his x mark, Wapaskca, his x mark, Maudoronk, his x mark, Nequea, his x mark, Skahomat, his x mark. IN PRESENCE OF Jos. Harmar, Lieut. Col, Com't. first U. S. Reg't. and Brig. Gen. by brevet. Richard Butler, Jno. Gibson, Will. M'Curdy, Capt. E. Denny, Ens. first U. S. Reg't. J. Williams, jun: A. Hartshorn, Ensign, William Wilson, Robt. Thompson, Ensign first U. S. Reg't. Joseph Nicholas, Frans. Lusc, Ensign, James Rinken: APPENDIX. 451 Be it remembered, "that tlie Wyandots have laid claim to the lands that were granted to the Shawanees at the treaty held at the Miami ; and liave declared, that as the Sbawanees have been so restless, and caused so much trouble, botli to them and the United States, if they will not now be at peace, they will dispossess tliem, and take the country into their own hands ; for that the country is theirs of right, and the Slia wanees are only living upon it by their permission. They furtlier lay claim to all tlic country west of the Miami bound, ary, from the village to the lake Erie, and declare that it is now under their management and direction. SEPARATE ARTICLE. Whereas the Wyandots have represented, that within the reservation from the river Rosine, along the strait, they have two villages from which they cannot, with any conve- nience remove ; it is agreed, that they shall remain in possession of the same, and shall not be in any manner disturbed therein. F— Page 393. TREATY OF GREENVILLE. A treaty of peace between the United States of America, and the tribes of Indians called the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pattawatimas, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws. and Kaskaskias. To put an end to a destructive war, to settle all controver.sies, and to restore harmony and friendly intercourse between the said United States and Indian tribes, Anthony Wayne, Major General, commanding the army of the United States, and sole commissioner for the good purposes above mentioned, and the said tribes of Indians, by their sachems, cliiefs, and warriors, met together at Greenville, the head quarters of the said army, have agreed on the following articles, which, when ratified by tlie president, with the advice and consent of the senate of the United States, shall he binding on them and the said Indian tribes. Art. 1. Henceforth all hostilities shall cease ; peace is hereby established, and shall be perpetual ; and a friendly intercourse shall take place between the said United States and Indian tribes. Art. 2. AH prisoners shall, on both sides, be restored. The Indians, prisoners to the United States, shall be immediately set at liberty. The people of the United States, still remaining prisoners among the Indians, shall be delivered up in ninety days from the date hereof, to the general or commanding ofiicer at Greenville, Fort Wayne, or Fort Defiance, and ten chiefs of the said tribes shall remain at Greenville as hostages, until the delivery of the prisoners shall be effected. Art. 3. The general boundary line between the lands of the United States and the lands of the said Indian tribes, shall begin at the mouth of Cayahoga river, and run thence up the same to the portage, between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum, tlience down that branch to the crossing place above Fort Lawrence, thence westerly to a fork of that branch of the great Miami river, running into the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Loromie's store, and where commences the portage between the Miami of the Ohio, and St. Mary's river, which is a branch of the Miami wliich runs into lake Erie; thence a westerly course to Fort Recovery, wliich stands on a brancli of the Wabash ; thence south- westerly in a direct line to the Ohio, so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of Kentucke or Cuttawa river. And in consideration of the peace now established; of the goods formerly received from the U.nited States; of those now to be delivered ; and of the 452 APPENDIX. yearly delivery of goods now stipulated to be ninde liereafter; and to indemnify the United States for the injuries and expenses they have sustained during the war, the said Indian tribes do hereby cede and relinquish forever, all their claims to the lands lying eastwardly and southwardly of the general boundary line now described; and these lands, or any part of them, shall never hereafter be made a cause or pretence, on