UTLOOK HISTORY SERIES Jill ikiii-imm ,(",Hjj:.U',>S;«5?>I It Class Ts^ \ )ple I Book_ -H^ 7 GopyiightN" COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. iblisher ts Peo- ' of any state e letters that 252 Richard Yates 258 John A. Logan 261 Ulysses S. Grant 264 Abraham Lincoln 271 XXII Later Times in Chicago 281 XXIII The Schools of Illinois 297 XXIV Our Historic Outlook 303 The Appendix 310 Topical Index 315 MANTLE OF INVISIBILITY A charmed covering for spies which they imagined would enable them to pass unseen through the country, and even through the camp of their enemies. -Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. THE STORY OF ILLINOIS CHAPTER I The object of the ''scalp-lock" was to give an adversary — if he could get it — a fair grip in fight, and also to enable him to pull his enemy's scalp off as a trophy of the battle. That lock was the Indian's flag of defiance. It waved above his head as the colors do above a fort, as if to say, "Take me if you can!" — D. H. Montgomery. THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS Name and Origin of the Indian. When Columbus first touched the shores of the New World he found here a native race of red men whom he called Indians, because he supposed he had discovered the East Indies. The Indian had not advanced far enough in the arts of civili- zation to keep a written record of his history. Where he originally came from and how long he had lived here before the coming of the white man, nobody knows. Most of the tribes declared they were natives, and that they came up out of the earth. One thing, however, is certain. The red race was spread, for long ages, over all North and South America. The Mound Builders. There is reason to believe that in former ages a race more advanced than the Indians occupied the Mississippi valley. From the large number of mounds they left, they have been called the Mound Builders. Within these mounds stone and copper weapons 13 14 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS and utensils are discovered which show that this race was superior to the savages found here by the Europeans. Whence they came or whither they went, no one can tell. The closer we study the relics dug from these mounds, the more probable it seems that the Mound Builders were merely the more civilized ancestors of the Indians. The red men had forgotten much that was known to their mound-building forefathers. But they knew how to scratch the soil with a sharp stick, a bone, or a stone hoe, and thus raise corn and a few vegetables. So they were not entirely dependent upon hunting and fishing for their living. They had dogs of a low breed which they used in the chase, but horses, cows, goats, sheep, and pigs were unknown to them. Without the help of such animals it is very hard to rise from barbarism into civilized life. The Algonquian Family. When the white men first visited the Mississippi valley they found ^'The Country of the Illinois" inhabited by eight different tribes: the Illinois, Miamis, Kickapoos, Mascoutins, Pottawatomies, Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes and Shawnees. These tribes were all members of the Algonquian family. The splendid location of Illinois, with its fine climate, fertile soil, and abundance of all kinds of game, was the cause of many a bloody war for its possession. Its famous hunting grounds were known even to the distant Iroquois, who made frequent incursions to seize upon them and drive out the resident tribes. The Indians of the Illinois country differed little from the other members of the Algonquian family, except that, because of the abundance of larger game, they knew little of trapping and fishing. Neither was agriculture carried on so extensively as elsewhere, for the same reason. The Work of the Squaw. The Indian family divided the work of life among its members. The lodge or wigwam, THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 15 with all its arrangements, was subject to the rule of the squaw. She assigned to each a place to eat, sleep, and to store his belongings. Her husband never interfered with the affairs of the wigwam. If he did not like the way things were going he said nothing, but made for the woods. It was the work of the squaw to take down the lodge and bind the necessaries on the backs of dogs, or to carry them herself to the next camp. Later ponies were introduced, which served to lighten her burdens. The warrior was always left free on the march that he might be ready to meet a lurking enemy or to pursue game. The squaw was strong and vigorous and fully equal to her labors. Much of the time she spent in idleness. She had nob, like the farmer's wife of today, cows to milk, butter to make, or poultry to care for. No dishwashing, knitting nor fancy w^ork fell to her lot. She needed not to dress the children and prepare them for school. There was no wardrobe to care for, no books to read, no chairs to dust. The wigwam was not crowded with mahogany furniture. They sat and slept on brush or buffalo robes. Sweeping, too, was a simple matter. The broom was of cedar branches, the floor the bare earth, and if the squaw failed to sweep clean and often, the lord of the forest made no complaint. There was the fire-pit in the center of the wigwam where cooking was done. The meat and fow^l provided by the red man were thrown on the fire, and eaten half-raw. Certain foods, such as succotash, were cooked by throwing hot stones into the containing vessel of unglazed pottery or wood which could not be put over the fire. Sometimes during the hunting season they dug a hole in the ground, shaped like a bowl, into which they fitted a green buffalo • skin, hairy side down, and filled it with water. Heated stones were dropped into this to cook the buffalo meat. 16 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The family had one meal a day together. At other times each ate when hungry, the fingers answering for knives and forks. There was no wash-day. When a skin had been dressed and a garment made of it, by using a bone needle with a sinew of deer for thread, it was worn till it was in tatters. The squaw collected wood for fuel, using a stone hammer to break it into proper lengths, after which it was tied into bundles and carried to the lodge. She planted the patches of corn, beans, melons and pumpkins, and cultivated them with a sharp stick or a hoe made of the shoulder blade of the buffalo or elk. The Work of the Brave. It may seem that there was no work left for the red man to do, but this is not true. He has not been given justice in the matter of doing his share of the work. The making of implements and arms was a long and laborious task. The most skillful Indian could not make an arrow short of a hard day's work. In an exciting chase he often used and lost as many arrows as would keep him busy for months to replace. Bows were made from the wood of the Osage orange, for which long journeys were made. Each warrior had several in different stages of completion. Much time was required for the various processes and treatments necessary to make a good bow. The bow strings were twisted from finely shredded sinew. The savage had no end of chipped stone blades, with varying sizes for the deer, bear and buffalo. Their spears were tipped with antler or bone. Chipping tools from stone, and arrow heads from flint, was no child's play. Then there was the grooved ax with a handle of hickory or ash sapling that would bend double without breaking. The bringing down of animals for food was not mere pastime. Before the introduction of ponies and firearms THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 17 from Europe, great endurance and patience, as well as skill, were required to approach and kill a buffalo or deer. *'With his head covered by a cap of grass or weeds, the Indian will lie for hours, noiseless as a snake, watching the game: now perfectly motionless, now crawling a few feet: no constraint of position, no fiercest heat of the sun, seeming to affect him in the least. He will lie for a whole day at a water hole waiting for the game to come and drink, in such a position that the wind will not reveal him." Besides making arms and providing food, the red man's duty was to guard his hunting grounds, to keep out his enemies, and to protect the women and children in war. Fighting was the business of the braves, and they were on the warpath much of the time. While the work of the warrior and squaw was divided fairly before the white man came, the introduction of ponies and muskets lightened the work of the male Indian, while the squaw was not relieved so much. Because he did not quickly take upon himself some of his squaw's w^ork, we have censured him unjustly. The Training of Children. The papoose was tied to the cradle-board for the first two years of its life. The father took no care of the child until he was big enough to learn the use of the bow and arrow and to throw the tomahawk. These cradle-boards were light and well made. They were longer than the child and somewhat wider. A hoop of strong hickory wood, wrapped to pro- tect the head, was bent over the face of the papoose, and the ends made fast to the boards. Holes were made in the edges of the board through which straps of rawhide were passed to hold the bed and child firmly in place. At the end of the board a strap was passed through a hole and the ends tied. When the squaw was busy, she 18 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS hung the cradle-board and child to the limb of a tree, or stood it against a tree or stump. Perhaps this is better than putting a child in one of our cradles, for it keeps the little one's back straight. Some think this is why the Indian men are more erect than white men. The Indian boy ''had to learn to swim like a fish and dive like a beaver, to climb trees like a squirrel, and to run like a deer. He had to learn how to set traps for wild animals, and how to hunt and kill them. He was taught to howl like a wolf, to bleat like a fawn, to quack like a duck, and to gobble like a turkey. By imitating: these wild creatures he could better get near them in order to kill them." How to Become a Brave. When he grew up he obtained honor and social position not by riches, for there was no wealth except a few ornaments. To be counted as a brave, he must have taken a scalp or two, or at least have plundered and stolen from the enemy. The Indian never robbed members of his own tribe, but to steal from the enemy was counted a praiseworthy deed. Indian Customs. When one brave had been more fortunate than others in the chase, or in the use of the arrow or spear, the spoil was set apart for a feast. All the adults were invited. W^hen the time came for the feast, each one, according to custom, took a wooden dish and possibly a wooden spoon, and proceeded to the host's lodge. The food was served with great care, each guest receiving a portion of the best. Cheerful conversation, anecdote and personal adventure, were introduced by the men, the women not being allowed to take part. After the feast, the squaws retired to their lodges, leaving the warriors to smoke. Formal councils, where important questions like peace or war were considered, w^re always opened by smoking the pipe. THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 21 The Red Man's Arithmetic. The Indian kept count of the number of scalps taken or the number of days on a journey by cutting notches in a bow or spear. There is no proof that they counted time by weeks, but they meas- ured the month by the moon, though they may not have Ivnown enough of numbers to tell how many days made a ^'moon." They measured years by the coming of the leaves in the spring. When these Indians made a purchase, they inquired, not how many dollars, but how many raccoon skins they owed. Indian Writing. The Indians wrote by drawing pic- tures. On the post or tablet at the head of an Indian grave was drawn the figure of the animal or totem showing the clan to which the deceased belonged. Streaks of red paint were added to denote his war expeditions, or the number of scalps he had taken from the enemy. Here is an actual letter written by an Indian maiden to her lover, inviting him to visit her at her lodge: EXPLANATION a the writer of the letter, a girl of the Bear Totem, shown by that animal 6; e and / are companions of a, the crosses signifying that the three girls are Christians; c and g the wigwams occupied by the 22 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS girls near a large lake j, a trail leading from g to h which is a well* traveled road. The letter was written to a brave of the Mud Puppy Totem, as indicated in d. i the trail leading to her lover's lodge. k a lake near Indian camp. In examining c, the writer's hand is seen protruding from an opening to denote beckoning and to indicate which lodge to visit. —Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-1889, page 363. Had the Indian girl written her letter in Engiisii, this is about the way it would have looked: My dear Brave, Of the Mud Puppy Totem, I and two girl companions are living in wigivams that are pitched near a large lake. We are Christians, and we belong to the Bear Totem. Not far from our camp, south of the main trail, is another large lake. I wish you would call some evening at my lodge, ivhich you will recognize by my hand ivaving you a salute. Your devoted Indian girl, Of the Bear Totem. A Buffalo Hunt. Every fall a great hunt was made for the purpose of killing and curing a supply of meat for the winter's use. Runners were sent ahead to seek the most suitable place for the camp. It must be near a good supply of water as w^ell as timber for tent poles and drying scaffolds. Level stretches of open prairie were necessary for the stretching and drying of hides. Above all, the camp had to be near the center of a region abounding in game. Having pitched camp, and '^all things being readA^ the best hunters were sent out before dawn. The herd is selected for slaughter whose position is such that the 'surround' will least disturb the others. A narrow valle}^ THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 23 with lateral ravines is favorable. If the herd is unfavor- ably situated, the hunter waits for it to go to the water, or, by discreet appearances at intervals, drives it to the best spot. During this time the whole active male por- tion of the band is congregated out of sight of the buffaloes, silent and trembling with excitement." "The herd being in the proper place, the leaders tell off the men and send them under temporary captains to designated positions. Carefully concealed, these parties pour dowTi the valley to the lecAvard, and spread gradu- ally on each flank of the wind until the herd is surrounded, except on the windward side. Seeing that every man is in his place and all ready, the head hunter rapidly swings in a party to close the gap, gives the signal, and with a yell that would almost wake the dead, the whole line dashes in and closes on the game. The buffaloes make desperate rushes, until utterly bewildered, they almost stand still and await their fate. In a few moments the slaughter is complete." When bows and arrows were used, each warrior know- ing his own, had no difficulty in positively identifying the buffaloes killed by him. These were his property, except that he was assessed a certain portion. If arrows of dif- ferent braves were found in the same dead buffalo, it fell to him whose arrow was found nearest the heart. "The slaughter completed, the warriors return to camp, while the women skin, cut up, and carry to camp almost every portion of the dead animals. As soon as the women's work is done, other 'surrounds' are made, until enough meat and skins are obtained. The work of the women is most laborious during the fall hunt. If the buffaloes are moving, the success of the hunt may depend upon the rapidity with which she performs her work on a batch of dead buffaloes. The men do not wish to kill, 24 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS in any one day more than the squaws can skin and cut up on that same day." Preparing the Meat and Curing the Hides. 'The meat is thoroughly dried on the pole scaffolds until it is as hard as a rock. It is then pounded into meal by means of stone mauls, and packed in cases made of rawhide. Melted tallow is poured over the whole, which is kept warm until the mass is thoroughly saturated. When the meat, now called pemmican, is cold, the rawhide cases are closed and tied up. The contents so prepared, will keep in good condition for several years." ''The skins, as soon as they are emptied of their freight of meat, are spread, flesh side upward, on a level piece of ground. Small slits are cut in the edges of each and it is stretched and fastened down by wooden pegs driven through the slits." The thickest hides were selected for shields and cases. The hair was removed by soaking the skins in a mixture of wood-ashes and water. The skin was then cut into the required shape, and was almost as hard as iron. For making buffalo robes, the skins, being too thick, were reduced one-half by chipping with a tool like a carpen- ter's adz. With this the squaw chipped at the hard skin, cutting off a thin shaving at each blow. It required great skill to make them thin and smooth and not to cut through. These skins were then made soft by being smeared with fat and buffalo brains, rubbed in with a smooth stone. For making lodges or wigwams, the skins were treated in much the same manner as for buffalo robes. In a sim- ilar way, deer skins were beautifully dressed for use as clothing. We here see the Indian woman in the role of butcher, meat-packer, cook, carrier, hide-dresser, tent-maker, clo- thier, shoemaker and house-builder. THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 27 A Tribe on the Warpath. The Indians were some- what hke the Arabs in their migrations. Several famihes usually traveled together. Like wealthy city people today, they had their summer and winter residences. Upon journeys they took all their possessions, except that at times they hid certain articles in holes in the ground, against their return. Their wives, children, dogs, ponies, and all other property, they took with them. In the early evening they w^ere accustomed to encamp, pitching their wigwams with the same care as if for the winter. On the march the small children were often tied to pack saddles so they could not fall off. The still younger ones w^ere tied on cradle-boards and, while traveling, the boards were suspended by the side of the horse. The women usually walked. The Indian did not object to dirt in his food. On his journey, he often carried his meat by running a strap through each piece, which was cut about six inches square. He then tied the strap to the saddle with the meat dangling by the horse's side, exposed to flies and dirt. His Superstitions and His Religion. The Indian believed in ghosts, and thought there was somehow a connection between spirits and fire. He believed in dreams, too, because of which he had many doubts and fears. The hunter usually carried a small medicine bag hidden under his clothing. It contained some relic, as a tooth, a bone, or a claw of some animal, which he thought would protect him from danger and evil of every kind. He believed also in a Great Spirit, which he called the ' 'Master of Life," to whom he made sacrifices. Black Hawk, when his nation was in dire distress in 1832, sacri- ficed a dog every night, because he thought the Great Spirit was unfriendly to him. The dog was killed and burned as it hung from a tree, with its nose pointed in the 28 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS direction they were marching. In this manner he sought to win favor and protection from the god of the Indian. The red man beUeved, too, that all his evils, such as pain, disease, and death, came from bad spirits. To these he also sacrificed when he thought them unfriendly. The medicine-man was supposed to know how to control all spirits. By dancing about a patient and shaking hideous rattles, he strove to drive out the bad spirit. He believed in a future life somewhere, with happy hunting-grounds for the good Indian. He often had his guns, knives, and dogs buried with him, sometimes even his horse, to use in that glorious hunt in the next world. He thought that wicked people would go to a cold, dreary land, where briars and flint rock would tear the flesh from their bones, and where there would be plenty of game, but it would always be just beyond their reach. The Indians were careful about the proper burial of their dead. They had a common graveyard. When a member of the tribe died while away from home, on the warpath or on a hunting trip, they hewed a trough out of a log in which they placed the corpse and suspended it from the top of a tree, safe from wolves, until they returned home. During the war of 1812, when the Indians received severe punishment for aiding the British, their coffins were frequently seen in tree-tops on the frontier. The White Man and the Indian. When the white man came bringing ponies, cloth, firearms and whiskey to exchange for furs, the Indian began to change rapidly in many ways. He copied the vices of the whites, but he was not able to give up his wild life for one of settled agriculture. He was, therefore, gradually pushed back from the fertile valleys of Illinois, until 1832, when Black Hawk and his tribe were the last to be driven out of the state. THE INDIANS OF ILLINOIS 29 TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. To what race do the Indians of North America belong? 2. Can 3^ou suggest a better name for the red men than ''Indians"? 3. Name several differences between savage and civilized peoples. 4. Why do white children like to "play Indian" so well? 5. What constituted an Indian girl's education? 6. What were the principal things an Indian boy must learn? 7. Distinguish between a family, a fn6e, and a nation. 8. What qualities should a good bow possess? How would you make one? 9. What great advantage in weapons did the white men have? LESSON HELPS Rites and Ceremonies. The religious rites and ceremonies of the Indians were many and interesting. One of these is portrayed in MacNeil's famous statue, "The Sun Vow." The principal figure is that of an Indian youth standing with his left hand, holding a bow, extended directly toward the sun, into which he gazes as he repeats the "Sun Vow" of manhood. Seated behind him is his father whose gaze is also fixed on the sun, unflinchingly. The sculptor has put into both figures all the serious and romantic dig- nity of the race and of the occasion. Indian Games. Football was a popular game among the Indians. Sometimes even the squaws joined in the game. "In this case rules were made giving the women certain advantages; for instance, the men could use only their feet, while the women could use both hands and feet in the effort to get the ball through the goal posts. RECOMMENDED READINGS How Indians Compute Time. Youth's Companion, Vol. 66, p. 139. Indian History (Sign Language). F. S. Drake. Blackfoot Lodge Tales. G. B. Grinnell. Indian Medicine. Popular Science . Monthly, Sept., 1886. Myths of the Red Children. G. L. Wilson. The Way of an Indian. Frederic Remington. The Prairie Schooner. W. E. Borton. First Americans. St. Nicholas, Vol. 16, p. 935. CHAPTER II I found myself in the blessed necessity of exposing my life for the salvation of all these peoples, and especially of the Illinois, who had very urgently entreated me, when I was at the point of St. Esprit, to carry the word of God to their country. — Father MarQuette's Journal. MARQUETTE AND JOLIET The French Get a Foothold. The French had declined to help Columbus in his endeavor to find a western route to the Indies. But, no sooner had the Great Navigator discovered the new world than the French hastened to lay hold of a portion of the prize. French sailors soon discovered the St. Lawrence, and upon the rock of Quebec they laid the foundation of a great empire in America. The Objects of the Frenchmen. Their aims were to get hold of more territory for the king, to discover gold and silver mines, and to build up the fur trade with the natives. Each expedition was accompanied by a few holy men called Jesuit priests, whose sole ambition was to teach Christianity to the heathen and to spread the Cath- olic religion among the natives of the earth. No hard- ship was too severe, no danger too hazardous for them to undertake. The greater the sufferings of these loyal missionaries, the more they gloried in them. France was a Catholic nation. She was glad to aid and protect the Jesuits, who would in turn spread French influence among the Indians, and, by friendly relations with them, help to build up a rich fur trade. 30 MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 31 Jesuits and Explorers Hand-in-Hand. Missions were soon established throughout the region of the St. Law- PORTAGES BETWEEN THE GREAT LAKES AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER rence and Great Lakes. Wherever the Indians could be found in sufficient numbers, hither came the fur traders to barter for peltries, and the faithful Jesuit priests to 32 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS instil into the savage heart something of the Cliristian ideal of love and peace. The French explorer and the priest pushed out, hand-in-hand, to conquer the wilderness. Jacques Marquette. Among these devoted priests was young Jacques Marquette, who had put aside a life of luxury and ease in France, in order that he might tame the savages in the American wilderness. Some Jesuits had to give up their work among the Indians on account of the hardships of a life in the forest; others, because they could not learn the Indian tongues. Father Marquette was a frail man, but with plenty of endurance. He worked so diligently that he learned, in a few years, to speak six different Indian dialects. While trying to teach the red men of Lake Superior, he was visited by some Illinois warriors, from whom he learned the difficult language of that nation. Marquette Hears of the ^'Father of Waters." They told him of a mighty river toward the setting sun which they called the Mississippi, or ''Father of Waters." But they could not tell into what sea this great river emptied, and Marquette was anxious to learn whether it flowed into the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, or the Pacific. He wished also to start a mission among the Illinois tribes, and won the promise of his superior to be permitted to do this. But it became necessary for him to return to Mackinac. Here he found Louis Joliet who had been sent by Frontenac, Governor of Canada, to explore the Mississippi. The Explorer Joliet. Louis Joliet was just the kind of a man to send on this dangerous journey of thousands of miles among hostile red men. He could make shelter- huts, weapons, sleds, and birch bark canoes; he was a good hunter, fisher, and a fine cook; he could endure the rough fife of the forests and camp; he could talk in several MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 33 Indian dialects, and he was brave and tactful in dealing with the savages. A priest was always chosen to accompany exploring parties, and the choice happily fell on Father Marquette. They spent the winter months in making maps and col- lecting information^ about the wild country they were about to explore. They questioned all visitors to Mackinac, Indians, trappers and fur traders. Our Heroes Set Out. As soon as the ice broke up in the spring, they gathered a stock of corn and smoked meat, and set out from St. Ignace in two bark canoes with five companions (May 17, 1673). Hundreds of Hurons, Ottawas, and other Indians gathered on the shore to see our heroes depart. Marquette embraced his brother Jesuits and blessed all the people, red and white, while Joliet shook hands with everybody, and with shouts of good luck, they bent to their paddles, waving a last adieu. Their route lay to the westward along the north shore of Lake Michigan. At night they landed, drew their canoes up on the shore and lighted a camp fire on the edge of the forest. The streams abounded with fish and the forest with game. After a few days, they entered Green Bay and paddled up the Menominee River, where they met the Wild-Rice Indians. When they told of their plans, these Indians tried to discourage them, saying that the banks of the Mississippi were inhabited by fierce tribes who tomahawked every stranger that came that way; that in a certain part of the river there lived a demon whose roar could be heard afar off, and that this demon would swallow them. Besides, there were other monsters who would devour them and their canoes together. On the Fox River. Marquette gave no heed to these alarms, but having taught them a prayer, he bade them farewell and proceeded up Green Bay to the mouth of 34 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Fox River, where they found great numbers of wild geese, ducks, and other fowl. There were marshes of wild rice which furnished the Indian as well as the fowls with food.* Canoeing up the Fox River was not all pleasure, for there were many rapids where the canoes had to be unloaded and carried over the steep portage paths. They found many Indians here, for it is always good fishing just below rapids. Wild fowl, bear and wild cat furnished an abund- ance of meat, and the rice swamps afforded grain without much labor. Soon the explorers entered Lake Winnebago, a most charming body of water. They passed on across this lake and up the river through a fine prairie country, and soon arrived at the palisaded village of the Mascoutins, or 'Tire Nation," where Marquette was delighted to see a cross erected by a former missionary. The cross was decorated with dressed deer skins and bows and arrows, which the Indians had hung up to the great Manitou of the French. The Fire Nation Furnishes Guides. Being kindly received, they called together the chiefs and the elders and told them their mission, and asked for guides to show them the way to the Wisconsin River. The chiefs gladly furnished two guides. Presents were exchanged, the Indians giving the explorers a mat of woven reeds to use as a bed. The entire population came down to the shore to see them off. They pushed on up the river, and soon reached the portage between the two rivers. *Wild rice was gathered by shaking off the heads into a canoe. These were then dried over a slow fire, put into bags made of skin which were placed in holes in the ground and tramped upon until the grain was separated from the chaff. The grain was then pounded into flour between stones. When boiled and seasoned with fat it was considered a great delicacy. MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 37 where they had to carry their canoes and supplies a mile and a half across the prairies to the banks of the Wisconsin. (See map, page 31.) On the Wisconsin. On this stream they embarked, not knowing where it would carry them, whether to Virginia, the Gulf of Mexico, or the Gulf of CaUfornia. 'They glided calmly down this tranquil stream. At night the bivouac, the canoes inverted on the bank, the flickering fire, the meal of bison flesh or venison, the evening pipes and slumber beneath the stars; and when in the morning they embarked again, the mist hung on the river like a bridal veil, then melted before the sun." Drifting upon the Mississippi. On June 17th, after a voyage of seven days, they reached the mouth of the Wisconsin, and with great joy paddled out on the Miss- issippi. Southward they journeyed on the slow and gentle current, between wooded hills and amid picturesque scenery and beaut^iful islands. *'We saw," says Marquette in his journal, ''only deer and cattle, bustards (geese), and swans without wings, because they drop their plumage in this country." They were on the lookout for the ''horrible monsters" described by the Indians. "From time to time we came upon monstrous fish, one of which struck our canoe with such violence that I thought it was a great tree, about to break the canoe to pieces." At length buffalo appeared in great numbers, grazing on the prairies. They saw at times four or five hundred in one herd. Marquette describes the fierce and stupid looks of the old bulls as they stared through the tangled manes which nearly blinded them. There had been no trace of human beings for a long distance, but they were very cautious. They landed in the evening, cooked their meal, put out the fire and pad- dled along some distance before they stopped for the 38 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS night. They anchored out in the stream to prevent surprise, leaving a sentinel on guard. Footprints of Red Men. At length they discovered footprints in the mud on the bank, and a well-trodden path which they resolved to follow. They left their com- panions to guard the canoes, while Joliet and Marquette started across the prairie. They soon came in sight of an Indian village, and without being discovered, advanced till they could hear the Indian voices among the wig- wams. Then they stood out in clear view and shouted. There was a great stir in the village. ''The inmates swarmed out of their huts, and four of the chief men presently came forward to meet the strangers, advancing very deliberately and holding up toward the sun two calumets or peace pipes, decorated with feathers. They stopped abruptly before the two Frenchmen, and stood gazing at them without speaking a word." The Peace Pipe Offered. Marquette was much relieved on seeing that they wore French cloth, whence he judged that they must be friends and allies. He broke the silence and asked them in their own language, ''who they Avere; whereupon they answered that they were Illinois, and offered the peace pipe; which having been duly smoked, they all went together to the village." Here the chief received them in a strange manner, and in his way, tried to honor them. "He stood stark naked in the door of his wigwam, holding up both hands, as if to shield his eyes. 'Frenchmen, how bright the sun shines when you come to visit us! All our village awaits you; and 3^ou shall enter our wigwams in peace.' So saying he led them into his own, which was crowded to suffoca- tion with savages, staring at their guests in silence." The Great Chief Visited. "Having smoked with chiefs and old men, they were invited to visit the great MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 39 chief of all the Illinois, at one of the villages they had seen in the distance; and thither they proceeded, followed by a throng of warriors, squaws and children. On arriving, they were forced to smoke again, and listen to a speech of w^elcome from the great chief, who delivered it standing betw^een two old men, naked like himself." His lodge was crowded with the chief men of the tribe. Marquette addressed them, saying that he was a messenger sent by the God who had made them and whom they ought to obey. He told them about the power and glory of Count Frontenac, and asked about the Mississippi and the tribes he w^as about to visit along its banks. ''The chief rephed in a speech of compliment; assuring his guests that their presence added flavor to his tobacco, made the river more calm, the sky more serene, and the earth more beautiful." He gave them a young slave and a peace pipe, and begged them at the same time to abandon their purpose of going farther down the Mississippi. A Delicious Feast. ''A feast of four courses followed. First, a wooden bowl full of porridge of Indian meal boiled with grease was set before the guests; and the master of ceremonies fed them in turn, like infants, with a large spoon. Then appeared a platter of fish, and the same 'server' carefully removed the bones with his fingers, and blowing on the morsels to cool them, placed them in the mouths of the two Frenchmen. A large dog, killed and cooked for the occasion, w^as placed before them"; but, since they did not seem to relish this food, it was removed, and a dish of fat buffalo meat served as a last course. The crowd then dispersed, and buffalo robes were spread on the ground. Marquette and Joliet spent the night here. "In the morning, the chief with some six hundred of his tribesmen, escorted them to their canoes, and bade them, after their stolid fashion, a friendly farewell." 40 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The Voyagers See the Indian Gods. They paddled and drifted slowly on down the river, past the mouth of the Illinois. Soon they came upon a sight which filled them with fear. '^Upon the flat face of a high rock were painted in red, black, and green, two monsters, each as large as a calf, with horns like a deer, red eyes, and a beard like a tiger's, and a frightful expression of countenance. The face is something like that of a man, the body covered with scales; and the tail so long that it passed entirely around the body, over the head and between the legs, ending like that of a fish," writes Marquette. These represented the Indian Gods, or Manitous. Pass the Missouri and the Ohio. In a few days they passed the mouth of a great muddy river from the unknown West, called by the Indians, Missouri. Its mad rush into the Mississippi almost upset their canoes. On they went by the lonely forest where now stands the great city of St. Louis. Soon they saw on the east bank the mouth of a splendid river which the Iroquois had named the Ohio, the Indian word for "Beautiful River." As they floated on towards the south, the heat became so intense that they had to crouch in the shade of sails put up as awnings. The banks of the Mississippi being swampy, were breeding places for mosquitoes without number, and these gave our heroes no rest. They passed some friendly Indians who delighted them with the information that they would reach the mouth of the Mississippi in ten days. But this was far from true, for it was still a thousand miles distant. Arrival at the Arkansas. Again they set forth, floating and paddling by turns, through miles and miles of trackless wilderness, with no trace of man. After canoeing three hundred miles more, they approached the mouth of the Arkansas. Here they beheld a cluster of wigwams on the MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 41 west bank. 'Their inmates were all astir, yelling the war- whoop, snatching their weapons, and running to the shore to meet the strangers," who were badly frightened. Several canoes filled with savages were putting out from the shore, above and below them, to cut off their retreat, while a swarm of headstrong young warriors waded into the water to attack them. The current proved too strong; and failing to reach the canoes of the Frenchmen, one of them threw his war-club, which flew over the heads of the startled travelers. Meanwhile, Marquette had not ceased to hold up his peace pipe given him by the Illinois, but the excited crowd gave no heed. They strung their bows and notched their arrows for immediate action. Saved by the Peace Pipe. When at length the elders of the village arrived and saw the peace pipe, they quieted the young men, and invited the Frenchmen to come ashore. Marquette and his companions did so, trembling with fear. They were more kindly received than they expected. One of the Indians spoke a little Illinois, and through him they had a friendly conference, followed by a feast. The Frenchmen spent the night here in the lodges of their hosts. Meeting with the Arkansas Nation. Early in the morning they passed on down to a village of the Arkansas tribe, about twenty-four miles below. "Notice of their coming was sent before them by their late hosts; and as they drew near, they were met by a canoe, in the prow of which stood a naked Indian, holding a peace pipe, singing and making signs of friendship." On reaching the village, which was on the east bank, opposite the mouth of the Arkansas, they were conducted to a sort of scaffold before the lodge of the war-chief. The space beneath had been prepared for their reception, the ground being covered with rush mats. On these they were seated, and the warriors sat around them in a semi- 42 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS circle; then the elders of the tribe; and then the pro- miscuous crowd of villagers, standing and staring over the heads of the more dignified members of the assembly. All the men were naked; but to compensate for the lack of clothing, they wore strings of beads in their noses and ears. Our Heroes Resolve to Return. ''The travelers now held a council as to what course they should take. They had gone far enough, as they thought, to estabhsh one important point: that the Mississippi discharged its waters, not into the Atlantic or the Sea of Virginia, nor into the Gulf of California, but into the Gulf of Mexico. They thought themselves nearer to its mouth than they actually were, the distance being still about seven hun- dred miles; and they feared that if they went farther, they might be killed by Indians or captured by Spaniards, whereby the results of their discovery would be lost. Therefore they resolved to return to Canada and report what they had seen." Toiling up the Mississippi. So, on July 17th, they began their homeward voyage. ''It was no easy task to urge their way upward, in the heat of midsummer, against the current of the dark and gloomy stream, toiling all day in the parching sun and sleeping at night on the swampy and unhealthy shore, or in their narrow little canoes anchored in the river." Marquette was taken sick. Still, "day after day, and week after week, they won their slow way northward." Upon the Beautiful Illinois. "At length they reached the mouth of the Illinois, and entering it followed its course, charmed as they went with its shady forests and its rich plains, grazed by the bison and the deer." They stopped at the chief village of the Illinois, then called Kaskaskia.* ^Not the village founded later by the French near the Mississippi. MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 43 A band of warriors offered to guide them to the lake of the IlUnois, that is to say, Lake Michigan. They proceeded by the way of the lUinois, the Des Plaines, and the Chicago Rivers to Lake Michigan, and coasting its shores, they arrived at the mission of Green Bay in September. During the four months since they had left this mission they had traveled 2,500 miles. Here Marquette spent the winter trying to recover his health, while Joliet hastened to bear the report of his discovery to Count Frontenac at Quebec. Marquette Sets out for the Illinois Again. It was a year before Marquette had regained his health and strength. The strong desire to establish a mission on the Illinois still urged him on. He obtained permission from his superiors, and with two companions named Pierre and Jacques, one of whom had been with him on his great jour- ney of discovery, he set out for the chief village of the Illinois. They coasted south along the shore of Lake Michigan, entered the Chicago River and followed its course for some six miles, when Marquette's disease attacked him in a more severe form, and it was impossible to proceed farther. The two men built a hut by the river and prepared to spend the winter there. Pierre and Jacques provided buffalo, deer, and wild turkey for food. Visiting Indians sometimes brought corn and game. Here French traders came upon them too, and befriended them. Mission Established. Marquette, too weak to work, spent much time in prayer. He knew this would be his last journey, but he eagerly longed to lay the foundations of his mission before he died. Growing stronger, they crossed the portage to the Des Plaines and paddled south- ward till they came to the lUinois River, which they followed till they reached the chief town of the Illinois Indians, near Starved Rock. Here Marquette says he was received *'like an angel from Heaven." He passed from wigwam to 44 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS wigwam, teaching the truths of the Christian reUgion. The beauty of his character took strong hold on these savage minds, and they begged him to remain with them. On His Last Journey. Reahzing that his health was gone, and that he had not long to live, Marquette started on his last journey, accompanied by a crowd of Indians as far as Lake Michigan. His two companions rowed north along the east shore, hoping to reach Mackinac. But Marquette felt that his hour was near, and as they passed a small stream he requested them to land. They did so, built a shed near the shore, and carried the dying Jesuit to it. He calmly told them how he wished to be buried, asked their forgiveness for all the trouble he had caused them, and thanked God that he was permitted to die in the wilderness, a faithful missionary and a Jesuit. They dug a grave beside the hut, and here they buried him, as he had directed, then made their way to Mackinac to bear the tidings to the priests at the mission. Marquette's Final Resting Place. Some years later, a party of Ottawa Indians was hunting on Lake Michigan, and when they returned home they carried the bones of Marquette, who had been their teacher. Opening the grave, they washed and dried the bones and placed them in a box of birch bark. ''Then in a procession of thirty canoes they bore it, singing their funeral songs, to St. Ignace, where they buried it beneath the floor of the little chapel of the mission." TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. What reasons led the French nation to seize a part of the new world? 2. What motives induced the Jesuit fathers to visit America? 3. What mutual interests of the church and the state led the priest and the explorer to go hand-in-hand? AN OJIBWAY INDIAN GIHL MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 47 4. Which has done most to advance the cause of civilization, the zeal of the missionary, the love of conquest, or the desire for wealth? 5. Write a short description of an Indian canoe and its part in the settlement of America. 6. Trace the route of Marquette and Joliet on the map. Imagine this route to be divided into 125 days' journeys of twenty miles each, and you will realize the stupendous task they accomplished. LESSON HELPS The Birch-bark Canoe. The birch-bark canoe was light, strong, and easily propelled. It made the Indian master of every lake, river, and stream. Wherever there were water-ways he could travel quickly, silently, and with little effort. If he liked, he could go in his own private conveyance from the source of the Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico, or from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Niagara. — D. H. Montgomery. The Wild Oat. The wild oat, whose name they bear because it is found in their country, is a sort of grass, which grows naturally in the small rivers with muddy bottoms, and in swampy places. It greatly resembles the wild oats that grow amid our wheat. The ears grow upon hollow stems, jointed at intervals; they emerge from the water about the month of June, and continue growing till they rise about two feet above it. The grain is not larger than that of our oats, but it is twice as long, and the meal therefrom is much more abundant. — Father Marquette. RECOMMENDED READINGS Explorations and Discoveries of Marquette and Joliet. Harper's Magazine, Vol. Ill, Pages 74-82. Old South Leaflets. Vol. 2, No. 46. Father Marquette. Thwaites. France in America. Thwaites. La Salle and the Great West. Parkman, Pages 48-87. Making of the Great West. Drake, Pages 85-92. CHAPTER III Service with La Salle means the hardest marching and heaviest labor a voyageur ever undertook. I have heard he is himself tough as iron. But men hereabouts who have been in his service will take to the woods when they hear he has arrived. — Mary Hartwell Catherwood. ROBERT CAVELIER DE LA SALLE Our Hero Becomes a Jesuit. Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was born of a rich family at Rouen, France, in 1643. As he grew toward manhood, his mind became filled with a desire to win glory and to make a name for himself. He had heard of the heroic lives of the Jesuits in the American forests, and, since he liked to study, he entered a Jesuit school, where he proved himself an apt scholar. But this life was not to his liking, because the rules of the order were very strict, and he had to obey his superiors. He wished rather to be a leader himself, and to tell others what to do. So he parted from the Jesuits and, having lost his right to inherit his father's wealth because of his connection with this sect, he set out for the wilds of America to make his fortune. La Salle at Montreal. We soon find him at Montreal, then the most dangerous place in Canada, because it was exposed to the frequent inroads of the Iroquois. They had been bitter enemies of the French since the days when Champlain fought with the Algonquins against them. But they had recently been punished by the French and forced to make peace. There was no knowing what hour 48 ROBERT CAVELIER DE LA SALLE 49 they might break out again, and no man could venture into the forest without taking his Hfe in his hands. La Salle Longs to Explore the Wilderness. La Salle was given a grant of land at La Chine, eight miles above Montreal, on the St. Lawrence. This dangerous outpost was exposed to Indian tomahawks, but it was a fine loca- tion for fur trading. Here he built a paUsaded village and granted land to settlers in small tracts. He studied the Indian language so diligently that within two or three years he could speak the Iroquois and seven or eight other dialects. Many Indian visitors came to see him at La Chine, bringing their furs to exchange for European finery, trinkets and goods. They told him much about the wild and lonely country toward the sunset. His mind became filled with an intense longing to explore this great pathless wilderness. He hoped he might find a passage to the South Sea (Gulf of California), and a new road for commerce to the riches of China and Japan. First Hears of the Ohio. A band of Seneca-Iroquois once spent the winter with him. They told him about the Ohio — a river in their country which flowed into the sea so far away that it required a journey of many months to reach its mouth. No white man had ever yet seen the Ohio. La Salle thought it might flow into the Gulf of California, and, if so, it would give him the longed-for passage to China. The First White Man Sees the Ohio. He determined to explore this river, and hastened to Quebec to lay his plans before Frontenac. He won the Governor's permis- sion to make the trip, provided he bore the entire expense. La Salle had no money, but he concluded to sell his prop- erty at La Chine, which he did. He then bought four canoes and the supplies he needed, and hired fourteen men. Others joined the party, and they started from La 50 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Chine, up the St. Lawrence, guided by the Indians. They coasted the south shore of Lake Ontario till they arrived at the mouth of the Niagara. Everything seemed to go wrong. Some of the party would not follow La Salle. The Iroquois were unfriendly and refused to furnish guides. They told him that the Indians along that river would take his scalp. La Salle knew no such word as fear. He had a will like iron, and his heart was set on the success of the expedition. Some of his party left him to return to Canada, while others went westward along the Great Lakes. La Salle made his way with an Indian guide from a friendly tribe to the head waters of the Ohio, and floated down as far as the falls at Louis- ville. Soon the news of Marquette's explorations reached his ears, and he became convinced that the Mississippi flowed, not west into the Gulf of California, but south into the Gulf of Mexico, and that he could win undying glory by seizing this magnificent valley for France. The Great Plans of La Salle. He would discover the mouth of the Mississippi, build a fort there, and thus keep out both the English and Spanish, and at the same time make it safe for the ships of France to navigate on the Mississippi and its tributaries. La Salle learned from the Indians, as did Marquette, that the Mississippi was so far south that it would not freeze during the winter, and that the French could traffic with the Indians there at all seasons. Fortunes could soon be made in hides of buffalo and furs, and at the same time France would gain a vast continent. Perhaps La Salle thought he might obtain command of this fort, and so become immensely rich by controlling all of this trade. Frontenac a Friend to La Salle. He must first win the support of the authorities in Canada and obtain money, for it would require vast means to carry out his plans. ROBERT CAVELIER DE LA SALLE 51 He returned to Canada and conferred with Frontenac who had recently come to America, a ruined man, bent on mend- ing his fortune. Frontenac had built a fort on Lake Ontario, where Kingston now stands, and by this means had cut off the rich fur trade that had been going on with the English and Dutch on the Hudson. All the profits of this splendid business now fell to him. The other merchants and traders of Canada, chafing because they had no part in this trade, became bitter enemies of the Governor and also of La Salle, who took sides with Frontenac. Louis XIV. Bestows a Blessing but No Money. La Salle returned to France armed with letters of praise from Frontenac, and was kindly received at the court of Louis XIV. The explorer made two requests of the king. He wished to receive a title of nobility because of his explora- tions, and to be made commander of this new fort on Lake Ontario, which he named Fort Frontenac. La Salle offered to pay back to the king all the fort cost, to main- tain the fort, pay the soldiers there, as well as the laborers, to build a church and to support friars — all at his own expense. The King granted both petitions, and La Salle returned to Canada a noble, and commander at Fort Frontenac, where he might easily amass a fortune by controlling the greater part of the Canadian fur trade. Frontenac, of course, shared in this good fortune. La Salle Rebuilds Fort Frontenac. But La Salle was not satisfied with mere riches. He had not sought control at Frontenac for the sole object of wealth, but partly because it was a step toward his plan of getting control of the Mississippi valley, and planting a colony there. He had no doubt made much money at Frontenac, but he had also spared no pains to fulfill the conditions under which it was granted to him. He had rebuilt the fort of stone, constructed a guard house, a lodging, a forge, a 52 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS mill and a bakery. Nine cannon were mounted upon the walls. La Salle Makes Enemies. At the same time he had made many bitter enemies. All the traders in the country joined against him for monopolizing the fur trade, and ''Canada became for him a nest of hornets, buzzing in wrath, and watching the moment to sting." The Jesuits troubled Frontenac because he preferred other priests to them, and he paid them back in the same coin. They naturally had no love for La Salle either, for these two were usurping most of the power in Canada that had formerly rested with the Jesuits. When La Salle's plan of exploring and colonizing the West was known, the Jesuit opposition took deep root, for they sought con- trol over this same region. Louis XIV. Again Smiles on La Salle. La Salle now beUeved the time ripe to push his plans. He left the fort in charge of a Ueutenant and set sail for France, 1677. His enemies had sent word before him that he was fit only for a madhouse. But friends pleaded his cause before the King, who gave him permission to explore the West, to build other forts upon the same conditions as that at Fort Frontenac, and to find a route to Mexico. La Salle was to bear the entire expense. The powerful Louis XIV. wanted all the land he could get in America, if some one else would pay the bills. To carry out La Salle's plans would require an enormous sum of money. He did not have the funds himself, but succeeded in borrowing a vast amount from relatives and friends in France. He also mortgaged Fort Frontenac. He was staking his own fortune and that of every one who would loan him, on the success of his undertaking. La Salle himself believed, and he convinced others, that there would be great profits and little risk in it. ROBERT CAVELIER DE LA SALLE 53 A Faithful Lieutenant. While at Paris, La Salle met and attached to himself an ItaHan officer, Henri de Tonty, who had lost a hand in the war of Sicily. This hand had been replaced by one of iron which he often used with great force upon his enemies. Tonty came to be called in America the ''Man with the Iron Hand." He was the one man who remained true to La Salle to the last. La Salle also met in France a man named La Motte, whom he invited to join his expedition. With these two La. Salle returned to Quebec, where he made a league with some Canadian merchants, in order to further add to his resources. Two Ships Planned. La Salle's band of ship- carpenters, blacksmiths, pilots, sailors and priests gathered at Fort Frontenac with the iron, cordage and anchors for two vessels, one of which was to be built on Lake Erie above Niagara Falls, and the other on the Mississippi. Father Hennepin joined the party and became its historian. Off to the West. La Motte and Hennepin, with sixteen men,^ set sail in advance in a little vessel bound for the Niagara River. After a stormy and dangerous voyage they entered this river, on December 5th, and landed near a village of the Senecas, attracted there by the fisheries. Hennepin with several others started up the Niagara in canoes, to explore. The fury of the mighty rapids drove them ashore. They pushed on afoot up the steep heights through the wintry forests, until they beheld the magnifi- cent cataract. La Motte now began building a fortified house a few miles above the mouth of Niagara, some ten miles below the falls. Hot water was necessary to soften the frozen ground, but this was not their only trouble, for the neigh- boring Senecas grew sullen and unfriendly. By controlling the Niagara, the Indians had possession of a profitable 54 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS fur trade carried on between the four great lakes to the west and the Dutch and EngHsh at Albany. La Motte and the Senecas. La Motte saw the necessity of making friends with these powerful tribes, and getting their consent to the erection of his fortified warehouse, and to the building of a ship on Lake Erie. So, with many valuable presents and heavily armed with guns, La Motte and Hennepin set forth on a five-day march toward the great village of the Senecas, situated near the present site of Rochester, N. Y. Upon arriving, they were con- ducted to the lodge of the great head chief about whom were squatted on the ground, forty-two other chiefs clothed in robes of beaver, wolf or black squirrel skin. La Motte tried with all his power to persuade the Indians that his plans would benefit them. He ''placed gift upon gift at their feet — coats, scarlet cloth, hatchets, knives and beads. '* They gladly accepted the gifts, but when pressed for their consent, they hung back. The presence among them of two Jesuit priests perhaps accounts for their refusal. The party returned unsuccessful and half-famished to Niagara. La Salle Successful. They had no sooner left the Indian village, when La Salle and Tonty arrived at this very spot. La Salle was on his way from Fort Frontenac to join La Motte, but after an unlucky voyage he had landed near these Indians. Always skillful in dealing with the red men. La Salle won over the Senecas to his plans. La Salle's Troubles Begin. A few days later the pilot left in charge of the vessel, while La Salle was exploring the Niagara, disobeyed orders and wrecked the ship on the shore. Little was saved except the anchors and cables for the new vessel. This was a bitter disappointment to La Salle, and anyone but him, says Hennepin, would have been so downcast as to have given up the enterprise. His quarrelsome, jealous crew of French, Dutch and Italians HTATUE OF LA SALLE, LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO ROBERT CAVELIER DE LA SALLE 57 was discouraged and hard to manage because his enemies had tampered with them. La Motte was not to be depended upon either, but, by good luck, he became ill and had to return to Fort Frontenac. Tonty alone was loyal and true. Portage Around Niagara Falls. The next difficult task was to carry the heavy suppHes for the new vessel up the steep heights and around Niagara Falls, through snowy forests, to quiet water above, a distance of twelve miles. This done, they felled trees, cleared a place and set the ship-builders at work. A few sullen Senecas, who had not gone off on the annual hunt, loitered about and acted suspiciously. One of them, pretending to be drunk, tried to kill the blacksmith, but a red hot bar of iron kept him off till Hennepin came up and rebuked the Indian. A Long Journey on Foot. La Salle laid out a fort and put some of his men to work on it. He left the faithful Tonty in charge of the building of the ship and set out on foot for Fort Frontenac, two hundred and fifty miles away, to secure supplies to replace those lost in the wreck. He and his two companions trudged through the snowy forests and over the ice to Lake Ontario, living on parched corn. This gave out, and for two days they had no food. Tonty and The Griffon. Tonty meanwhile finished the vessel, and as spring opened, it was launched with much ceremony. ''The friar pronounced his blessing upon her; the assembled company sang the Te Deum, cannon were fired; and French and Indians, warmed ahke by a generous gift of brandy, shouted and yelped in chorus as she gUded into the Niagara. Her builders towed her out and anchored her in the stream, safe at last from incendiary hands, and then swinging their hammocks under her deck, slept in peace beyond the reach of the tomahawk. The Indians gazed on her with amazement. Five small cannon looked 58 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS out of her portholes, and on her prow was carved a porten- tous monster, the Griffon, whose name she bore.'*' TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Write a brief account of the life of La Salle. 2. Trace the travels of La Salle on the map. 3. Was La Salle your ideal explorer? Why? 4. Compare the character of La Salle with that of Tonty. 5. Tell the story of the building of the Griffon. 6. Explain the meaning of the words La Chine and Te Deum^ LESSON HELPS La Salle's Patent. "Louis, by the grace of God King of France and of Navarre, to our dear and well-beloved Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, greeting. We have received with favor the very humble petition made us in your name, to permit you to labor at the discovery of the western parts of New France; and we have the more willingly entertained this proposal, since we have nothing more at heart than the exploration of this country, through which, to all appearance, a way may be found to Mexico . . . we permit you by these presents, signed with our hands, to labor at the discovery of the western parts of our aforesaid country of New France; and, for the execution of this enterprise, to build forts at such places as you may think necessary, and enjoy possession thereof under the same clauses and conditions as of Fort Frontenac, con- forming to our letters patent of May thirteenth, 1675, which, so far as needful, we confirm by these presents. ... Given at St. Germain en Laye, this 12th day of May, 1678, and of our reign the 35th year." RECOMMENDED READINGS JouteFs Journal of La Salle's Last Voyage. Review Dial, Vol. 42, Pages 283-285. La Salle and the Great West. Parkman. Great La Salle. Harper, Vol. 110, Pages 335-343, Feb. '05. Wilderness and Empire. New France and New England, Pages 98-132. Pioneers in the Settlement of America. Crafts. CHAPTER IV It is easy to reckon up his defects, but it is not easy to hide from sight the Roman virtues that redeemed them. Beset by a throng of enemies, he stands, Hke the King of Israel, head and shoulders above them all. — Francis Parkman. LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS A Hard Blow From His Enemies. La Salle returned to Fort Niagara in August, bringing a tale of another mis- fortune. His enemies had convinced those who had made loans to him that he had gone on a reckless, foolhardy expedition, and would never return. Whereupon, his creditors, excited by these rumors, seized on all of La Salle's property, though that at Fort Frontenac alone would have more than paid his debts. There was nothing he could do about it, however, for to have given up his enter- prise would have afforded his enemies just the victory they sought. La Salle bore the blow with a brave heart. The First Ship Sails Lake Erie. The Griffon was taken up the Niagara ^vith tow-ropes and sails. On the seventh of August, 1679, La Salle and his followers fired their cannon, sang the Te Deum, and steered westward on Lake Erie where sail was never seen before. After a voyage of three days, they turned northward into a river which La Salle named Detroit. They soon emerged into a small lake which he called St. Clair. Passing through the lake and a river beyond, they came out upon Lake Huron. Here a violent tempest overtook them and all but sent them to the bottom. The angry lake quieted, 59 60 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS however, and the Griffon made her way to Mackinac and from there to Green Bay. Robbed by His Agents. Before leaving Niagara, La Salle had sent ahead a number of traders laden with goods and trinkets to be exchanged for fur. Most of these traders deserted him, taking with them the valuable furs they had bought with his goods. Only those sent to Green Bay remained faithful, and had collected a rich cargo for the Griffon. La Salle resolved to send the Griffon back to Niagara laden with furs, collected here and along the way, in order to pay certain debts. He knew that he was risking everything upon a pilot who had not proved entirely trustworthy, but he thought best not to go himself, for he feared that the rest of the men would desert. Besides, he saw that his enemies were stirring up the Iroquois to make war upon the Illinois Indians, in order to defeat his plans. Tonty would have been sent back with the Griffon, but he had gone to Sault Ste. Marie to arrest the deserting fur traders, and had not yet returned. Her Cargo. The Griffon sailed for Niagara with La Salle's entire fortune. He had even left on board part of his goods and implements that could not be transported easily in canoes. She had orders to return to the southern end of Lake Michigan, as soon as possible after discharg- ing her cargo. From Green Bay, La Salle and his party pushed southward along the western shore of the lake in four canoes heavily laden with a forge, tools, merchandise and arms. They encountered two dreadful storms, but each time made shore safely. They shuddered when they thought of the Griffon riding such a tempest. La Salle was advised by some of the red men along Lake Michigan not to go to the country of the Illinois, for that tribe hated the French for stirring up the Iroquois against them. LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 61 This information convinced La Salle that his enemies had hatched this scheme of Indian wars in order to ruin him. Nevertheless, he coasted on south, past where Chicago now stands, and around the southern shore of the lake, to the mouth of the St. Joseph river, which he named Miami, from an Indian tribe dwelling near. Here Tonty was to meet him, coming from Mackinac along the eastern shore of the lake. They Wait for Tonty. But Tonty was nowhere to be seen. Winter was approaching, and supplies were low. They must either starve or attempt to reach the country of the Illinois, before that tribe went off on its winter hunt. La Salle's men urged him to set out at once, but he would not desert the faithful Tonty. He put his men to work building a fort to divert their minds. After twenty days, Tonty arrived with but half his men. The others who had been delayed to procure food, since supplies had given out, came up a few days later. But Tonty brought no tidings of the Griffon. She had had more than time to make the voyage to Niagara and back again, and La Salle watched anxiously for her approach. Day after day they scanned the horizon, but no sail appeared. With heavy hearts La Salle's men prepared to go on without the sup- plies she was to bring. He sent two men to Mackinac to await her coming and to direct her to Fort ]\Iiami. On Dec. 3, 1679, La Salle and his men embarked and paddled up the St. Joseph in eight canoes. When they reached the present site of South Bend they began looking for a portage to the head v/aters of the Kankakee. Loses His Way. The Mohegan guide was absent, hunting, and they passed by the path without noticing it. La Salle started out alone to search for it. The snow was falling and he lost his w^ay in the tangled forests. When hours had passed without his return, Hennepin and Tonty 62 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS grew uneas}^ and began to scour the country for him. They fired several guns, but the deep, silent forests made no reply Night came on, and still their lost leader did not appear They sat down sadly to consider what might have happened to him. It was not till the next afternoon that he returned with two 'possums hanging to his belt. These he had killed with a club as they hung head down- ward from the branches of a tree. He had lost his bear- ings and had tried to circle a great swamp. He, too, had fired signals, but no sound replied except the echo. He finally came in sight of a smoking camp fire to which he hastened, only to find it deserted. He called out in all the Indian tongues known to him, but the savages, if there were any, did not respond. So he crawled into a bed of leaves by the fire and slept till morning. Portage to Kankakee. Before La Salle's return, the Mohegan hunter had rejoined the party and quickly pointed out the portage path. On the following morning they shouldered canoes and baggage and trudged through the snowy forests to a branch of the Kankakee, four miles away. They saw around them dreary plains, strewn with skulls and bones of buffalo. One of the party walking behind La Salle, against whom he had a grudge, raised his gun to shoot his leader, but was prevented by another. They had at last found a stream that would carry them to the Mississippi, and on it they were soon afloat. Day after day they passed through the dreary, lifeless forests. At night they spread their mat beds around the glowing camp fire, while the wintry wind whistled through the forest about them. A Lucky Find. Their supplies were running low because the Mohegan hunter could bring down only two lean deer and a few wild geese. La Salle's men would have deserted, but they did not see how that would keep them from LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 63 starving. Finally, they came upon a buffalo bull fast in the mire. They killed him, threw a line around his body, and by pulling and tugging together, twelve men dragged the buffalo out. A Deserted Indian Village. Passing by the site of the future to^vn of Ottawa, and by Buffalo Rock, a favorite dwelling place of Indians, they glided among some islands and saw overhanging the river a lofty cliff, known later as Starved Rock. They floated down the beautiful Illinois river bordered by broad meadows, and on the right the low hills where Utica now stands. Hennepin counted at this point four hundred sixty Indian lodges. These were built of a frame work of poles covered with mats of rushes, with an arched top. Each lodge contained three or four fireplaces, and accommodated from six to eight famihes. Here then, were the homes of several thousand Illinois Indians, but they were nowhere to be seen. The homes were empty and the fires out. All about was dead silence. La Salle Finds the Corn Pits. La Salle knew that this was the winter hunting season, and this city of deserted homes was no great surprise to him. He was, however, at a loss to know what to do, for he had expected to pur- chase corn and supplies here for his half-famished followers. They searched the deserted to\vTi and found covered pits in which the red men had hidden their stock of corn. They could not buy; for there was no one to pay. To take the corn without bargaining for it, might offend the Indians. La Salle hesitated, and finally decided to supply their wants, with the hope of paying for it later. So they opened the pits, filled their canoes and resumed their voj^age down the Illinois. Prepares for Peace or War. Early in January, they reached the widening in the river now known as Peoria 64 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Lake. As they floated slowly down the lake to the present site of Peoria, they beheld in the distance faint lines of blue smoke rising above the gray forests. They knew this must be the Illinois tribe on their winter hunt. La Salle had been warned that these tribes regarded him as their enemy. They had been led to believe that he had stirred up the Iroquois against them. So upon approaching their camp, he prepared for peace or war. The lake had now narrowed to a river, and La Salle arranged his canoes in battle line across the stream, with Tonty commanding one end, and he himself commanding the other end of the line. As the current bore them on abreast, they put aside their paddles and seized their guns. In this array they were carried unnoticed into the Indian camp which lined both banks. The Indians Surprised. The savages were panic- stricken. Warriors whooped and howled, squaws and children screeched in chorus. Some snatched their war clubs and bows; some ran in terror; and, in the midst of the hubbub, La Salle leaped ashore followed by his men. La Salle knew that the best way to deal with the Indians was to show no sign of fear, and to let them first offer the peace pipe. So his little band stood, gun in hand, ready for battle. Two Indian chieftains hastened forward, holding out the calumet. La Salle now offered his peace pipe, also. The uproar quieted at once, and mes- sengers hastened to bring back the fleeing savages. La Salle Lays His Plans Before the Illinois. The whole village now greeted the Frenchmen and feasted them, much as they had Marquette years before. Gifts were exchanged, and La Salle told them that he had been forced to take corn from their pits to keep his men from starving, but he promised either to pay for it in full or to return it. He said he had come to protect them from their enemies CD > < a o n r^ o 2: H w LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 67 and to teach them to obey the true God. He promised to furnish them with guns, and to fight for them in case the Iroquois attacked them. La Salle told them also, that he would like to build a fort close by to protect his men. He wished to build a great wooden canoe, too, in which to descend the Mississippi to the sea and return. In this way he would furnish them all the white men's goods they needed. If they were unwilling for him to do these things he would have to go to their enemies, the Osages, who would reap all the benefits of friendship and trade with the French, while the Illinois w^ere left unprotected and at the mercy of the powerful Iroquois. Being very jealous of the Osages, the Illinois readily granted all he asked. La Salle's Enemies Still Busy. They had sent an Indian chief, IMonso, with gifts of knives, hatchets and kettles to the Illinois. In a secret midnight council, he told the Illinois that La Salle was a spy of the dreaded: Iroquois and could not be trusted. Monso said that La Salle was now on his way across the Mississippi to stir up those tribes to join in a war against the Illinois, who would thus be attacked by enemies from both the west and the east at the same moment, and utterly destroyed. He advised the Illinois, in order to save themselves from ruin, to check La Salle and cause his men to desert him. When morning came, Monso had departed and La Salle found his hosts sullen and suspicious. He, of course, did not know that Monso had been there, and could not understand why the Illinois had changed so suddenly from friends to foes. During the day he won the secret from a chief by the gift of two hatchets and three knives. The Illinois Chief Points out Dangers. In the after- noon the head chief invited the visitors to a feast, where he told them of the dangers of descending the Mississippi. He said the shores of the ''Father of Waters" were beset 68 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS by populous tribes of bold, fierce braves, against whom it would be hopeless for a handful of palefaces to contend. The river, too, was alive with serpents, alligators and monsters; it was a raging torrent, leaping among rocks and whirlpools; and at its mouth it plunged headlong into a bottomless gulf. This speech frightened many of La Salle's men, who were already on the point of deserting. La Salle replied very calmly, thanking the chief for his friendly warning. But, said La Salle, the greater the danger, the greater the honor. Even if what the chief had said was true, it would not frighten his brave Frenchmen. The Lies of His Enemies Exposed. He told the Indians that he knew that they had been deceived by lies. ''We were not asleep, my brother, when Monso came to tell you, under cover of night, that we were spies of the Iroquois. "Why," asked La Salle, ''did Monso skulk away in the dark, if he wxre telling the truth? Why did he not show himself in broad daylight?" La Salle showed them that the French had many chances to kill them without waiting for aid from the Iroquois. He asked them to go and bring Monso back, and let him speak out boldly. His Men DisloyaL The following night six of La Salle's men, including two of his best carpenters, deserted. He called the remaining ones before him and reminded them of his many favors. He told them that, if they were afraid of the unknown terrors of the Mississippi, they might remain there until the next spring, and then return to Canada without dishonor. This desertion was a severe blow to the iron-hearted leader. But this was not the worst. An attempt was made to kill La Salle by poisoning his food, but an antidote of a friend saved him. Builds Fort Crevecoeur. La Salle resolved to leave the Indian camp. He chose a site a few miles below for a LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 69 fort. It stood on a hill with a deep ravine on either side, and a marsh in front. They dug a ditch behind the fort to connect both ravines, threw up embankments on all sides, with a palisade twenty-five feet high. The lodgings of the men were built of musket-proof timber at two corners, the house of the friar was at the third corner, and the forge and the magazine were at the fourth. The tents of La Salle and Tonty were within. This fort, named Crevecoeur {Broken Heart), was the first permanent building of civilized man within the state. Up to this time La Salle still hoped for the return of the Griffon, with the rigging and anchors for the new vessel with which he was to descend the Mississippi and sail to the West Indies. But now his hopes had vanished, he knew the ship bearing his fortune was lost. Nothing was ever heard of her. La Salle Returns to Far-off Canada. There was no building a ship for his journey to the Gulf without cables, anchors, and rigging, and Fort Frontenac was twelve hundred miles away. His stout heart would not give it up. He might himself make that long, dangerous voyage on foot to fetch these articles, but could he trust his men to hold the fort until his return? From some visiting Osages, La Salle learned the truth about the lower Missis- sippi, and this quieted the fears of his men. He decided to leave Tonty in command at the fort, to finish the new ship which was now well started, and to return himself to far-off Canada. With five companions he traveled the thousand miles to Fort Niagara in sixty-five days, enduring hunger, hardship and disease. Tonty Left in Command. When La Salle left Fort Crevecoeur on his perilous journey to Fort Frontenac, he placed Tonty over the small band left behind. It con- sisted of a few trusted men and a half-score of knaves 70 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS who were already ripe for revolt. As La Salle passed Starved Rock, he noted that it was a fine site for a fort, and he sent word back to Tonty to fortify it. Tonty left some of his party to hold Fort Crevecoeur, while he and the others made their way up the river to the Illinois village a few miles above. The scoundrels left at the fort destroyed it, together with the arms and suppHes, and set out for Canada. The Iroquois Approach. The Illinois tribes had now returned from their winter hunt to their village near Starved Rock. Tonty was living with them, when one day an Indian crossed the river in hot haste to report that a great horde of Iroquois was approaching. A panic followed. The warriors seized their arms; women and children ran screaming about; and an excited throng gathered about Tonty, charging him with stirring up the Iroquois. They seized his forge, tools and goods, and threw them into the river, and many called loudly for his scalp. But when he promised to fight for them against the ferocious Iroquois, they spared his life. The Illinois braves spent the night in preparing for the battle. They greased their bodies, painted their faces and be-feathered their heads. All night long they sang war songs, danced, yelled, and waved their tomahawks, to work up their courage for the coming onset. The squaws and children were sent to an island down the river. Tonty With a Flag of Truce. When the Iroquois appeared upon the plain in large numbers and well armed w^ith guns, Tonty saw that the Illinois would be crushed. The battle opened with yells and terrific bowlings, and amid flying arrows and bullets, Tonty advanced alone toward the Iroquois holding out a wampum belt, as a flag of truce. He meant to remind the Iroquois that both they and the Illinois were allies and friends of the French, LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 71 and that they would get into a war with the French if they attacked the Illinois. The Iroquois at first did not take Tonty for a French- man, because of his dark complexion. They thronged about him with murder in their hearts, brandishing their tomahawks w^ith fury. One warrior plunged his knife into the brave Tonty, but it glanced aside from a rib and did not reach his heart. Another standing behind was raising his hair to scalp him, when an old chief called out that his ears were not pierced, and that he must there- fore be a Frenchman. The hot heads hesitated. Tonty Deceives the Iroquois. Breathless and bleeding, Tonty declared that the Illinois were under the protection of Governor Frontenac. He told them that the Illinois had a great number of warriors, besides sixty Frenchmen to help them, and should be left in peace. Unwilling to incur the displeasure of Frontenac, and fearing the great number of French and Illinois warriors, they sent Tonty back with a belt of peace. Dizzy and fainting from loss of blood, Tonty rejoined his friends, and was warmly embraced by the two friars. But the Iroquois were bloodthirsty^, and the truce wafs sure to be broken. So the Illinois burned their village, and retreated down the river. The Iroquois took possession of their burning lodges and fortified them- selves. Saved by His Wits. During this time, Tonty and his men occupied a hut not far away. The Iroquois becoming suspicious, made the Frenchmen come into their fort. They soon learned that Tonty had deceived them as to the number of Illinois warriors and French, and they turned angrily upon him. ''Where are j^our sixty men?" they demanded. They said he had robbed them of the glory and spoils of victory, and, in revenge, they thought 72 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS he should be killed. Toruty was cool-headed and tactful, and managed to escape their fury. The Iroquois Bloodthirsty. Some days later, they summoned Tonty to a council and presented him with six packs of beaver skins. One was to say that the Governor's children, the cowardly Illinois, should not be eaten; the second was a plaster to heal Tonty 's wound; another was oil to anoint him on his journey; the next said that the sun was bright; and the last required Tonty 's men to leave the country at once. Tonty thanked them for their gifts, but demanded to know if they would return home and leave the Illinois in peace. At this the Iroquois became angry, and one warrior was heard to say that before they left they would eat Illinois flesh. Tonty then kicked away the packs of beaver skins, and told them that if they were going to eat the Governor's children, he would have none of their presents. In anger they drove Tonty from the lodge, and ordered him and his men to be gone. Tonty saw that it was hopeless to try to prevent bloodshed, and that it was dangerous for him to remain exposed to the wolfish passions of the Iroquois. Tonty's Journey to Mackinac. The Frenchmen set out for Green Bay, living meanwhile on acorns, roC)ts, and wild onions. Their canoe gave out, and they were compelled to go on afoot. They passed by where Chicago now stands, and followed the west shore of the lake. Tonty was taken with a fever and delayed, and starvation stared them in the face. Luckily, some friendly Indians gave them food, and at last they reached Mackinac. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Why did not La Salle build his ship on Lake Ontario or the St. Lawrence River? 2. Write an imaginary account of the destruction of the Griffon. LA SALLE VISITS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 73 3. Give an account of the travels of La Salle between August, 1679, and April, 1680. 4. Recite the experience of Tonty at Starved Rock. 5. About how far had the Iroquois traveled to make war on the Illinois? LESSON HELPS Killing a Buffalo. ''Run, Father, run!" cried the hunters. "It is dead," asserted Father Membre. "I will rest my gun across its carcass to steady my aim at the other buffaloes." He knelt to rest his gun across its back. The great beast heaved convulsively to its feet and made a dash at the Recollet. It sent him revolving heels over head. But Father Membre got up, and, spreading his capote in both hands, danced in front of the buffalo to head it off from escaping. At that, with a bellow, the shaggy creature charged over him across the prairie, dropping to its knees and dying before the frightened hunters could lift the friar from the ground. "Are you hurt, Father?" they all asked, supporting him, and finding it impossible to keep from laughing as he sat up, with his reverend face skinned and his capote nearly torn off. "Not unto death," responded Father Membre, brushing grass and dirty hoof prints from his garments. "But it hath been greatly impressed on my mind that this ox-savage is no fit beast for the plow. Nor will I longer counsel the women to coax the wild cows to a milking. It is well to adapt to our needs the beasts of a coun- try," said Father Membre, wiping blood from his face. "But this buffalo creature hath disappointed me!" — Mary Hartwell Catherwood. RECOMMENDED READINGS La Salle and the Great West. Parkman, Pages 164-258. Making of the Great West. Drake, Pages 93-109. Heroes of American Discovery. Bell. Pioneers in the Settlement of America. Crafts. The Discovery of the Mississippi. Falconer, Pioneers of Illinois. Matson. CHAPTER V Whoever reads the marvellous story of his twenty years' toil must confess his greatness, and the power of that ideal which held him firm. His life and death constitute the one supreme tragedy of the Mississippi valley. , — Randall Parrish. LA SALLE ON THE GULF Bad News at Ft. Niagara. Upon arriving at Fort Niagara, La Salle learned the woeful tidings that not only had the Griffon disappeared with a loss of thousands of dollars, but that a ship from France with a large cargo of his goods had been wrecked and lost at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and that the twenty hired men who had come from Europe to join him, had been told that he was either dead or had returned home. Without loss of time, leaving his sick companions at Fort Niagara, he pushed on to Fort Frontenac. More 111 Luck. Upon his arrival there, stories of more ill fortune fell upon his ears. He found that his agents had squandered his money, his creditors had seized his property, and that several of his richly laden canoes had been lost in the rapids of the St. Lawrence. He hastened to Montreal where he overcame all his evil fortune with wonderful courage, and was soon on his way back to Fort Frontenac with supplies for his new ship on the Illinois. La Salle Receives a Letter from Tonty. No sooner had he reached Ft. Frontenac, than a blow more severe than all the others fell upon him. In a letter from Tonty, he learned that soon after he left Ft. Crevecoeur for Canada, nearly all of the men left with Tonty deserted, after destroy- HENRJ DE TONTY LA SALLE ON THE GULF 77 ing the fort, and throwing into the river all the arms and stores they could not carry off with them. These scoundrels then went to the fort on the St. Joseph, where they seized valuable furs belonging to their leader, destroyed the fort, and pushed on toward Montreal, to save themselves from punishment. La Salle heard of their approach, met them on Lake Ontario, and killed or captured the whole party. Headed Again for Illinois. With carpenters, joiners, masons and soldiers, together with the outfit for the ves- sel, La Salle was soon on his way to bring aid to his faithful lieutenant, Tonty. Another toilsome journey, and his party landed at the fort on the St. Joseph, where he left the heavy stores to be brought on as speedily as possible. With a handful of men, he pushed on ahead with anxious heart to join Tonty. Up the St. Joseph, across the portage and down the Kankakee they went, with no word or sign of Tonty's having passed that way. La Salle hoped that Tonty was still at his post. A Buffalo Hunt. As they paddled down the Illinois they beheld a wonderful sight. 'Tar and near the prairie was alive 'with buffalo; now like black specks dotting the distant swells; now trampling by in ponderous columns or filing in long lines, morning, noon and night, to drink at the river — wading, plunging and snorting in the water; climbing the muddy shores and staring with wild eyes at the passing canoes. It was an opportunity not to be lost. The party landed and encamped for a hunt. Sometimes they hid under the shelving bank and shot the buffaloes as they came to drink; sometimes, flat on their faces, they dragged themselves through the long dead grass, till the savage bulls, guardians of the herd, ceased their grazing, raised their huge heads and glared through their tangled hair at the intruders. The hunt was successful. In three days they killed twelve buffaloes, besides deer, geese, and 78 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS swans. They cut the meat into thin flakes and dried it in the sun or in the smoke of their fires." Down the Illinois. With a plentiful supply, they pushed on in joy to relieve Tonty and his hungry followers. They passed the cliff afterward called Fort St. Louis (Starved Rock), where La Salle had advised Tonty to build a fort. But as they scanned the lofty top, there was neither cabin nor palisade to be seen. Soon they beheld the site of the once populous village of the Illinois, but where were the swarming savages? The plain was strewn with ashes, charred poles that had once been the frame-work of the lodges, and human skulls. The Butchery of the Iroquois. The fiendish Iroquois had blotted out the village and slain all the inhabitants. The pits had been rifled and the corn fields laid waste. There were signs of savage horror on every hand. One thought filled La Salle's mind, where were Tonty and his men? He searched the ruins for trace of them, but in vain. Leaving three of his men in hiding on an island in the river, with orders to make no smoke by day, to conceal their fire by night, and to fire no guns, he journeyed down the Illinois with four men heavily armed, each having two guns, a pistol and a sword, to locate Tonty. He passed place after place where the opposing Indian armies had camped, but still no traces of Tonty. He came upon the dismantled Fort Crevecoeur and the half-finished ship, still unharmed. The silence of death reigned throughout this vast country. La Salle's First View of the Mississippi. On down the river went the mighty La Salle, till the ''Father of Waters" met his view. He saw where the Illinois had made their last stand against the victorious Iroquois, and the field of the war-dance where the women and children of the IlHnois braves had been tortured and burned at the stake. KEY, Joliet's Journey +++++-W-+++++ La Salle's Voyage Tonty's Voyage ^. FRENCH EXPLORERS IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 80 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS His faithful followers offered to accompany him to the sea, but La Salle did not wish to abandon those left on the island, and he believed Tonty had gone north; so the party retraced its steps and picked up the three men on the island, and soon reached the St. Joseph again. Here the men had rebuilt the fort and cleared ground for planting, but they had no tidings of Tonty. With his supplies, tools and arms at Fort Crevecoeur destroyed and his company scattered, his second expedi- tion which had cost so much in money, in toil and in hard- ship, was a failure. His white enemies had beaten him by setting the red men to destroy each other. Another Long Trip to Canada. Would La Salle give up? He knew no such word as fail. Nothing could turn him from his purpose of discovering the mouth of the Mississippi and building a fort there. His voyage depended upon supplies which could be had only in Canada, and to Canada he must go again — that long, toilsome journey through the wilderness. He met Tonty at Mackinac, and together they trudged and paddled to Fort Frontenac. What could he say to those who had loaned thousands to further his expeditions, both of which had failed? His iron will overcame all obstacles, and he was soon back on the Illinois with his supphes. Canoeing Down the Mississippi. He now gave up the plan of building a ship, but set out in canoes down the Mississippi. Day after day, and week after week, found them slowly drifting southward. They passed the mouths of great rivers, visited many strange tribes, and were many times feasted on roast dog and other delicacies. Victory at Last. Finally they came to where the river divides into three broad channels. Soon they smelled LA SALLE ON THE GULF 81 the salt air of the sea. With eager eyes they looked ahead to catch the first glimpse of the ocean. Presently the broad bosom and the tossing waters of the long-sought Gulf of Mexico burst into vicAv. Success had at last crowned the long years of patient toil and suffering, and La Salle had won a place for himself on the pages of history. La Salle Takes Possession of an Empire for His King. A short distance above the mouth, La Salle erected a column bearing the arms of France. The astonished Lidians looked on in silence while the Frenchmen sang the Te Deu7n, fired a salute with their muskets, and shouted ^'Long live the King." La Salle then proclaimed in a loud voice that the entire Mississippi valley and the valleys of all the rivers that flowed into the Mississippi belonged to the King of France. In honor of his king, Louis XIV., he named this great land, Louisiana. Then a cross was planted beside the column and a leaden plate bearing the arms of France was buried at its base. On this plate in Latin were the words, ''Louis the Great Reigns." By this ceremony, La Salle gave to France a magnificent present, the entire Mississippi valley from the Alleghanies to the Rockies, and from the Gulf to the Great Lakes. This region w^as then a wilderness inhabited by scattered tribes of dusky savages. In it today there are twenty great American states, dotted all over with thousands of farm houses and hundreds of cities, with their millions of happy, liberty-loving people. One of the greatest of these states is our own Illinois. Do you think La Salle kncAv what a wonderful empire he gave to his King that day? Bearing the News Homeward. The explorers turned back, and slowlj^ forced their canoes northward against the muddy current of this mighty stream. The weather was warm and the swampy region brought severe illness 82 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS to the great explorer. He was compelled to stop to regain strength, while he sent Tonty on to Mackinac with news of his success. As soon as he was able, La Salle joined Tonty there.. La Salle's Life Work Not Yet Done. Will not La Salle rest now? Will he not return to France to be received with honors and enjoy his last days? No, not he. His work is not yet done. He has resolved to build a line of forts from Canada to the mouth of the Mississippi, so as to protect the region from the English and Spanish. He wished also to unite all the western tribes of Indians against the Iroquois and, by protecting these Indians, get all their rich furs to carry down the Mississippi and to Europe by ship. In order to protect these Indians, La Salle had to make them friendly to each other. This was no easy task, but he knew the heart of the Indian, and they loved him. They finally agreed to become friends and to live together in peace as children of ''Onontio," as they called Frontenac. A Fort on Starved Rock. La Salle, in looking about for a good place to settle with his savage friends, decided upon Starved Rock, on the Illinois river, because here he could build a strong fort and with a handful of men could hold out against great odds. The beautiful Illinois river valley is very fertile, and corn, pumpkins and other Indian crops would grow easily. Besides, he could go by water from here to the sea. ''The cliff, called Starved Rock, . . . rises steep on three sides as a castle wall, to the height of a hundred twenty-five feet above the river. In front it overhangs the water that washes its base ; its western brow looks down on the top of forest trees below; and, on the east lies a wide gorge or ravine, choked with the mingled foliage of oaks, walnuts and elms. . . . From the brink you may LA SALLE ON THE GULF 83 drop a plummet into the river below, where the catfish and the turtles may plainly be seen gliding over the wnnkled sands of the clear and shallow current. The cliff is acces- sible only from behind, where a man may climb up, not without difficulty, by a steep and narrow passage. The top is about an acre in extent." „ ^ ^. . e Many Tribes Gather About La Salle. On the top of this cliff. La Salle and Tonty built a palisaded fort m which were warehouses and dwellings, the timber for which they dragged up the steep and narrow path. This fort he named Fort St. Louis. The Indians soon gathered about their champion. On the plain below. La Salle could look down upon bark lodges and log cabins, squaws labormg m the fields, and warriors lounging in the sun. About this fortified eagle's nest gathered the Shawnees from the Ohio Abenakis from Maine, Miamis from the Kankakee and the Illinois, who, to the number of six thousand, had now returned to their favorite dwelling place. There were also the Weas and the Piankishaws. In all, La Salle says, there v.'eve twenty thousand, from whom could be mustered four thou- sand braves. „ . „ T„„^tii»r Two Things Needed to Hold the Red Men Together. La Salle knew that in order to hold these savages together he would have to do two things. First, he must protect them from the dreaded Iroquois. Second, he must supply them with French goods in exchange for their furs. To bring all these things by way of Canada, where he had so Lny enemies, was risky. Frontenac had been called home "o France, and a new governor, La Barre, who wa unfriendly to La Salle, had taken his place. La Ba_rre was jealous of La Salle, and was bent on rummg hirn^ He cut off supplies from going to Fort St. ^^^^'/^P^^ furs sent to Canada by La Salle, and even urged the Iro- quois to again take the field against the Illinois. 84 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS La Salle Sails on the Gulf. La Salle was desperate. He left Tonty at Fort St. Louis and set out for France by way of Quebec. At court he met with favor, and four ships were fitted out to go to the Gulf of Mexico and fortify the mouth of the Mississippi. After many mishaps and many disputes between La Salle and the commander of the fleet, the expedition sailed past the mouth of the Mississippi without knowing it, and landed on the coast of Texas. His Misfortunes. One ship was captured by the Span- iards and another was wrecked, the waves scattering the provisions of La Salle's army along the Texan beach. Scores died of disease, and many deserted the noble La Salle. Some were killed by savages, others lost their lives by accident. His Death. Worn out by worry, disappointment, and the loss of his last ship, La Salle set out on foot to find the mouth of the Mississippi, but was brutally shot down by some of his own men. These murderers were themselves killed in a quarrel by their companions. At last, a few of La Salle's followers reached the mouth of the Mississippi, and, following it, they arrived at Fort St. Louis on the Illinois. Here Tonty received them kindly. But they did not tell him that their great commander lay dead upon the plains of Texas, slain by traitors of his own band. Some- time later, Tonty learned from the Indians of the death of the great explorer. TAKING POSSESSiOX YOli FRANCE LA SALLE ON THE GULF 87 TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. How could a letter from Tonty have reached La Salle in time for him to return and meet the robbers on Lake Ontario? 2. Give an account of La Salle's second expedition and how it ended. 3. What resolution on the part of La Salle led to his third expe- dition? 4. What was the attitude of Governor La Barre toward La Salle? 5. Give an account of La Salle's last expedition and his death. 