the part of the said tribes, or any of them, of war or injury lo the United States, or any of the people thereof. And for the same considerations, and as an evidence of the returning friendship of the said Indian tribes, of their confidence in the United States, and desire to provide for their accommodation, and for that convenient intercourse which will be beneficial to both par- ties, the said Indian tribes do also cede to the United States the following pieces of land, to- wit : 1. One piece of land six miles square, at or near Loromie's store, before mention- ed. 2. One piece two miles square, at the head of the navigable water or landing, on the St. Mary's river, near Girty's town. 3. One piece si.x miles square, at the head of the navi- gable water of the Auglaize river. 4. One piece six miles square, at the confluence of the Auglaize and Miami rivers, where Fort Defiance now stands. 5. One piece six miles square, at or near the confluence of the rivers St. Mary's and St. Joseph's, where Fort Wayne now stands, or near it. 6. One piece two miles square, on the Wabash river, at the end of the portage from the Miami of the lake, and about eiglit miles westward from Fort Wayne. ?• One piece six miles square, at the Ouatanon, or old Wea towns, on the Wabash river. 8. One piece twelve miles square, at the British fort on the Miami of the lake, at the foot of the rapids. 9. One piece six miles square, at the mouth of the said river, where it emp- ties into the lake. 10. One piece six miles square, upon Sandusky lake, where a fort for- merly stood. 11. One piece two miles square, at the lower rapids of Sandusky river. 12. The post of Detroit, and all the land to the north, the west, and the south of it, of which the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English govern, ments : and so much more land to be annexed to the district of Detroit, as shall be compre. bended between the river Rosine, on the south, lake St. Clair on the north, and a line, the general course whereof shall be six miles distant from the west end of lake Erie and De- troit river. 13. The post of Michilimackinac, and all the land on the island on which that post stands, and the main land adjacent, of which the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English governments: and a piece of land on the main to the north of the island, to measure six miles, on lake Huron, or the strait between lakes Huron and Michigan, and to extend three miles back from the water of the lake or strait ; and also, the island De Bois Blanc, being an extra and voluntary gift of the Chippewa na- tion. 14. One piece of land six miles square, at the mouth of Chikago river, emptying into the southwest end of lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood. 15. One piece twelve miles square, at or near the mouth of the Illinois river, emptying into the JNIississippi. 16. One piece six miles square, at the old Piorias fort and village, near the south end of the Illinois lake, on said Illinois river. And whenever the United States shall think proper to survey and mark the boundaries of the lands hereby ceded to them, they shall give timely notice thereof to the said tribes of Indians, that they may appoint some of their wise chiefs to attend and see that the lines are run according to the terms of this treaty. And the said Indian tribes will allow to the people of the United Slates a free passage by land and by water, as one and the other shall be found convenient, through their country, along the chain of posts hereinbefore mentioned ; that is to say, from the commencement of the portage aforesaid, at or near Loromie's store, thence along said portage to the Saint Mary's, and down the same to Fort Wayne, and then dovi-n the Miami to lake Erie; again, from the commencement of the portage at or near Loromie's store along the portage from thence to the river Auglaize, and down the same to its junction with the Miami at Fort Defiance ; again, from the commencement of the portage aforesaid, to Sandusky river, and down the same to Sandusky bay and lake Erie, and from Sandusky to the post which shall APPENDIX. 