6. Review the life work of La Salle, and tell to what extent you think his deeds influenced the colonization of America. LESSON HELPS Death of La Salle. La Salle, continuing to advance, soon saw him, and, calling to him, demanded where was Moranget. The man without lifting his hat, or any show of respect, replied in an agitated and broken voice, but with a tone of studied insolence, drawing back as he spoke, to the ambuscade, while the incensed com- mander advanced to chastise him. At that moment, a shot was fired from the grass, instantly followed by another, and, pierced through the brain, La Salle dropped dead. — Francis Parkman. Tonty 's Grief. So slowly did events move then, and so power- less was the man, an atom in the wilderness, that the great-hearted Italian weeping aloud in rage and grief, realized that La Salle's bones had been bleaching a year and a half before the news of his death reached his lieutenant. It was not known that La Salle received burial. The wretches who assassinated him threw him into some bush. It was a satisfaction to Tonty that they all per- ished miserably afterwards; those who survived quarrels among themselves being killed by the Indians. — Mary Hartwell Catherwood, RECOMMENDED READINGS La Salle and the Great West. Parkman. Pioneers in the Settlement of America. Crafts. Starved Rock. Osman. Cartier to Frontenac. Winsor. Pioneers of IlHnois. Matson. CHAPTER VI The roughest hunter or boatman among them could appear in a ballroom with the carriage and behavior of a gentleman. At the same time, the French women were remarkable for the grace and elegance of their manners. — Governor Thomas Ford. KASKASKIA UNDER FRANCE AND ENGLAND La Salle's Village at Ft. St. Louis Abandoned. After La Salle's departure from his settlement at Ft. St. Louis, the Indians soon scattered and the Illinois tribe alone was left. Among them remained a number of French traders, trappers and priests. Some years later, 1695, the rumor spread that the red-handed Iroquois were coming again to match tomahawks with the Illinois. The Illinois had no relish for another encounter with this dreaded foe. So they moved down the river to the Mississippi, accom- panied by the French priests and fur traders. This change may have been urged by the priests and the traders, who wished to be in closer touch with the new French settle- ments on the Gulf of Mexico. Kaskaskia Founded. Between the mouths of the Illinois and the Kaskaskia rivers, there is a fine, fertile tract that came to be called the American Bottom. Here, near the banks of the Mississippi, the Illinois Indians pitched their wigwams. The town that soon grew up about them they called Kaskaskia, as they did also the river near by. Starved Rock. Some members of the Illinois tribe had, however, chosen to remain upon the beautiful Illinois River. In 1769, they were charged with the assassination 88 "THE AMERICAN BOTTOM" 90 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS of Pontiac, and the tribe with whom he had been connected attacked them from the north. A bloody engagement took place near the site of Fort St. Louis. Badly beaten, the Illinois band escaped in the night and climbed up the rocky bluff where the fort had been. Here they were besieged for twelve days. At last, being unable to get water and provisions, they resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible, and to die fighting rather than to starve. They sallied forth to battle, but in their exhausted condi- tion they fell easy victims to their watchful enemies below. The victors then climbed the heights and tomahawked the remaining ones, who had been too weak or too timid to join in the last struggle. Only one escaped to tell the tale. The whitening bones marked the summit of this bluff for years, and that is wh}^ it took the name of Starved Rock. Kaskaskia Flourishes. The new village of Kaskaskia prospered. The soil of the great American Bottom was so rich that crops of squash, pumpkins and corn grew with little labor. This was a splendid location, too, for the fur trade. Canoes loaded with peltries paddled down the Wisconsin, Rock, and Illinois rivers on the east, and the great muddy Missouri on the west, as well as on the Mississippi itself, to Kaskaskia. Here was a good place to collect hides and furs from the trappers and send them on to New Orleans. The Indians also found Kaskaskia a convenient place to start from, on hunting or fighting expeditions. Fort Chartres Built. The Mississippi was fast becoming the passage-way for the French going from Canada and the Great Lakes to the new settlements on the Gulf of Mexico. New Orleans was founded by them in 1718, and a small army was soon on its way to the Illinois to build a fort. Its walls were made first of wood, but later KASKASKIA UNDER FRANCE AND ENGLAND 9i of limestone. They were two feet thick and sixteen feet high. This stone fort was thought to be the strongest in America. Fort Chartres, for so they named it, was the seat of the government of Illinois while the French ruled here. Other Villages Founded. Other settlements sprang up in this region. Hither came immigrants from Canada in large numbers, when they heard that the soil was very fertile, and the climate much milder than in their frigid settlements on the St. Lawrence. Some came also from New Orleans, but for another reason. They had heard that the climate of Illinois was cool, and the hunting and trapping good. How the French Lived. These early French settlers lived mainly by hunting. The plains were covered with buffalo, deer, and elk, while the forests abounded in game and wild fowl. During those early days Kaskaskia was the largest town west of the Alleghany Mountains. It was the center of social life and gayety. The latest fashions of New Orleans and Paris were copied here in the wilderness with great pride. The ballroom was the scene of much pleasure. There met the rich and poor, the old and young, to indulge in their favorite pastimes. The priest, too, came to look on. New Year's eve was the merriest event of all. The whole village assembled, each one bringing some refreshments, and gayly they danced the old year away. In the ballroom everything was well ordered. Two elderly persons were chosen provosts. It was their duty to select persons for the dance, one choosing the ladies and the other the men. Each one danced in proper turn, and no one was slighted. The provosts also decided upon the hour to retire and the time to meet again. In this manner, many winter nights were happily spent. 92 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS French Dress. Blue was the favorite color in dress. Men wore coarse blue pantaloons in summer and buck- skin in winter. Hats were little used. Blue handker- chiefs appeared on the heads of both men and women instead. In winter was worn a cape of white, with a cap fastened behind. The cap rested upon the shoulders when the weather was warm. In cold weather it was drawn snugly over the head. Deer-skin moccasins were worn by both sexes indoors, and they were often neat as well as serviceable. Out of doors, the men wore on their feet a thick leather called by the Americans, ''shoe packs." In those days a man scarcely thought himself properly clothed without a belt. Suspended to this, on one side was a tanned pole-cat skin bag containing a pipe and tobacco, and a flint and steel for use in starting a fire. On the other side hung the hunting knife. The French Till the SoiL While hunting and trapping were the main occupations, yet as the years passed, there came to be considerable agriculture. They raised wheat, oats and tobacco. Corn was grown, too, but mainly to fatten hogs. They often made hominy, but never corn bread. Their farming tools were rude and poor. The plows were of wood, with a small piece of iron tied on with raw- hide, to cut the soil. For a hundred years no wagon was seen in the prairie country. The French used carts with wheels of solid wood. There was no tire of iron. Neither oil nor grease was applied to the wheels, and their creaking could be heard a long distance away. There being no rocks or stones, these wooden wheels lasted well. The Americans called them ''bare-footed carts." They had horses of Arabian breed, introduced into America by the Spaniards. The harness for these was not made of tanned leather, for the French did not go to the trouble to tan for any purpose. Neat harness was made of KASKASKIA UNDER FRANCE AND ENGLAND 93 rawhide, strong and tough. Horses were not driven abreast, but one before the other, tandem, we call it. They were never hitched to plows. The French used cattle for this labor. Oxen were yoked by the horns, rather than by the neck. The ox-yoke was a straight stick of wood, cut at the ends to fit the horns of the oxen to which it was tied with thongs. It is said that these animals can draw as heavy a load with their heads as with their necks. The Beginning of Commerce. As time passed, a profit- able trade sprang up with the French settlements on the Gulf. Regular cargoes of flour, bacon, hides and tallow, of leather, lumber, wine, lead, and furs were transported in keel boats and barges to New Orleans, where was found an excellent market. On their homeward voyage, the boats brought such articles as sugar, rice, indigo, cotton, and manufactured tobacco. The Frenchmen moved against the current b}^ towing, sailing, and cordelling, which last consisted in pulling the boat up stream with a long rope, one end of which was tied to a tree, the other end in the hands of the men on board. The round trip often took four months. Their Government. So happy and contented were these French peasants that they got along well without any government. Neither did they pay any taxes, except the dues to the priest and to the fiddler. The priest held gentle sway over them. He settled all disputes among his flock, and from his decision there was no appeal; yet he never abused his power. He was, indeed, their gentle shepherd. Rivalry Between England and France. We have seen how England and France vied with each other to get possession of North America; how France seized upon the St. Lawrence and Mississippi valleys, the two gateways to the heart of the continent, and how she set about defend- ing it by a line of forts from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of 94 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Mexico, leaving to England only a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast. England had no intention of stopping at the summit of the Alleghanies. Claiming the whole of the continent by virtue of its discovery by John Cabot, she gave to several colonies grants extending from sea to sea. English pioneers soon pushed through the mountain passes into the Ohio valley, only to be ordered out by the French. A series of wars broke out, lasting nearly a hundred j^ears. At last, in 1763, France was forced to give up to England all land east of the Mississippi. A year later, England sent Captain Thomas Sterling from Fort Pitt, Pittsburg, with a hundred Highlanders to take possession of Fort Chartres and the Illinois coun- try. Descending the Ohio, he arrived at his destination in 1765. He immediately hauled dow^n the ^Tilies of France" from the fort and ran up the Union Jack. The French in Illinois were highly displeased that England, their ancient enemy, should rule over their villages. They feared that the British, being a Protestant nation, would interfere with their religious worship, and they planned to emigrate across the Mississippi. But Captain Sterling hastened to assure them that he had no intention of inter- fering with their worship. HoAvever, mvniy did not like to live under the Cross of Saint George, and so moved to New Orleans or to St. Louis, where the French flag still floated, taking their slaves and their property with them. At least a third of the inhabitants left the Illinois country at this time. They soon learned, to their great disgust, Uhat France had ceded all land west of the Mississippi to the Spaniards. The French Control the Fur Trade. The English tried very hard to make friends with the Indians, in order to control the rich fur trade of the prairies. But the French • KASKASKIA UI^DKR FRANCE AND ENGLAND 97 fur traders, who had moved across the Mississippi, were not willing to give up this profitable commerce if they could avoid it. The Indians naturally liked the French better because they had grown up together like children. The French had adopted Indian customs and manners, and had treated the savages like brothers. They often supplied them with food and joined in their war dances. Many Frenchmen even took Indian women for their wives. Besides, they had, in a manner, taught the Indians to hate the British. So, it was an easy- matter to persuade the red men to bring their peltries to St. Louis to sell. From here they were shipped to New Orleans. In this way the British were cheated out of the rich traffic. Early Fortifications. Fort Chartres was, for some reason, built on the river bottom about a mile from the banks of the Mississippi. Its limestone walls were proof against the attack of human enemies, but the ' 'Father of Waters" was not taken into account. The Mississippi gradually wore away the east bank and approached the fort until it undermined the defiant walls. The fort was abandoned and the government transferred to a new for- tress, named Fort Gage, opposite Kaskaskia. What is left of the old fort is now on an island in the Mississippi, the channel having changed during a flood. Captain Sterling lived but a short time. After his death the British garrison became tired of their lonely life in the wilderness. They were disappointed, too, at not sharing richly in the fur trade. So they sailed off down the INIississippi never to return. Thus the govern- ment of the country again came into French hands, though it still was carried on in the name of George III. When the King of England saw war approaching with his American colonies, the entire country, northwest of the Ohio, was annexed to the province of Quebec. By 98 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS this act George III. hoped to secure the aid of that province against the other English colonies. In case the colonies should win, this might save this great region to England. But, we shall see how George Rogers Clark upset this plan. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Why was the village at Ft. St. Louis abandoned? 2. Tell the story of the founding of Kaskaskia. 3. Describe the manner of life of the early French settlers at Kaskaskia. 4. What geographic advantage had New Orleans in securing and controlling trade? 5. Why was this advantage later lost to the post at St. Louis? 6. What circumstances aided England in her conflict with France for the control of this continent? LESSON HELPS Kaskaskia Before the Coming of Clark. In hunting and fish- ing; in agriculture of the most primitive kind, with implements which might have been used two thousand years before; in trad- ing down the river to New Orleans; in feasting, in frolic with all the gayety of their French nationality, the uneventful days glided by. Except at Kaskaskia, there was not a school in the whole territory, although, incredible as it may seem, there was a billiard table in the settlement on the Wabash! The little education received was imparted by the faithful and devoted missionaries who dwelt among them. Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres, the principal military posts, were turned over to the EngUsh in 1765, and the post at Vincennes some- time later. The conquest made little difference, however, to the inhabitants. —Cyrus Townsend Brady. RECOMMENDED READINGS Kaskaskia Records. Alvord. IlHnois in the 18th Century. Mason. History of Illinois under French Rule. Wallace. The Settlement of Illinois. Boggess. Pioneer Life in Illinois. Ferryman. Enghsh Settlement in Ilhnois. Sparks. CHAPTER VII As Clark and his men lay there by the postern gate they could hear the sounds of French fiddles squeaking a quadrille, and now and then gay shouts of laughter. — Reuben Gold Thwaites. COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA The "Hair-Buyer" General. During the Revolution, when the thirteen colonies were fighting for their independ- ence, the British had garrisons at Detroit, Kaskaskia and Vincennes. Governor Hamilton ruled over this entire region, with headquarters at Detroit. His instructions were to hold this vast wilderness for King George III., and to stir up the Indians to make war on the Americans. He was called by the Americans the ''Hair-buyer" General, because he paid the Indians for every scalp they brought in. With the aid of these savage butchers, Hamilton planned to drive the American frontiersmen back over the Alleghany Mountains. The savages, urged on by the British gold, massacred men, women and helpless children wherever they could find them. They made journeys of hundreds of miles for their bloody work. Sometimes they even crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky, spreading terror and destruction behind them. It was no uncommon thing for a frontier farmer, on returning home after a day's work, to find his log cabin in ashes and his wife and children murdered. Plans of Colonel Clark. Among these sturdy frontier folk was an Indian fighter named George Rogers Clark, who had been appointed colonel to protect the western settle- ments. He was determined to punish the Indians, and was 99 100 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS also bent on teaching Hamilton a lesson for setting on the heartless red men. His plan was to capture the British strongholds, put the wicked Hamilton in irons, and drive the Redcoats out of the entire Northwest. Educated in the frontier school of ''hard knocks," Clark was just the man for this undertaking. He could outwit the enemy every time, and he knew the Indians like a book. With a hand- ful of men, he was able to pass through the forests and make the savages believe he had a great army. If anybody could drive the British out of the Northwest country, it was Clark. It costs a great deal to equip and support an army, besides, the soldiers must be paid. Having no money, Clark set out for Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, to lay his plans before Governor Patrick Henry and his Council, because Virginia claimed not only Kentucky, but all the territory north of the Ohio river, through a charter given her by the King in 1G09. Governor Henry was well pleased with Clark's plan. But Virginia could not spare much money nor many soldiers, for every man was needed to fight the great British armies along the Atlantic coast. Governor Henry, however, did the best he could. He commissioned Clark to raise seven companies of fifty men each among the frontier settlements, to serve three months. The Governor furnished the guns and ammunition, as well as the boats to take the army from Pittsburg down the Ohio. Clark was given six thousand dollars in paper money to pay his sol- diers, each of whom was to have, in addition, three hundred acres of land, if they drove out the Redcoats. In order to succeed with this small army, Clark knew he would have to take the British by surprise. For fear his purpose might be reported to Hamilton, he kept his plans a profound secret. Not a man in his army knew COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA 101 where they were to be led. They supposed that the Indians alone were to be punished. Clark was popular wherever he was known, and the sharpshooters and trappers of the mountain valleys gladly joined his band, although they knew the campaign against the Indians would be a hard one. But he was unable to muster more than four companies, because many frontiers- men feared to go far away to fight, and leave their own homes unprotected. The Expedition Leaves Pittsburg. After some delay, Colonel Clark embarked at Pittsburg with two hundred men, and floated down the Ohio. As they went day after day with no Indians in sight, nothing but the wilderness about them, the soldiers began to complain because they were already so far away from their families. When they reached Corn Island in the rapids of the Ohio, opposite where Louisville now stands, some of the dissatisfied soldiers threatened to desert, so Clark decided to land. He built a block house on the island to protect his suppUes, and planted a crop of Indian corn. Some time was spent in drilling his men. They were not in uniform, but wore the hunting shirt, leggings and moccasins of the backwoodsman. They were armed with long, heavy, flintlock rifles, and • carried hatchets and long knives in their belts. A powder horn hung at one side and a game bag at the other. The head was covered with a squirrel-skin or fox-skin cap, with the tail dangling behind. Clark Makes Known the Secret. Clark now told his soldiers that he was going to lead them against the Red- coats at Kaskaskia. Most of them were delighted. They were ready to follow their brave leader anywhere. Some, however, objected to the journey and wished to return home. As Clark needed every man, he refused to let themx go. At night they slipped by the guards, waded to 102 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS the Kentucky shore and took to the woods. Some were captured the next morning and brought back, but most of the deserters made good their escape. This left Clark but a small band to do the great work he had set before him. The British were in strong forts. Thousands of savages were aiding them. Besides, there were hundreds CLARK'S ROUTE TO KASKASKIA of French allies. Against such an enemy, Clark was march- ing with but one hundred fifty-three men, and with no cannon. But nothing seemed too hard for this brave soldier. Had he not often beaten a whole tribe of Indians with a few followers? Clark Divides His Forces. Leaving a few men on Corn Island to protect his supplies and raise a crop, Clark embarked with the others and passed down the Ohio to the mouth of the Tennessee, where he met a party of hunt- ers from Kaskaskia. He made friends with them at once COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA 1C3 and obtained from them valuable information. They told him who was the commander of Fort Gage, at Kaskaskia. They said the fort was strong and the garrison well drilled, and that the commander was on the lookout for enemies who might be coming up the Mississippi to attack his fort. Before leaving Corn Island, Clark received a letter from home stating that the King of France had recently joined forces with the Americans against the haughty British. This good news he thought could be used when he met the French in Illinois. The hunters told Clark that the British had led the French at Kaskaskia to believe that the ''Long Knives," as they called the frontiersmen, were more savage than the Indians, or even cannibals. This bit of news Clark also planned to use when he met the enemy. He Changes His Plans. It seemed as clear as daylight to Clark, that he could not take Kaskaskia except by sur- prise. When informed by the hunters that the British had scouts out on the Mississippi, he concluded to change his route. He planned to leave the river and march straight across the country to Kaskaskia, and take the British unawares, for they would hardly dream of any enemy com- ing through the pathless wilderness, when the Ohio and Mississippi rivers offered an easy route to the same place. The distance overland was one hundred twenty miles, and a most difficult journey for an army without wagons and provisions, but it was his only chance to surprise the enemy. Securing one of the hunters to guide his band, he set out through the forest. The guide once lost the way, and the men were about to shoot him for treachery, when he again discovered the trail. At last after much hardship, he brought Clark's littlo company in sight of Kaskaskia and Fort Gage, on the Fourth of July, 1778. Colonel Clark concealed his men until dark and sent scouts to reconnoitre and bring back a report. They 104 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS returned with the good news that all was quiet, and that the British and French were behaving as though there were no enemy within a thousand miles. When night came, Colonel Clark advanced to a house close to the vil- lage. He decided to strike both the fort and the village at the same time. So he divided his band — it could hardly be called an army. He sent one party under the fearless Captain Helm to capture the village, while he, at the same time, led the others against the fort. Before advancing to battle. Colonel Clark gave a short address to his soldiers. He said: ''Soldiers! We are near the enemy, for which we we have been struggling for years. We are not fighting alone for liberty and independence, but for the defense of our own frontiers from the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the Indians. We are defending the lives of our own women and children, although a long distance from them. These British garrisons furnish the Indians with powder and lead to desolate the frontiers; and pay gold for human scalps. We must take and destroy these garrisons. The fort before us is one of them, and it must be taken. We can not retreat. We have no provisions; but we must conquer. This is the Fourth of July. We must act to honor it; and let it not be said in after times that Virginians were defeated on that memorable day. The fort and town, I repeat, must be taken at all hazards." The Town and Fort Captured. The troops then separ- ated. Captain Helm advancing on the town. His men entered the village in silence, and no one dreamed of the presence of the dreadful ''Long Knives" in their midst. Suddenly Helm's men set up such a terrific howling and 3^elling that the inhabitants were frightened almost out of their senses. They now felt sure these "Long Knives" were demons, and they prepared for the worst. Helm's men told them to remain quietly in their houses and they GEORGE ROGERS CLARK COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA 107 would not be hurt, but if they came out or showed resistance they would be eaten alive. The poor French believed it, too, for not a man of them showed himself. Two hours later they gave up all their arms, thinking this the only way of saving themselves from a frightful death. So, without fir- ing a gun, or so much as injuring a single hair of a French- man's head. Captain Helm had captured the village of Kaskaskia and run up the stars and stripes. While this was taking place. Colonel Clark was under- taking the more dangerous task of capturing a strong British fort defended by well-trained soldiers with cannon. Having no heavy guns, Clark had to rely on his wits. His band advanced very quietly. A pack of dogs soon set up a loud barking. But even this did not disturb the deep slumber of the Redcoats. Clark's men entered a small back gate and took possession of the fort before anybody knew that an enemy was near. They entered the command- ing officer's chamber, and had some difficulty in arousing him sufficiently to inform him that he was their prisoner of war. He was furious to think he had been surprised and that his fort, strongly protected with cannon and manned by regulars, had surrendered to a beggarly handful of back- woodsmen. He became so insolent that Clark, as a lesson to others, put him in chains and sent him to Virginia. The Captives Are Well Treated. The next day the *'Long Knives" tried to live up to what the French believed them to be, the most bloodthirsty creatures on earth. They did not hurt anybody, but they made the French think that their last days had come. Having had no opportunity to shave for months, and no change of cloth- ing, their ragged, half-naked appearance struck terror to the hearts of the simple French, who now prepared for the worst tortures imaginable. The priest and a few leading citizens waited upon Colonel Clark, begging him to permit 108 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS the inhabitants of Kaskaskia to meet in the church once more before they were put to death or shipped, Uke the Acadians, to a foreign land. Clark now thought he had worked them up to the highest pitch of terror, so he addressed them in these words: ''Do you mistake us for savages? Do you think Americans will strip women and children and take bread out of their mouths? My country disdains to make war on innocence. To prevent the horrors of Indian butchery on our wives and children, we have taken up arms and penetrated to this stronghold of Indian and British barbarity, and not for despicable plunder. The King of France has united his powerful arms with those of the American colonists, and the war will soon be ended. The people of Kaskaskia may side with either party. To verify my words, go tell your people to do as they please, without any danger from me." This good news was so unexpected that the French went wild with joy. They entered the church to render thanks to God for their deliverance from the jaws of death. With all speed they hastened to swear friendship to Clark. They promised to help him drive out the Brit- ish, with whom they had never been very friendly. This was just as Clark would have it, for he needed the help of the French in order to hold this vast region, since his soldiers were so few. Then the people of Kaskaskia per- suaded their neighbors of Cahokia to receive the Americans without resistance. Thus another town came into Clark's hands without bloodshed. This great fighter always used his head' to win victories, and in this way he saved the lives of his soldiers. Having now served the full three months for which they enlisted, Clark's soldiers clamored to be mustered out and sent home. What could he do? He knew the country ought to be held until peace was made, yet he had COLONEL CLARK AT KASKASKIA 109 no right to keep the soldiers who had served out their time. A hundred having agreed to stay, Clark organized a new company. With these and what help he could get from the French and Indians, he vowed he would hold the land he had captured. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Explain how Governor Hamilton became known as the "Hair -Buyer." 2. How would Hamilton's conduct be considered by civilized nations today? 3. What preparation had Colonel Clark for his undertaking? 4. Give an account of his expedition and the capture of Kaskaskia. 5. What was the attitude of the French settlers toward the "Long Knives"? 6. What steps did Clark take to strengthen his position? LESSON HELPS The Capture of Kaskaskia. The story of his exploits reads more like one of James Fenimore Cooper's fanciful Indian tales than like sober history; how he surprised the post at Kaskaskia without a blow, and, by intrepid assurance and skillful diplomacy, induced the French and Indians of the Mississippi Valley to transfer their allegiance from the British Empire to the new American Repubhc. — David Saville Muzzey. RECOMMENDED READINGS Clark and His Conquest of the Great West. Outing, Vol. 49, Pages 474-48 L Border Fights and Fighters. Brady. Pioneers of Illinois. Matson. Kaskaskia Records. Alvord. How Clark Won the Northwest. Thwaites. CHAPTER VIII Wading in the cold waters of the spring floods, breaking through the thin ice, Kving on scanty rations, Clark and his men captured and recaptured Vincennes and the other forts and towns within the district, and held them until peace was declared. — Edwin Erle Sparks. CLARK CAPTURES VINCENNES Captain Helm Sent to Vincennes. Hearing that there were no British soldiers in the fort at Vincennes, but that it was manned by a few French, Father Gibault, the vil- lage priest of Kaskaskia, undertook to bring the people of Vincennes over to the American side. He succeeded, and Clark sent Captain Helm with a few French recruits to take possession of that town and fort. Helm, like Clark, knew well how to manage the red men. He tactfully won all the Indians of the Wabash country to his side. Governor Hamilton Takes the Field. Hamilton, still in command at Detroit, was chagrined at the loss of Vin- cennes. He set about to regain both that city and Kas- kaskia. With this in view, he gathered together a large army of Canadians and Indians, and embarked on Lake Erie for the Wabash country. They paddled up the Maumee River, crossed the portage of nine miles with great labor, and floated down a tributary of the Wabash toward Vincennes. Upon hearing of their approach, the French recruits under Captain Helm deserted him, and he was left with one lone man to hold the fort. When Governor Hamilton approached with an army of five hundred warriors and 110 CLARK CAPTURES VINCENNES 111 Canadians, he found a loaded cannon pointing out of the open gate of the fort, and Captain Helm standing bj^ with a lighted match in hand ready to fire. ''Halt," called out Helm. Hamilton demanded the immediate surrender of the garrison. Helm replied in a loud voice: ''No man shall enter here until I know the terms." Hamilton, sup- posing there was a strong garrison, answered: "You shall have the honors of war." Helm then surrendered, and his garrison consisting of himself and one private, marched out and laid down their arms. They had forced the honors of war from an army of five hundred, to the great disgust of Governor Hamilton. The winter coming on, Hamilton concluded to postpone his attack on Kaskaskia until spring, because with the river frozen, it would be almost impossible to transport his heavy cannon and baggage through the pathless for- ests. He sent most of his Indian allies home, to return in the spring, when he purposed, with a thousand Indians and several hundred Canadians, to capture Kaskaskia and carry the war to the frontier towns of Kentucky. Knowing how few were Clark's soldiers, he felt sure of taking them with ease, but Hamilton did not know that Clark alone was equal to a host. Had he pushed on at once he would no doubt have made short work of Clark's little company. Clark in Difficulty. When news of the taking of Vin- cennes reached our Indian fighter at Kaskaskia, he w^as in hard straits. The Indians and French, w^ho now feared the British, began to waver in their loyalty to him. The Kaskaskians wished to be neutral, but Clark would not listen. He threatened to burn their town if they refused to support him. At this, they assured him of their help. He saw, that if he waited till spring, the British would come wath a large army and his allies would desert to 112 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS them, and he would be crushed or driven across the Missis- sippi. He said, ''If I do not take him, he will take me." So, hearing that Hamilton had retained only a small garrison, he planned to attack Vincennes before the Indian army returned. ''It was at this moment," he declared, "I would have bound myself seven years a slave to have had five hundred troops." The best he could do was to muster one hundred seventy men — Americans, French, and Indians. Again he depended largely on finding the enemy unprepared. In order to do this, he could not take the route on the Ohio and Wabash rivers, for these were being watched. It was two hundred thirty miles overland to Vincennes. It would have been an easy journey in summer, perhaps, or even in the dead of winter, when the streams were ice-bound and the prairies frozen, but Clark started in February, when the ice was breaking up, and the small streams, swollen to rivers, were spread out over the valleys. The ground was soft and progress was slow. Floods had driven away much of the game, and it was with great difficulty that enough food could be procured to keep them from starving. Each day one company would scatter in search of game and, at night, invite the rest of the army to feast. Here the ever-present French fiddle helped revive the drooping spirits of the men. At the end of a week, they arrived at the "drowned lands" of the Wabash. From here to Vincennes the country was flooded, the water being from three to five feet deep. It rained nearly half the time, but they never halted on this account. They Reach Vincennes. They could now hear the morning and evening guns at the fort. Weak with hunger, with ten miles of water between them and the enemy, the little army was in deep gloom. They had no boats. The game had disappeared, and they dared not shoot for fear of being discovered. Often they waded in water up to the CLARK CAPTURES VINCENNES 113 armpits, and camped at night, wet to the skin, without food or fire. Two days having passed without a mouthful of food, it now became necessary to help along those weak from hunger. At noon of the following day, a canoe with five Frenchmen from the village came upon them, who told Clark that Hamilton had no suspicion of their presence, and that the French in Vincennes were kindly disposed toward them. This, together with the killing of a deer, gave the little army new courage. Placing the weak and famished in canoes, they again plunged into the flooded valley, wading and holding their guns above the water. In places the pack horses had to swim, while their loads were transported on rafts. At best, they could advance but two or three miles a day. At last they reached dry ground a short distance from the village, where the half-starved soldiers soon forgot their suffering. Colonel Clark, in order to appear strong and confident, sent the following letter to the people of Vincennes: 'To the Inhabitants of Post Vincennes: Gentlemen: — Being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort thi^ night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request such of you as are true citizens, and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in your houses. And those, if any there, be, that are friends to the king, will instantly repair to the fort and join the "Hair- buyer" General, and fight hke men. And if any such as do not go to the fort, shall be discovered afterwards, they may depend on severe punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty, may depend on being well treated. And I once more request them to keep out of the streets : for everyone I find in arms on my arrival, I shall treat as an enemy. G. R. Clark." To the frightened people of Vincennes, Clark's army seemed to have come up suddenly out of the swamp, for they thought no human beings could have marched through 114 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS such a drowned country. While the village assembled in the public square to hear the letter from Colonel Clark, his army could be seen maneuvering some distance away, but it was not visible at the fort. In order to deceive the villagers as to his numbers, Clark marched his troops around a grove several times under different colors. From the different colored banners, the French thought the Americans were at least a thousand strong. The Indians wishing to be on the victorious side, and being unable to judge who would win, drew off and remained neutral. In the excitement in the town, no one had enough presence of mind to carry the news to the fort. Again the army was arranged in two divisions, one under Bowman to attack the town, and the other under Clark to capture the fort. The Fort is Attacked and Captured. As Bowman marched into Vincennes at dark, the people immediately joined him. A hundred Indians also swelled the numbers as they passed on toward the fort. Not a word had yet reached Hamilton and his garrison. The first firing he mistook for that of drunken Indians. Looking out into the moonlight, the astonished Governor saw his stockade surrounded by backwoodsmen and a battle going on. Having no cannon, the American hero relied upon his sharpshooters who poured such a hot fire through the port holes that the gunners could not hold their posts. The firing continued through the night. Morning found the garrison badly crippled, but not yet willing to surrender. A party of British and Indians who had gone out some days before, now came noisily into town with their scalps and prisoners for Hamilton. Before they realized the changed condition, Clark's men set upon them and killed or captured the entire party. Six who were captured were tomahawked in sight of the fort and thrown into the river. CLARK CAPTURES VINCENNES 117 This frightened the Indians outside the stockade, as well as the garrison within. Hamilton now surrendered his force of eighty men, and Clark ran up the stars and stripes over the fort, re-naming it Fort Patrick Henry. Hamilton was sent to Virginia in irons. Clark held this country until the close of the Revolu- tion, when England ceded it to the United States. But for George Rogers Clark's heroic deeds and the terrible suffering of his followers, this great Northwest would probably have remained in British hands. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Give an account of the capture of Vincennes. 2. Tell the story of Hamilton's retaking of Vincennes and the incident of Captain Helm. 3. Describe the hardships endured by Clark and his men on their march. 4. What ruse did Clark employ to conceal the weakness of his army? LESSON HELPS The Winning of Vincennes. Before the day was ended, Ham- ilton agreed that the garrison should surrender as prisoners of war. It was a great humihation to him to be obhged to yield, as he said, to *'A set of uncivilized Virginia woodsmen armed with rifles." But what else could he do? His men — seventy-nine in all — marched out and laid down their arms. The British flag was hauled down, the American colors were again hoisted, and the stockade received a new name, Fort Patrick Henry. — Jaaies Bai EARLY DAYS IN ILLINOIS 127 business was transacted, horses swapped, and debts paid. They had foot races, wrestling, jumping and shooting matches here. Small kegs of whisky were brought to the races on horseback, a keg in one end of the sack and a stone in the other, throwTi across the saddle. Notwith- standing the boisterous nature of these gatherings, they were a means of education to the people, both morally and socially. The great drawback to farming was the want of a market for the produce. It was a long distance to town, and when they arrived there they found no demand for the produce they had brought. To reach the cities on the Atlantic coast by overland route was out of the question. Some trade in tobacco, flour and live stock, sprang up with New Orleans. When these pioneers did go to town, which was seldom, they would often see for the first time, improved articles for the house or farm. For these they exchanged vegetables, grain, or live stock. A farmer having seen for the first time, in the Black Hawk war, a team of horses driven abreast, sent for a set of double harness; but when they arrived he found himself totally unable to fit them to the horses, and had to send a long distance for a man who knew how to put the harness, horses and wagon together properly. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Compare the reports brought back by Clark's returning soldiers concerning the Illinois Country with that of the spies sent out by Moses to investigate the land of Canaan. (See Numbers XIII, 26 to 29.) 2. Distinguish between a "hunter-pioneer" and a "woodland- pioneer." 3. By what natural highways did the settlers from the east reach the Mississippi valley? 128 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS * 4. It has been frequently stated that if the Mississippi River had emptied into the Atlantic Ocean, say at Chesapeake Bay, the American colonies would still belong to Great Britain. What reasons can you discover for this belief? 5. Describe the life of an average pioneer, tell how he built a home, planted crops, and fed and clothed his family and himself. LESSON HELPS From a Pioneer's Diary. Thurs (May) 30th (1775). We set out again and went down to Elks gardin and then suplied ourselves with seed corn and irish tators then went on a little way and turned my hors to drive before me and he got scard and ran away threw Down the Saddel Bags and broke three of our powder goards and Abrams beast burst open a walet of Corn and lost a good Deal and made a turrable flustration amongst the Reast of the Horses Drakes mair run against a sapling and noct it down we cacht them all again and went on and lodged at John Duncans. Sunday 23rd. This morning the people meets and draws for chois of lots this is a very warm day. Monday 24th. We all view our lots and some Dont hke them. . . . Wednesday 26th. We begin building a house and a plaise of Defense to Keep the Indians off this day we begin to live without bread. . . . Satterday 29th. We git our house kivered with Bark and move our things into it at Night and Begin housekeeping Eanock Smith, Robert Whitledge and myself. . . . Tuesday 2nd. I went out in the morning and killed a turkey and come in and got some on for my breakfast and then went and sot in to clearing for Corn. — Extract from the Journal of William Calk RECOMMENDED READINGS English Settlement in Illinois. Sparks. Pioneer Life in Illinois. Perryman. The Settlement of Illinois. Boggess. Illinois in the 18th Century. Mason. Making of the Great West. Drake. Pioneers of lUinois. Matson. CHAPTER X But bickerings and jealousies had arisen; and to put an end to the dangers threatened by these, Virginia voluntarily surrendered her empire. A nobler peace-offering the world never saw. — Thomas E. Watson. BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS States Give Up Their Western Claims. By the treaty at the close of the Revolution, 1783, the Mississippi became the western boundary of the United States. Now, Vir- ginia claimed all the territory northwest of the Ohio, as we have seen, not only because of her old charter, but because she had sent an army under George Rogers Clark who drove the British out of it. Other colonies also claimed portions of the territory west of the Alleghanies. But, after our independence was won, the small states such as Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, which had no western claims, refused to join with the larger states under one roof and one flag unless these larger states gave to the government their claims of western territory. The small states were stubborn about this, and finally the large states yielded, with the understanding that this western territory be divided into states and admitted into the Union on the same basis as the thirteen original states. The Northwest Territory Divided Into States. Thomas Jefferson suggested that the territory northwest of the Ohio might be divided by parallels and meridians into ten states. James Monroe thought that ten would be too many. He had made a short trip to the West and talked 129 LAND CLAIMS OF THE THIETEEN ORIGINAL STATES BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 131 with many people on the journey. Monroe came to believe, from what he had heard, that much of the western land was miserably poor, and that the prairies of what is JEFFERSON'S PLAN 1784 STATES PROPOSED BY JEFFERSON now Illinois were a desert. ''Not so much as a bush would grow on it," he said, ''and to cut such a region into ten states by straight lines would be unwise." Some states would, he argued, be all poor land, some all rich land. 132 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Some would have no frontage on the lakes, while others would not touch the Ohio. Monroe and Washington, therefore, advised Congress to so divide the territory that THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY AS DIVIDED BY THE ORDINANCD OF 1787 each state might have as much water boundary as possi- ble. This was the wiser plan, and Congress followed it. As for names, Congress concluded to let the sections choose their own, when they came into the Union. BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 133 So, when the Ordinance of 1787 was adopted, it declared that there should be not fewer than three, nor more than five states in this territory, and that their boundaries should be as shown on the map. The Ordinance stated that this solemn agreement among all the thirteen states should '^forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent." In spite of this, not one of the five states came into the Union with the exact boundaries fixed by the Ordinance. Congress changed' the boundaries at pleasure, without asking the consent of a single state. The whole Northwest territory, save Ohio, was governed as a unit until 1809, when Indiana was set apart, leaving Illinois and Wisconsin together under the name of Illinois Territory. Illinois Admitted as a State; Boundaries. When Illinois became a state in 1818, the northern boundary was fixed, not by a line running west from the extreme south- ern end of Lake Michigan, as prescribed in the Ordinance, but by a parallel sixty-one miles farther north. Nor did Congress even ask the people of Wisconsin to consent to this encroachment on her soil. Nathaniel Pope was, at that time, the delegate in Congress for Illinois Territory. He laid before that body these reasons for placing the Illinois boundary sixty-one miles on Wisconsin soil. He said that Illinois would not have any lake frontage, if the Ordinance were followed, and, if she were not given a lake port, she would face southward, and her commerce and interests would be with the slave states rather than with the free. ''Then," he said, ''if the Union is ever broken up, Illinois will go with the South." The only way to prevent such a catastrophe," he declared, "was to give Illinois an outlet on Lake Michigan, and thereby connect her with the commerce of the Great Lakes and the East. Pope convinced Congress of the wisdom of his position, and so won for the Prairie State a wide strip of country 134 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS embracing fourteen counties, and eight thousand five hundred square miles of rich agricultural lands, which includes the fine lake harbors of Chicago and Waukegan, APRIL 18, 1818 MAP OF THE DISPUTED TERRITORY as well as the sites of such prosperous inland cities as Rockford, Freeport, Galena, Oregon and Elgin. Northern Illinois Claimed by Wisconsin. Wisconsin was organized as a territory in 1836, and the northern BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 137 boundary of Illinois was left where it had been placed in 1818. Two years later, however, the W^isconsin Legisla- ture sent a message to Congress protesting against the injustice of giving to Illinois a vast section which, according to the Ordinance, rightly belonged to Wisconsin. She claimed the entire tract as far south as the southern end of Lake Michigan. Congress, influenced by the able repre- sentatives from Illinois, gave no heed to this commu- nication. The next year the Wisconsin Legislature re- turned to the attack. It declared that ^^a large and valuable tract of country is now held by the state of Illinois, con-- trary to the manifest right and consent of the (Wisconsin) Territory." Nine Illinois Counties Dissatisfied. The people in the . disputed district expressed their views at the ballot-box, and at public gatherings. A convention representing nine counties met at Rockford and declared that the four- teen northern counties of Illinois belonged by right to Wisconsin. An election was held in Stephenson County in 1842, and out of five hundred seventy votes, all but one were in favor of uniting with Wisconsin. The Boone County election was likewise almost unanimous. Other counties also leaned toward our northern sister. Although Chicago was promised both senatorships by Wisconsin, she realized that her best interests were served by being in Illinois, and voted accordingly. The people of Wisconsin, outside of the Legislature, took little interest in the dispute. Their law makers, nevertheless, continued to hurl defiant messages at the deaf ears of Congress. They threatened to secede from the Union; they boasted that '^The moral and physical force of Illinois, of the whole Union, cannot make us retrace our steps." Old-Fashioned Laws. When Congress appointed Arthur St. Clair, to be the first Governor of the Northwest Terri- 138 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS tory, he met the judges, who were also chosen by Congress, at Marietta, Ohio, 1788, and they wrote out a code of laws for the Territory. As there was no printing press nearer than Pittsburg, the laws were written and posted upon trees at the mouths of creeks and rivers, or wherever it seemed likely they might be seen by passersby. The man who pulled down such a copy was to be put in the stocks for three hours, fined the cost of re-writing and posting it, and shut up in jail until the fine was paid. A drunkard w^as fined ^^five dimes" for the first offense, a dollar for the second, and, if he could not pay, was put in the stocks one hour. Thirty-nine stripes were given those who robbed a house, or broke into a shop, or made a false oath. If the burglar were armed he was deprived of all his property and put in jail for forty years. A man might be imprisoned for debt, a bachelor under forty for seven years; a married man under thirty-six, for five years. If the sheriff allowed a prisoner to escape, he must take the offender's place, assume all his debts and pay the fine for which he had been imprisoned. Squatters Buy Their Land. Shadrick Bond was the first delegate to Congress from the Territory. It took him over a month to make the trip on horseback, and by stage, from Kaskaskia to Washington. Prior to 1813 the settlers had not been able to secure a good title to the land on which they squatted. Nine-tenths of the people of Illinois had settled on land which they had no right whatever to pre-empt. Very few improvements were made, because no one was sure to receive the land or the pay for improvements made. For years the people had begged Congress in vain to give them the right to buy at a fixed price the land on which they had squatted and built their cabins. Such conditions discouraged new settlers and retarded the growth of the Territory. BOUNDARIES AND TERRITORIAL DAYS 139 Bond induced Congress to pass a law granting squatters the preference over all others when their land was sold by the government. They could now hope for a home in their old age, and they became enthusiastic over the future of their prairie settlements. This act entitles Shadrick Bond to the gratitude of his state, as it not only secured justice to the old settlers but brought in a flood of newcomers. Counting Forty Thousand People. After a few years the people of the territory became anxious to make it a state, so they might have a hand in directing the affairs of the nation in Congress. That body decided that Illinois Territory might become a state, provided it had a popula- tion of 40,000. So the people set out to count that many heads. It soon became evident that the census would fall short of this number. So the Marshal stationed his deputies along the roads, and instructed them to count everybody that passed, no matter who they were nor where they were going. Immigrants and movers were thus counted several times after they entered the state. The returns footed up 40,000, and Illinois was admitted as a state, 1818, but it was afterward ascertained that her population was really only 34,620. No other state has been admitted with so small a population. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Which states claimed territory northwest of the Ohio? How were these conflicting claims settled? 2. What plan did Jefferson propose for the division of this territory? 3. How many and what states were created from this terri- tory by the Ordinance of 1787? 4. What provisions did the Ordinance of 1787 contain relative to establishing and maintaining free schools? (See Appendix.) 5. Give the history of the separation from Wisconsin of the fourteen northern counties of Illinois. 140 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS 6. What were the circumstances under which lUinois was admitted to the Union? LESSON HELPS From Cabin to Community^. The cabin was made of logs, notched at the ends so as to fit at the corners, and laid one above another until the house was ten feet high. There was but one room, one door, and one window. The door was made of rough boards swung on leather hinges, and opposite the door was left an open space on the ground for the fireplace, the chimney being built outside of flat sticks like laths, and plastered with mortar. The floor was made of planks hewn out with the ax, and the roof of lighter planks resting on rafters made of saplings. In such a home many a good family lived for ten or twenty years, the ances- tors of many of the leading men of today. The cabin built, the pio- neer would begin battling with the forest, clearing a few acres each year, carrying his grain perhaps twenty miles on horseback to the nearest mill. Soon his land would become more productive; and at length, if thrifty and industrious, he would make a good house and abandon the cabin. Other movers would settle near, then a town would be founded, and another, and another, and eventually a railroad would be built through the new settlement. The com- munity is transformed in twenty-five years; the markets are near, the comforts of hfe have multiplied, the farm of the first settler is now worth thousands of dollars, and he has added other hundreds of acres to it. His children settle on the farm or enter the business of the professional world, and the old settler spends his declining years amid peace and plenty; and he gathers his grandchildren about him and tells them of the days of long ago, of the long journeys in the moving wagon, and of the time when the forests frowned on every side, and the wolves howled about his lonely cabin in the wilderness. — Henry William Elson. RECOMMENDED READINGS Illinois in the 18th Century. Mason. English Settlement in Illinois. Sparks. Making of the Great West. Drake. The Settlement of Illinois. Boggess. The Settlement of Illinois. Pooley. History of Illinois. Carpenter. CHAPTER XI I saw a dot upon the map, And a housefly's filmy wing — They said 'twas Dearborn's picket-flag, When Wilderness was King. — Benjamin F. Taylor. FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO Why a Fort Was Built on the Chicago River. The Louisiana Purchase added a vast tract to the United States, and more forts were needed to protect our western territory. The British upon the upper lakes were court- ing the favor of the countless Indian tribes in that region, and had been gaining in influence with them since the Revolution. To offset this British influence and impress the Indians with the power of the United States, Congress decided to build a fort at the southern end of Lake Michi- gan. Commissioners came from Washington to select a place for it. The mouth of the St. Joseph river afforded by far the best harbor on the southern border of the lake, and, by this river and by portage, there was a good passage to the Illinois and the Mississippi. This was, therefore, chosen as the site for the fort and future city. The Indians, who still retained all this land, however, refused to give it up, so the commissioners were forced to look elsewhere. A site was finally chosen at the mouth of the Chicago river, where there was a harbor and a portage to the Illinois, and where the government had already obtained some land from the Indians. 141 142 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Fort Dearborn Built. Hither came the American sol- diers, marching through the unbroken wilderness from Detroit. Arriving at the Chicago river, they harnessed themselves up with ropes, for there were neither horses nor oxen to be had, and dragged together logs for the blockhouse and palisade. During the summer and fall they completed the soldiers' quarters and the blockhouse, which they called Fort Dearborn. John Kinzie — Fur Trader. John Kinzie soon settled here and began to develop an extensive fur trade. He became known as the 'Tndian's Friend," and throughout the stormy years that followed, his family moved about, not only unharmed by the Indians, but protected by them. Kinzie traveled far and wide, visiting different Indian tribes and establishing profitable trade with them. Fort Dearborn became a fur trading post, the peltries being brought in on horseback. The vessel which came in the fall and spring with supplies for the fort and goods for the trade, carried the furs to Mackinac. Kinzie, in addition to his fur trade, manufactured ornaments and trinkets in which the Indians delighted. Fort Dearborn Too Far From Supplies in War. When the war of 1812 broke out with England, the Indians, led by the famous chief, Tecumseh, joined forces with the king against the Americans. Fort Dearborn was far away from other frontier forts and settlements, and surrounded by treacherous savages, so it would have been difficult to get supplies in case the British took Detroit. Therefore, it was thought best to evacuate the post and march the garrison and the few families sheltered there to Fort Wayne. Captain Heald, who commanded at Fort Dearborn, received the exciting news from General Hull, at Detroit, that war had been declared against England. Along with this news, came the order to distribute all goods \ FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 143 and supplies in his warehouse to the Indians, and to repair to Fort Wayne. This could have been done quickly and safely before the Indians knew of the approaching war, and this was what other officers and Kinzie advised, but Captain Heald insisted on waiting till he could assemble all the tribes, so that he might distribute the goods equally. Meantime the Indians grew insolent and warlike. Kinzie was the only white man for whom they had any regard. They had been promised a share in the supplies but they thirsted for blood. Distributing Supplies to the Indians. The two thmgs the Indians most wanted were whisky and muskets, and there was abundance of both in the fort, as they well knew. Captain Heald thought that these were just the articles that the Indians ought not to have. He distributed broad- cloth, cahco, ribbons and paints, but he said, ^The surplus arms and ammunition I thought proper to destroy, fearmg that they would make bad use of them. I also destroyed all liquor on hand, soon after they began to collect." The Indians, prowling around the fort, found the guns broken and the casks of liquor with heads knocked out and contents emptied into the river. This made them . angry, because they had been promised everything m the fort. The old chiefs now said that they could no longer control the young braves who were bent on war. A Noble Indian Chief. Black Partridge, a chief, who had some years before been given a badge as an emblem of friendship, now came to Captain Heald and gave it back, saying, "Father, I come to deliver up to you the medal I wear. It w^as given to me by the Americans, and I have long worn it in token of our mutual friendship. But our young men are resolved to imbrue their hands in the blood of the whites. I cannot restrain them, and I will not wear a token of peace while I am compelled to act as an enemy." 144 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The Indians Plan to Destroy the Whites. Unknown to the Americans, the Indians had held a council of war and resolved to destroy the garrison. At nine o'clock on the fifteenth of August, 1812, the gates of the fort were thrown open and the troops began their march toward Fort Wayne. Brave John Kinzie left his family with some friendly Indians and set out with the soldiers, hoping to save them if possible. The Indians told him not to gO; but he disregarded their advice. The Fort Dearborn Massacre. Four or five hundred Indians followed the small company of Americans south along the trail by the lake. Soon they attacked and killed all but twenty-five soldiers and eleven women and children. Mrs. Helm, the daughter of Mrs. Kinzie, had a narrow escape. She was attacked by a young Indian, but warding off the blow of his tomahawk, she threw her arms around his neck, trying to get hold of his scalping knife. Just then an old Indian seized her and dragged her to the lake and plunged her into the water, allowing her head only to remain above the waves. She saw he was not trying to drown her, and, upon looking at him closely, she discovered him to be Black Partridge. After the battle she was taken to a place of safety. The next day the fort and agency building were burned, and the captives distributed among the various tribes. The sav- ages decked themselves in the ribbons and finery and held a war dance. Sometime later. Black Partridge heard that Captain Helm was held a prisoner by the Indians on the Kan- kakee. He reported this to Kinzie's brother, and they sent the faithful chief to ransom the prisoner. He found the Indians would not accept the ransom he had brought, so he gave them his pony, his rifle and a large gold ring which he wore in his nose. This was accepted, and he MONUMENT COMMEMOKATIXU THE FOKT DEARBORN MASSACRE, CHICAGO FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 147 brought Captain Helm back, and restored him to his wife. More Indian Fighting. During the war of 1812, the Indians carried on cowardly and merciless raids on the unprotected settlers of Illinois, murdering and plunder- ing, and then disappearing before armed forces could reach them. They would not fight, even with smaller bands of settlers. A year after the war closed, all the tribes of the Northwest made a treaty with the United States, near what is now Alton, Illinois, on the banks of the Mississippi. They remained quiet until the Black Hawk war of 1832. Fort Dearborn Rebuilt. President Madison, in his message to Congress in 1814, called the attention of that body to the importance of a ship canal to connect the waters of Lake Michigan, at Chicago, with the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. This idea had been first suggested by Louis Joliet in 1673. With this canal in view, the War Department ordered Fort Dearborn to be rebuilt. On July 4, 1816, while the bones of the victims of 1812 still lay scattered over the sand drifts, the American soldiers arrived at the mouth of the Chicago river, and began the new fort on the same spot where the first had stood. Sur- veyors also came to examine the divide and report on the cost and difficulty of the canal project. During that sum- mer John Kinzie returned with his family, to find that the Indians had spared his house from the flames. Fort Dearborn Gets Supplies from Kaskaskia. The northern half of the state was still unsettled, except in a few places, though southern Illinois had advanced so far that it was about to ask to be admitted into the Union as a state. Communications were soon opened with Kaskaskia by the way of the Chicago, Des Plaines, and Illinois Rivers. Along this route by rowboats and portage, supplies of flour, meat and other necessities were brought 148 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS from southern Illinois to Fort Dearborn. Fur trade again became the leading industry of the settlement. Glimpses of the Pioneer City. In 1818, there were but two log huts outside of the enclosure of the garrison. The nearest postoffice was Fort Wayne, Indiana, from which place mail was brought once a month. In 1820, Schoolcraft, who was on a visit to Chicago, found it "sb small village of ten or twelve houses, accom- modating sixty people — half-breeds, Canadian-French, fur traders and Virginians." Major Long gives the following description of Chicago in 1823: ^'The village presents no cheering prospects as ... it consists of but a few huts inhabited by a miserable race of men scarcely equal to the Indians, from whom they are descended. Their houses are low, filthy and disgusting, displaying not the least trace of comfort." Mr. Long thought that Chicago would never become a great commercial city, because of the dangers of lake navigation and the scarcity of harbors. The Illinois-Michigan Canal. The state of Illinois, having been given by Congress a wide strip of land along the proposed canal route, began in earnest to plan the Illinois- Michigan canal. Commissioners arrived in Chicago in 1829, platted the city on land donated to the state by Congress, and began to sell lots. The canal project attracted many people here, and the population began to grow, and real estate to rise in value.' In a year the pop- ulation had increased to about one hundred, but still Chi- cago had no postoffice. The mail carrier now came once a week instead of once a month. There grew up a brisk trade with the Indians of this region, but their presence was a hindrance to the growth of the city. Cook County Organized. In 1831, Cook County, named for Daniel P. Cook, was organized, and thereafter FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 149 had its own tax collector. Prior to that the collector was forced to make a long trip of one hundred miles or more on horseback to Chicago, for a few dollars in taxes, which would not pay the expenses of his trip. Chicago as Seen in 1832. The people of Chicago in that early day are described as follows: ''Next in rank to the officers and commissioners, may be noticed certain shop- keepers and merchants resident here. . . . Add to this a doctor or two, two or three lawyers, a land-agent and five or six hotel keepers. These people inhabited some fifty clap- board houses. Land speculators as numerous as the sand : you will find horse-dealers and horse-stealers — rogues of every description, black, white, brown, red — half-breeds, quarter-breeds, and men of no breed at all; dealers in pigs, and poultry, and potatoes . . . sharpers of every degree, peddlers, grog sellers; Indian agents and Indian traders of every description, and contractors to supply the Pottawa- tomies with food. The little village was in an uproar from morning to night, and from night to morning, for, during the hours of darkness, when the housed portion of the population of Chicago strove to obtain repose in the crowded plank edifices of the village, the Indians howled, wept, sang, yelled and whooped in their various encampments. With all this, the whites to me seemed to be more pagan than the red men." The City Grows and Real Estate Rises. In 1833 Chicago began a wonderful growth. The village was organized, and by the end of the j^ear there were one hundred sixty houses. In the same year, four steamers arrived, and lake com- merce began. The harbor was poor, vessels being compelled to anchor outside and push their live stock overboard to wade ashore. But Congress made appropriations to improve it. The first newspaper, the ''Chicago Weekly Democrat," was established, though it frequently sus- pended publication for lack of paper. Land agents were ILLINOIS grl«?5^^te in 1837 with proposed improvements 5 10 20 30 SCALE OF MILES Explanation County Touins Canals Railroads Stage Roads 'Lonaltud" 13" West frol TK^?^'^'' "'waMngton MAP OF PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS, 1837 FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 151 good advertisers. Soon hosts of immigrants began to come, and property along the canal rose amazingly. One transaction may be noted, by the way of illustra- tion. Early in the spring of 1835, a Mr. Hubbard bought eighty acres of land east of the river, paying for it $5,000. A few months after his purchase he had occasion to go east, and upon visiting New York, much to his surprise, he found quite a speculation in Chicago property raging there. Grasping the opportunity for a good bargain, he hired an engraver, had a plat of his eighty acres prepared, and sold half of his land for $80,000. Upon returning to Chicago and spreading the news, city property went up enormously in value. ''Each man who owned a garden patch stood on his head, imagined himself a millionaire, put up the corner lots to fabulous prices, and, what is strange to say, never could ask enough." The price of lots rose from a hundred, to a thousand times what they had been. Speculation ran wild, until the panic of 1837 came. So rapidly did the newcomers swarm into the town, that the taverns could not begin to hold the crowd; men, women, and children thronged the wharves and streets. Store-houses were thrown open for their shelter, and when this device could no longer supply the demand for lodging places, tents were set up in the streets. Lumber could not be brought fast enough to supply the demands. Lake Street was not properly graded and drained, and stagnant water stood there, breeding fevers. Many new- comers, hesitating to risk their health in Chicago, went into the interior of the state. Dirt Begins to Move for the CanaL In the winter of 1835, and 1836, the Legislature finally passed the act authorizing the canal, and there was great rejoicing in Chicago. A mass meeting was held at which it was voted 152 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS to fire twelve guns in honor of each man who voted for the measure, and to request the Chicago newspapers to print their names in large capitals, while the names of those who voted against it were to be printed in small italics. On July 4, 1836, it is said that every man, woman and child in Chicago, whose health would permit, went to Canalport to celebrate the removal of the first shovelful of dirt. Chicago's Trade Grows. The actual digging of the canal was the signal for still larger flocks of settlers, many of whom made Chicago their home, while hundreds pushed on to the prairie farms. They laid in supplies at Chicago for their new homes on the distant plains, and this trade made the merchants wealthy. From a hundred miles and more away, the farmers came to Chicago to market their produce and^ouy merchandise. All this hastened the growth of the town, so that in 1837 Chicago was made a city. There were at that time five hundred buildings, inhabited by four thousand people. Hard Times. Then came the panic, which gave the young city a terrible blow. Immigrants ceased to come. Everybody was anxious to sell his property, but could scarcely give it away. Some, who later became wealthy men, owed it to the fact that they could not sell their property at any price during these dark days. Commerce was dead. For two years gloom and hard times prevailed. Lake Commerce. Chicago now began to be a shipping point. In 1838, seventy bushels of wheat were exported from her harbor, the next year nearly four thousand. By 1845, nearly a million bushels were carted in by farmers for export. They found Chicago a good market for their hogs and cattle, and they came great distances to sell the products of their rich farms. Commerce on the Great Lakes made rapid strides. FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 153 No Paved Streets. North of the Chicago River lay the residence section, connected by bridge and ferries with the business district to the south. Sidewalks were built and trees planted. This helped to make life here more pleasant, though the streets were not yet paved. Prairie grass still grew in them. In rainy seasons they became almost impassable. In order to attend social events, it was often necessary for the men to wear high boots, and for ladies, sometimes, to go on drays, because carriages were yet scarce in this pioneer city. The First Water Works. In 1839, was built the first water works. A reservoir and pumping station were con- structed on the shore of the lake. The water was dis- tributed through a pipe-line made of logs with a six inch bore. Where this line did not reach, water was carried in carts. The First Coal in Chicago. The first shipment of coal to Chicago came in 1841, in the schooner, '^General Har- rison." It consisted of eighty tons of soft coal from Cleve- land. It took the dealer nearly two years to dispose of it. Wood was the only fuel then used in Chicago, and might be had for $2.50 per cord. Coal could not be burned until grates, standing on legs, were cast and set in the fireplaces. After the panic, Chicago recovered her prosperity and grew steadily in population and commerce. Wheat, flour, corn, oats and meat poured in from the rich farming section. By 1850, the beef and lumber trade had grown to be the greatest in America. Frame business blocks began to give place to substantial brick structures. The First Public School Building in Chicago. There was not a school building in the city prior to 1844. Schools there were, to be sure, but they were conducted in rented rooms. A few years later. Alderman Miltimore obtained 154 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS an appropriation to build a public school. The people ridi- culed the idea. They said it was squandering money. When completed, it was called ''Miltimore's Folly." The Mayor, too, scoffed at it because it was too extravagant to build such a useless, costly structure. He declared that it would accommodate more children than there ever would be in Chicago, and that it should be turned into an asylum for the insane. If this mayor had been living in Chicago sixty years later, he might have counted more than a score of great high schools, nearly three hundred elementary schools, and three hundred thousand school children. For some years the Board of Education was not able to construct buildings fast enough to keep pace with the increasing number of school children. Plank Roads. In those early days, Chicago's com- merce dwindled away in the spring of the year, because it was well-nigh impossible at this season for the farmers to make their way over the low, flat prairies, through the muddy roads. To overcome this hindrance, plank roads were built by private companies in every direction from the city, costing from 1,000 to 1,500 dollars per mile. Whoever used these roads had to pay a toll of one and a half cents per mile, to keep the roads in repair. These plank roads paid the owners from fifteen to forty per cent, per year, which proved a fine investment. There were still, 1850, no paved streets in the ''Windy City." In the spring, teams stuck in the mud in almost every block on Lake Street. On boards sticking up in the streets, might be read such signs as, ''No Bottom Here," or, "Shortest Road to China." The plank street-crossings were covered with mud, and seemed only to keep the foot- passengers from sinking out of sight. "The chief business of the city at that time," said a newcomer, "seemed to be receiving emigrants bound for FORT DEARBORN AND EARLY CHICAGO 157 the West, and fitting them out for their journey across the country. As we entered the narrow river which is the harbor, we could see muddy streets, along which were suc- cessions of small frame buildings, with a few brick, no two of them the same height, with board sidewalks on such differing levels that pedestrians in walking a single block were obliged to ascend and descend stairways a dozen or more times." TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. What were some of the reasons why a fort was necessary at Chicago? 2. Describe the conditions of life at Fort Dearborn up to the time of the massacre. 3. What was the appearance of Chicago in 1832? 4. What is the history of the Illinois-Michigan Canal, and in what condition is it at present? 5. How does the growth of the public school system of Chicago compare with the growth of the schools in the state outside the city? LESSON HELPS Chicago in 1831. The fort was inclosed by high pickets, with bastions at the alternate angles. Large gates opened to the north and south, and there were small portions here and there for the accommodation of the inmates. The bank of the river which stretches to the west, now covered by the light-house buildings, and inclosed by docks, was then occupied by the root-houses of the garrison. Beyond the parade-ground which extended south of the pickets, were the company gardens, well filled with currant bushes and young fruit-trees. — Mrs. John H. Kinzie. RECOMMENDED READINGS Early Chicago and Illinois. Mason. Chicago before the Fire. Scribner's Magazine, Vol. 17, Page 663. Chicago in Its Infancy. All the Year, Vol. 75, Page 198. Making of the Great West. Drake. Early Illinois. Matson. CHAPTER XII Their council-fire has long since gone out on the shore, and their war-cry is fast fading to the untrodden west. Slowly and sadly they climb the distant mountains, and read their doom in the setting sun. — Charles Sprague. THE BLACK HAWK WAR The Chief Indian Village. For generations the Sacs and Foxes had roamed the plains of Illinois. Their chief village of Saukenuk was located near the mouth of Rock River. The nation's graves were here, and the affections of the whole tribe were centered about this village. The Indian Treaty. Shortly after the War of 1812, they ceded to the United States fifty million acres of ground, mostly in Illinois, for the annual payment of one thousand dollars. The Indians were to be permitted to hunt on this land as long as it belonged to the government. This treaty, as usual, was all in favor of the United States, and now they wished the Indians to withdraw across the Mississippi. The Squatters Want the Indians* Cornfields. There was, as yet, no need to crowd the red men out, since the settlements had not approached within fifty miles of their village, and the whole of northern Illinois was still unoc- cupied, except by a few scattering farmers near Chicago. But a report of the fertility of the Indian lands had attracted that restless class of squatters who were always reaching out to the distant frontiers. They knew there were millions of acres of vacant land on the prairies just as good as that about the Indian village, but it was not in a condition to plant crops. 158 THE BLACK HAWK WAR 159 The Cause of Trouble. The real cause of the trouble was, that the whites universally detested and feared the red men. This feeling is shown by a law passed in 1814 by the Illinois Legislature, offering a reward of fifty dollars for every Indian captured while on the warpath, or killed in any settlement of the whites, or one hundred dollars for each warrior, squaw or child taken prisoner or killed in their own territory, during hostilities. The presence of the savages in the state could no longer be tolerated, and the cry was, ''the Indian must go." Squatters Ordered Off by Black Hawk. Every year, when the Sacs and Foxes returned from their annual hunt, they found more of their cornfields fenced in by white squatters, who had not the shadow of a right to them. The squaws and children were driven off and sometimes their lodges were burned. When the warriors returned in the spring of 1830, to find the graves of their ancestors turned under by the plow, the patience of Black Hawk was about exhausted, but no outbreak occurred until the fol- lowing spring, when they returned from an unsuccessful hunt to find most of their fields in other hands, and starva- tion staring them in the face. They were in no mood to parley. When told, with a threat, to clear out, they replied that if anyone was to withdraw, it must be the whites, and that they meant to help them go. Governor Reynolds Drives Black Hawk across the Mississippi. The squatters, numbering about forty, now appealed to Governor Reynolds to protect them from the misused Indians. They told the Governor that the Indians had thrown down their fences, driven off their cattle, and threatened their lives. Reynolds replied by ordering the removal of the tribe entirely from the state. The militia was called out and Black Hawk, seeing the uselessness of fighting many times his own number, retreated across 160 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS the Mississippi. He was forced to agree not to return, but, for some reason, he came back the following year. Black Hawk claimed that the chiefs who signed the treaty giving away the lands had no right to do this, that the lands belonged to the tribes, and not to the chiefs. Indian Fighting Continues. Eight thousand volunteers were called out to join fifteen hundred soldiers of the regu- lar army, to expel from the state this starving tribe of four hundred braves and their women and children. The war lasted three months. During this time there was pillage, burning, and bloodshed among the various unprotected settlements. The scattered pioneer families quickly withdrew, with their valuables, to the block- houses and forts. Those about Chicago, to the number of five hundred, crowded into Fort Dearborn, where it was almost impossible to feed and shelter them. It hap- pened that two settlers had gone into stock-raising, and had, already for market, one hundred fifty cattle. They drove them into the enclosure of the fort, and thereby averted a meat famine. General Scott soon came by steamer, with reenforce- ments for the garrison, but he brought along also the dreaded cholera, which had broken out among his soldiers on the steamer. The inhabitants of the fort were soon dying so fast, that there were left hardly enough well ones to take care of the sick and bury the dead. As soon as they knew what the disease was, the settlers fled from the fort, preferring the possible danger of toma- hawk and scalping knife, to the ravages of this fatal pestilence. The Indians were hotly pursued by superior numbers and driven from place to place. Having no chance to obtain food, they were forced to eat bark stripped from the trees, and meat from the carcasses of their dead ponies. THE BLACK HAWK WAR 161 Frequently, along the march, were found the bodies of those who fell from starvation and exhaustion. Battle of Bad Ax. The wretched band was at length run down, surrounded on the banks of the Mississippi, and mercilessly butchered. So furious was the American firing that many warriors threw down their muskets and climbed treea to save their lives, only to be picked off by sharpshooters. When the slaughter ceased, the three hundred women and children who survived, retreated across the Mississippi, helpless from hunger and suffering from wounds. Here they supposed they were safe, but General Atkinson had instructed a band of Sioux Indians to attack them, and about half of the poor survivors were slain. Black Hawk Surrenders. Black Hawk had escaped to the forest before his nation was driven across the Missis- sippi. After the war he gave himself up. He said, "I loved my village, my cornfields and my people. I fought for them. They are now yours. I have looked upon the Mississippi since I was a child. I love the great river. I have always dwelt upon its banks. I look upon it now, and I am sad. I shake hands with you. We are now friends." Black Hawk's Last Days. Black Hawk was taken east to see President Jackson. He said to him, ''You are a man, and I am another." He was put in prison, first at Fortress Monroe, and later, after being taken on a tour through the eastern cities, he was placed in Fort Armstrong. After five years, his freedom was given him, and, at the age of seventy-one, he was placed upon a reser- vation in Iowa, where he soon died. The Red Men Disappear from Illinois. Thus, the last of the red men disappeared from the fertile plains of Illinois. The war cost millions of dollars, and a thousand lives. The whole disgraceful contest might have been 162 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS avoided by wise and just treatment of the Indians, and the payment of a few thousand dollars for land worth millions. It is interesting to know that Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis fought side by side in this war. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. On what theory was the ownership of the land vested in the Indian? 2. Would white citizens who were guilty of the crimes the Indians perpetrated on the occupants of Fort Dearborn be allowed to own property and run at large? 3. Could the white settlers have lived in peace with the Indians if there had been no occasion to quarrel over the ownership of the land? 4. Give your estimate of the character of Black Hawk. 5. Was he a typical Indian? LESSON HELPS Attempts to Surrender. The chief was so touched by the suf- ferings of the women and children; the starving condition of the men, and the utter hopelessness of continuing the unequal strug- gle, that he decided to surrender. Accordingly he sent a hundred and fifty-six warriors to the edge of the stream with a flag of truce. An effort was made to communicate with the Winnebago inter- preter on board the boat. But either the interpreter failed to under- stand what was shouted to him by the Indians on shore, or he was treacherous and failed to report the message correctly to Captain Throckmorton, of the Warrior (name of boat), or Lieut. Kingsburg, who commanded the troops, for certain it is those on the boat paid no attention to the white flag of truce or to the expressed desire on the part of Black Hawk to surrender. — Norman B. Wood. RECOMMENDED READINGS The Story of the Black Hawk War. Thwaites. History of the Black Hawk War. Wakefield. Making of the Great West. Drake. Memories of Shaubena. Matson. ' The Black Hawk War. Stevens. Decisive Dates in lUinois History. Jones. CHAPTER XIII God took care to hide that country till He judged His people ready, Then He chose me for His Whisper, and I've found It, and it's yours! — The Explorer — Rudyard Kipling. A TIDE OF IMMIGRATION Why People Rushed to the West. Perhaps you will wonder why so many people were willing to leave their friends and relatives and their old homes on the Atlantic for the lonely cabin life on the prairies, about which they knew so little. There were many reasons for this tide of emigration to the West. The soldiers who had chased Black Hawk and his tribe of Indians up and down the state, carried back to their homes in the East glowing accounts of the prairies. Land companies were formed to speculate in western lands. They sent thousands of circulars among the people of the Atlantic seaboard, pointing out the golden opportuni- ties in Illinois. The walls of buildings in the eastern cities were covered with maps of western towns that never existed, and whose location was miles in the wilderness, without a house or a human being. The land craze spread over the East. Those who came first were delighted, and wrote back to their friends, painting the prairie life in bright colors. Thus many were taken with the 'Svestern fever." Some restless characters came for the mere sake of adven- ture. They longed for the excitement and dangers of the frontier life. Others bent their way westward because they 163 164 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS believed that a new country offered a better chance to get on in the world, and to make a fortune. Cheap Lands in the West. Farm lands in the East had risen in price beyond the reach of the poor, while the fine prairies of Illinois could be had for two dollars an acre. This was later, 1841, reduced to a dollar and a quarter an acre. Products could be raised in the fertile West, shipped to eastern market, and sold cheaper than the eastern farmer could raise them on his rocky hillside farm. This led the New England farmer to sell out and make his way toward the setting sun. There were crop failures in New England from 1824 to 1837 that drove many to seek new homes. Yankee farmers of wealth went into sheep-raising, which, on account of the tariff on wool, was very profitable. They could use large tracts of compara- tively poor land for sheep pastures, and so they bought out the small farmers, thus giving the sellers a chance to move toward the sunset frontier. Western Trade Floated to New Orleans. The trade of the entire Ohio and Mississippi valleys was floated down to New Orleans, and her wharves were lined with hundreds of flatboats unloading wheat, flour, pork and live stock, gathered up on the central prairies. Fifteen hundred flat-bottomed boats and five hundred barges floated clown the Mississippi to New Orleans in one year (1817). New Orleans was enjoying a rich harvest, and her population was growing. Water is always the cheapest way to carry goods. The Cumberland Road brought Baltimore and other east- ern cities into easier communication with Wheeling and Pittsburg, but it still cost too much to haul goods over this long route. The freight on a single ton of goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, by wagon, was one hundred twenty-five dollars. For hauling a hundred pounds of A TIDE OF IMMIGRATION 167 sugar three hundred miles by wagon, the charge was five dollars. In fact, the freight was often greater than the first cost of the merchandise. Western cities could still get goods much cheaper by way of New Orleans. Why Canals Were Built to Reach the Ohio and the Lakes. Now the eastern cities were not willing to see New Orleans enjoy all this rich trade, but how could they prevent it, unless they, too, could get a short water route to these western regions? At last they hit upon the idea of building canals to the Ohio along the waterways that penetrated the backbone of the Alleghanies. There was also another reason for this canal craze that swept over the Atlantic states. People w^ere flock- ing westward in such numbers that the East was being drained of its population, especially of the laboring classes. In order to stop this loss, the legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina decided to build good roads and canals, and to improve their rivers so that farmers could get to market more easily. This, they thought, would satisfy the farmers, and cure their longing for the west. Effect of the Canals. New York tried to get Congress to build a canal from Albany to Buffalo, and when the national government refused, the state undertook it alone. When the Erie Canal, as it w^as called, was completed, 1825, the trade of New York City with the Great Lake region, and even with Pittsburg, grew rapidly. Philadelphia business men could not long remain idle and see their rivals at New York City growing rich upon trade that should come to them, and so Pennsylvania was soon building a system of canals to connect different parts of the state with Pittsburg. All these roads and canals, instead of checking the westward movement, helped it along. In early days, the emigrants directed their steps toward the Ohio, because 168 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS once reached, it would carry them westward without effort. The Portage Railroad. But one emigrant, bound for lUinois by way of the Ohio, built his boat on the east side of the Alleghany mountains. He did not expect, when he started, to ride in it clear over the top of this mountain range. But, let us follow his westward journey: ''Jesse Cheesman loaded his boat, which he called the 'Hit or Miss,' on the Lackawanna river in north- eastern Pennsylvania. He had on board, besides his wife and children, beds, furniture, tools, pigeons, and live stock. He sailed down stream till he came to the Penn- sylvania canal at Harrisburg. Here his craft was taken into the canal, which he followed westward to its end at Hollidaysburg, on the east side of the Alleghany range, where he expected to sell his boat. ''But he found at this point a curious portage rail- road, thirty-six miles long, leading over the mountains to Johnstown, on the other branch of the canal. The rail- road agent told Cheesman not to sell his boat, because he would have to buy or build another on the west side. He said he could take Cheesman's family over the moun- tains, boat and all, if he would put the vessel on wheels. This was done, and the vessel and cargo started over the 'Alleghanies on the railroad. Horses and mules served as engines on some of the level stretches of track of this portage railroad, and stationary engines pulled them up the steep inclines, by winding up a long cable, one end of which was tied to the car. There were six inclines on each side of the mountain range, where stationary engines were necessary on account of the steep grades. ''Cheesman's boat, starting at noon, rested at night on the top of the mountains, like Noah's ark on Ararat. This was done, too, without disturbing the family arrange- A TIDE OF IMMIGRATION 169 ment of cooking, eating and sleeping. The next morning the boat was let down in the same manner into the Ohio valley, launched in the canal at Johnstown, and sailed for Illinois. To cross this portage of thirty-six miles, Chees- man's boat was hitched to twelve stationary engines, twelve different mule teams, and nine locomotives. It took fifty- four trainmen and drivers to conduct him across, twelve engi- neers and twelve fireman for the stationary engines, nine of each for the locomotives, and twelve drivers of mules. '^ Steamboats on Western Rivers. The first steamboat on the Ohio was built in 1811. It was six years before the first one landed at St. Louis. These early boats were not well suited for river use, because they were copied after deep sea vessels, and drew too much water. So, during the summer when the river was low, they were useless. Most of them used stern wheels, because Fulton had a patent on the side wheels, and made owners pay to use them. Earl}^ steamboats were poorly built and met with many accidents. Boilers blew up, and often they were stranded on sand bars or tree trunks hidden under the water. They went very slowly up streamx, two or three miles an hour. A writer of that day gives the following description of a boat's human cargo: 'Tn the cabin you will find ladies and gentlemen of various claims to merit, on the forward part of the boat, the sailors and firemen, full of noise and song, and too often, of whiske}^; whilst above in the deck cabin there is everything which may be called human — all sorts of men and women, of all trades, from all parts of the world, of all possible manners and habits. There is the half-horse and half-alligator Kentucky boat- man, swaggering and boasting of his prowess, his rifle, his horse, and his wife. One is sawing away on his wretched old fiddle all day long, another is grinding a knife or a 170 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS razor; here is a party playing cards; and in yonder corner is a dance to the sound of a Jew's harp." The Overland Trip. It was no small task to provide roomy flatboats, or arks, for the live stock that many emi- grants wished to take with them to their new homes, so large numbers made the entire journey overland. For the overland trip to Illinois the ox-cart was much used. A yoke of oxen could draw an enormous load. They went at a snail's pace — one and a half miles an hour. In the autumn, when the crops were harvested and the oxen were fat, and the roads dry and hard, farmers from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana could be seen, some- times singly, sometimes in caravans, making their way to the great West to try their fortune. Newspapers of that day often made mention of large parties passing. ^'On the 27th ult. quite a caravan of the hardy sons of Pennsylvania passed through this city on their way to Stephenson County, Illi- nois. There were fourteen wagons and sixty-one persons." One man, traveling through Indiana, towards Vin- cennes, counted four hundred emigrant's wagons in fifty- five miles. Some even traveled afoot. ' 'Sometimes the light wagons containing the possessions of the movers were drawn by the people themselves, the head of the family between the shafts of the wagon, harnessed with a collar and traces, while the rest of the famity, according to their strength, pulled with ropes attached to various parts of the vehicle. Below the axle dangled pots and ket- tles of all sizes and forms. To a Yankee mover, a plow, a bed, a barrel of salty meat, a supply of tea and molasses, a Bible, and a wife, were the indispensable articles." Children Driving the Stock. In front usually rode on horseback, the eldest sons or daughters driving cows, sheep, and hogs. ''To start off with a mixed drove of animals was no trifling affair, for, though they would A TIDE OF IMMIGRATION 171 drive pretty well after getting used to the road, their obstinacy and contrariety at first were surprising, and a boy to each animal was little enough. First a pig would dart back and run like a deer till he was headed and turned, by which time the others would meet him and all have to be driven up; while, in the meantime, a cow or two would be sailing down a by-lane with elevated head and tail, and a breathless boy circling through a field or the woods to intercept her career; and then the sheep would start over a broken piece of fence, the last following the first, and leaping higher over every obstacle, till they were brought back to the road." Sometimes the horses would get loose during the night, and, having a feeling of homesickness, they would make off toward the old home, leaving the family in great despair. In very hot weather the caravans traveled at night, and rested by day in some cool shade, near water and wood. When they camped, the fire was started, the cook- ing utensils brought out, and while the meal was cooking, the men unharnessed the tired horses, and put them out to graze on the open prairie, while the children skipped about, exploring the new surroundings. Beds were made up in the wagon, and sometimes, in good weather, upon the ground. In the morning there was a stir and bustle to get started. The stock was rounded up and driven on ahead. After breakfast, camp was broken and all were again moving westward. Fifteen miles was a good day's journey. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. What is meant by the present-day phrase, "back to the land"? 2. Do the so-called "land-boomers" do more harm than good by their glowing descriptions of the beauties and profits of western lands? 172 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS . 3. Did the canals play as important a part in the settlement of the West as the ox-cart? 4. Trace the journey of Cheesman's boat on the map, and note what great railway line closely follows that route today. LESSON HELPS "Booming." The first use of hoom to indicate a rapid develop- ment occurred in the "St. Louis Globe-Democrat," July 18, 1878, in the sentence, "The Grant Movement is booming." The author, J. B. McCullogh, says in a letter to the editors of the Century Dic- tionary, "I can not explain how I came to use it, except that while on the gunboats on the Mississippi River during the war, I used to hear the pilots say of the river, when rising rapidly and overflowing its banks, that it was 'booming.' The idea I wished to convey was that the Grant Movement was rising, sweUing, etc." The Expansion of the American People. In one year 97,736 passengers left Buffalo for the West. During another year ninety vessels reached Detroit, one "carrying seven hundred people. The first stanza of a song circulated in the eastern states to induce migration runs: Come, all ye Yankee farmers who wish to change your lot, Who've spunk enough to travel beyond your native spot, And leave behind the village where pa and ma do stay, Come, follow me and settle in Michigania. In a St. Louis paper an advertisement of the burlesque town of "Ne Plus Ultra" appeared. The streets were to be one mile in width, and the squares were sections of six hundred and forty acres each. In the heart of the city a road from Pekin to Jerusalem crossed another from the south pole to Symmes' hole at the north pole. — Edwin Erle Sparks. RECOMMENDED READINGS History of Immigration. Lend a Hand, Vol. II, Page 276. Early Illinois. Mason. History of Illinois. Carpenter. History of Illinois. Moses. History of Illinois. Ford. CHAPTER XIV The representative Yankee, selling his farm, wanders away to seek new lands, to clear new cornfields, to build another shingle pal- ace, and again to sell off and wander. — Anonymous. YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS Black Hawk War Checks Western Immigration. When Black Hawk and his nation took the war-path, in 1832, all the outlying settlements became greatly alarmed. Not knowing at what hour of night they might be awakened by the warwhoop, they made haste to seek safety. Some took their belongings and returned to their old homes in the South. Others withdrew southward to the nearest settlements or block houses. Stories of Indian barbarity were told in the Atlantic states, and the enthusiasm for prairie homes soon cooled. A New Route to the West. After the Black Hawk war was over and the prairies cleared of red men, immi- gration set in stronger than ever, but coming now mainly from New Y'ork and New England. The opening of the Erie Canal, 1825, made the trip from the Hudson River to Buffalo an easy one, while steam vessels on the Great Lakes enabled the emigrants from Buffalo to reach Chicago quickly and easily. This northern route to Illinois now became very popular with the Yankee farmers, who came in such swarms as to quickly seize hold of the northern and central parts of our state. Steamers on the Great Lakes. The first steamer that ever floated on Lake Erie, called Walk-in-the- Water, 173 NEW ENGLAND SETTLEMENT in the old NORTHWEST TERRITORY 1850 [ I New England Settlements I I All other Settlements Lon;/itude West 80° ft Greenwich 82 THE YANKEES IN ILLINOIS YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 177 reached Detroit in 1818, and the next year proceeded to Mackinac, where the savages were made to beUeve that the strange looking vessel, with neither oars nor sails, was drawn by a huge team of trained sturgeon. It was several years, however, before the first steamer reached Chicago. The first one arrived in 1832, bearing provisions for the army that was fighting Black Hawk. The number of steamboats on the lakes increased wonderfully in the next few years. Where Immigrants Left the Lakes. In 1834, eighty thousand emigrants departed from Buffalo westward. Some of these left the lake at Erie, Pennsylvania, and fol- lowed the Indian trail to the headwaters of the Ohio. Others, among whom was Stephen A. Douglas, stopped off at Cleveland, and directed their course toward the Ohio. Still others left the lake at Toledo, ascended the Maumee river, as General Hamilton had done years before, and came dowm the Wabash to Vincennes. A con- siderable number took their course through the forests from Detroit, either to the Kankakee, which they followed to the Illinois river, or around the southern end of Lake Michigan to Chicago. Steamboats to Chicago Increase. But after the steam- boats began regular trips to Chicago, most of the Yankee farmers bound for Illinois came to this city. There were four arrivals of boats at Chicago the first season, the next year nearly two hundred, and in 1836 the number had grown to four hundred fifty. A Chicago paper in 1835 said: '^Almost all the vessels from the lower lakes are full of passengers, and our streets are thronged with wagons loaded with household furniture and the implements necessary to farming. Foot passengers, too, with well filled sacks on their shoulders, come in large numbers." 178 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Final Journey by Stage. Stage lines ran from Chicago, carrying these newcomers in all directions. The chief one followed the state road to Danville. Another carried passengers to the Kankakee, where they took boat for central Illinois or St. Louis. In 1839, the Frink and Bingham stage line from Chicago to Galena advertised the journey of one hundred sixty miles by stage, in two days, — the passenger's fare being twelve and one-half dollars. Many immigrants purchased their teams and wagons in Chicago, laid in a supply of implements and provisions, and started off to find a home. The roads were miry in places, and the teams often stuck in the mud. Then followed a long wait for some mover to approach. By double-teaming they pulled each other across. Yankees Meet Southerners in Central Illinois. These immigrants from New England were farmers who knew very little about pioneer life. They differed very much from the woodland-pioneers, who, with their slaves, had settled the entire wooded region of southern lUinois. This northern or prairie pioneer, brought with him, instead of a rifle and hunting knife, his oxen and farming tools. With him came the merchant, the schoolmaster and the preacher. The Yankees quickly took possession of all the wood- lands of northern Illinois. Knowing little of how to farm the open prairies, they refused to abandon the timbered regions until they were all taken. Then some moved out on the higher prairies, and fortune smiled on them. These prairie pioneers came in such numbers that they soon overflowed southward, meeting, in the central part of the state, the woodland pioneers from the South, who had seized upon the timbered river valleys. The Yankee farmers elbowed their way between the wooded regions, seizing upon the open prairies. YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 179 Problems of the Prairie Pioneers. Under these new conditions there were some hard problems for the prairie pioneers to solve. First, he must build a house for his family. If his prairie home was within a few miles of tim- ber, he might, if he had the money, buy logs for a cabin. But, if he had settled twenty or thirty miles from wood- lands, he had to be satisfied with a clay or sod house. The latter was built of sods about tv/o feet long, eighteen inches wide, and four inches thick, cut fresh from the prairies. These were laid upon each other after the manner of brick- laying, and held firm by wooden pegs driven through two or more layers. To roof it, shingles had to be drawn with ox teams from Chicago, fifty or one hundred miles away. By the time the farmer got his lumber to his cabin it had cost him such unheard-of prices that few could afford it. Usually the pioneer had to be contented at first with a roof of thatch or straw. After a time some one introduced a sawmill. This venture proved so profitable that soon scores of mills were set up in the timber belt. The trees were sliced up so fast that the mud cabins rapidly disappeared, and comfortable frame houses took their places. Plowing the Prairie Sod. The next problem of the prairie farmer was to get his fields ready for planting a crop. He did not have to clear his ground of trees, to be sure, but it was a difficult job to plow the tough sod of the prairie. It was as tough as leather, and neither a single team of horses nor oxen could turn it over with a plowshare. What could the farmer do? At last ox teams to the number of three, four, five, and even six yoke were used, hitched to a pair of cart wheels, and these to a plow with a beam four- teen feet long, and a share which weighed anywhere from sixty to one hundred twenty-five pounds. This cut a furrow from sixteen to thirty inches wide, 180 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS and a few inches deep. Shallow plowing proved the best, as it killed the prairie grass by exposing the roots to the hot sun. The expense of hiring this first plowing done was greater than the cost of the land itself. The first season brought a fair crop, and in a few years the black prairie soil was yielding immense returns. The Pioneer Builds Fences. But the farmer had to protect his crop from stock, and so needed fences. Along the wooded valleys this was a simple problem, for rails could be split out of trees and a fence made of them. Farther from timber, this could not be done. These Yankee farmers knew how to build a fence out of stones, as they had done in the East, but there were no stones on the prairie. Sod fences were tried, but cows and pigs climbed over them into the cornfields, unless they were strengthened by a rail or board along the top. Hedges were planted, but they would not turn Mr. Hog, besides, weeds and grass grew in them, and that helped to spread dangerous prairie fires. Board, or picket fences were too expensive. Some farmers followed the plan of fencing in enough for the cattle, hogs, and sheep, and farming the prairie without a fence. Newcomers frequently raised crops of corn without protection. During the day, the boys kept stray cattle off, and at night the crop took its chances. This difficulty of finding the proper fence was not met until wire was used for this purpose. It was impossible to protect crops against gophers and prairie chickens, which often dug up two or three plantings of corn. Gopher hunts, to kill off these pests, became popular. The prairie wolves were more dangerous. They would steal pigs and lambs, and rob hencoops. On holidays hunts were organized to run them down. Finding a Market. The black prairie soil on ten thou- sand farms was producing immense crops. The farmer's YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 181 oorn cribs were bulging out. His wheat and oat bins were full to overflowing, and his cattle and horses were sleek and fat, but he was not contented. To be sure, he was raising many times more grain and stock than his family could use, but where could he sell his surplus? There were few cities in Illinois where much farm produce was wanted. So the farmer fed corn to cattle and hogs, because they could walk to market. Such vast quantities were raised that it had to be shipped to the Atlantic cities to find a market. Those who happened to live near large rivers, such as the Wabash, Illinois, Ohio, and Mississippi, could ship by water on the Mississippi and the Atlantic to the eastern cities. But this was a long, long voyage, and the sea trip dangerous. The farmer found it better to sell his produce to a steamer at the landing than to have no market at all. ''The Ohio was now, 1825, dotted with floating shops. At the sound of a horn, the inhabitants of a village, or the settler and his family, would come to the river to find a dry-goods boat fitted with counters, seats and shelves piled high with finery of every sort, making fast to the bank. Now it would be a tinner's establishment, within which articles of every description were made, sold and mended; now a smithy, where horses and oxen were shod and wagons repaired; again, a factory for the manufacture of axes, scythes and edged tools." The farmer could here exchange grain or stock for clothing, cooking utensils, furniture, and farm tools. National Road a Friend to the Farmer. By 1840, the Cumberland National road had been extended, at a cost of $7,000,000, through Columbus, Indianapolis and Van- daha, to St. Louis. It played an important part in the life of the West, enabling people to travel overland easily between the Atlantic seaboard and the Mississippi. Trafl^c 182 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS on this road was very heavy in both directions. Drovers gathered up sheep, cattle and hogs from the prairie farms and drove them to the eastern markets along this pike. Emigrants from Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania flocked to Illinois over this route. But it was out of the question for farmers to haul their wheat and oats a thousand miles to Baltimore, even over this good road, to find a purchaser; besides, this pike was convenient for those only who lived along it Farmers who had settled near Lake Michigan found a ready market at Chicago,where their stock was slaughtered and their grain shipped east by way of the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal. The Long Haul of the Inland Settler. The inland counties were dotted with farms and granaries bursting with golden grain, but there were no buyers short of Chicago, a hundred miles away. Here the inland farmer must go to sell his grain, and buy the things he had to have. Once or twice a year he set out on this long trip. Sometimes farmers clubbed together, loaded two or three wagons, hitched two or three yoke of oxen to each, and away across the prairie they toiled. The trip took two weeks or more. Their wheat was not put into bags, but was shoveled loose into the wagon box which was lined with a sheet. It was not uncommon to see a hundred such wagons a day on the state road between Chicago and Galena. The roads were poor and muddy much of the year, and few streams were bridged. So, there arose among the farmers a demand for good roads, canals and railroads, which even yet has not been fully answered. Great Improvements Needed. Our state is so vast and was settled so quickly that it was impossible to do many things that needed to be done. The heaviest taxes that could have been laid would not have brought in YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 183 enough money to cut out half the roads, or build half the bridges required, or clear half the streams so boats could run on them. The people, however, insisted on these improvements. The craze for canals, railroads and river improvements was so overwhelming that the State Leg- islature undertook to carry out the people's wishes. Congress Gives Illinois a Vast Land Grant. The Illinois- Michigan Canal was already under way. Through the efforts of Daniel P. Cook, our representative in Congress, the government had granted to Illinois two hundred twenty-five thousand acres of public land along the route of the canal. This land was to be sold by the state, and the proceeds used to build the waterway. But farm lands in those days, could be had for two dollars an acre, therefore the sale of this land could bring but a small part of what the canal would cost. So, the state was compelled to borrow millions for this project. When completed, this canal would accommodate only the people who happened to live along its path between La Salle and Chicago. Now, Illinois is a big state, and the people in every section of it demanded their share of these improvements so they could get to market. The men whom they elected to the Legislature foolishly tried to do it all at once. Railroads were surveyed in all direc- tions, and the great task begun. Illinois Borrows Heavily. A state can borrow money by selling its bonds. Whoever sells bonds agrees to pay interest on them, and to buy them back at a certain time, at their face value. So the state government, being unable to raise enough money from taxes at that time to pay even the ordinary expenses, began to sell its bonds by the millions, to build the railroads and canals. Bonds Sold in Europe. Men were sent to New York and other eastern cities with loads of state bonds to market. 184 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS They kept putting the price down, so that people would buy them. When this failed to bring in enough money, salesmen were sent to Europe to dispose of more bonds, and they had to sell them very cheap to get rid of them — a hundred-dollar bond, for as little as thirty dollars. Huge Debt Piled up. The state was soon saddled with such a huge debt that people at last refused to buy her bonds at an3^ price, fearing that she could never redeem them. Before the people came to their senses, they had piled up a debt of nearly fourteen million dollars, and it began to look as though the state could not even pay the interest on this huge sum. Then the bubble burst; the money ran out; and no more could be borrowed, so all work on improvements had to cease. The state was nearly ruined; a hundred- dollar state bond was worth but fourteen dollars; and people began to talk of repudiating the whole debt, that is, simply refusing ever to pay it. This would have been a great disgrace to our state, and we are glad to know that it did not happen, for Illinois paid every dollar of this stupendous obligation. Illinois Fails in Business. After the crash came, and the state was bankrupt, it was found that only twenty- five miles of railroad were finished — that between Mere- dosia and Jacksonville. An engine was put on this track, but it could not pay expenses. It was, therefore, taken off, and mule teams were used to pull the cars for a few years, when the road was sold to a private company. Though the state had spent and wasted a million in building this short road, it was given away for barely twenty thousand dollars. The Canal Saved. What should the people do now? The rich prairie farms were almost worthless unless the produce raised on them could be got to a market. The people declared that the canal, at least, should not be STATU i: OF I'lFKKI-: MHXAHD, 8PRIXGFIELD YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 187 given up. Chicago had donated thousands of dollars towards its building, but this, too, had been spent. So, for a certain time, the canal was to be turned over to those who had bought our bonds, provided they would furnish the $160,000 necessary to finish it. At last this was done, and the Illinois-Michigan canal was completed in 1848. Canal Pays — Results. It was one hundred miles long, sixty feet wide at the surface, and six feet deep. It had cost in all six and one half million dollars, but it earned enough in thirty years, together with the money obtained from land sales, to pay it all back. General Thornton was the first to pass through the canal, and the event was cele- brated along the way by the booming of cannon, speeches and enthusiastic meetings. This water road brought more business to Chicago, gave the farmers and mer- chants along its route cheap conveyance for their prod- uce and goods, and caused a boom in real estate all along the line. Upon the arrival in Ottawa of the first barge load of lumber from Chicago, the price dropped from sixty dollars a thousand feet to thirty, and it went still lower. The Chicago to Cairo Railroad. As early as 1835, Judge Sidney Breese suggested that it would be a fine thing to build a railroad across the state from Chicago to Cairo. During the craze for improvements, the state actually built a few miles of this line, as we have seen, but gave it up. Since Congress had donated so many thousand acres of land to Illinois to help her build her canal, Breese and Douglas, at that time our senators, urged that body to give another splendid grant to assist in building this railroad. Another Generous Gift. Year after year, their bill was defeated in one house or the other, but they kept bring- ing it before Congress. Finally, in 1850, Illinois received the I magnificent donation of two and one-half million I88 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS acres along the route of the proposed railroad, to be used as the state saw fit in helping to build the road. The IlHnois CentraL Since the state itself had made such a failure in building-improvements a few years before, it was thought best to turn this fine land grant over to some private company which might thus be induced to do the work. This was done, and the Illinois Central received three thousand seven hundred acres of land for every mile of railroad it was to build. The main line from Cairo to La Salle, three hundred and one miles, was completed in 1855. It was extended to Chicago the next year. Another line ran from La Salle, via Galena, to Dunleith. What the Illinois Central Pays the State. In return for the land, the railroad was to pay the state each year seven per cent, of its gross earnings. It is claimed that Illinois has received from the railroad, during the last fifty years, enough to build all our fine state institutions, including the magnificent state capitol at Springfield. The Illinois Central proved a great blessing to the people near it and to Chicago, which soon sprang to the front as the largest city west of the Alleghanies. The prairie farms quickly doubled in value. The state has now become a net-work of railroads reaching out to the farms and towns in every corner of its domain. Today one can scarcely find a spot in all Illinois where he can not see the smoke or hear the whistle of a locomotive. Illinois Farmers Need Pikes. The flat surface of most of our state, with the slow drainage, makes our wagon roads fearfully muddy and almost impassable in the wet season. For years the prairie farmer has longed for good hard wagon roads. But now, with the coming of the automobile, the cities, too, are urging the need of limestone pikes. This is a task to be accomplished, perhaps, by the boys and girls who read this book. YANKEES IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS 189 TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. What effect did the early Indian wars have on immigration to UHnois? 2. Trace three routes by which settlers from the East came to this state. 3. Which in your opinion has been of greater value to the farmer, the wire fence or the mowing machine? 4. Write a short history of the construction of the National Road. 5. Tell the story of the Ilhnois-Michigan Canal. LESSON HELPS The National Road. With the tinkling of bells, the rumbling of the wheels, the noise of the animals and the chatter of the people as they went forward, the little boy v/ho had gone to the road from his lonesome home in the woods was captivated and carried away into the great active world. But the greatest wonder and dehght of all was the stage coach, radiant in new paint, and drawn by its four matched horses in their showy harness, and filled inside and on top with well dressed people. I think yet that there has never been a more graceful or handsome turnout than one of these fine old stage coaches drawn by a team of matched horses and driven by such drivers as used to handle the ribbons between Richmond and Indianapolis. We could hear the driver playing his bugle as he approached the Httle town, and it all seemed too grand and fine to be other than a dream. — B. S. Parker, in the Ohio Valley Journal. The Road Today. Gradually, after the coming of the railroads, the glory of the National Road declined, until at last it was just u common highway, lacking its stage coaches, its carriers, its train of immigrant wagons. Once the "broad highway" of the country, over which passed rich and poor, the resplendent stage coach, and the poor immigrant's two-wheeled cart, it is now but an ordinary road over which the farmer jogs to market, disturbed now and then by the passing of an automobile, or an electric trolley on the track that follows along by the road. The glory and glamour of its past are gone, but we should cherish the memory of these golden days as one of the most interesting chapters in the annals of our early history. — Robert Judson Aley. CHAPTER XV Shall the United States — the free United States, which could not bear the bonds of a king — cradle the bondage which a king is abolish- ing? Shall a Republic be less free than a Monarchy? Shall we, in the vigor and buoyancy of our manhood, be less energetic in righteousness than a kingdom in its age? — Dr. Pollen's Address. THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES The First Slaves in Illinois. Slaves were first brought into the Illinois country at an early date. The French were hardly well settled in the American Bottom, when one Philip Renault was employed by a French company to come to Upper Louisiana, as the Illinois country was then called, and develop mines. He gathered two hun- dred miners and laborers, and set sail from France in 1719. On his way across the Atlantic, Renault stopped at San Domingo and purchased five hundred black slaves. With these he pushed on to the mouth of the Mississippi and sailed slowly up this broad river, until he finally landed and established headquarters at a place which he named St. Philip, not far from Kaskaskia. Renault immediately sent out parties in all directions to locate the gold and silver, which he hoped would soon make him and his company immensely rich. He found plenty of Indians, buffaloes and wild game, but no gold. After about twenty years spent in fruitless searching, he gave up in discouragement, sold his slaves to the French colonists, and returned to France. Slaves Do Not Increase. The number of slaves in the Illinois country did not increase very rapidly, though a 190 THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 191 few more were brought up from New Orleans. Thirty years after Renault came, a French missionary to the Illinois Indians wrote, ''In the five French villages there are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites, three hundred blacks, and some sixty red slaves or savages." Thus we learn that Indians as well as negroes were held in slavery here. A few years later, 1763, when France gave the Illinois country to England, there were nine hundred slaves counted. But many of the French colonists, not wishing to live under English rule, moved to St. Louis or New Orleans, taking their slaves with them. This reduced the number. Uncle Sam Receives Illinois With Her Slaves. While England ruled over this country northwest of the Ohio, she did not interfere with slavery, and so, at the close of the Revolution, the country of Illinois came into the hands of the United States with slavery firmly established. When Virginia gave up to Uncle Sam her claims to the Illinois country, 1784, she did so upon the condition that the French inhabitants of Kaskaskia and neighbor- ing villages be allowed to retain their property and their rights. The French understood from this that they might continue to hold their slaves unmolested, for, "surely," they said, "our slaves are our property." The Ordinance of 1787 Forbids Slavery. Soon, how- ever, Congress passed the ordinance of 1787, which, among other things, prohibited slavery in the Northwest Terri- tory, The slave owners were much disturbed, and many planned to move across the Mississippi into Spanish territory, but Governor St. Clair said he understood the Ordinance to mean that no more slaves were to be brought into the territory, though the people might keep those they already had. The governors who succeeded St. Clair believed the same way, and soon everybody came to accept 192 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS this view. In this manner slavery continued in Illinois under a law that forbade it. Desire for More Slaves. But there were not slaves enough in the territory to go around. Many new settlers were coming into Illinois from southern states where they had always had slaves. These newcomers thought they had as much right to have slaves as the older French settlers, and they besought Congress to change the Ordi- nance, so as to allow other slaves to be brought in. They sent petition after petition to Congress, but no attention was paid to them. After the purchase of Louisiana, while Illinois was yet a part of the Indiana Territory, the slave holders begged to have Illinois set off from Indiana and joined to Louisiana, so as to make it slave soil. When Congress refused to do this, the slave holders hatched a scheme to evade the law, for they were determined, by hook or crook, to have negro servants to do their work. Plan to Evade the Law. They remembered how in early Virginia days, white immigrants had been bound out for a term of years to pay for their fares across the Atlantic. They were called indentured servants. Southern immigrants to Illinois hit upon this plan to secure slaves in the territory. Negroeswere brought in freely and bound out to service, until everybody who could afford them had these black servants. In order that this kind of slavery might appear lawful, the people had their Territorial Assembly pass a number of laws, fixing the term of service, and the rights and duties of masters. These laws, passed in 1805 and 1807, came to be called the ''Black Laws." "The Black Laws." Under these laws "all male negroes, under fifteen years of age, must serve till thirty-five years of age; women till thirty-two. Children born to persons of color during the period of service could be bound out, the boys for thirty years, and the girls for twentj^-eight." FREE AND SLAVE COUNTIES IN 1824 (Shaded Parts Indicate Slave Counties) 194 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The names of these servants had to be registered with the County Clerk where they Uved. Ninian Edwards, the first Governor of lUinois, entered his servants as follows : ''Rose, twenty-three years of age, — for thirty-five years: Anthony, forty years old, — for fifteen years: Maria, fifteen years of age, — for forty-five years: Jesse, twenty-five years of age, — for thirty-five years of service." Many masters paid no attention whatever to the law, and registered servants for as long as they wished. In Madison County records is the following: ^'1817, November 6, — Peter, aged seventeen, — bound to serve ninety-nine years." No one took the trouble to prosecute these law breakers, because so many were guilty. Besides, those were free and easy days, settlements were scattered, and laws hard to enforce. Thus we see that slavery went on in southern Illinois about the same as in a southern slave state. Illinois a Slave or Free State. During the early days not much had been said as to whether it was right or wrong to enslave negroes, ''to eat one's bread in the sweat of another's brow," as Lincoln said. But now that the people wished to make a state of their territory, they began taking sides on the slavery question. Some wished to make Illinois an open slave state. Others were convinced that slavery was a moral evil, and that it would hinder the growth and settlement of their state. A third party wished to continue the ''indenture system," because they feared that Congress would not admit Illinois with a slave con- stitution, and it would be better to compromise than to lose all. Besides, they felt that indentured servants were almost as satisfactory as slaves. There was indeed little difference. This last party finally won in the Constitutional Convention at Kaskaskia, in 1818, and Congress accepted ■'m.>' -v «'^W THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 197 the Illinois constitution with the "indenture system," and made the territory a state. The New Constitution and the Slave. The new state constitution made no change in the term of servants already indentured. All these unfortunate blacks must serve their terms, however long. But children of indentured servants were to become free, boys at twenty-one, girls at eighteen. No new indenture contracts could be made for more than one year, and even then the servant's consent must be obtained. To have the legal terms reduced from thirty-five years to one year seemed a long step toward freedom for the poor slaves, but it did not work out that way, for masters usually forced their ignorant negroes to renew their contracts year after year. And so little relief came to negro servants by the change from territorial to state government. However, the number of blacks brought in from the South grad- ually decreased. Demand for a Slave Constitution in Illinois. When the question of admitting Missouri as a slave or free state came up in Congress, Daniel P. Cook, the able representa- tive from Illinois, made bold attacks on slavery, and many Illinois people at home took a lively interest in the Missouri contest, throwing their influence against slaver}^ This, of course, angered the Missouri slave holders, who resolved to retaliate by stirring up trouble in Illinois, and thus to give the anti-slavery people of Illinois enough to do at home. So they persuaded the pro-slavery ele- ment in Illinois to demand a change in their constitution so as to make slavery legal. Now, the only way to change the Illinois Constitution was for the Legislature to pass a resolution favoring a convention and then submit this resolution to the people. If a majority of them favored it, a convention would be called to consider the proposed changes. 198 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Slave Holders Confident. The pro-slavery people felt certain that they could control the convention to their liking, provided the Legislature would only start the move- ment by passing a resolution, and provided also, that the people voted in favor of a convention at an election held for that purpose. So secret plans were made to bring about a convention and fasten slavery upon Illinois forever. These plans, however, were disclosed and spread broadcast. This made such a stir that the attempt was postponed a few years. Immigrants to Missouri Stir Up Slavery. In the mean- time Missouri, a slave state, had been set up along the western border of Illinois, and wealthy emigrants were passing through Illinois with their flocks and slaves. They refused to stop in Illinois because it was not open to slaverj^ Even the poor emigrant from the South with his worn-out old horse and broken down wagon, who had never owned a slave, likewise refused to make the Prairie State his home, for the same reason. One of those who did not own enough ''plunder to buy a cat," on being asked why he did not stop in Illinois, replied, ''Well, sir, your sile is mighty fertile, but a man can't own niggers here, gol durn you!" The pro-slavery men in Illinois used this as an argument to prove that slavery would be a good thing for the state, as it would attract new settlers. So they began to push their plans to change the state constitution. The Slave Holders Start the Fight. The time seemed ripe in 1822, when it became necessary to elect a new Gov- ernor, a Representative to Congress, and also members to the state Legislature. The contest for Governor was won by Edward Coles, an opponent of slavery, who had emi- grated from Virginia some years before. He had brought his slaves with him and had set them free. Cook, also an opponent of slavery, as we have seen, was reelected to THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 199 Congress, but the supporters of slavery elected a majority to the Legislature. Governor Coles Urges the Negro's Rights. As soon as he was inaugurated, Governor Coles set about improv- ing the condition of the negro. He recommended the repeal of the infamous '^Black Laws," and asked the Legislature for a severe law to punish the kidnaping of free negroes. But the Legislature turned a deaf ear to his appeals. It soon appeared that the pro-slavery legislators were bent upon passing the resolution for a constitutional con- vention. It was introduced in the Senate, and passed by that body. But when it came to be voted on in the House, it was defeated by two votes. There was much excitement, and a determined effort was made to win over two votes and reconsider the question. The pro-slavery men adopted the motto/' The Convention or Death." They hesitated at no means that might win the two votes. Slave holders from Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri were present in the corridors stimulating sentiment in favor of slavery. Two Votes Won and One Lost. News of the contest spread like wildfire over the state, and soon a flood of let- ters poured in upon the members, some favoring, others opposing the resolution. At last Mr. Rattan, of Green County, announced that the sentiment in his county was in favor of the convention and that he would change his vote accordingly. Likewise Mr. McFatridge, of Johnson County, was won over by the promise to change the county seat in his county. The pro-slavery men now thought there could be no hitch, so they brought the resolution to a vote again. When the result was announced they were dumfounded, for the resolution was again lost by but one vote. Their anger knew no bounds when they discovered that Repre- sentative Hansen, of Pike County, had, at the last minute. 200 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS changed sides and voted against them. While a few weeks before the House had decided unanimously that Hansen was fairly elected to his seat, the pro-slavery members were now bound to reverse that vote, take his office from him and give it to his opponent. This they could do by a mere majority vote. How the Slave Owners Won. That night excitement ran high. Men and boys burned Hansen in effigy; they marched through the city, blowing horns, beating drums and tin pans, shouting ''The Convention or Death"; they went to the homes of Governor Coles and the friends of freedom and gave cat-calls, followed by three groans for Hansen and three cheers for the convention. The next day a vote was hurriedly taken, by which they unseated Hansen and gave his place in the House to his opponent, whom they had unanimously declared a few weeks before had no right whatever to it. Hansen's opponent, of course, had promised to vote with them. The resolution was then taken up for the third time, and passed. The Resolution and the People. Great was the rejoic- ing of the slavery advocates. The victory was celebrated by a noisy torch-light procession, with beating of drums and great shouting, with cheers and groans. But their high-handed behavior soon acted as a boomerang. The news spread quickly over the state, and the infamous and unjust way in which they had ousted Hansen turned many against the convention. Now at last the people were to vote on the question of calling the convention, and both sides girded themselves for the battle. Open slavery in Illinois was hanging in the balance. The result of the election would decide whether the Prairie State should become slave soil or continue to be numbered among the free states. THE INTRODUCTION OF SLAVES 201 Newspapers Take Sides. At first the pro-slavery side seemed to be gaining in influence and confidence. News- papers of the South took up their cause, and likewise the St. Louis papers, which had a considerable circulation in Illinois. Besides, four out of the five newspapers then published within the state favored slavery. For a while the pro-slavery advocates denied that the purpose of calling a convention was in order to fasten slavery upon the state. But, it was all too evident, and they soon boldly admitted it. The Convention and Freedom. The anti-slavery forces were not without strong supporters. They adopted the battle cry, ''No Convention and Freedom," and set about the task of arousing the people to the dangers threaten- ing their free state. A large number of ministers and many influential writers espoused their cause. Governor Coles gave his entire salary to fight the call for the con- vention. The People Vote the Resolution Down. The resolution passed the Legislature in February, while the election was not to occur till a year from the following August. So, there was plenty of time for working the people into a fever heat. As the election day approached, every citizen took part in the struggle. Neighbors wrangled and even resorted to blows. The topic was debated from every platform and pulpit. Families became divided, and com- merce almost ceased till the burning question could be settled. At last the fateful second of August (1824) came. It was a day of excitement and controversy. When night put an end to the struggle, it was found that the friends of freedom had won and the convention call had been defeated by 1,668 votes. The Result of the Fight. The result of that day's battle was far-reaching. It decided that Illinois was to 202 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS remain permanently among the free states. For this reason, emigrants ceased to come into the state from the South, because they saw that the great battle for slavery in Illinois had been fought and lost. On the other hand, pioneers from the North and East flocked in to take pos- session of the free, fertile prairies. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. By what means and for what purpose were slaves first brought to Illinois? 2. What conditions made slave labor more profitable to their owners in the South than in Illinois? '3. What were some of the features of the ''Black Laws"? 4. Give the story of the conflict between the anti-slavery and pro-slavery advocates in Illinois. 5. Is there any phase of labor in the great cities today that is more objectionable than slavery as practiced in Illinois in 1842? LESSON HELPS A Slave in Illinois. No matter under what name the farmers held their negroes — whether as "servants," "yellow boys," or "yel- low girls" — the fact still remained that slavery existed in the Terri- tory of Illinois as completely as in smy of the Southern States. It was not limited to the settlements and towns along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, but was practiced all over the southern portion of what is now the State of Illinois. — Rufus Blanchard. A Man for Sale. On Monday morning at ten o'clock, Sheriff Lowe will sell at or near the jail, to the highest bidder, Edwin Heath- cock, now confined for being free, to pay the legal expenses for hold- ing him on suspicion of being a slave. The solid men of Chicago are requested to be present and witness the first man-sale in our county. — Poster distributed in Chicago. RECOMMENDED READINGS History of Negro Servitude in Illinois. Harris. Slavery in the Border States. Eliott, Beacon Lights of History. Lord. History of Illinois. Ford. CHAPTER XVI He's true to God who's true to man, wherever wrong is done, To the humblest and the weakest, 'neath the all-beholding sun. That wrong is also done to us; and they are slaves most base, Whose love of right is for themselves, and not for all the race. — James Russell Lowell. THE DECLINE OF SLAVERY Slavery Goes On as Before. While the people of Illinois fought desperately to prevent their soil from becom- ing open slave territory, they were not yet ready to stamp it out altogether. As soon as they had defeated the call for a convention they allowed the subject to drop. Everybody seemed anxious to forget about the bitter struggle. No attempt whatever was made to do away with indentured servitude. Slavery went on as before, and the ''Black Laws" remained in force. How Slaves Were Treated. Indentured negroes were whipped for laziness or misbehavior. When not needed at home, they were often rented out. A year's service was worth about one hundred dollars. They were fre- quently sold at auction, just as in the cotton states, except that in Illinois the slave's consent had first to be obtained. But this served as no check, because if the servant refused his consent, his treatment became so harsh that he was glad to exchange masters. The price of a black boy or girl was from three hundred to six hundred dollars, according to size, health, and the length of the term of servitude. ?03 204 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The newspapers of those days contained many adver- tisements offering servants for sale, along with horses and cattle. The following appeared in the Kaskaskia Repub- lican, May 2, 1842: EXECUTOR'S SALE ANTOINE BARBEAU— Executor Offers For Sale the Estate of the Late Marie I.. Bhiis, to wit : One mulatto woman, 28 years. One mulatto man, 21 years. Two mulatto girls, 10 and S years. One mulatto boy. 'i years. Also Hogs, Horses, Cattle and Sheep: Household Furniture atid Fanning Tools. Negroes were also bequeathed by will. One Benjamin Kuykendall willed to Poll.v Gatten his negro boy, David, "to have and to hold as her own property, from this time forth and forever." New Laws Tighten the Shackles. Some new laws were even enacted which made it almost impossible for a slave to get his freedom. He was forbidden to act as a witness in court against any white person. What hope was there for him to get justice when he could not even testify to the truth? Every law seemed designed to tighten the shackles of the slave. THE DECLINE OF SLAVERY 207 The Lot of the Free Negroes. But the lot of the free negroes in Ilhnois was a hard one. They were looked upon as a necessary evil. They had neither the protection of the laws nor the right to vote, and of course no chance to get an education. Public sentiment did not permit them to own property. Colored persons found within the state without freedom papers could be arrested and sold at auction by the sheriff for one year's service. The Negroes Kidnaped. There grew up also the evil practice of kidnaping free negroes and carrying them back to the cotton states to be sold to the highest bidder. Severe laws were made in Illinois to stop this infamous business. Kidnapers were to be put in the pillory, to receive from twenty-five to one hundred lashes, and to be fined one thousand dollars. But the law was not enforced, and kidnaping increased and became very profitable. Young negroes brought good prices. It was easy to make a hundred dollars or more, apiece. How This Evil Business Was Managed. For the pur- pose of kidnaping negroes, two or three persons usually worked together. One stationed himself at a border town like St. Louis, and advertised himself as a slave merchant. He planned the measures and means of getting away with whatever prey was turned over to him. The others scoured the country looking for free negroes. They used various inducements to get the negro to the border towm. Any kind of promise or threat was used to entice the negro on board a boat or wagon, and then under cover of darkness, all haste was made to get out of the county before the sheriff could overtake them. Once out of the county, they were among strangers and proceeded without being suspected. At the border town the blacks were smuggled aboard a Mississippi steamer bound for the slave marts at Memphis or New Orleans, and were heard of no more. 208 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS ''On the night of May 25, 1823, a free colored man, named Jackson Butler, his wife, and six children, residing in Illinois, a few miles from Vincennes, were kidnaped by a band of raiders from Lawrence County in this state. Butler had belonged to General Harrison in Kentucky, had been brought to Indiana, had been indentured, and had faithfully worked out his term of service. His wife was born free, which rendered his children also free. They were taken down the Wabash to the Ohio, and from there disappeared farther south. Harrison, learning of the out- rage, at once offered a large reward for the capture of the perpetrators. His name gave the matter wdde publicity, and the Butlers were rescued at New Orleans, just as they were about to be shipped to Cuba. ' ' Hundreds of free negroes w^ere thus kidnaped, and dragged back into hopeless life-long servitude. Slaves Decrease. After the fight of 1824 to make Illinois a slave state was lost, the number of slaves gradu- ally decreased, until 1830, there were only seven hundred forty-six. They ceased to be brought in from the outside. And of those already in Illinois, some died of old age, and some of disease. Some worked out their contract time and were given freedom papers. Still others were taken by their masters to other states. Occasionally some good man gave his slaves their freedom, because his conscience told him it was right to do so. This did not happen very often, because slaves were valuable, and could be sold for several hundred dollars each. One master gave his slave his free- dom because ''he has compensated me by his labor and money for the amount I paid for him, viz., $825." St. Clair's Opinion of the Ordinance. It is difficult to understand why slavery continued in Illinois for half a century after it had been clearly forbidden by the Ordi- nance of 1787. The people of the territory were, of course, THE DECLINE OF SLAVERY 209 preparing to obey the law as they would any other. Those who were determined to keep their slaves were getting read}^ to move to New Orleans or across the Mississippi, when Governor St. Clair declared that the law forbade bringing in any more slaves, but that it did not affect those already here. This view pleased the people, who were chiefly immigrants from the slave states. So they decided to remain and to continue to hold their slaves until ordered to do otherwise. Who Decides What a Law Means. Now a governor's opinion of what a law means is no more binding than that of a private citizen. In our government, only a judge, sitting on the bench, has a right to interpret a law, and even he must wait until a case comes before him which brings that particular law into dispute. Strange to say, for thirty- years, neither the Supreme Court of Illinois nor the United States Supreme Court had a chance to decide whether or not it was lawful for slavery to go on in Illinois. Why Slaves Did Not Appeal to the Courts. There were several reasons for this. In the first place the slaves were ignorant of how to proceed to test the law, and no one wanted to assist them. Then, too, the slaves were ver}- poor, and we all know it costs a great deal to go to law. Lawyers must be employed, witnesses paid, and there are other costs in a law-suit that either party may have to pa^'. Sentiment throughout southern Illinois was so strongly- pro-slavery that it was even unsafe to express views opposed to it. The laws were so written that the negro could not protect himself, and few whites had the courage to espouse his cause and face the unpopularity and persecution that were sure to be encountered. In some cases lawyers who tried to help the negroes were shamefully treated. Northern Illinois for Freedom. But northern Illinois was rapidly filling up with Yankees, as we have seen, and 210 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS the sentiment here was strongly opposed to slavery. Even among the slave counties of southern Illinois, friends of the negro were beginning to speak out boldly. They helped the slave to get his case before the courts. For a time, the judges who had been elected by the pro-slavery men, dodged the real question, or simply decided the cases against the negro, because they thought most people would gladly uphold them in that decision. Gradually, however, anti-slavery men increased in number and influence. Lawyers began to plead the negro's case so powerfully in the courts that judges were forced to give justice to the slave. Some of these friends of the negro were at last elected to the bench, and then decisions multiplied in behalf of freedom. Slaves Gradually Freed. In 1836 the court declared that children of registered servants were free. In 1845 two great decisions of the Illinois Supreme Court unloosed the shackles of the slave in this state and set him free; one, in effect, declared that indentured servitude was illegal, and the other freed the descendants of the slaves of the old French settlers born after 1787. Other decisions followed, but the infamous ''Black Laws" were left on the statute book until 1865, when they were at last repealed. The number of slaves decreased from about seven hundred in 1830, to less than three hundred in 1840. When the great decrees of 1845 came, most holders of servants and slaves at once gave them their liberty. Now that we have followed the story of how Illinois shook off the curse of slavery from her own soil, it remains only to notice what an active part her people took in stamp- ing it out from the rest of the Union. THE DECLINE OF SLAVERY 211 TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Compare the life of a free negro in Illinois, in 1840, with that of one held in slavery under a good master. 2. Find from the dictionary the origin of the word kidnap, and explain how it came to include the stealing of slaves. 3. What influences tended to diminish the numbers of negroes held in slavery in Illinois? 4. Why did not the slaves take advantage of the "Black Laws" and other laws passed for their protection? 