453 be taken at or near the foot of the rapids of tlie Miami of the lake ; and fiom thence to Dc- trolt. Again, from the moutli of Chikago, to the commencement of the portage, between that river and the Illinois, and down tlie Illinois river to the Mississippi; also, from Fort Wayne, along the portage aforesaid, which leads to the Wabash, and then down the Wabash to the Ohio. And the said Indian tribes will also allow to the people of the United States, the free use of the harbors and mouths of rivers along the lakes adjoining the Indian lands, for sheltering vessels and boats, and liberty to land their cargoes where necessary for their safety. Art. 4. In consideration of the peace now established, and of tlie cessions and relin- quishments of lands made in the preceding article by the said tribes of Indians, and to man- ifest the liberality of the United States, as the great means of rendering this peace strong and perpetual, the United States relinquish their claims to all other Indian lands northward of the river Ohio, eastward of the Mississippi, and westward and southward of the Great Lakes and the waters uniting them, according to the boundary line agreed on by the United States and the king of Great Britain, in the treaty of peace made between them in the year 1783. But from this relinquishment by the United States, the following tracts of land are explicitly excepted. 1st. The tract of one hundred and fifty thousand acres near the rapids of the river Ohio, which has been assigned to General Clark, for the use of himself and his warriors. 2d. The post of St. Vincennes, on the river Wabash, and the lands adjacent, of which the Indian title has been extinguished. 3d. The lands at all other places in posses- sion of the French people and other white settlers among them, of which the Indian title has been extinguished as mentioned in the third article. And, 4th, The post of Fort Mas- sac towards the mouth of the Ohio. To which several parcels of land so excepted, the said tribes relinquish all the title and claim which they or any of them may have. And for the same considerations and with the same views as above mentioned, the Unit- ed States now aeliver to the said Indian tribes a quantity of goods to the value of twenty thousand dollars, the receipt whereof they do hereby acknowledge, and henceforward, every year, forever, the United States will deliver, at some convenient place northward of the river Ohio, like useful goods, suited to the circumstances of the Indians, of the value of nine thousand five hundred dollars; reckoning that value at the first cost of the goods in the city or place in the United States where they shall be procured. The tribes to which those goods are to be annually delivered, and the proportions in which they are to be de- livered are the following : 1st. To the Wyandots, the amount of one thousand dollars. 2d. To the Delawarcs, the amount of one thousand dollars. 3d. To the Shawanees, the amount of one thousand dol- lars. 4tli. To the Miamis, the amount of one thousand dollars. .5th. To the Ottawas, the amount of one thousand dollars. 6th. To the Chippewas, the amount of one thousand dol- lars. 7th. To the Pottawatimas, the amount of one thousand dollars. 8th. And to the Kickapoo, Wea, Eel River, Piankeshaws, and Kaskaskia trihes, the amount of five hundred dollars each. Provided, that if cither of the said tribes shall hereafter, at an annual delivery of their .share of the goods aforesaid, desire that a part of their annuity should be furnished in do- mestic animals, implements of husbandry, and other utensils convenient for them, and in compensation to useful artificers who may reside with or near them, and be employed for their benefit, the same shall, at the subsequent annual deliveries, be furnished accordingly. Art. 5. To prevent any misunderstanding about the Indian lands relinquished by the United States in the 4tli article, it is now explicitly declared, that the meaning of that re- linquishment is this : the Indian tribes who have a right to those lands, are quietly to enjoy them, hunting, planting, and dwelling thereon, so long as they please, without any molesta- tion from the United States ; but when those tribes, or any of tlicm, shall be disposed to sell their lands, or any part of them, they are to be sold only to the United States; and 454 APPENDIX. until such sale, the United States will protect all the said Indian tribes in the quiet enjoy- ment of their lands against all citizens of the United States, and against all other white persons who intrude upon tlie same. And the said Indian tribes again acknowledge them- selves to be. under the protection of the said United