5. Consult the map, "Sources of Settlers in the Northwest Territory," in this book, and see if you can decide what portion of IlUnois was most strongly opposed to slavery. LESSON HELPS Uncle Tom*s Cabin. One of the most powerful agencies in shap- ing the political conscience at the North during the decade preced- ing the war was "Uncle Tom's Cabin," by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This novel can not be named among the greatest works of genius. The narrative shows much bias in the writer, and she is often unfair to the South; but as a series of pictures of slave life, colored with a profound human sympathy, the book attracted and held the atten- tion of the readers of every class. It sprung into immediate popu- larity; three hundred thousand copies were sold within the first year after publication; the sales soon exceeded a million; the book spread over England and her colonies, and was translated into twenty different languages. The political effect of the novel did not appear at first, but it eventually became an important agent in the world of politics. The story appealed particularly to the young, and thousands of the boys who in the ' 'fifties" laughed at Topsy, loved little Eva, and wept over the fate of Uncle Tom, and became enraged at the brutal Lagree, were voters in 1860; and their votes, as determined by that book, which led them to believe that slavery was wrong, became a powerful element in effecting the political revolution of that year. — Henry William Elsox. RECOMMENDED READINGS History of Negro Servitude in Illinois. Harris. The Black Law^s of Illinois. Jones. Beacon Lights of History. Lord. Narration of Riots at Alton. Beecher. CHAPTER XVII We are the richer for valor displayed alike by those who fought so valiantly for the right, and by those who, no less valiantly, fought for what they deemed the right. — American Ideals — Theodore Roosevelt. LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS Opposition to Slavery. Since the days of the Revo- lution, there had been in both the North and South men who were opposed to slavery. They believed that it was not only wrong but that it stood in the way of progress. Washington, Jefferson and Madison were all slave holders, yet they were opposed to slavery. They hoped that it would decline and gradually disappear from American soil. Jefferson said: ''I tremble for my country when I remember that God is just." The Cotton Gin. Most northern states had freed their slaves prior to the Revolution, and it was hoped that the South would sooner or later do the same. But the cotton gin, invented by Whitney (1793), made cotton raising immensely profitable in the South, and negroes were wanted in large numbers to hoe and pick this crop. Plan- tation owners were becoming wealthy, and were naturally unwilling to part with their slaves. Northern people came to see that the South could not be trusted to abolish slavery, so certain conscientious men of the North began to fight for the freedom of the slaves. The North Divided on Slavery. There were all shades of opinion among the people who opposed slavery. The great body of northerners were in favor of merely hedging 212 LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 213 it about in the fifteen states where it existed, and thus pre- venting it from spreading into the other states and terri- tories. A few people beUeved that it should be blotted out from the slaves states even, but they would do it grad- ually, so as to work as little harm as possible to the slave owners. They believed that if the slave holders could be brought to see how great a sin slavery was, they would willingly set the blacks free. Abolitionists. Still a handful of others would abolish servitude everywhere in the Union, and would do it imme- diately, by force, if necessary, regardless of who would suffer, or what the consequences might be. This class came to be called in the South the ''Black Abolitionists." William Lloyd Garrison was the leader of this party. Garrison founded the ''Liberator," published in Boston in 1831, and in this paper he denounced slavery with great power and severity, demanding "immediate emancipation." He said that the constitution which permitted this great evil was a "covenant with death and an agreement with hell." At an open-air celebration of Abolitionists in Massachusetts, he burned a copy of the United States Constitution. He would break up the Union, he said, if slavery could not be destroyed in any other way, for he would have no union with slave holders. His bitter words were sent everywhere through the columns of the "Liber- ator," and they gave great strength to the Abolition movement. In 1835 there were in the North, two hundred abolition societies, five years later the number had grown to two thousand. For a long time the Abolitionists stood for a despised cause. Sometimes they could not even get a hall in which to hold their meetings, and were obliged to meet secretly in stable lofts. Attempts to Silence Abolitionists. There was opposi- tion to the Abolitionist doctrine throughout the country. 214 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The South was violent with anger. In the North, too, men who were opposed to slavery regarded ''immediate eman- cipation" as dangerous doctrine. They feared that it would stir up bitter strife between the North and the South, break up the Union, and do much more harm than good to the negro cause. Attempts were made in almost all of the northern states to silence the Abolitionists. Their meetings were often broken up, and Garrison was mobbed. Elijah Lovejoy became a martyr to liberty in our own state. Lovejoy's Early Life. To be the eldest son of a New England minister, a century ago, meant anything but a life of luxury. Elijah Lovejoy 's father, in addition to his church duties, tilled the soil to help provide for his family. The son was early encouraged by his parents to become a scholar. He read the Bible at the age of four. Perhaps he appreciated his hours of study all the more because they had to be taken when the day's work on the farm was over. At any rate, he made good use of them, for he graduated from Waterville College at the age of twenty-four, much admired by all his fellow students, not only for his scholar- ship but for his dignity and noble character. It is also said that he made a fine figure in athletics. His taste for writing first showed itself in some very commendable poetry. After teaching a few years in Maine, he became interested in the West, and came to St. Louis, where he taught and began newspaper work by contributing to the local papers. Lovejoy Urges Freeing the Slaves. While living in St. Louis, Lovejoy entered the ministry, and it was in connection with a religious paper, ''The Observer," which he edited, that he began his famous crusade against sla- very. His editorials aroused much indignation, for the slave holders resented the idea of giving freedom to their f THE LOVEJOY xMONLMEXT, ALTON LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 217 negro servants, as much as they would the proposition to give away their horses and cows. Lovejoy knew^ this, but he was an intensely conscien- tious man himself, and he believed that if the people were brought to see that slavery was wrong, they would of their own accord set their negroes free. For this reason he at first disagreed with the Abolitionists, who believed that the owners of slaves should be forced to give them up at once. Lovejoy plainly stated his views in an editorial saying: * 'Gradual emancipation is the remedy we propose. This we look upon as the only desirable way of effecting our release from the thralldom in which we are held." His Life Threatened. Although he was so considerate of the slave holders' rights, many of them became very angry with his article on slavery, so much so that nine lead- ing citizens, who were Lovejoy's good friends, sent him a petition begging him to stop stirring up the question, because they had heard so many threats concerning him that they feared for his life. Lovejoy kept this petition, and two years later wrote on the back of it: 'T did not yield to the wishes here expressed, and, in consequence, Jiave been persecuted ever since. But I have kept a good conscience in the matter, and that repays me for all I have suffered or can suffer. I have sworn eternal opposition to slavery, and by the blessing of God I will never go back." Elijah Lovejoy was a man of such earnest convictions that he was not influenced in the least by this petition. He declared that the Constitution of the United States guaranteed to all citizens the right to free speech, and to the freedom of the press, and that he should exercise those rights in denouncing the crime of slavery. Driven Out of Missouri. The public became so incensed with Lovejoy's utterances that an attempt was made to 218 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS destroy his press, and he was asked to resign as head of the Observer. St. Louis at last became so hostile that plans were made for the removal of the press to Alton, Illinois, which had the first Abolition society in the state. They promised their support, and Lovejoy again assumed control of the paper. Lovejoy in Illinois. The press arrived in Alton on Sunday, and, while it lay unguarded on the wharf, the boxes were broken open, and the pieces of the press thrown into the Mississippi river by slave owners. The citizens of Alton condemned this act at a public meeting, and raised funds for a new press. Mr. Lovejoy was still in favor of gradual emancipation, and would not declare himself an Abolitionist, though he said he was the ' 'uncompromising enemy of slavery." For almost a year the Alton Observer was published, Lovejoy taking the same bold stand against slavery, yet treating all his oppo- nents fairly and with kindness. Becomes an Abolitionist. It was during the disap- pointment and persecution of this year that he was won over to Abolitionism. This is shown by his statement: *'If a tree will not bear good fruit, it should be lopped off at the roots." Advocates an Anti-Slavery Society. When he advo- cated in the Observer, the forming of an Illinois x\nti- Slavery Society, the wrath of his enemies knew no bounds. But Lovejoy was fearless. All over the north opposition to slavery was running high, and feeling against the Aboli- tionists was at a white heat throughout the slave holding section. Two days after Mr. Lovejoy's article appeared, a public meeting was called ''for the suppression of Abolitionism." A committee was named to wait on Mr. Lovejoy to express their disapproval of his course, and to ascertain if he still LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 219 intended to persist in publishing an Abolition paper. Lovejoy replied by an editorial outlining his anti-slavery principles in no uncertain terms. Mob Threatens. In August, 1837, a mob set out to tar and feather him. They met him coming to town from his home, stopped him and told him their purpose. Love- joy replied that he knew that they had power to do as they pleased with him, but he said he was going into towTi for medicine for his sick wife. He promised, how- ever, that if one of the party would take the prescription to the drug store and return with the medicine to his wife and reassure her about him, that he would go with them and do whatever they wished. At this they were ashamed to attack the brave man, but they did a more cowardly thing. They went to his office, broke in and destroyed his press and all his material. They believed this would stop the Abolition movement in Alton, but they were mistaken, for the friends and supporters of Lovejoy soon bought another press by subscription. It, too, was promptly destroyed the night it arrived, and the pieces thrown into the river. Lovejoy Refuses to Leave Alton. Discouraged by the fourth attempt to muzzle Lovejoy, and the destruction of his third press, the Abolitionists assembled and discussed the advisability of moving the press to Quincy where there were more anti-slavery sympathizers, but Lovejoy thought the paper should stay at Alton. In this he was supported by the organization of fiftj-- five men into a state Anti-Slavery Society. The proslavery men were frantic with anger when they knew that a fourth press had been ordered. Another public meeting was held at which Lovejoy made a pathetic appealfor protection. His Appeal for Protection. He said, in part, ''Mr. Chairman, it is not true, as has been charged upon me, that 220 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS I hold in contempt the feelings and sentiments of this community in reference to the question that is now agitat- ing it. But, sir, while I value the good opinions of my fellow citizens as highly as anyone, I may be permitted to say that I am governed by higher considerations than, either the favor or fear of man. I plant myself down upon my constitutional right, and the question to be decided is whether I shall be protected in the enjoyment of these rights. That is the question, sir, whether my property shall be protected, whether I shall be suffered to go home to my family at night without being assailed, threatened with tar and feathers and assassination; whether my afflicted wife, whose life has been in continual jeopardy from alarm and excitement, shall, night after night, be driven from her sick bed into the garret to save herself from brickbats and the violence of the mob. . . . I know, sir, that you can tar and feather me, hang me, or put me in the Mississippi, without the least difficulty. But what then? Where shall I go? I have concluded, after consulting with my friends and earnestly seeking counsel of God, to remain in Alton, and here insist on protection in the exercise of my rights. If the civil author- ities refuse to protect me, I must look to God, and, if I die, I am determined to make my grave in Alton.'' The Fourth Press Arrives. The courage of this man should have moved even his enemies, but the feeling against him was too bitter. When the fourth press arrived in Alton, the mayor of the city detailed a body of private citizens to protect it. It was removed to the warehouse of Godfrey, Oilman & Co., at two o'clock at night and placed on the fourth floor. I , All was quiet during the day, and, at evening, the militia band of about sixty came together at the warehouse to drill. They were ready to disperse about nine o'clock, LOVEJOY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 221 when Mr. Gilman suggested that it might be safer to leave a detail all night. Mr. Gilman and IMr. Lovejoy stayed with the twenty men who remained. Another Angry Mob. Shortly afterward the mob appeared. Two men were sent in with the message that no one would be harmed if the press were handed over to them. When these messengers saw how weak the defense was, and when the militia refused to give up the press, the rabble attacked the building with stones and clubs. Lovejoy Slain. The militiamen recognized in the gathering crowd in the bright moonlight below, their friends and neighbors, and hesitated to shoot, but they defended the building successfully for a time. Then one of the militiamen fired and shot a man among the band, who died before they could reach a physician. At this, the rabble attempted to set fire to the building. Lovejoy and two others exposed themselves to protect the roof from fire-brands, and were fired upon from below. Wounded in five places, Lovejoy reentered the building, and crying "I am shot, I am dead," fell to the floor and expired. The militia, to save the building and its contents, then surrendered the press which was broken into pieces. During this battle the minister's wife had bravely rung the church bell, but no help came. His Burial. The next morning the body was removed from the warehouse and quietly buried on a hill- top, with almost no service, for fear of exciting the mob afresh. The hill later became a cemetery, and Lovejoy 's body was removed from the center of the street where it lay buried, and a simple tombstone w^as erected by a friend. The Wrath of the Country. A storm of indignation and sorrow swept over the whole country. Wendell Phillips, the great Abolitionist, speaking in Fanueil Hall, Boston, compared the courage of Lovejoy with that of the Revolu- 222 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS tionary heroes. He said the patriots were ready to die to defend themselves against unjust taxes and laws that touched their pocketbooks merely. Lovejoy died for a great principle — the right to say, and preach, and write what he beheved about the wrongs of slavery. It is said that the example of his life and the manner of his death did more to help Illinois to stand a^cone man for the cause of freedom than any other influence. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. What is the etymology of the word aholitionistf 2. Name three great leaders of the aboHtionist movement. 3. Give an account of the Hfe of Lovejoy from his boyhood until his death. 4. Are the acts of a mob ever justifiable? LESSON HELPS A Martyr for Liberty. The first sign of Mr. Lovejoy's readi- ness to adopt aboUtionism came in June. The secretary of the National Anti-SlavQry Society wrote the Observer (a paper of which Mr. Lovejoy was editor), for the names of persons willing to assist in petitioning Congress for the aboHtion of slavery in the District of Columbia. The editor approved of the plan, and pub- lished this letter in the issue of June 29. Thus Mr. Lovejoy took his stand in the front ranks of Aboli- tion. He never regretted the step; never faltered; never looked back; but fought valiantly and fearlessly for the cause as long as he lived. — N. DwiGHT Harris. RECOMMENDED READINGS The Slavery Struggle of 1823-24 in Illinois. Washburne. Slavery and Abolition. Hart. Anti-Slavery Days. Clarke. The Martyrdom of Lovejoy. Tanner. Early IlKnois. Mason. Decisive Dates in Ilhnois History. Tanner. CHAPTER XVIII ADVERTISEMENT. — Gentlemen and Ladies who may wish to improve their health or circumstances by a northern tour, are respectfully invited to give us their patronage. Seats free, irre- spective of color. —From "The Western Citizen," July 13, 1844. THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY Anti-Slavery Societies in Illinois. The death of Love- joy did not silence the Abolitionists, but only added fuel to the flames. In fact, it drove many men of moderate views into the Abolitionist ranks. Anti-slavery societies were organized in every county in Illinois. They held quarterly meetings, engaged men to give public lectures, sent petitions to Congress, printed and circulated thou- sands of pamphlets, and stirred up the people in every way. The Underground Railway. The South demanded that the North should hush the fiery Abolitionists who, they said, were urging the slaves everywhere to rise against their masters. In some places rewards of from one to two thousand dollars were offered for the delivery, south of Mason and Dixon's line, of certain Abolition leaders. But all efforts to silence them were in vain. Many of the anti-slavery men banded together secretly to aid runaway negroes to escape to Canada. This was called the Under- ground Railway. Why Slaves Were Dissatisfied. It was the policy of all plantation owners to keep their slaves in dense ignor- ance, so that they might not know about other states where members of their race were free. In most of the 223 224 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS cotton states, it was unlawful for any one to teach a negro to read or write. Thus it was hoped the slaves would spend their lives in the cotton fields contentedly. But, there were all over the South dissatisfied slaves. Some were unhappy because they were mistreated by cruel slave drivers. Thousands stood in constant fear of being sold and separated from their families. Throughout the border states, there was a strong demand for slaves for the large sugar and cotton plantations of the far South. So, in these border states the negroes were especially eager to learn of places where they might be free. Slaves Learn about Canada. From northern people who visited the South, they heard much about the free states and about Canada. If a master could find his slave anywhere in the United States he had the right, by law, to seize the fugitive and take him back home; but, if a runaway could get his foot on Canadian soil he was safe. Friends of the negro sometimes made journeys through the South for the very purpose of directing slaves how to escape to Canada. They told them how to recognize the north star, and advised them to go in that direction. When stars were not shining they were instructed to look for moss which grows only on the north side of tree-trunks. Some followed river valleys or mountain ranges. How Runaways Traveled. They usually traveled by night, and remained in hiding during the day. Some used rowboats, and so for hundreds of miles, they left no track behind for the keen-scented bloodhound or the more dreaded slave catcher. A few reached the land of free- dom by being sent in boxes as merchandise. Now and then, one was even sent in a trunk by express. Fre- quently men dressed as women, and women in male attire, escaped the searching eyes of pursuers. Mulattoes often THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY 227 blacked their faces with burnt cork in order to escape recog- nition. Occasionally slaves in disguise rode on the same train with the men who were looking for them, and were not recognized. Origin of the Underground Railway. When the runa- ways reached the Ohio river and the free states beyond, they found friends. The name. Underground Railway, first started in this way. When runaway slaves began to appear among the Quakers at Columbia, Pennsylvania, plans were made to hide them away or to send them on toward Canada. Slave catchers usually had little trouble in tracking the slaves as far as that town, where they lost all trace. Unable to find out how the Quakers had dis- posed of the negroes, the pursuers declared that there must be an underground railway somewhere about, and so this name came into common use. The Railway System. The stations of the railway were farmhouses, the farmer was the conductor as well as the engineer, while his horses and wagon made up the train. There was a fine of five hundred dollars for har- boring a negro or aiding his escape, the fine later, 1850, being increased to one thousand dollars, with six months in prison. So it was necessary to run trains chiefly at night. Every man who was connected with this under- ground system kept it a secret. Suspected farmers were often closely watched by hired agents of the slave holders. The Underground in Illinois. The movement in Illinois started as early as 1818, the year the territory became a state, and by 1835 there were regular lines of travel from the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, northward toward Chicago and Milwaukee, where negroes were smuggled aboard boats bound for Canada. A few found homes among the Yankees of northern Illinois. One of these lines of travel was from Alton along the Illinois River to Chicago. 228 THE. STORY OF ILLINOIS Passengers Concealed at Stations. The negroes were concealed in one place, sometimes for a week, in order to throw their pursuers off the track. The hiding place was usually the cellar, the attic, or a secret room. When closely watched they resorted to a hay loft or a wood pile. At Galesburg, Illinois, the belfry of the church was used for this purpose. John Hood, of Sparta, aided a negro and his wife to escape from some slave catchers who had them in charge on the homeward journey, and who had stopped at Hood's house for the night. The negroes were locked up in the cellar by the kidnapers. During the night, Hood removed them to the center of a large haystack, where they were fed and concealed for a week. Trains Run at Night. Fugitives were sent on usually at night, either by wagon or afoot, with careful directions where to find their next friend, and how to signal him, by tapping on the window. Mr. John Weldon, of Dwight, took negroes to Chicago concealed in wagons loaded with bran. Often a load of hay or straw served as a blind at midday. In one case at Cincinnati, twenty-eight negroes appeared at one time, and several closed carriages were formed into a pretended funeral procession. Thus they safely proceeded northward in broad daylight. The underground lines were sometimes zigzag, and often there were two or three parallel routes, so that in case one was being watched the other could be taken by the fugitives. The Number of Slaves Aided. Great numbers were aided and directed to freedom by the Underground Rail- way. H. B. Leeper, of Princeton, Illinois, said his best record was aiding thirty-one men and women in six weeks. One conductor in Pennsylvania, during forty years, gave aid to no fewer than one thousand. There were no tele- THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY 229 graph lines along the Underground, but messages were often sent by mail. These messages were cautiously written. Below are some specimens: David Putnam : Business is arranged for Saturday night. Be on the lookout and, if possible, let a carriage come and meet the caravan. J. S. Mr. C. B. C: By tomorrow's evening mail you will receive two volumes of the ''Irrepressible Conflict" bound in black. After perusal, please forward and oblige. Yours truly, G. W. W. Dear Grinell: Uncle Tom says that if the roads are not too bad you can look for those fleeces of wool by tomorrow. Send them on to test the market and prices. No back pay. Yours, HUB. ''We know little regarding those old secret routes now; they have left only dim traces, although a few hoary- headed men linger, who can tell thrilling stories of that little section on which they once faithfully served. It may be none were acquainted with the entire distance traversed; certain it is that all that any station-keeper 230 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS needed to know was the location of the next station lying east or north of his own. The fugitives came to him in the dark hours before dawn; all that day they lay hidden securely from prying eyes, and when night again dark- ened, he led them swiftly onward to another similar place of safety. No record was ever kept of the number that passed, but many a hundred, including men, women, and children, thus won their weary way to freedom across the night-enshrouded prairies of Illinois." TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Describe the operations of the Underground Railway. 2. Trace the route of the main lines of the Underground Rail- way across Illinois. 3. Draw a star-map showing how the position of the north star may be determined. 4. Bring to class an account of the experience of a runaway slave, which you have learned from the Recommended Readings or else- where. 5. What was the Dred Scott decision? LESSON HELPS An Underground Railroad Station. Three principal lines from the South converged at my house: one from Cincinnati, one from Madison, and one from Jeffersonville. Seldom a week passed without our receiving passengers by this mysterious Underground Railroad. We knew not what night, or what hour of the night, we would be aroused by a gentle rap at the door, which was the signal of the arrival of a train; for the locomotive did not whistle or make any unnecessary noise. — Recollections of Levi Coffin. RECOMMENDED READINGS The Underground Railroad. Siebert. Anti-Slavery Days. Clarke. History of Negro Servitude in Illinois. Harris. Negro Servitude and the Underground Railroad. Davidson. The Underground Railroad. Still. CHAPTER XIX But somehow South could ne'er incline This way or that to run the line; And always found some new pretence 'Gainst setting the division fence. —The Biglow Papers— James Russell Lowell. THE GREAT DEBATES Douglas Explodes a Bomb. On January 4, 1854, Stephen A. Douglas, senator from Illinois, introduced into Congress a bill which startled the whole country. This Kansas-Nebraska Bill provided for the forming of two territories out of that part of the Louisiana Purchase which lay west and north of Missouri. There was no harm to come from this provision, but the bill further provided that each of the two territories so formed, should decide for itself whether or not slavery should exist within its borders. This was the bomb that exploded in every northern state. The reason for this excitement was, that for more than thirty years, most people of the North had looked upon slavery in the Louisiana Purchase as forever prohibited. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had pro- vided that slavery should never exist north of the parallel of 36 degrees, 30 minutes, north latitude, save in the state of Missouri. This compromise the northern people had looked upon as a sacred agreement, and they had consoled themselves that, whatever might happen, slavery could not go north of that forbidden line of ^'thirty-six thirty." Now, suddenly, like thunder from a clear sky, Douglas proposed 231 THE GREAT DEBATES 233 to throw open this territory, all of which lay north of the Compromise line, to slavery or freedom, as the people might decide. It was like throwing a piece ofjmeat to two hungry bull-dogs, and bidding them fight for it. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill Passes Congress. Nobody had asked Douglas to introduce such a measure. . The South had not sought it. The North had not consented. In fact, Douglas himself had written the bill of his own motion, in his own house, and had consulted with only two people about it, the President and Jefferson Davis. The South was surprised, because they had not even hoped for slavery in this great northwest. However, they were delighted at the prospect, and quickly fell into line behind Douglas. The bill was passed, after Douglas had spoken all night in defense of his measure. Douglas Visits His Home State. A storm of rage swept over the North. Douglas was condemned as a traitor. He was called Judas Iscariot, and a certain society of women sent him thirty pieces of silver. He later said he could have traveled from Boston to Chicago by the light of his own effigies. Attempting to make a speech in Chi- cago, in his home state, he was hooted off the stage. For hours he tried to speak, but the people hissed and shouted until Douglas gave it up. Had it not been for his courage, the people would have laid violent hands upon him. In southern Illinois he had a kinder reception, but outside his own state he was bitterly denounced by the newspapers, public assemblies, legislatures and private citizens. Why Douglas Favored the Slave Holders. What do you think prompted Douglas, a northern man, represent- ing a free state, to join hands with the South in extending slavery? The people said he did it in order to win friends among the southern slave holders, so that they would help to elect him President. He had tried to get the nomination 234 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS in 1852. All the northern Democrats favored him at that time, but the southern Democrats would not hear to it, and Douglas failed. Many believed he was now sacrificing the welfare of the North, as a bid for votes in the South for the coming election. If this was his plan, it looked as though he was doing what he set out to do, for the whole land of Dixie resounded with his praises, but it was tw^o years before the next election. In the meantime, civil war broke out in Kansas over the question of slavery in that territory. The country, both North and South, was greatly wrought up over ''bleeding Kansas," and Douglas had to bear the brunt of blame for it, since it was his bill that made Kansas a battle-ground. When the next Democratic convention came, Douglas was in high hopes, but he was again put aside for a north- ern Democrat, Buchanan. However, he came much nearer the goal than four years before. He had gained many votes in the southland, but not quite enough to be nomin- ated by his party. This must have been a keen disap- pointment to Douglas, for he had thrown open a vast region, hitherto free, to slavery to please the South. He had gone through fire and water to defend himself from the angry North — all to win favor with the slave holders. Now he was coldly put aside for one less worthy. Slave Holders Try to Force Slavery upon Kansas. The pro-slavery men in Kansas soon got together and made a constitution favoring slavery. They would not let the people of the territory vote on it fairly, so the free-soil people there refused to vote on it at all. The pro-slavery men declared it adopted, and asked Congress to admit Kansas as a slave state. The southern Democrats were eager to do this, and so was President Buchanan, while the Republicans and anti-slavery men were boiling in STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS THE GREAT DEBATES 237 anger. But the Democrats were in the majority, and were about to admit Kansas when Douglas interfered. He told his party that the Kansas election was not fair, and that there were frauds in it. He insisted on giving the Kansans another chance, and a fair chance, to vote on this consti- tution. Douglas said he cared not whether slavery was voted up or voted down, but that for an honest election he would stand to the last. ''Superb fighter that he was, he had a fighter's best opportunity — great odds to fight against, and at last a good cause to fight for. President Buchanan threateningly reminded Douglas that 'no Democrat ever broke with a Democratic administration without being crushed.' Doug- las scornfully retorted, 'Mr. President, I wish to remind you that General Jackson is dead.' The whole South, so lately reciting his praises, rose up against him and reviled him as a traitor." They accused him of deserting them in order to make sure of his reelection as Senator from Illinois. But few of his fellow Democratic Senators had the courage to follow him. So magnificent was his fight, that almost single-handed, he forced the great slave power to send back to Kansas her slave constitution, with permis- sion to vote on it again. In this second election the people of Kansas voted slavery down five to one. A Warm Welcome Home. There was rejoicing all through the North over the victory for freedom in Kansas, and Douglas was highly praised for insisting upon honesty and fair play. Upon his return to his home state to stand for reelection as Senator, Chicago gave him a royal welcome. He realized that he would have a hard fight when he heard who was to be his opponent, for the Republicans had enthusiastically named Abraham Lincoln as their candidate. Douglas feared Lincoln more than he did the ablest men in Washington. 238 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Lincoln^s Stand on Slavery. The speech that Lincoln made when he was nominated for Senator against the "Little Giant" won for him wide fame. ''A house divided against itself," he said, ''cannot stand." ''I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not exj>ect the Union to be dissolved, I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." This was a bolder stand than his party wished him to take. When he read this speech privately to his friends before he gave it in public, they all, save one, dis- approved of these sentences and urged him to leave them out. His party managers told him these words would hurt his chances of election. Lincoln replied, ''If it is decreed that I should go down because of this speech, then let me go down linked with the truth — let me die in the advocacy of what is just and right. ... I would rather be defeated with this expression in the speech than be victo- rious without it." Lincoln Challenges Douglas. Lincoln awaited Doug- las's arrival at Chicago, heard his speech and answered him the next night. He followed Douglas into the center of the state, and challenged him to a series of joint debates before the people of Illinois on the questions of the day, chief of which was slavery extension. Douglas would rather have faced any other man in America than Lincoln. He hesitated, then accepted the challenge. The "Rail-splitter" against the "Little Giant." Lin- coln's friends trembled for the result, for Douglas was known all over the country as the ablest off-hand speaker and debater to be found. He had met and defeated all the great statesmen in Congress. Dashing, brilliant leader that he was, he had become the idol of the masses. Lin- coln was scarcely known outside of his own Prairie State, THE GREAT DEBATES 239 and his followers were yet few. He knew the marvelous power of his opponent as an orator, and the great risk he himself was facing, but he felt that he had truth and justice on his side, and he believed that he could hold his own. Douglas in Hard Straits. Lincoln had no fame to lose, but everything to gain, while Douglas had a national reputation. Besides, he wished to fasten his grip on the senatorship until he could again make the race for Presi- dent, and he dared not forget that the entire South was hearing every word and watching every move. Douglas represented an old party with old theories, while Lincoln was put forward by a new and enthusiastic party that stood for freedom and against slavery. Side by side, on wooden platforms, in the open air, stood the great rivals, with farmers by the thousand gathered to hear them. There stood "Honest Old Abe," lean, long-limbed, and awkward, and by his side the ''Little Giant," scarce five feet high, but compactly built and full of energy. Lincoln's voice was high pitched, strained and unpleasant, while the voice of his opponent was that of a trained orator. In gesture and manner, too, Douglas had the advantage, for Lincoln was stiff and ungraceful. In language Douglas was bold, fluent, and severe. Lincoln's speech was simple, forceful, and so logical that Douglas could neither dispute nor evade its truth. Many had thought that Douglas would make short work of the ''Rail-splitter," but it was evident that he had at last met his match. At the close of the first debate at Ottawa, Lincoln was carried away on the shoul- ders of his rejoicing admirers. Lincoln's Shrewd Questions. In seven cities these giant debaters met, while the whole country was reading their speeches. They put questions to each other to be answered before the people. Lincoln so framed his ques- 240 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS tions on slavery that Douglas would either have to please the people of lUinois and displease the South, in which case he would never be elected President; or he must please the South and displease his home state, in which case he would lose the senatorship. Douglas answered as Lincoln thought he would, won the senatorship, but disappointed the slave states; and thus his chances of some time living in the White House were forever ruined. Lincoln Champions the Negro. Douglas accused Lincoln of trying to make the slave the equal of the white man. In reply Lincoln said, ''There is no reason in the world why the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas, that he is not my equal in many respects — certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral and intellectual endowments. But in the right to eat the bread, without leave of anyone else, which his own hands earn, he is my equal, and the equal of Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man. All I ask for the negro is that if you do not like him, let him alone. If God gave him but little, that little let him enjoy." The chief difference between the views of Lincoln and those of Douglas was in regard to slavery in the ter- ritories. Douglas stood for the principle of ' 'Popular Sovereignty," as expressed in his Kansas and Nebraska Bill — that is, that the people of each territory should decide for themselves, when their territory entered the Union, whether or not they should have slavery. Lincoln held that since slavery was a great evil, it ought not to be allowed to spread over the territories. It should, he thought, be confined to the fifteen slave states where it then existed, with the hope that it would some day die out entirely. THE GREAT DEBATES 241 Lincoln's Defeat and Victory. While Lincoln failed to defeat Douglas for Senator, he was beaten by but a few votes. The ''Rail-splitter" suddenly awakened to find himself famous throughout the land. Invitations came to him from all the great cities of the North to lecture, and in this way he became well known, and a most promising can- didate for the Presidency. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. What is meant by a ''figure of speech"? Illustrate. 2. Explain the literary meaning of the sentence, "Douglas explodes a bomb." 3. Get from the dictionary, or your history, the meaning of the expression ''Squatter sovereignty," and tell how it was related to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. 4. Contrast the attitudes of Lincoln and Douglas on the ques- tion of slavery. 5. Give a brief account of the conduct and results of the Great Debates. LESSON HELPS A Convincing Answer. When Judge Douglas says that who- ever or whatever community wants slaves, they have a right to have them, he is perfectly logical, if there is nothing wrong in the institution; but if you admit that it is wrong, he cannot logically say that anybody has a right to do wrong. When he says that slave property, and horse and hog property are alike to be allowed to go into the Territories, upon the principle of equahty, he is reas- oning truly, if there is no difference between them as property; but if the one is property held rightfully, and the other wrongfully' then there is no equahty between the right and wrong. —From Lincoln's Speech at the Sixth Debate. RECOMMENDED READINGS Morse's Life of Lincoln. Dial, Vol. 15, Page 263. Life of Lincoln. McClure, Vol. 5, Page 481; Vol. 6, Page 2. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates. Sparks. Decisive Dates in Illinois History. Jones. CHAPTER XX This man whose homely face you look upon, Was one of nature's masterful great men; Born with strong arms, that unf ought battles won; Direct of speech and cunning with the pen; Wise, too, for what he could not break, he bent. — Richard Henry Stoddard. NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN The Debates Make the "Rail-Splitter" Famous. One of the first men among Lincoln's friends to believe it possible to nominate him for President, was Jesse W. Fell, who had been traveling in the East during the time of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Finding that Lincoln's speeches attracted so much attention everywhere, and that they were copied by many eastern papers, Fell returned to Springfield to urge Lincoln to make the race for the Presidency. ''I have been East, Lincoln," said he, ''as far as Bos- ton . . . traveling in all the New England states, save Maine; in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania^ Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, and everywhere, I hear you talked about. Very frequently I have been asked, 'Who is this man Lincoln, of your state, now canvassing in oppo- sition to Senator Douglas?' ... I usually told them we had in Illinois two giants instead of one; that Douglas was the little one, as they all knew, but that you were the big one, which they didn't at all know." 242 NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 243 His Friends Determined. Throughout the year 1859, a few of Lincoln's life-long friends worked quietly to arouse the Prairie State for ''Honest Abe." It was arranged first to have the country newspapers come out one by one for Lincoln. Later, city papers were to take up his cause. Soon Lincoln began to receive offers of aid from unexpected quarters. In reply to one editor he wrote: 'T must in all candor say I do not think myself fit for the Presidency." Early in 1860, so many were urging him that he became convinced that, fit or not, he was in the race, and he consented to write the little sketch now known as his autobiography. His Autobiography. 'T was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. ... My father removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. . . . There I grew up. There were some schools, so called, but no qualification was ever required of a teacher beyond readin', writin', and cipherin' to the rule of three. I have not been to school since. I was raised to farm work, which I continued until I was twenty- two. At twenty-one, I came to Illinois, Macon County. Then I got to Salem County, where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. Then came the Black Hawk war, and I was elected a captain of volunteers, which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I ran for the Legislature the same year, 1832, and was beaten, the only time I have ever been beaten by the people. In 1846 I was elected to the Lower House of Congress. ... I was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise (Kansas-Nebraska Bill) aroused me again. What I have done since is pretty well known. I am in height six feet four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing on an average one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse, black hair and gray eyes." 244 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS ''There is not much of it," he apologized as he sent the sketch in, "for the reason, I suppose, that there is not much of me. If anything be made out of it, I wish it to be modest, and not to go beyond the material." The Illinois Convention. When the Illinois Republicans held their state convention at Decatur, on May 9th and 10th, 1860, Lincoln received a strange ovation. While the delegates were in session, Lincoln came in to look on and was invited to a seat on the platform. Soon after one of his friends offered a contribution to the conven- tion, which was accepted. A curious banner made of two fence-rails decorated with flags, was borne up the hall. On it was this inscription: ABRAHAM LINCOLN THE KAIL CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1860 Two rails from a lot of 3,000 made in 1830 by Thos. Hanks and Abe Lincoln — whose father was the first pioneer of Macon County. \ The convention wildly applauded this banner, and shortly after Lincoln was enthusiastically named as the choice of the Republicans of Illinois for President. Too Inexperienced for the East. Eastern men did not yet consider Lincoln seriously. They made long lists of suitable candidates for President, but made no mention LINCOLN AND HIS SON "TAD NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 247 of Lincoln. A few had read his speeches, but because he was a great debater was no proof that he would make a good President. The East naturally preferred a man with more experience as a statesman. The National Convention. The National Republican Convention opened in Chicago on May 16, 1860. For days before, delegates, politicians, and newspaper men were thronging the pioneer city. The friends of each candi- date brought along a big crowd of his men, hired to march and to cheer at every mention of their favorite. Nev/ York brought 2,000 to applaud the name of Seward. A celebrated band accompanied each state delegation. Hundreds of spectators flocked hither, until there were said to be 40,000 strangers in the city during the conven- tion. Processions, with bands at their heads, marched the streets with banners and hissing rockets, shouting for Seward, for Cameron, for Chase, or for Lincoln. Illinois was not to be outdone. Lincoln banners floated across the streets and upon prominent buildings. AVhen Lin- coln's friends saw the great crowd of ''rooters" for Seward they gathered together 10,000 ''Hoosiers" and ''Suckers," everybody in Chicago with fog-horn voices, to march, shout, or fight for the "Rail-splitter." The Wigwam. The convention met in a rude structure built especially for the occasion, by the Chicago Republican Club. In true western style, it was called the Wigwam. There were crowded into it at the opening of the convention 10,000 persons. As each candidate's name was introduced there was deafening applause by his followers. At the name of Lincoln, 5,000 people jumped from their seats with one wild yell. The Sew^ard men were confident; but Lincoln shouters made the greater noise. As the roar died away a voice cried "Abe Lincoln has it by the sound now; let us ballot!" 248 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The Wild Balloting. There were eight other candi- dates besides Lincoln and Seward, and the Illinois workers tried to unite all those opposed to Seward to vote for Lin- coln. They worked night and day to bring this about. The delegates proceeded to vote. On the first ballot Seward led with 173 J votes, Lincoln being second with 102. On the second ballot Pennsylvania threw her 52 votes to Lincoln. Other scattering votes brought his gain to 79, while Seward gained but 11. To win, required 234 votes. All those opposed to Seward now began throwing their votes to ''Honest Abe," who received on the next ballot 231 1". The excitement was intense, and every- body was keeping count. Instantly the chairman of the Ohio delegation shouted: ''Mr. President, I rise to change four votes from Mr. Chase to Mr. Lincoln." A mighty shout from ten thousand voices broke forth. Men leaped, tossed their hats and canes into the air, and the ladies waved a sea of flags and handkerchiefs. How the News Was Received. The Seward men were broken-hearted, and their leader, Thurlow Weed, burst into tears. A man on the platform shouted to one sta- tioned on the roof: "Hallelujah, Abe Lincoln is nom- inated!" A cannon roared the news to the multitudes in the streets below who took up the shout. Whistles on the river, on locomotives and factories, broke forth and soon the prairies resounded with hurrahs, spreading gradually with the news to other cities and states. ''Hurrah for our cause — of all causes the best! Hurrah for old Abe, Honest Abe of the West!" News Telegraphed to Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln was in Springfield nervously awaiting the result, when suddenly a messenger boy rushed pell-mell into his office shouting, "Mr. Lincoln, you are nominated!" The shout was taken up on all sides and people flocked about their hero, half- NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 249 laughing and half-crying, shaking his hands when they could get them, and when they could not, one another's. Lincoln was overjoyed, but realizing what it all meant, he said, "My friends, I am glad to receive your congrat- ulations, and as there is a little woman down on Eighth Street who will be glad to hear the news, you must excuse me till I inform her." And off he hastened, only to find her already acquainted with the good tidings. Mrs. Lincoln for years had firmly believed that her husband deserved to be President, and that he would some day have that honor; and her faith was now being justified. The Platform. Lincoln's party platform pronounced slavery an evil, and while denying any intention of inter- fering with it in the states where it then existed, demanded that Congress prohibit it in all the territories. The Democratic Party Splits over Slavery. The Democrats held a convention and split in two sections over the question of slavery in the territories. The northern wing named Douglas as its candidate, and declared for popular sovereignty; that is, that Congress must keep hands off and let the people of the territories vote slavery in or out. The southern wing again put Douglas aside because they advocated that nobody, not even the people, had a right to interfere with slavery in the territories; that it was the duty of Congress to protect it there. So, they named Breckenridge as their standard bearer. The break in the Democratic ranks made the election of Lincoln a certainty, and the southern states prepared to break away from the Union to form a government of their own, with slavery as the chief comer stone. The Campaign of 1860. In Illinois every schoolhouse and grove resounded with stirring speeches and the music of bands. Our people seemed to give themselves up entirely to this great campaign. With two sons of Illinois in the 250 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS contest, the Douglas and Lincoln men fought for every inch of advantage in this state, and when the votes were counted Douglas's great popularity was shown by his falling below Lincoln in his home state by only 13,000 votes in a total of 330,000 votes cast. Lincoln's Training. Many thought Lincoln unfit for the great office, but his preparation was better than they knew. He had drunk the cup of poverty and associated with the poor. As farm-hand, as rail-splitter, as flat-boat- man, as sawmill tender, as grocery-keeper, as militiaman, as surveyor, as lawyer, as member of the Legislature and Congressman, Lincoln knew every phase of life and all classes of people, and they believed in him. He had known years of trial and disappointment, which was, in itself, fine training for the heavy load he was now to carry. Slave States Secede. Soon after Lincoln's election South Carolina seceded from the Union, followed quickly by six other slave states. Every lover of the flag was downcast, and the whole country looked anxiously to Lincoln with some hopes, but with many fears, for he was yet an untried man, and an awful burden lay upon his shoulders. Bids His Neighbors FareweU. Lincoln left Spring- field for Washington, February 11, 1861, and his friends and neighbors gathered about him at the station to bid him farewell. He addressed them briefly, saying: ^'My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appre- ciate my feelings of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF LINCOLN 251 Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us con- fidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care com- mending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell." TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Bring to class an account of an incident in the life of Lin- coln that you have read from some book in the hbrary or at home. 2. Recite five facts concerning Lincoln's fife that are given in his autobiography. 3. Describe the scenes attending the nomination of Lincoln. 4. Upon what issue did the Democratic party divide in this campaign? LESSON HELPS Leader Wanted. "Make our Lincoln your leader; he has a heart that we can trust," and Lincoln was made the heart of the people in the great cause of human rights. Lincoln, who had been true to his father, when the experience had cost him years of toil- some hfe. Lincoln, who had pitied the slave in the New Orleans market, and whose soul had cried to heaven for the scales of Justice. Lincoln, who had protected the old Indian amid the gibes of his comrades. Lincoln, who had studied by pine-knots, made poetry on old shovels, and read law on the lonely roads. Lincoln, who had a kindly word for everj'body, and yet carried a sad heart. Lincoln, who had resolved that in law and politics he would do just right — Hezekiah Butterworth. RECOMMENDED READINGS Nomination of Lincoln. Scribner's Magazine, Vol. 14, Page 654. Life of Lincoln. McClure, Vol. 7, Page 79; Vol. 8, Page 43. Illinois and Her Noted Men. Gillespie. Decisive Dates in Illinois History. Jones. CHAPTER XXI Let the American youth never forget that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils and sufferings and blood of their ancestors; and capable, if wisely improved and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, of property, of religion, and of independence. — Joseph Story. ILLINOIS IN THE WAR STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS Foresees Defeat and Pleads for Union. The split in the Democratic party made it impossible for either the northern or southern wing to elect their candidate, and Douglas realized, long before the election, that he could not win. When he heard during his tour of speech-making, that the Republicans were gaining strength in the North, he said, ' 'Lincoln is the next President. I have no hope and no destiny before me but to do my best to save the Union from overthrow. Now let us turn our course to the South." He proceeded through the heart of the cotton states making speech after speech, appealing to the maddened southerners not to lift their hands against the Union their fathers had made. His plea was noble, full of patriotism and love for the old constitution, but the South would not hear. His Following. The November election, 1860, gave Lincoln 180 electoral votes, while Douglas had only 12, 252 ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 253 having carried but one state. But in the votes of the people, he was not far below Lincoln, whose total was 1,866,452, while Douglas's was 1,376,957. No other statesman — not even Henry Clay — ever had a more devoted following than the ''Little Giant," and these million voters looked to him for guidance. For twenty-five years, when he came before the people, Douglas had never suffered defeat. The great question of that hour was, whether he would swing these million followers to the support of Lincoln and the Union, or whether the North was to be broken by party hatred and the South to be allowed to separate in peace. Douglas's attitude toward Lincoln was manly. When Lincoln arose to give his inaugural address, and was looking awkwardly about for a place to lay his hat that he might adjust his glasses, Douglas came forward and gracefully took it from his hand. This courteous act was taken to mean that he proposed to support Lincoln in defending the flag. A True Patriot. Defeat only served to show more clearly than before the nobleness and true patriotism of Douglas. He returned to Congress to labor night and day, in season and out of season, to save the Union. He begged and pleaded with the Republicans of the North and Dem- ocrats of the South, to adjust their differences by each side yielding a little. He said he was walling to give up his doctrine of "Popular Sovereignty" and to restore the Missouri Compromise line, if that would satisfy both sections. The Republicans were willing to yield to every demand except slavery in the territories, but the stubborn slave power would yield not one inch of advantage. South- ern men now withdrew from Congress to join the Confeder- ate army, and rebel guns were soon trained at the Stars and Stripes above Fort Sumter. But Douglas did not live to see the end of the awful strife. 254 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The **Little Giant" Supports ''Honest Abe." Before the booming of the cannon died away Douglas was closeted with Lincoln at the White House — the two leading men of the nation, both from Illinois — devising means of saving the country. One historian says that it was the ''most momentous conference ever held on the western hemi- sphere." What ^ the former rivals said to each other in that critical hour we do not know, but from what occurred afterward we know that Douglas promised to swing the entire northern wing of the Democratic party to the support of ''Honest Abe" in saving the Union. Without this support Lincoln could not hope to hold the country together; with it, he not only saved the Union but blotted out the curse of slavery from our soil. Urges North to Stand By the Flag. After the important conference with President Lincoln, Douglas stated his position to the newspaper men, and it was published and read from ocean to ocean. He said that he was prepared to sustain the President in preserving the Union and main- taining the government. He said that the Capital was in danger and must be defended at all hazards, and at any expense of men and money. Senator Douglas immediately left Washington and traveled through the country, arous- ing the people with his own loyal sentiments as no other man could. He was never before so earnest, and had never before spoken with such power. Douglas at Springfield. Douglas finally went to his own state capitol, and spoke before both houses of the Legislature. The South, he claimed, 'had no cause that would justify their "mad attempt to overthrow the Repub- lic." He said he had labored for some compromise to avert war, but that now there was but one thing to do: "Forget party, remember only your country. Allow me to say to my old friends, that you will be false and unworthy of your JOHN A. LOGAN ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 257 principles, if you allow political defeat to convert you into traitors. The shortest way now to peace is the most stupendous preparation for war." Douglas at Chicago. His Last Speech. From Spring- field, the "Little Giant" hastened to Chicago, where a vast crowd received him in the Wigwam where Lincoln had been nominated. Again he urged all Americans, and faithful Democrats especially, to stand by the Union. ''There are," he said, ''only two sides to this question: every man must be for the United States or against it. . . . There can be no neutrals in this war, — only patriots and traitors. ... I express it as my conviction before God, that it is the duty of every American citizen to rally around the flag of his country. . . . Illinois has a proud position, — united, firm, determined never to per- mit the government to be destroyed. ... So long as hope of peace remained I pleaded and implored for compromise. Now that all else has failed, there is but one course left, to rally as one man to the flag of Wash- ington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison and Franklin." The great audience listened with breathless interest, and again and again broke into the wildest applause. Loyal to the Last. As those patriotic words fell from the lips of Douglas, they were telegraphed over the land and read by millions, from ocean to ocean. Thousands were awaiting the word of their leader, and no one can measure the part that Douglas took in uniting all Northerners to preserve and protect the flag. Douglas lived but a few months longer, but long enough to see his supporters springing to arms and marching to the front. Less than three months after the firing upon Ft. Sumter, Douglas lay upon his death bed at the Tremont House, Chicago, sending this last message to his sons who were far away: "Tell them to obey the laws and 258 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS support the Constitution of the United States." These were his last words. RICHARD YATES Important Position of Illinois. The stand taken by Illinois in the war was of supreme importance. Our state extended farther south, and nearer to the heart of the '^ Cotton Kingdom" than any other free state, Cairo being in the same latitude as Richmond, Virginia. There were then almost no railroads running from north to south, and for transporting troops and supplies for the great armies, the Mississippi and its tributaries — the Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee and Cumberland — were of vast consequence. Whoever held Illinois would control all these waterways, by planting cannon at Cairo. For another reason Cairo w^as important. It was the southern terminus of the Illinois Central railroad. Here, too, was the natural starting point for Union armies going south. Morever, Illinois was bordered on two sides by the slave states of Kentucky and Missouri, and the action of our state toward the Union would exert a strong influence on the stand of these two border slave states. So, it was evident that Illinois was the keystone of the Union in this conflict, and many were anxious to see if she would uphold the hands of her noble son in the White House. Loyalty of Governor Yates. In his inaugural address given three months before the fall of Fort Sumter, Governor Richard Yates, of Illinois, said that the people of this great Mississippi valley would never consent to let any portion of it pass to any other government, and then be required to pay a tax on all goods sent down this important waterway. "Before that day shall come," he said, "the banks of the ^Father of Waters' will be a continuous sepul- cher of the slain." On the question of the union of the ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 259 states, he declared that Illinois would stand firm. ''The foot of the traitor has never yet blasted the green sward of Illinois. All the running waters of the Northwest are waters of freedom and union; and come what will, as they glide to the great Gulf, they will by the Ordinance of 1787, and by the higher ordinance of Almighty God, bear only free men and free trade on their bosoms." Governor Yates took a bold, fearless stand for the Union, and by his patriotic words and vigorous deeds aroused the Prairie State, from the Wisconsin line to Cairo, to do its full share in putting down the rebellion. Illinois Answers the Call. When President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand men to defend the flag. Governor Yates lost no time in summoning forth the sons of Illinois. Douglas men and Lincoln men forgot their differences, and hastened to enlist in the ranks. They came, too, in such numbers that our share of the call was soon filled, and many had to be turned away. The Secretary of War, realizing the importance of the control of Cairo for the Union, telegraphed Governor Yates to occupy that town as soon as he had mustered in enough troops to hold it. Our energetic war governor did not wait for the mustering of troops, but, in less than forty-eight hours, had a special train flying thither, bearing General Swift, of Chicago, with four batteries of artillery and six companies of infantry. They arrived none too soon, for a force of Confederates was moving in that direction. Southern Sympathy. You will remember that southern Illinois was settled mainly by immigrants from slave states. So, a good many people of our southern counties naturally sympathized with the South. When the loyal people in one of those southern villages had called a meet- ing to enlist a company for the Union army, southern sym- pathizers rushed in upon the meeting, overpowered the 260 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Union men, tore up their flag, chopped down the flag pole they had just raised, and broke up their meeting. The Union men wrote to Governor Yates, asking what they should do about it. He told them to call another meeting, get a flag and a pole, and, if the disturbers again interfered, to kill as many as possible. ''And if a jury can be found in Illinois that will convict any one of you for defending the flag of your country, I will pardon him." Under the patriotic leadership of Yates, Illinois sent into the field 259,000 men who were organized into 156 regiments of infantry, seventeen of cavalry, and two of artillery. No other state furnished more, save Ohio and New York. It was Illinois troops mainly that prevented Missouri from going with the South; it was largely Illinois troops that bore the brunt of battle in Grant's magnificent cam- paign for the possession of the Mississippi, which broke the backbone of the South. Illinois at Shiloh. Illinois' share of the glory of these western campaigns may be well illustrated by the battle of Shiloh. A large percentage of the men in the ranks in this battle were from the Illinois prairies, and they proved themselves brave men. A large proportion of the men who carried the muskets, as well as those w^ho wore the shoulder straps in that dreadful conflict, were from our own state. First among the Union generals at Shiloh was Ulysses S. Grant, ably assisted by generals McClernand, Prentiss, Wallace, Hurlburt, McArthur and Stuart, — all from Illinois, and they were all heroes in that fight. The only aide to Grant who did not hail from our prairies was General Sherman. When news of the dreadful carnage at Shiloh reached Governor Yates, he at once chartered a steamboat, and was soon on his way to the battlefield with physicians, nurses and medical supplies, to care for the wounded. ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 261 When the boat touched at Pittsburg Landing, the scene of battle, the soldiers had heard of the coming and mission of the Governor, and wherever he appeared cheers went up for ''Dick Yates the Soldiers' Friend." A thousand sick and wounded Illinois boys were soon carried on board the steamboat. Some could not yet be moved, so dangerously were they wounded, and their disappointment was pitiful. One poor fellow said bitterly, that he would be entirely satisfied if he could only go home to die. When told that the Governor was coming back for them, he asked: ''Does the Governor say he will come after us?" "He does," was the reply. "Then he will come," said the dying man, "Dick Yates never broke his word to a soldier." When the Governor returned this poor soldier was lying in his grave. Of all the many loyal state governors during the war, none were more patriotic and untiring in supporting Lincoln than our own Governor — Richard Yates. JOHN A. LOGAN Logan's Boyhood. From childhood, John A. Logan lived on the borders of Kentucky and Missouri, in that extreme southern part of Illinois known as "Egypt." His father was a country doctor, and Logan grew up on a farm. Even as a boy, Logan believed in fair play, and always gave warning of what might be expected from him. Once, when the squirrels were destroying his father's corn, Logan was set to guarding the crop. He wrote out in his boyish handwriting this notice and posted it on a tree by the cornfield: 7 give notice to all the squirrels to keep out of this cornfield. If they don't keep out they will he shot. John A. Logan. 262 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS A Douglas Democrat. Logan's mother was a native of the South, and his associates had always been southern people, or those of southern parentage. It was but natural that he should feel a sympathy with the southland. Edu- cated for the law, Logan early entered politics as a follower of Douglas, and was elected to Congress. He thought Lincoln and the Republicans had brought all the trouble on the country, and said so in strong language. Demands Free Speech for All. But Logan loved the Union and the old flag under which he had fought in the Mexican War, and appreciated the liberties guar- anteed by that flag, one of which was the right of free speech. Though he disliked the Abolitionists, he thought they had a right to speak their opinions. Upon one occa- sion, when Owen Lovejoy the Abolitionist arose in Congress to make a speech against slavery, several southerners shook their clenched fists in his face, and dared him to utter a sentence, at the peril of his life. Lovejoy insisted on the right of free speech, for which his brother had Ipid down his life at Alton, but the southerners only grew more excited. Suddenly, Logan appeared at Lovejoy's side, saying, ''He is a representative from Illinois, the state that I was born in, and which I also have the honor to represent. He must be allowed to speak without interruption, other- wise I will meet the coward or cowards outside of this House, and hold them responsible for further indignities offered to Mr. Lovejoy." The fire-eaters knew that Logan meant what he said, and so took their seats and allowed Lovejoy to make his speech. Experiences a Change of Heart. In 1860, Logan was sent to Charleston to help nominate Douglas for the Presidency. Here he first saw the auction-blocks and slave-pens of the South, and he felt in his heart that sla- very was wrong, and that he could no lo-nger endorse it. ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 263 Logan at Bull Run. When the boys in blue and those in gray were marshaling their forces upon the battlefield of Bull Run, Logan left the halls of Congress and hastened to join the Union Army, where he fought that day as a private. When the northern army broke and ran, Logan tried to rally them, but his vigorous language did not stop them. He was among the last to leave the field. Someone asked who the soldier was with a silk hat, and was told that he was John A. Logan, Congressman from Illinois. Logan then came home to follow the flag, and if need be, to ''hew his w^ay to the Gulf." He found many people in "Egypt" undecided whether to join the South or the North, but his loyalty led them all, save a few, into the Union Army. In fact his district furnished more Union soldiers, in pro- portion to its population, than any other in the whole country. Loyalty to the Union. But the "Copperheads" and disloyal Democrats taunted Logan, calling him an Abo- litionist. He replied, "If loving the flag of our country and standing by it in its severest struggle — if that makes us Abolitionists . . . then I am proud to be an Abolition- ist, and I wish to high Heaven that we had a million more. . . . The man that today can raise his voice against the Constitution, the laws of the Government, with the design of injuring it . . . should, if I could pass sentence upon him, be hung fifty cubits higher than Haman, until his body blackened in the sun and his bones rattled in the wind." A Valiant Soldier. Logan soon took rank as our great- est volunteer soldier, and was held in high repute as a general. In battle he always sought the post of danger where the blows of death fell thickest. "Fearless as a lion, he was in every part of the field, and seemed to infuse every man of his command with a part of his own indom^ 264 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS itable energy and fiery valor.'' Bareheaded, he often rode along the battle line, encouraging his men. Upon one occasion he was sitting upon his black stallion, too far in front of his command, when another general rebuked him for exposing himself. Logan replied that he didn't care a continental where he was, so long as he got into that fight. Remembers Faithful Veterans. After he had shown his splendid bravery on a score of battlefields, and the Union was saved, Logan came home to serve his state in the Senate. He never forgot, in the honors of later years, the battle-scarred patriots who had followed him to victory at Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Atlanta. ULYSSES S. GRANT Unknown and Unsuccessful at Thirty-nine. When the war cloud darkened the sky in '61, there was working in a leather store in Galena, Illinois, a man who had grad- uated at West Point, and had served with honor in the Mexican war as a captain. But he had resigned to enter business life, in order to better provide for his family of six. He had tried various occupations — farming, real estate, and politics, but in each he had failed. At last his father, disappointed at his son's failures, gave him this position as clerk in his store. This soldier's name was Captain Ulysses S. Grant. Captain Grant had resided in Galena almost a year, but few people knew him, because he lived such a quiet life. He talked so little that he has been called the ''Silent Man." Back to the Army. The people of Galena were soon enlisting a company for the war, and knowing that this "Silent Man" had been a soldier, because he sometimes w^ore the only blue army overcoat in town, they called upon him to help organize the company. Captain Grant ULYSSES S. GRANT ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 267 seemed to know so much about drilling, equipping and getting the boys ready for the war, that they offered to make him captain of their company; but he declined, because after his long service, he thought he ought not to accept a lower command than that of colonel of a regiment. However, he agreed to go with the company to Spring- field, and to assist them until they were mustered into service. Goes Begging for a Regiment. At Springfield, he found Governor Yates' office thronged twenty rows deep with office-seekers. After days of waiting, Grant was admitted to the Governor's presence to say that the ''Joe Daviess Guards" from Galena were ready to be mustered in, and that he would like to serve his state in some capacity. The Governor simply said: 'Tm sorry to say. Captain, there is nothing for you to do now. Call again." Grant's bearing was not that of a trained soldier, and he was not in the habit of boasting of his ability. There was nothing to indicate to the Governor that this plain man had the qualities of a great general. Since no impor- tant politicians were urging Grant's appointment, he was put aside for others, some of whom proved totally unfit for army office. His Loyalty. Grant departed from the Governor's office sorely disappointed. He had left home with a slen- der purse, and was in no position to wait long. He said to a friend: "I'm going home. The politicians have got everything here, there's no chance for me. I came down because I felt it my duty. The government educated me, and I felt I ought to offer my services again. I have applied, to no result. I can't afford to stay here longer, and I'm going home. Rejected at Home — Applies Elsewhere. The Governor, however, needed some experienced soldiers to help muster 268 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS in the many companies now gathering at Springfield, and he asked Grant to aid in this work. In mustering the Seventh District regiment, Grant made a favorable impres- sion upon the men and officers. However, their colonel had already been appointed, and there was no chance here for him. It looked as though his home state would offer him no command, so he made his way to St. Louis. But Missouri had no place for him. He applied to the Governor of Indiana, with the same result, and he set out for Ohio, his native state, hoping to receive a regiment of ''Buckeyes" to lead against the South, or to secure a place on the staff of General McClellan, a comrade of the Mexican war, who now commanded the Department of the Ohio. For two days. Grant tried to see McClellan at his headquarters in Cincinnati, but failed. Appeals to Washington. Meantime, Grant had written to the War Department at Washington, but his letter was unanswered. The letter was somehow misplaced, and never reached the eyes of Lincoln nor the War Secretary. The government was in sore need of just such experienced soldiers to organize and drill the raw armies, but such was the pressure for office that the wrong men often got the responsible places. While in Cincinnati, Grant met an old boyhood friend who begged him to wait there while he himself went to Columbus. He told Grant there ought to be a command for him somewhere. Offered Two Regiments. When his friend returned from the Ohio capital, with a commission appointing Grant colonel of the Twelfth Ohio regiment, he found the ''West Pointer" already rejoicing over a telegram from Governor Yates, asking: "Will you accept the command of the Seventh District regiment?" Grant had already accepted the Illinois command, but Ohio almost robbed ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 269 the Prairie State of the glory of sending to the front this man from Galena, who was destined to become the greatest Union general of the Civil War. Who Discovered Grant. Grant's appointment came about in this way. The colonel of the Seventh District regiment, the Twenty-first Illinois, had lost control of his men. A bread riot broke ^out in the regiment and sol- diers had burned the guard house. The men were foraging among the farmers, stealing chickens and pigs. The disorderly behavior of the troop at last became unbear- able. Since the colonel could not stop this rowdyism, Governor Yates decided that a change must be made. So he called the officers of the regiment before him to ascer- tain their choice for the position. Having seen a little of Grant, they expressed a strong preference for him, and the Governor gave him the appointment. Grant took hold of the command with energy, and was soon off to the war with the best disciplined regiment in the state. Lincoln shortly afterward made Grant Brigadier General, with head- quarters at Cairo. Two Big Jobs. There were two great tasks for the Union army to do, in order to conquer the seceded states and save the Union. The first one was to cap- ture the rebel forts along the Mississippi. This would open this great river to Union boats with their soldiers and provisions, and it would cut the South into two parts. The other task was to capture Richmond, the rebel capital. Grant Opens the Mississippi. Lincoln gave Grant a large army and a fleet of gunboats, and told him to haul down the rebel flags along the Mississippi, and this unflinch- ing fighter set out to do it. He captured the forts, Henry and Donelson, defeated a great rebel army at Shiloh, and completed the job by starving them out of Vicksburg. 270 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Saves a Starving Army. Meantime, the Confederate General Bragg had cooped up and surrounded a large Union army under Rosecrans, in Chattanooga, and was starving them into surrender. Since Grant had not thus far failed in a single undertaking, Lincoln called upon him to rescue the starving Union men. The sturdy fighter from Galena made short work of it. He soon carried pro- visions to the hungry troops, and sent the rebels flying southward with General Sherman in pursuit. The Other Task Still Undone. For three long years, Lincoln had been looking for a general who could whip Robert E. Lee and capture Richmond. General after general, with immense armies had tried it, only to fail. McClellan, McDowell, Burnside, Hooker, and Meade, each in turn, marched upon Richmond, but Lee with a smaller army drove them back one by one, and himself had threat- ened the city of Washington. Succeeds George Washington. Congress now created the high office of Lieutenant General, a position hitherto held only by George Washington. Lincoln promptly gave this great command to Grant, turned over to him the control of all the Union armies, and sent him after Lee. For months Grant hammered away at Lee's fortifi- cations, saying that he would fight it out on that line if it took all summer. He finally made it so hot for that famous general that he abandoned Richmond and retreated, only to be surrounded by Grant and forced to surrender. Within four years, nearly half a million men went to their graves, that the Union might be preserved and the nation freed from slavery. Boys and girls of Illinois may take just pride in knowing that no other soldier con- tributed so much to that mighty achievement as the modest clerk of Galena, who was almost unknown, even among his own townsmen, when the war began. ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 271 ABRAHAM LINCOLN What the People Thought of Abraham Lincoln. The world knew little of the splendid character of Lincoln and of his ability to manage men when he entered the White House. The South heaped abuse and ridicule upon the ''Black Republican President," while even the North had many doubts, because he was yet untried. Many Northerners believed that Lincoln would never be any- thing but the tool of Chase or Seward, or whoever proved the strong man in his cabinet. The Shrewdness and Foresight of Lincoln. When Lincoln went to Washington, the South thought there would be no war because the North was not united on the slavery question, and not likely to be. But Abraham Lincoln was a far-sighted man. In his inaugural address he put slavery in the background and made the Union first. About slavery, he simply said he had no right and no inclination to interfere with it in the states where it existed, but that he meant to prevent its spread to the territories. The Union he would maintain. Sometime afterward, Lincoln made this reply to the fault-finding of Horace Greely: ''My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and, if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and, if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. ... I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views." The shrewd Lin- coln thought he might not be able to unite the North and 272 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS bring it to the fighting point on the question of slavery, but he beUeved that all Northerners loved the Union and the flag, and for these they would fight. Afraid to Strike First. The South did not want a war, least of all did they want to strike the first blow. In any fight, it always looks bad for the party that strikes first, unless he has right on his side. The South hoped if there must be a fight that Lincoln would begin it. Now, '^Honest Abe" was far too wise to make that mistake. He believed, if the South first fired upon the flag without good cause, the North would rise as one man to avenge the insult. Besides, it would put the South in a bad light with foreign countries from whom they expected help, and with the border slave states that had not yet left the Union. So, Lincoln played a waiting game. Week after week he waited patiently for the South to fire the first gun. Many began to criticise the President for his attitude of delay, but Lincoln knew what he was about. Attempts to Get Sumter Without a Battle. The South held nearly every fort in their territory except Fort Sum- ter, in Charleston harbor. They had again and again summoned its brave commander, Captain Anderson, to give it up, but he told them he did not propose to haul down the Stars and Stripes unless Lincoln ordered him to do so, that, if they got that fort, they would have to fight for it. Being unwilling to fire the first gun, they sent commissioners to Washington to prevail upon Lincoln to give up Sumter. They found that Lincoln had made up his mind to do no such thing. So they went to Secretary Seward whom they considered the real President. Seward, who had perhaps done more than any other anti-slavery man to provoke the war, now weakened and said he was in favor of giving up Ft. Sumter. He told Lincoln so. Everybody, even General Scott, advised the ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 273 President to abandon Sumter, but the people now found out who was President. Lincoln the Real President. Supplies in the fort were low and could last but a few days. There was no way of reaching it but by water, for the -rebels had surrounded it with an army, and were in high hopes that Anderson would soon have to leave it or starve. Lincoln now informed the South that he meant to send food to the fort, but he would not send ammunition nor men. The southern men could no longer restrain themselves. Unable to get possession in any other way and being unwilling to see it provisioned, the rebels opened fire upon the Stars and Stripes. After holding out grand y for thirty-six hours, Anderson surrendered. Lincoln immediately called for 75,000 men to defend the flag, and now the united North responded with 300,000. It was the supreme patience and good judgment of ''Honest Abe" that united the North and saved the border states. His Cabinet. One of the hardest tasks Lincoln had was choosing his cabinet advisers. He wanted the strong- est men in the country to help him guide the ship of state, so the people would have confidence in him and stand by him; he wanted, so far as possible, to get men who believed as he did, so he might have harmony m his official family But, he put the Union above everything else, and determined to do a risky thing-to take into the cabmet four men who had been his rivals. Seward, Chase, Bates, and Cameron had all been candidates against him at Chicago, and now he asked them to be his advisers. Nobody thought Lincoln could manage them or hold them together. They had little respect for the -Rail-splitter." Each one expected to be the "boss," but they did not yet know Abraham Lincoln. 274 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Lincoln's Forgiving Spirit. It made no difference to the great-souled Lincoln whether these statesmen had slighted or mistreated him, if they could only help him save the Union. Stanton had gone about the country saying many bitter things. He had called Lincoln *'01d Ape," ''Ignorant Baboon," and 'The Original Gorilla," and he even said that the new President was neither honest nor patriotic, that he had mismanaged things terribly. Now, Lincoln soon needed a strong man to take Cam- eron's place as Secretary of War, and he came to the con- clusion that Stanton was the best man he could find. He thought Stanton was able and loyal to the Union; besides, the people believed in him, so he was called into Lincoln's cabinet. Stanton continued to be haughty and overbear- ing toward the President, but Lincoln patiently endured the slights. Once when Lincoln was entertaining his log-cabin cousin, Dennis Hanks, in the White House, this simple, quiet guest became disgusted with the conduct of Stanton and urged Lincoln "to kick the frisky little Yankee out." But Lincoln replied: "It would be difficult to find another man to fill his place." The lion-hearted Stanton, however, came at last to appreciate the greatness of Lincoln. When the President lay dead, pierced by the assassin's bullet, Stanton looked upon the body, saying, "Now he belongs to the ages." "Lincoln," he later declared, "was the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen." Father Abraham Frees the Slave. When the time came that Lincoln thought he could help the cause of the Union by setting the slaves free, he called his cabinet together. He told those great statesmen that he had decided to free the slaves. He said he did not wish their advice as to whether or not he should do this, for he had already prom- RICHARD YATES ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 277 ised it both to himself and to his Maker, but he would like their opinions as to how best to put his proclamation into effect. Then, with a stroke of his pen, he freed four million slaves. So it was with almost every great question that came up. Lincoln always listened to the advice of his cabinet and everybody else, but he had usually made up his mind beforehand after a careful consideration, and he seldom changed his plans. Bearing the Nation's Burdens. During the darkest days of the war, when the northern armies had met with severe defeat and terrible loss of life at Chancellorsville, or Fredericksburg, and when there was mourning in almost every home in the land, President Lincoln was bearing an awful load of care and sorrow. It was then that everybody was criticising and blaming him. Delegation after dele- gation, committee after committee, went to Washington to protest about something, and Lincoln with his mind weighed down and his hands already full, had to listen patiently to all this petty and unjust criticism. To a body of clergymen who came to complain and to tell him how the war ought to be managed, Lincoln said: "Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was in gold and you had put it in the hands of Blondin (the famous tight-rope walker) to carry across the Niagara river on a rope. Would you shake the cable, or keep shouting at him, 'Blondin, stand up a little straighter— Blondin, stoop a little more— go a little faster— lean a little more to the north— lean a little more to the south'? No, you would hold your breath as well as your tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. The government is carrying an enormous weight. Untold treasures are in their hands. They are doing the best they can. Don't badger them. Keep silence and we will get you safe across." 278 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Lincoln's sad face seemed to grow sadder, and his long, thin body to grow thinner. Often he could neither eat nor sleep. Stanton once said to a friend: ''Many a time did Lincoln come in after midnight in an agony of anxiety occasioned by dispatches he had received. He Would throw himself at full length on the sofa and cry out: 'Stanton, these things will kill me! I shall go mad I I can't stand it!' " Comforting Words From a Friend. Among those who visited the White House during those dark days was a company of ladies who found the President in deep gloom. His face looked as if it never smiled. But a little Quaker lady spoke words of comfort. "Friend Abraham," she said, "thee need not think thee stands alone. We are praying for thee. The hearts of the people are behind thee, and thee cannot fail. Yea, as no man was ever loved before does this people love thee. Take comfort, Friend Abraham, God is with thee; the people are behind thee." "I know it," said Lincoln, with trembling voice. 'Tf I did not have the knowledge that God is sustaining and will sustain me until my appointed work is done, I could not live. If I did not believe that the hearts of all Loyal people were with me, I could not endure it. My heart would have broken long ago. . . . You have given a cup of cold water to a very thirsty and grateful man. I knew that good men and women were praying for me, but I was so tired I had almost forgotten. God bless you all." Popular with the Plain People. During these years of trial and worry, the plain people had come to under- stand and to love Lincoln. They had read and appreciated his stories and homely wit. His noble heart, tender sympa- thy and rugged honesty had won him hosts of friends everywhere. Politicians might criticise and scheme to put. ILLINOIS IN THE WAR 279 somebody else in his place, but the millions of common people declared that 'Tather Abraham/' as they lovingly called him, was the only man to finish up that cruel war and save the Union. The end of his four-year term was approaching, and the discontented were looking about for another candi- date. They asked Grant to run, but that hero replied, ''No, my place is with the army. Lincoln should be reelected." Reelected. When the Republican Convention met at Baltimore, in June, 1864, Illinois again presented her noble son, Abraham Lincoln. A roll call of states was then taken. One state after another answered: ''Solid for Lincoln," until all but one of the thirty states and territories had voted solidly for him. The Democrats ran General McClellan, but "Father Abraham" swept the country. Both North and South Mourn. Scarcely had Lincoln served a year of his second term, when the southern armies were forced to surrender. The long and cruel war was over, the Union was saved, and the slaves were forever free. Amid the general rejoicing, the world was over- whelmed with sorrow to learn that the noble Lincoln had been struck down by the assassin's bullet. While his body was being carried to its final resting place on the prairies that he loved, the whole country was in mourning. The South, too, grieved because it felt that it had lost a powerful friend. Our Supreme Contribution. Every citizen of Illinois may take a just pride in the service of her sons in the Civil War. There was Douglas, who died praying for the Union; Richard Yates, our patriotic war Governor, who did everything in his power to uphold the cause of Lin- coln; Logan, and a score of other officers, who faced Con- 280 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS federate guns without flinching; and the tens of thousands of men from Illinois, who displayed their bravery on many a battlefield; and the world-famous General Grant, who led the Union armies to victory; and, above all, the immortal Lincoln, who gave his life to free the slaves and to preserve the Union. ' 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Write a short biography of Stephen A. Douglas. 2. Name five incidents in the life of Douglas that confirm the statement of one historian that in courage and intellectual ability he was superior to any other American in public life at the time. 3. Explain how the geographic position of Illinois made this state an important factor in the Civil War. 4. What can you say of the character and deeds of Governor Yates? 5. Give an estimate of the character of Logan and of the value of his services to the Union. 6. Give the principal events in the hfe of Grant from 1862 to 1865. 7. Relate an incident illustrating the sympathetic nature of Lincoln. LESSON HELPS Illinois in the Rebellion. Almost simultaneously with the call for troops, enlistments commenced, and within ten days 10,000 volunteers offered service, and the sum of near $1,000,000 was tendered by patriotic citizens to procure supplies, for which the State in sudden emergency had made no provision. The women of Illinois, in common with others all over the land, were the first to relieve the sufferings of the soldier. In this they were actuated not only by a heroic love of country, but their kin- dred were enduring the privations of war, and who like them could feel for their distress? How many weary sufferers on the battle field, and in the lonely hospital, were relieved by their bounty and cheered by their presence, none but the recording angel can tell. — From Chapters in Illinois History. CHAPTER XXII In a land like ours, where every citizen is a sovereign and where no one cares to wear a crown — every year presents a battlefield and every day brings forth occasion for the display of patriotism. — William Jennings Bryan. LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO Chicago's First Railroad. The very year that the Illinois-Michigan Canal was completed (1848), the ''iron horse" made its first appearance in Chicago. This loco- motive steamed westward on the newly built railroad for Galena and the Mississippi River. Valuable lead mines, known for a hundred years to the Indians and French, had early attracted American miners and settlers to Galena, where a prosperous city grew up, with a splendid trade. Up to this time, the Galena com- merce had all been carried to the East by water, by way of New Orleans. Her people now wished to trade with the giant young city on Lake Michigan, and through this port with the East. This brought about the Chicago and Galena Union Railroad, which is now a part of the Chicago & Northwestern system. Chicago's Wonderful Location. Four years later Chicago was connected by rail with the Atlantic seaboard, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Michigan Central, both tapping Chicago trade in 1852. With this start, other railroads came rapidly, for it was easy to build across the level prairies. The upper Mississippi region of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas began a rapid settlement and growth, and 281 282 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS railroads that would run into this boundless Northwest from the East must all pass around the southern end of Lake Michigan, through Chicago. Then, too, roads from the West and Southwest, reaching out for the Great Lakes, found Chicago to be the nearest port. When the time came to connect New York with San Francisco by rail, Chicago was again found to be in a direct line. With these iron rails running out in all directions, Chicago was fast becoming a railroad center, besides being the center of canal and lake traffic from north to south. Situated as it is in the heart of the continent, at the head of lake navigation, and in the midst of the finest grain and stock-raising section in the world, Chi- cago had, by 1870, developed into a great commercial center, a shipping point, the seat of a wholesale and retail distributing trade, of grain and live stock markets, of meat packing and tanning industries. The iron ore from Lake Superior, and the fuel from the Illinois coal fields, met here to build up important iron and steel works. There were at that time 300,000 people living in the city limits, covering thirty-six square miles. Chicago had raised herself out of the mud to a level from eight to fourteen feet higher, had built substantial waterworks, paved her streets, bridged the river in many places, and at others tunneled beneath it. Chicago business men were facing the future with enthusiasm and bright prospects, when a dreadful calamity occurred. Swept by Fire. On Sunday night, October 8, 1871, the city of Chicago was swept by fire. A little before nine o'clock in the evening, flames were discovered in the barn belonging to Patrick O'Leary, located southwest of the heart of the city. The season had been very dry, little rain having fallen for six weeks. That part of the city where the fire originated was built up chiefly of wooden buildings, "CHICAGO IN ASHES" 284 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS and, besides the homes, contained some lumber mills and a match factory. There was a high wind blowing from the southwest. The Wind Carries Burning Shingles. Almost instantly the buildings surrounding the barn were in flames. In thirty minutes the fire had spread over the entire block and had overleapt the streets. The firemen worked hero- ically, but they were powerless. The flames were sweeping the earth and sky, and the wdnd, now blowing a gale, was carrying burning shingles far and wide. Fresh fires broke out in many places, as much as a mile distant from the scene. The progress of the conflagration was unparalleled. In sixty seconds it traversed an entire block, and the frightened people fled before it for their lives, leaving to its fury all their property and goods. Waterworks Burn. Throughout the night the fire raged unchecked. The courthouse bell kept up its warning to the people. When at last, this building, too, was sur- rendered to the flames, the janitor set the bell so that it continued its faithful clanging, until it fell at half-past two in the morning. The waterworks burned and, thereafter, there was no water at hand with which to fight the flames, except along the lake front; but there was no use fighting. The lake crib, although two miles from the burned district, would have been destroyed, except for the all-night fight of the keeper and his wife. The Business and Residence Districts in Ashes. Soon the fire, having laid low the entire business district, now known as the ''Loop," approached the main Chicago River, beyond which was the north side residence district with its thousands of fine homes. The people had anxiously hoped that the river would stop the fire, but the roaring flames leaped easily across, and all hope of saving this beautiful residence section was gone. LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO 287 From the following letter, written by Mrs. Mary Fales to her mother, we get a vivid picture of those awful days: ''Chicago, October 10, 1871. Dear Mamma: You have probably heard of our fire, and will be glad to know that we are safe, after much tribulation. Sunday night a fire broke out on the west side, about three miles southwest of us. ' The wind was very high, and David said it was a bad night for a fire. About two o'clock we were awakened by a very bright light, and a great noise of carts and wagons. . . . They thought the fire would stop when it came to the river, but this proved no obstacle, and the north side was soon on fire, and Wells and La Salle streets soon crowded with peo- ple going north. We saw that with such a wind it would soon reach our neighborhood, and David told me to pack what I most valued. It seemed useless to pack in trunks, as every vehicle demanded an enormous price, and was engaged. Several livery stables were already burned, and loose horses were plenty. One of the Wheeler boys had a horse given him for nothing except the promise to lead it to a safe place. . . . Having no wagon, it was of no use to him, and David took it, and after a while, succeeded in finding a no-top buggy. We felt very lucky as no one around could get either horse or conveyance. David packed it full of things, set me and himself on top, and started to the Hutchinson's. I cannot convey to you how the streets looked. Every- body was out of his house without exception, and the sidewalks were covered with furniture and bundles of every description. The middle of the street was a jam of carts, carriages and wheelbarrows, and every sort of vehicle — many horses being led along, all excited and prancing, some running away. ... I was glad to go fast for the fire 288 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS behind us raged, and the whole earth, or all we saw of it, was a lurid, yellowish red. David left me at Aunt Eng's and went for another load of things. This he soon brought back, and then went off again, and I saw him no more for seven hours. People came crowding to Aung Eng's, and the house was full of strangers and their luggage. One young lady, who was to have had a fine wedding tomorrow, came dragging along some of her wedding presents. One lady came . . . with six blankets full of clothing. Another came with nurse and baby, and, missing her little boy, went off to look for him. This was about daylight, and she did not come back at all. Now and then some- body's husband would come back for a moment, but there was work for everybody, and they only stayed long enough to say how far the fire had advanced and assure us of safety. The Hubbards thought they were safe in a brick house with so much ground around it, but wet their carpets and hung them over the wooden facings for additional safety. It was all to no purpose. David saw our home burn and fall, and theirs suffered the same fate. The McCagg's large house and stable burned in a few minutes, also the New England Church and Mr. Collyer's. In the afternoon the wind blew more furiously, the dust was blinding, the sky gray and leaden, and the atmosphere dense with smoke. We watched the swarms of wagons and people pass. All the men and many of the women were dragging trunks by cords tied to the handles, and children were carry- ing and dragging big bundles. Soon they said Aunt Eng's house must go too. Then such confusion as there was! Everybody trying to get a cart and none to be had at any price. After a while two of the gentlemen, who had wagons, carried their wives farther north, and those that were left watched for empty wagons, but nobody spoke a word. Mr. Hutchinson, David, and some others, were tak- LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO 289 ing things out and burying them, and many of the ladies fairly lost their wits. Poor Aunt Eng even talked of sending home a shawl that somebody left there long ago. David started for a cart. Again he was successful, and got an old sand cart with no springs, one board out of the bottom, with a horse that had not been out of the harness for twenty-four hours. . . . The west side was safe, but to get there was the question. The bridges were blocked and some burned, but the man who owned the cart thought we could get there. . . . Many times we were blocked and it seemed as though the fire must reach the bridge before we did. But we were much too well off to complain. Some carts had broken down, horses had given out, and many people were walking and pulling big things, and seemed almost exhausted. Furniture and clothing lay all along the road. The fences were broken in all the unbuilt fields, and furniture and people covered every yard of space. After a ride of two hours we reached Judge Porter's at dusk, and found a warm welcome. Ever}^ family I know on the north side is burned out. I can't enumerate them. It would be useless. . . We were the only ones who took our things from Aunt Eng's. The lady with six bundles left five behind her. The lady with four servants . . . left the baby and nurse. I never felt so grateful in my life as when I heard the rain pour down at three o'clock this morning. That stopped the fire . . . David says the piano burned under ground, nothing was left but the iron plates. The north side is level, as is the burned part of the south side, so that the streets are not distinguishable. They say that people in every class of life are out of doors. The churches are full, and food is sent to them, but hardly anybody has any to spare. I will write again soon. Lovingly and thankfully, MARY." 290 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS The Results of the Fire. The fire raged for three long days and nights, destroying the best residence section and the entire business district. The burned area was four miles long and two-thirds of a mile wide. Nearly sixteen thousand buildings and a hundred seventy-five manufac- turing plants were in ashes. One-third of Chicago's population was homeless, and thousands penniless. The prices of food soared, though fast express traing brought load after load to the stricken city, and millions of dollars were freely given to its relief. Real estate values shrank, and many sold to move away. Hundreds left the city, predicting that Chicago would never recover. Sad, indeed, were the faces of the multitude, as they looked upon the ashes of their once beautiful homes and fine business blocks. Many, however, believed the ruins before them would yet become a great city. Nature Planned Chicago. Long before man appeared in the western wilderness, Nature called in convention the Spirit of the Prairies, the Spirit of the Lakes, and the Spirit of the Forests, and they decided that on this spot there should some day arise a great city. The Spirit of the Prairies said that it would supply vast crops of grain and herds of live stock, to make the city a great market. The Spirit of the Forests promised the lumber, while the Spirit of the Lakes said it would carry the immense trade to the ocean and the cities of the East and bring back from the northern lakes millions of tons of iron and copper ore, building stone and lumber, to make the future city a manufacturing center. The only other thing needed was an abundance of fuel. ''Good," said the Spirit of the Prairies. 