States, and no other power whatever. Art. 6. If any citizen of the United States, or any other wliite person or persons, shall presume to settle upon the lands now relinquished by the United States, riuch citizen or other person sliall be out of the protection of the United States; and the Indian tribe, on whose land the settlement shall be made, may drive off the settler, or punish him in such manner as they shall think fit; and because such settlements, made without the consent of the United States, will be injurious to them as well as to the Indians, the United States shall be at liberty to break them up, and remove and punish the settlers as they shall think proper, and so effect that protection of the Indian lands herein before stipulated. Art. 7. The said tribes of Indians parties to this treaty, shall be at liberty to hunt within the territory and lands which they have now ceded to the United States, without hindrance or molestation, so long as they demean themselves peaceably, and offer no in- jury to the people of the United States. Art. 8. Trade shall be opened with the said Indian tribes ; and they do hereby respec- tively engage to afford protection to such persons, with their property, as shall be duly licensed to reside among them for the purpose of trade, and to their agents and servants ; but no person shall be permitted to reside at any of their towns or hunting camps, as a trader, who is not furnished with a license for that purpose, under the hand and seal of the superintendent of the department northwest of the Ohio, or such other person as the president of the United States shall authorize to grant such license; to the end, that the said Indians may not be imposed on in their trade. And if any licensed trader shall abuse his privilege by unfair dealing, upon complaint and proof thereof, his license shall be taken from him, and he shall be further punished according to the laws of the United States. — And if any person shall intrude himself as a trader, without such license, the said Indians shall take and bring him before the superintendent, or his deputy, to be dealt with accord- ing to law. And to prevent impositions by forged licenses, the said Indians shall, at least once a year, give information to the superintendent, or his deputies, of the names of the traders residing among tliem. Art. 9. Lest the firm peace and friendship now established, should be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, the United States, and the said Indian tribes agree, that for injuries done by individuals on either side, no private revenge or retaliation sliall take place ; but instead thereof, complaint shall be made by the party injured, to the other: by the said Indian tribes, or any of them, to the president of the United States, or the superintendent by him appointed ; and by the superintendent or other person appointed by tlie president, to the principal chiefs of the said Indian tribes, or of the tribe to which the offender belongs ; and such prudent measures shall then be pursued as sliall be necessary to preserve the said peace and friendship unbroken, until the legislature (or great council) of the United States, shall make other equitable provision in the case, to the satisfaction of both parties. Should any Indian tribes meditate a war against the United States, or either of them, and the same shall come to the knowledge of the before mentioned tribes, or eitlier of them, they do hereby engage to give immediate notice thereof to the general, or officer commanding the troops of the United States, at the nearest post. And should any tribe, with hostile intentions against the United States, or either of them, attempt to pass through their country, they will endeavor to prevent the same, and in like manner give information of such attempt, to the general, or officer com- manding, as soon as possible, that all causes of mistrust and suspicion may be avoided be- tween them and the United States. In like manner the United States shall give notice to the said Indian tribes of any harm that may be meditated against them, or either of them APPENDIX. 455 that shall come to their knowledge ; and do all in tlieir power to hinder and prevent the same, that the friendship between them may be uninterrupted. Art. 10. All other treaties heretofore made between the United States and the said Indian tribes, or any of them, since the treaty of 1783, between the United States and Great Britain, that come witliin the purview of this treaty, shall henceforth cease and be- come void. In testimony whereof, the said Anthony Wayne, and the sachems and war chiefs of the before mentioned nations and tribes of Indians, iiave hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals. Done at Greenville, in the territory of tlie United States northwest of the river Ohio, on the third day of August, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five. Anthony Wayne, [l. s.] WYANDOTS. Tarhe, or Crane, his x mark, J: Williams, jun. his x mark, Teyyaghtaw, his x mark, Haroenyou, or half king's son, his s mark, Tehaawtorens, his x mark, Awmeyeeray, his x mark, Stayetah, his x mark, Shateyyaronyah, or Leather Lips, his x Daughshuttayah, his x mark, [mark, Shaawrunthe, his x mark, DELAWARES. Tetabokshke, or Grand Glaize King, his x [mark, Lemantanquis, or Black King, his x mark, Wabatthoe, his x mark, Maghpiway, or Red Feather, his x mark, Kikthawenund, or Anderson, his x mark, Bukongehelas, his x mark, Peekeelund, his x mark, . Wellebawkeelund, his x mark, Peekeetelemund, or Thomas Adams, his x [mark, Kishkopekund, or Capt Buffalo, his x mark, Amenahehan, or Capt Crow, his x mark, Queshawksey, or George Washington, hia x [mark, Weywinquis, or Billy Siscooib, his x mark, Moses, his x mark, SHAWANEES, Misquacoonacaw, or Red Pole, his x mark, Cutthewekasaw, or Black Hoof, his x mark, Kaysewacsekah, his x mark, Wcythapamattha, his x mark, Nianymscka, his x mark, Waytheah, or Long Shanks, his x mark, Wcyapiersenwaw, or Blue Jacket, his .\ [mark, Nequetaughaw, his x mark, Hahgooseeeaw, or Capt. Reed, his x mark, OTTAWA. Chegonickska, (an Ottawa from Sandusky) [his X mark, TATTAWATIMAS OF THE RIVER ST. JOSEPH. Thupenebu, his mark, Nawac, (for himself and brother Etsimethe) [his mark, Nenanseka, his x mark, Keesass, or Sun, bis x mark, Kabamasaw, (for himself and brother Chi- saugan,) his x mark, Sugganunk, his x mark, Wapmeme, or White Pigeon, his x mark, Wacheness, (for himself and brother Peda- goshok,) his x mark, Wabshicawnaw, his x mark, La Chasse, his x mark, Meshegethenogh, (for himself and brother Wawasck,) his x mark, Hingoswash, his x mark, Anevvasaw, his x mark, Nawbudgh, his x mark, Missenogomaw, his x mark, Waweegshe, his x mark, Thawme, or Le Blanc, his x mark, Geeque, (for himself and brother She- winse,) liis x mark, PATTAWATIMAS OF HURON. Okia, his x mark, Chamung, his x mark, Segagewan, his x mark, Nanawme, (for himself and brother A. Gin,) his x mark, Marchand, his x mark, Wenameac, his x mark, MIAMIS. Nagoiiquangogh, or Le Gris, his x mark, Meshckuniioghquoh, or Little Turtle, his x [murk. 456 APPENDIX, bTtAWAS. Augoosliaway, his x mark, Keenoshameek, his x mark. La Malice, his x mark, Machiwetali, his x mark, Thowonawa, his x mark, Secaw, his x mark, CHIPPEWAS. Mashipinashiwish, or Bad Bird, his x mark, Nahshogashe, (from Lake Superior,) his x [mark, Kathawasung, his x mark, Masass, his x mark, Nemekass, or Little Thunder, hia x mark, Peshawkay, or Young Ox, his x mark, Nanguey, his x mark, Meenedohgeesogh, his x mark, Peewanshemenogh, his x mark, Weymegwas, his x mark, Gobmaatick, his x mark. MIAMIS ANE* EEL lllVKUS. Peejeewa, or Richard Ville, his x mark,- Cochkepoghtogh, his x mark, EEL RIVER TRIBE. Shamekunnesa, or Soldier, his x mark, MIAMIS. Wapaniangwa, or White Loon, his x mark, WEAS FOR THEMSELVES AND PIANKESHAWS. Amacunsa, or Little Beaver, his x mark, Acoolatha, or Little Fox, his x mark, Francis, his x mark, EICKAPOOS AND KASKASEIAS. Keeawhah, his x mark, Nemighka, or Josey Renard, his x mark, Paikeekanogh, hisx mark, DELAVVARES OF SANDUSKY. Hawkinpumiska, his x mark, Peyamawksey, his x mark, Reyntueco, (of the Six Nations living at Sandusky,) his x mark. In presence of, (the word " goods " in tlie 6th line of the 3d article ; the word " before " in the 26th line of the 3d article; the words "five hundred" in the 10th line of the 4th articles, and the word '• Piankeshaw " in the 14th line of the 4th article, being first inter- lined.) ^ H. De Butts, first A. t), C. and sec'y to Major Gen. Wayne, Wm. H. Harrison, aid de camp to Major Gen. Wayne, T. Lewis, aid de camp to Major Gen. Wayne, James O'Hara, Quarter Master Genera), John Mills, Major of Infantry, and Adjutant General. Caleb Swan, P. M. T. U. S. sworn interpreters. Geo. Demier, Lieut, Artillery, William Wells, Vi