'T have thousands of square miles of fine coal lands not far away. On the border of this lake, by this river, shall the city be built." LATER TIMES IN CHICAGO 291 Chicago Rebuilt. The conflagration had indeed checked, for a brief time, the proud city's growth and prosperity, but her great advantages would build her up again more wonderful than before. Within a few years, not a scar was left. That which some had said would require twenty years .was achieved in three. From the ashes arose finer homes and more imposing business blocks than, perhaps, would have existed for many years, but for the great fire. Chicago's misfortune advertised her the world over, and hither came workmen to find employment, and men of all classes to share in her prosperity. So the metropolis of the West continued her marvelous growth. Chicago Again in Trouble. A big problem for all large cities is how to dispose of their sewage. Chicago had been draining all its sewers into the sluggish river, and as the population approached the half-million mark, the river water became so heavy with refuse from sewers that it failed to carry its load into the lake. The offensive odor became an unbearable nuisance and a danger to public health. So in 1880, the city built a big plant to pump lake water through a tunnel into the river, in order to increase the volume and flow of water, and thus help to carry away the sewage. This brought relief for a time, but the popula- tion grew so rapidly, that before long the lake water was becoming contaminated from the river, and unfit for use. Some other way of disposing of the sewage had to be found, because there was nowhere else for the city to get water except from the lake. Engineers were asked to solve the problem. They said the best solution was to dig a huge, deep drainage canal through the low divide to the Des Plaines River, and by this means to reverse the cur- rent in the Chicago River, making it flow south into the Des Plaines. This, they said, would carry all sewage by way of the Des Plaines into the Illinois River, and on, to 292 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS the Mississippi. A good many people laughed at the idea of making a river run up hill, for so it seemed. Such a stupendous sewerage project had never before been undertaken by a great city, but Chicago likes big tasks, and seeing no other way out of her troubles, began at once to collect the millions of money needed. The cities along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers uttered a vigorous protest. They claimed that the drainage from Chicago would pollute the waters of the Illinois and Mississippi, which were their only source of supply. To this the engineers replied, that by making the drainage canal large enough to carry an abundance of lake water the river would purify itself as it flowed along. Special laws had to be secured from the Legislature, and a sanitary district organized, in order to levy the taxes necessary to complete this great project. Work was begun in 1892. The river was deepened by dredging for five miles, to Robey street on the south branch, where the canal proper begins. It was to be twenty-eight miles long, more than a hundred feet wide, and deep enough for large lake vessels, for it was to be used for navigation, also. For miles it was blasted through solid rock at a vast expense. At Lockport, the southern terminus, where the water is discharged into the Des Plaines, there was built a large basin, so that boats could turn around. After eight years, the work was completed, at a cost of thirty-three million dollars, and the water from Lake Michigan now flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This drainage canal is doing what its engineers said it would, and Chicago's water supply is now excellent, and the city is noted for its low death rate. Evanston has completed a canal from the lake to the north branch of the Chicago River, and in this way that city, too, discharges its sewage through the drainage canal. LATER TIMES IN CHICx\GO 293 The World's Columbian Exposition. As the year 1892 approached, there arose all over the country a desire to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the dis- covery of America by Columbus, by holding somewhere a great exposition. Many cities sought the honor, and vied with each other in Congress to secure the exposition, but Chicago won over them all. Jackson Park was chosen as the site, and here were laid out magnificent grounds cover- ing six hundred sixty-six acres. Under the excellent direc- tion of Daniel H. Burnham, assisted by hundreds of the best artists and architects in the land, the wonderful "White City'' was built. Nothing like it in beauty and grandeur had ever before been seen on the western con- tinent. Because of the extensive plans and mammoth buildings, the exposition had to be postponed one year. In the spring of 1893, it opened its gates with splendid promise. All through that summer and autumn, thousands of visitors from all parts of the world flocked thither, and none were disappointed. Almost every foreign country had its build- ing, and a display of the wonders of its progress. The exposition proved a great means of collecting ideas from all over the world, and scattering them broadcast, to benefit the human race. Chicago enjoyed a boom in all lines, and the entire state was greatly benefited in many ways. The varied and beautiful architecture of the "White City" opened the eyes of the West. Our people had never dreamed, how far behind the other countries of the world we were in architecture and art. We were used to big buildings, but we had no idea of the importance of making them beautiful. From that day, Chicago people have made great strides in beautifying their city, as is shown in her noble boulevards, magnificent parks, and beautiful edifices. 294 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. What is meant by the statement, ''Nature planned Chicago"? 2. What reasons can you give why a ship canal should be built from the Lakes to the Gulf? 3. What conditions have arisen in Chicago that make the con- struction of a passenger subway necessary? 4. Name three civic improvements which in your judgment would be of most benefit to the city, and give your reasons. LESSON HELPS The World's Columbian Exposition. The exhibits of the great fair were bewildering in their attraction and their numbers. Never before in the world's history had such a collection of the products of art, science, and manufactures been made. It seemed nothing was wanting of the best that the world could give from every nation and every clime. The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 had appealed chiefly to the artistic and the sentimental; the World's Columbian Exposition, while equally artistic and far more extensive, aimed chiefly to show the progress of the human race during the preced- ing four hundred years. For example, in the transportation build- ing were exhibited the old Conestoga wagon and the stagecoach of a hundred and fifty years ago, side by side with the best equipped modern locomotive. So, in many exhibits, the old and the new were contrasted in such a way as to present most strikingly to the eye the wonderful progress of modern times. — Henry W^illiam Elson. RECOMMENDED READINGS New Chicago. Outlook, Vol. 92, Pages 997-1013. IlHnois of Today. Pritchard. Ilhnois As It Is. Gerhard. Chicago After the Fire. Scribner's Magazine, Vol. 17, Page 663. CHAPTER XXIII Still sits the schoolhouse by the road, A ragged beggar sunning; Around it still the sumachs grow, And blackberry-vines are running. — John Greenleaf Whittier. THE SCHOOLS OF ILLINOIS An Inspiring Picture. When the school bells rang this morning throughout the length and breadth of our state, a million pupils took up their studies and orderly reci- tations. The great majority of them did this under conditions favorable to health and happiness. The class- rooms in the main are fairly well lighted and heated. The sanitation is much improved, there is usually an abundant supply of pure water, and but few schools where drinking cups are used in common. The instruction is in the hands of teachers competent to give the needed help to all. Under these circumstances, this is a good time to look into the past and to question the future, that we may understand how far we have advanced in the right direction and what remains yet to be done. Looking Backward. As you have learned, the spirit of the free public school was planted in the Northwest Terri- tory by the Ordinance of 1787. In the act creating the Territory of Illinois, Congress made a public school system possible by setting aside the sixteenth section, or one of equal value, in every township, — 998,448 acres in all, — for that purpose. Three per cent, of the net proceeds from the sales of all public lands in the state was given by the 297 298 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS general government for the encouragement of education, with a provision that one-sixth part of such revenue should be used to establish a college or university. Pioneer Schools. Even with all this assistance from the government, the schools were in a bad condition. The people were too poor to tax themselves to pay the teachers, and the receipts from the school lands, much of which was sold at $1.25 an acre, brought but little relief. A law taxing the people for the support of the schools was passed in 1825, but there was so much opposition that it was repealed four years later. Meanwhile the cause of public education fell to a very low stage. The schoolhouses were either poorly built of logs, or some abandoned building was used for the purpose. The courses of study were usually limited to instruction in the three R's — '^Readin', 'Ritin' and 'Rithmetic." The whole school studied and recited together from such books as could be brought from home. In some instances a spelling book or the New Testament was made to do duty for the entire school, the pupils reciting ''out loud," and in concert. The teacher, who was too often an incompetent adventurer, either ''boarded around," or traveled from house to house, spending part of the day instructing the children of each family. Sometimes he received his pay in produce, pork, beef, corn or tallow — and in one instance at least, a calf. There was no fixed standard by which teachers' certificates were granted, the principal question asked the applicant being whether he could "keep order." A teacher of those days in describing his first examina- tion says: "The only question asked me at my examina- tion was 'What is the product of twenty-five cents by twenty-five cents?' As this question did not occur in Pike's Arithmetic, I could not answer it. The examiner thought it was six and one-quarter cents, but was not sure. THE SCHOOLS OF ILLINOIS 299 We discussed its merits for an hour or more, when he decided that he was sure I was qualified to teach school, and a first-class certificate was given me." Better Schoolhouses Needed. If one takes a ride through the state on any railroad, the country schoolhouse is the most familiar object in the landscape. It is painted white, and stands in a field or school ground, lonesome and alone, — "a ragged beggar sunning." There is but one door and that opens directly into the schoolroom. The windows are high and narrow, and placed at regular intervals on three sides, and it sometimes happens that no shades are provided to regulate the light. The heating is done with a stove that is placed where it should not be, and is an ever- present danger to the clothing of the pupils and to the building itself. In many instances there is no means of ventilation except by opening a window or door. Thanks to the State Superintendent and many ener- getic County Superintendents, the people are being instructed in a wiser way of building. Plans for almost any type of rural school may be had at a small cost. These plans show the proper method of lighting, heating and ventilating, and how to make the building most attractive at smallest cost. Improve the Schooi Grounds. Here and there we find a school yard planted with trees and made beautiful with shrubs and flowers. But a great work remains to be done, and this work must be begun and carried forward by the pupils themselves. No more pleasant and profitable task can come to those who read this book than an earnest effort to make the school grounds beautiful. Study the soil and its possibilities. Read the flower and seed cata- logues, and garden magazines. Plan and work under the direction of the teacher, and for your own sake, make it a labor of love. 300 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Looking Forward. While our schools are rapidly improving, the country boys and girls are still at a dis- advantage; not because the farmer is unwilling to pay taxes, but because the country teacher has to instruct thirty or more classes a day, representing usually several grades of advancement. On the other hand, the city teacher has, ordinarily, not more than a dozen classes, and these all of one grade. Centralized rural schools must wait for good roads, the limestone for which nature has given us in abundance; but it still lies beneath the surface. Surely, the young who read this book will do what they can to centralize the rural schools when they grow to be men and women, and they will try to make them as good as the efficient township high schools now found all over the state. Above the excellent graded schools and the high schools, are the normal schools, colleges, and the splendid State University at Urbana, of which we all may be proud. So ample are the opportunities for an education that no boy or girl need to go into life handicapped by ignorance. The State's Chief Treasure. Marvelous as are the resources of Illinois in minerals, soil and rivers, our greatest wealth lies not there, but in the boys and girls who are to be the men and women of tomorrow. The state is levying heavy taxes in order that its future citizens may be well trained. To this end every property owner, whether he has children to educate or not, must bear his part of the cost of the schools. The poor man pays next to nothing, and yet his children share equally the benefits of the public schools with the children of the rich. Truly, ours is a land of liberty and enlightenment. Who are True Citizens? But what our dear old Illinois needs today, perhaps more than anything else, is more unselfishness among its citizens. Thousands of men and women, after receiving their education in the pubhc schools, THE SCHOOLS OF ILLINOIS 301 fail to show their love for the state and their interest in its welfare. They become so engrossed in their own private affairs that they will not give enough time to see that good men are elected to office. They allow dishonest and cor- rupt politicians to get control, and these bring the state of Douglas and Lincoln into disgrace before the nation. Every citizen, deserving the name, should be interested in politics, and not only take enough time from business to vote upon every occasion, but, if he really loves his state, he should be present in political councils where candidates are agreed upon. Political machines we must have, for that is merely another name for organized work, but we can and must make these machines serve the best interests of the public. TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. Draw a floor plan of a one-room schoolhouse. Locate the teacher's desk, and state in the margin how you would heat the building. 2. If you wished to enlarge the above to a two-room building, would you place the added room at the side or above the first? Give reasons for your answer. 3. Make a diagram or plan of the school yard, and place an X where each tree should be planted. 4. Name five of the most desirable kinds of shade trees for planting in Illinois. 5. What kinds of shrubs are best suited to withstand a severe winter? What is meant by "hardy perennials"? LESSON HELPS To the Parents and Pupils of Illinois: If an inhabitant of Mars, gifted with superior vision, could have looked down upon the State of Illinois in the early September days, he would have beheld a scene of unusual interest — a million children on their way to school. L^p from the farm, along the wind- ing country roads, up from the villages and towns, out from the 302 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS great cities, comes this multitudinous army of children. Where is the Pied Piper with his magic flute who charms this host of chil- dren from their homes? Listen! Ten thousand bells ring and the pace quickens. That is the magic flutem and the piper, the thirty thousand teachers of the State of Illinois. To what mountain does he lead them? To the mountain of the common school. Why? Not to destroy them; not to ahenate them from their parents and homes; not to hide them in the dark interior of misery and gloom, but to lead them up the mountain side; up into the sunshine and the Ught; up into a clearer and wider vision; up into the presence of the God of truth who shall write with His finger upon the tablets of their hearts and minds, the laws of art and science; the beauty of know- ing and doing; the sweetness of being and serving; the decalogue of a wholesome, happy hfe. This is what we hope the Martian saw, heard and believed. Let us hope that the twenty-six millions of dollars spent each year on the common schools shall not be wasted; that the thirty thousand teachers shall not toil in vain; that the million of children shall not cortie back empty-handed. To realize this ideal, calls for the earnest, intelligent, loyal support of the parents in the homes of Illinois. Yours sincerely, — F. G. Blair, State Superintendent. We are added unto by every living thing we love and care for. Therefore let us respect and do good unto the other forms of life in order that we may do the greater good unto ourselves. Let us harbor and love the birds. And in order that they may have a har- bor and a nesting-place for their young, let us plant a tree. The associations with the tree and the birds and the abiding memory of them will be our complete reward. We do those who are to come after us a lasting good by planting trees and shrubs on the school grounds. There are now one thou- sand one hundred twelve school yards in Ilhnois without a tree. — Hon. Francis G. Blair. RECOMMENDED READINGS The Boyhood of Lincoln. Butterworth. The Evolution of Dodd. Smith. lUinois School Report, 1908-1910. CHAPTER XXIV Stand to your work and be wise — certain of sword and pen, Who are neither children nor Gods, but men in a world of men! — A So7ig of the English — Rudyard Kipling. OUR HISTORIC OUTLOOK An Unrivaled Boundary. There is perhaps no other state in the Union so favored in its boundaries as our own. The navigable Wabash River defines one hundred fifty miles of the southeastern limits of the state; for a hundred miles across the southern border winds the beau- tiful Ohio, bearing steamboats and barges loaded with valuable merchandise; w^hile the entire western boundary is formed by one of the most important river in the world, the Mississippi. These, together with the fifty miles of frontage on Lake JMichigan, give us a water boundary unequaled for its commercial advantages. Navigable Waters Within the State. Besides, there are navigable rivers within the state, the Kaskaskia, the Rock, and the Illinois, the last being five hundred miles long, and navigable for small boats for two hundred fifty miles. The Illinois and the Rock are connected by the Hennepin canal, which w^as recently completed at a cost of eight million dollars. Water transportation w411 probably always be the cheapest, and, w^hile slow, can be used for heavy and bulky articles such as coal, lumber and stone, whose transit need not be rapid. The high cost of the necessities of life is due partly to the excessive freight charges of the railroads, and this will force us, sooner or later, to depend more upon the cheaper water transportation in which Illinois easily excels. 303 304 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Lakes-to-Gulf Waterway. Large steamers can now penetrate nearly forty miles toward the heart of the state, through the drainage canal; and many of our lead- ing statesmen believe that either the state or the national government ought to extend this deep waterway to the Mississippi. The old Illinois-Michigan canal is much too shallow for the boats of today, and so is little used. It would certainly be a wonderful commercial advantage to be able to load vessels at Chicago, or other lake ports, and send them to foreign countries by way of a great ship canal and the Mississippi. It would save a long haul by rail and reloading at some seaport. Some day this Lakes- to-Gulf Waterway may be realized, and when that day comes, Illinois will enjoy the advantages of a seaboard state. Underground Resources. There are no precious metals, such as gold and silver, found in Illinois, but this lack is overbalanced many times by the abundance of other mineral deposits. A large part of the state is underlaid with limestone, and there have been discovered recently, splendid oil fields in the southern part of the state. But by far the most important under-soil w^ealth we possess lies in our boundless coal fields, covering more than thirty thousand square miles, or nearly two-thirds of the state. In many places the deposit consists of vein after vein, varying in thickness from one to nine feet. After Pennsyl- vania, Illinois is the greatest coal-producing state in the nation, furnishing fuel for countless industries at home and abroad. As the years go by, this coal wealth will doubtless be mined much more extensively than at present. Illinois has been, hitherto, chiefly a farming section, but factories are certain to multiply in all our cities because of the convenience and abundance of fuel. OUR HISTORIC OUTLOOK 305 The Fertile Soil. With the exception of Louisiana and Delaware, ours is the most level state in the Union. There is very little waste land. The soil is a black loam of great fertility. For half a century, it has poured forth annually its hundred-fold of grain, even though sadly abused by the farmer While Illinois possesses the richest soil m the world it may vet be as poor as the worn-out hillsides of New England, unless those who till it, learn to conserve the elements of plant growth. There are three elements that are very necessary to plant production, and therefore to human food. They are nitrogen, potash and phosphorus, the last being, perhaps, the most important. Deprive the soil of any of these ele- ments and it will cease to produce crops. We are told that the average of the different kmds ot Illinois soils, for the upper seven inches of surface, contains 1 191 pounds of phosphorus per acre. But a seventy-five bushel crop of corn, for instance, will remove from an acre seventeen pounds of phosphorus. At that rate, the total supply of this element would be exhausted in seventy years, unless returned to the soil in some manner. The Prairies Abused. Our farmers have not always known the injury they were doing to the soil by raising on it the same crop every year, for a score of years They have not known that different crops take from the land different elements, and that what is taken out should be put back somehow; that it is best to rotate the crops and to turn the fields to different uses, so as to give the land a rest and a chance to gain back the elements taken out. Western farmers have burned up millions of tons of straw and cornstalks which contained large amounts of plant tood and which should have been scattered on the ground and allowed to decay, thus feeding their elements back to the soil. 306 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Some farmers have been guilty of plowing up and down the slope, and in this way assisting the water to form rills that during storms carry away the good top soil which alone contains plant food. It is said that the Mississippi carries into the Gulf every year enough good soil to support the entire population of Nevada if converted into farms. Much of this loss is due to the ignorance of those who sow and reap. Our Farmers are Kings. Through the splendid work of the Department of Agriculture and its experiment sta- tions, our farmers are learning how to secure greater yields, and at the same time to keep their fields well supplied with plant food by fertilizing, and by rotating crops. The number of people who can live on our prairies is limited only by the amount of human food obtainable from the earth. So, the future of the state lies almost wholly in the farmer's hands. How great it is to be depends upon how well he learns the lesson of conserving the richness of the soil. Illinois Excels in Railroads. In railroad mileage, Illinois has no equal, and to railroad building there seems to be no end. Interurban lines are spreading to the villages and farming communities. No other people are so blessed with transportation facilities as are those of our prairies. This leads to much travel and to the interchange of ideas. From travel comes the best of education and culture, and our advantages in this respect must become evident each year. Illinois has no large cities except Chicago, whose population was in 1910, 2,185,283, but other cities have fine locations and excellent sites for factories, and these factories are certain to appear because of the coal supply and the cheap water transportation of the future. Ours a Mixed Race. The people of Illinois are a remarkable mixture of races and nationalities. The early RAILROAD AND COUNTY MAP OF ILLINOIS 308 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS settlers came from many states of our o^tl country, and from many foreign lands. There were among them New Yorkers, Virginians and Yankees, and men from the various states of the South. From Germany, France and Holland, from the British Isles, and from Norway and Sweden, came hosts of hardy settlers. Such a sifting of the peoples of the earth as is sprinkled over our prairies is hardly found anywhere else in the world. The mixing of these nationalities by intermarriage has produced our energetic men and women of today. As we look back over the history of the past, we notice that" the mixed races — the Greeks, the Romans, the Eng- lish, — have made the most notable advances in civilization. Our country is the most remarkable of all times in this respect, and the mixing process still continues. No common- w^ealth can boast of a more noble or more varied ancestry than the Prairie State. The Outlook. No citizen of the state can read the story of Illinois without feeling a just pride in what she has done to upbuild the lives of her own people and to help others. There is no blot nor stain on the pages of her history. The past is secure, and we can turn to the future with the confident expectation that greater things are to come. With the passing of the hardships and privations of the pioneers have come wealth and culture, and these are being strengthened and made more effective by the broadening influence of travel. It was said in ancient times that all roads led to Rome. And so it is of Illinois. There is scarcely any great conti- nental route of travel that does not come within her bor- ders. Her gates are open to all the earth. If her people will grasp the opportunities that nature and circumstance afford, there is no ideal of future usefulness that may not be realized. OUR HISTORIC OUTLOOK 309 TOPICS FOR THOUGHT AND STUDY 1. With the map of Illinois before you, trace the boundaries of the state as given in the Appendix. Name all the waters touching upon the state, and tell whether navigable or not. 2. Name five minerals that comprise the principal underground wealth of the state. 3. What can you find from the encyclopedia or other sources regarding the origin of coal? 4. What is meant by ''intensive farming," and what has it to do with the future of our state? LESSON HELPS I can not too earnestly invite you to the closest personal atten- tion to party and political caucuses and the primary meetings of your respective parties. They constitute that which goes to make up at last the popular will. They He at the basis of all true reform. It will not do to hold yourself aloof from pohtics and parties. If the party is \sTong, make it better; that's the business of the true partisan'and good citizen. —William McKixley. America Means Destiny. The geographic conditions for Ameri- can growth seem to have been perfect. At a critical time in the history of European thought and life, a sturdy people needed a new field. That field was opened to them by the voyages of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was entered from the Atlantic side and opened so freely on those waters as to insure swift occupancy and a single dominion from ocean to ocean. It had the widest variety of surface, soil, and cHmate, and was fitted, or can be fitted, to produce nearly all that human comfort and intelligence can crave. The land is large enough to support an enormous popula- tion, and still produce a surplus for the markets of the world. The very largeness of American problems has helped to make a people able to solve them, and that people now finds itself fronting the two great oceans, where, more than any other nation, it can reach out and touch every part of the world. — Albert P. Brigham. RECOMMENDED READINGS Illinois. Washburne. Chicago Today. Scribner's Magazine, Vol. 17, Page 663. Illinois of Today. Pritchard. THE APPENDIX A. BOUNDARIES OF ILLINOIS The boundaries and jurisdiction of the State shall be as fol- lows, to-wit: Beginning at the mouth of Wabash River; thence up the same, and with the line of Indiana, to the northwest corner of said State; thence east, with the line of the same State, to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of said lake, to north latitude forty-two degrees and thirty minutes; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi River, and thence down along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio River, and thence up the latter river along its northwestern shore, to the place of beginning: Provided, thsit this State shall exercise such jurisdiction upon the Ohio River, as she is now entitled to, or such as may here- after be agreed upon by this State and the State of Kentucky. — The Constitution of Illinois, Article I. B. EXTRACTS FROM THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 Article I No person demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly man- ner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship, or religious sentiments, in the said territories. Article II The inhabitants of 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 common law. * * * 310 APPENDIX 311 Article III Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. * * * Article IV The said territory, and the states that may be formed therein, shall forever remain a part of this confederacy of the United States of America. * * * Article V 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 cession and consent to the same, shall become fixed and estabhshed as follows: * * * Article VI 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 convicted. * * * C. STATE CAPITALS By the first state constitution, Kaskaskia was made the capi- tal, when IlUnois was separated from Indiana in 1809. The consti- tution further provided that the General Assembly should "petition Congress for a grant to the State of four sections of land for a seat of the government." Congress granted the land to the state, March 3, 1819, and the capital commission at once set about to lay out the town, sell lots, and build a temporary capitol. The official records were moved from Kaskaskia to Vandaha, as the new town was called, December, 1820. , . , ^ , The first capitol was a small frame building, which was burned in 1823. Another building was erected at once, but was torn down in 1836, and a new one built in its place by the citizens of Vandaha, 312 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS who feared the capital would be moved to Springfield. This was done later, and the legislature selected Springfield as the seat of government in 1837. D. STATE CONSTITUTIONS Illinois has had three constitutions. The first, framed at Kas- kaskia, in 1818, was a very crude afTair, and mainly remarkable for its silence on important questions of government. The principal defects of the first constitution were corrected in a second, in 1848. JBut in this no adequate measures were provided for raising the money required to meet the needs of a rapidly growing state. The third, and present, constitution was adopted in 1870, by a vote of the people. It is in many ways a remarkable document, the phraseology being unusually clear and direct. But even now, the changing conditions that made the first and second constitu- tions inadequate, are creating an apparent necessity for a fourth constitution. The rapid growth of cities calls for new and greater powers than those contemplated in 1870, and the people will doubt- less soon be asked to vote again to adopt or reject a new constitu- tion, giving larger Dowers of taxation and self-government to munic- ipahties E. THE ILLINOIS-MICHIGAN CANAL The explorers who first made the portage from Lake Michigan to the Illinois River were early impressed with the possibility and advantages of a canal connecting these waters. And, coming down through the years, the project was often the subject of editorials, messages, and state papers. After several false starts and the unwise expenditure of a good deal of money, the canal was actually begun in 1836. The work progressed slowly till 1842, when operations were suspended, with a debt of $237,000. Work was again resumed in 1845, and the canal completed in 1848, at a total cost of six and one-half million dollars. APPENDIX 313 F. THE MORMONS The "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," or the Mormon Church, as it is usually styled, had its beginning at Fay- ette, New York, in 1830, and Joseph Smith was its first president. The church built its first temple at Kirtland, Ohio, 1836. From Kirtland the majority of Hs members moved to Independence, Missouri, in obedience to a revelation that they were to establish there the new City of Zion, and hither came Joseph Smith, in 1838. Falling into trouble there with the officials of the county and state, and being harassed on all sides .+hey purchased a tract of land in Hancock County, Illinois, and founded there the city of Nauvoo. But, again in conflict with the authorities, and accused of har- boring criminals, they became unpopular and were subjected to much persecution. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were slain by a mob while confined in the county jail, June, 1844. Under the leadership of Brigham Young, the Mormons began to migrate to Utah in 1846, where they established the stakes of the Holy City of Zion, and erected the remarkable buildings known as the "Temple" and the "Tabernacle." The church has today about 500 organizations and a membership of nearly 500,000, chiefly in Utah, Idaho, and Arizona. G. THE MEXICAN WAR In May, 1846, Congress authorized the President to accept the services of 50,000 volunteer soldiers, apportioned among the several states, of which IlHnois was to furnish three regiments. The Secretary of War also gave permission for the organization of a fourth regiment, which went out under the command of Col. E. D. Baker, of Springfield. Later, 1847, two additional regi- ments were mustered in, as were also a few independent companies. The Illinois soldiers saw hard service in this war, and gained an enviable reputation for bravery. In reporting the conduct of our troops at the battle of Buena Vista, General Taylor wrote: "The first and second Illinois and the Kentucky regiments served under my eye, and I bear a willing testimony of their excellent conduct throughout the day. The spirit and gallantry with which the first IlHnois and the second Kentucky engaged the enemy m 314 STORY OF ILLINOIS the morning restored confidence to that part of the field, while the list of casualties will show how much they suffered in sustaining the heavy charge of the enemy in the afternoon." 'H. STATE INSTITUTIONS 1. Educational State University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. IHinois State Normal University, Normal. Southern Illinois State Normal University, Carbondale. Northern Illinois State Normal School, De Kalb. Eastern Illinois State Normal School, Charleston. Western Illinois State Normal School, Macomb. Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield. 2. Charitable and Correctional Elgin State Hospital, Elgin. Kankakee State Hospital, Kankakee. Jacksonville State Hospital, Jacksonville. Anna State Hospital, Anna. Watertown State Hospital, Watertown. Peoria State Hospital, Peoria. Chester State Hospital, Chester. Lincoln State School and Colony, Lincoln. IHinois School for the Blind, Jacksonville. Illinois School for the Deaf, Jacksonville. Illinois Industrial Home for the Blind, Chicago. IlHnois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, Quincy. Soldiers' Widows' Home of Illinois, Wilmington. Soldiers' Orphans' Home, Normal. IHinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, Chicago. State Training School for Girls, Geneva. St. Charles School for Boys, St. Charles. Chicago State Hospital, Dunning. 3. Penal and Reformatory Illinois State Penitentiary, Joliet. Southern Illinois Penitentiary, Chester. Illinois State Reformatory, Pontiac. TOPICAL INDEX Abolitionists, 213-222 Algonquian Family, The, 14 Alleghany Mts., 81, 91, 119 Alton, Treaty at, 147 Observer, 218 Anderson, Major, 272, 273 Anti-Slavery Society, 218, 223 Arkansas River, 40 Nation, 41 Armstrong Fort, 161 Atkinson, General, 161 Black Hawk, 120, 147, 159, 163, 173 War, 158, 163 Black Laws, 192, 199, 203, 210 Black Partridge, 143, 144 Bond, Shadrick, 138 Boone County, 137 Bowman, Capt., 114 Breckenridge, J. C, 249 Breese, Sidney, 187 British, 119, 120, 127 Buchanan, James, 234, 237 Buffalo hunt, 22, 119 Buffalo Rock, 63 Butler, Jackson, 208 Cabot, John, 94 Cairo, 258, 259 Cahokia, 108 California, Gulf of, 37, 42, 49 Cameron, 247 Canada, 42, 48, 50, 51, 52, 68, G© 74, 80, 82 Canal, 167, 183 Erie, 167, 173 Hennepin, 303 Canalport, 152 Castle Rock, 165 Catholic, 30 Chartres, Fort, 90, 91, 97 Chase, 247, 248 Cheesman, Jesse, 168, 169 Chicago, 61, 72, 137, 148, 149, 151, Chicago 177, 179, 181, 227 Later times in, 281-293 First railroad to, 281 Location of, 281, 290 Fire, 282-290 Rebuilt, 291 Sewerage project, 291 River, 42, 43, 141, 291 Republican Convention, 247 Clark, George R., 99-107 Plans of, 99 Changes plans. 103 Coles, Edward, 199, 200 Columbian Exposition, 293 Columbus, 30 Constitutional Convention, 194 Cook, Daniel P.. 148, 183, 198 County of, 148 Corn Island, 102 Cotton gin, 212 Cumberland Road, 120, 164, 181 Davis, Jefferson, 162, 233 Dearborn, Fort, 141. 142. 148, 160 Des Plaines river, 43, 291 Detroit, River, 59 Fort, 99, 143, 177 Douglas, Stephen A., 177, 187, 231, 249 • Debates of, 231-241, 242 Reelected, 241 In the war, 252-257 Following of, 252, 253 Loyalty of, 253 Last speech of, 257 Drainage Canal, 291 "Drowned Lands," 112 Edwards, Ninian, 194 Elgin. 134 England, 93 English. 82 Erie. Lake. 53, 59 Canal, 173 316 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Fell, Jesse W., 242 Fox river, 33 France, 30, 52, 81, 84, 93 Freeport, 134 French, The, 30, 70. 112-120 Frontenac, Gov., 32, 39, 43, 49, 50, 51, 82, 83 Fort, 51, 52, 54, 59, 69, 74, 80 Gage, Fort, 103 Galena, 134, 178, 182, 264, 281 Galesburg, 228 Garrison, William Lloyd. 213, 214 Gibault, Father, 110 Grant, Ulysses S., 259, 260, 264- 270, 279 In Mexican War, 264 Applies to Yates. 267 Appointment of, 269 At Chattanooga, 270 Lieut. Gen., 270 Great Debates, 231-241. 242 Lakes, 32, 81, 152. 173 Green Bay, 43, 60, 72 GrifEon, The, 57, 59, 60, 61, 74 "Hair Buyer," General, 99 Hamilton, Gov., 99, 100, 110, 111 Hansen, 200 Harrison, Gen., 208 Heald, Capt., 142, 143 Helm. Capt., 104, 110, 111 Mrs., 144 Hennepin, Father, 53, 54 57, 61, 63 Canal, 303 Henry, Patrick, 100 Fort, 117 Hood, John, 228 Hull, Gen., 142 Hunter, Pioneer, 118 Huron, Lake, 59 Illinois River, 42, 63, 78, 99 Country, 118 Settlement. 119 Territory of, 133 Boundary, 133, 134, 303 Statehood, 197 Bankrupt, 184 Constitution of, 197 Illinois Position of, 258 In the war, 252-280 Resources of, 304, 305 Railroads, 306 Cities of, 306 People of, 306 Schools of, 297-301 Illinois Central Railroad, 188, 258 Illinois-Michigan Canal, 148, 183, 184, 304 Immigration. 100, 163, 170, 173, 177, 178 Indentured servants, 191, 192 Indians of Illinois, Chap, x, 32, 72, 74, 77 Name and origin, 13 Iroquois, 14, 48, 64 Work of the squaw, 14, 15 Work of the brave, 16, 17 Training of children, 17 How to become a brave, 18 Customs, 18 Arithmetic, 21 Writing, 21 Buffalo-hunt, 22, 23 Cooking and tanning, 24 Tribe on the war-path, 27 Superstitions and religions, 27, 28 And the white man, 28 Eight tribes of Illinois, 14 Hurons and Ottawas, 33 Wild Rice, 33 Mascoutins or Fire-Nation, 34 Gods described, 40 Algonquins, 48 Senecas, 54-58 Osages, 67, 69 Sacs and Foxes, treaty, 158 Indiana, 133 Jackson, Andrew, 161 Jefferson, Thos., 129, 131, 212 Jesuits, The, 30, 31, 44. 48, 52 Joe Daviess Guards, 267 Joliet, 30, 31, 32, 147 Kankakee river, 61, 77 Portage to, 62 Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 231, 233 In civil war, 233 TOPICAL INDEX 317 Kaskaskia, 42, 88, 90, 99, 102-107, 111, 122-147, 190, 194 River, 88, 90 First Capital, 138 Kentucky, 99, 100, 111 Kidnapping, 204, 207 Kingston, 51 Kinzie, John, 142-147 La Barre, 83 La Chine, 49-50 La Motte, 53, 54, 57 La Salle, 48-84 Becomes a Jesuit, 48 At Montreal, 48 On the Ohio, 49 Plans of, 50 Enemies of, 52 Builds the Grififon, 57 Followers disloyal, 68 First view of the Mississippi, 78 Victory at last, 80 His death, 84 Lee, Robert E., 270 Leoper, H. B., 228 Liberator, The, 213 Lincoln, Abraham, 122, 162, 194 On Slavery, 238 Challenges Douglas, 238 Great debates of, 238-241 Nomination and election of, 242- 251 Autobiography, 243 Before Decatur Convention, 244 Before Chicago Convention, 244, 247, 248 Farewell at Springfield, 250 In the White House, 271-280 His Cabinet, 273 Death of, 279 Lockport, 292 Logan. John A., 261-264 A Douglas Democrat, 262 On Slavery, 262 Loyalty of, 263 Long, Major, 148 "Long Knives," 104. 107. 108 Louis XIV. 51, 52. 53, 81 Louisiana Purchase, 231 Louisville. 101 Lovejoy, Elijah, 212-222 Lovejoy, Early life of, 214 On Slavery, 214 At St. Louis, 214 At Alton, 218 Monument of, 215 Lovejoy, Owen, 262 Mackinac, 32, 33, 44, 59, 61, 72, 80, 82 Madison, James, 212 Marietta, 138 Marquette, Father, 30, 31, 32-44 Maumee river, 110, 174 McClellan, Gen. Geo. B., 268, 279 Menominee river, 33 Mexico, Gulf of, 32, 37, 42, 81, 84, 88 Miami, Fort, 61 Michigan, Lake, 33, 43, 44, 60 Miltimore, Alderman, 153, 154 Mississippi river, 32, 37-42, 78, 80, 88-90, 181 Missouri river, 40. 90 Compromise, 231 Monroe, James, 129, 131, 132 Monso, Chief, 67, 68 Montreal, 48, 74, 77 National Road, 120, 181 New Orleans, 90, 91, 93, 94, 127, 104, 167 Niagara river, 50, 53, 54, 57 North Carolina, 80 Northwest Territory, 129, 132, 133, 137, 191 Ohio river, 40, 49, 120, 121 Ontario, Lake, 50, 51, 57. 77 Ordinance of 1787, 133, 191 Oregon, 134 Ottawa, 187, 239 Peacepipe, 38, 41 Peoria lake, 63 Philadelphia, 167 Phillips, Wendell, 221 Pioneer Hunter, The. 118, 178 Woodland. The, 119 Pioneer, The Clothing, Books, etc., 124 Prairie, 178 !18 THE STORY OF ILLINOIS Pitt, Fort, 94 Pittsburg, 94, 120 Plank Roads, 154 Pope, Nathaniel, 133 Popular Sovereignty, 240 Portage Railroad, 168 Potomac river, 80 Quakers, 227 Quebec, 30, 43, 49, 84 Renault, Philip, 190 Reynolds, Governor, 159 Richmond, 270 Rock river, 90, 158 Rockford, 134 Rosecrans, General, 270 Sacs, 158 San Domingo, 190 Saukenuk, 158 Sault Ste. Marie, 60 Scott, General, 160 Schoolcraft, 148 Seward, William H., 247, 248, 272, 273 Shawueetown, 120, 121 Sherman, General W. T., 270 Shiloh, 260 Sioux, 161 Slave, Auction, 204 Merchant, 207 Mart, 207 Territory, 192 Set free, 210 States secede, 250 Slavery, In Illinois, 190-202 Under England, 191 At Kaskaskia, 191 Indentured, 192 Fight on, 198 Decline of, 203-211 Spanish, 82 Springfield, 188 Stanton, Edward M., 274 Starved Rock, 43, 69, 70, 82, 83, 88, 00 Stephenson County, 137, 170 Steamboats, 169, 173, 177 Sterling, Capt, 94 St. Clair, Lake, 59 Governor, 137, 208, 209 On slavery in Illinois, 191 St. Ignace, 33, 44 St. Lonis, 40, 121 Fort, 78, 83. 84, 90 Sumter, Fort, 253, 272, 273 Swift, General, 259 Tecumseh, Chief, 142 Tennessee, 99 Texas, 83, 84 Tonty, 53-84 Tremont House, 257 Turnpike, The National, 120 Underground Railway, 223-230 Utica, 63 Vincennes, 99, 110-117 Virginia, Sea of, 42 State of, 100, 112, 119. 127, 129, 191 Claims to Illinois, 191 Wabash Country, 112 River, 113 Walk-in-the-water. 171-173 Washington, George, 132-212 Waukegan, 134 Wayne, Fort, 142 Wheeling, 164 Whitney, Eli, 212 Wigwam. The, 247 Williamsburg. 112 Winnebago, Lake, 34 Wisconsin, River, 34, 90 Territory, 133 Claims of. 136 Woodland Pioneer, 119 Yankees, 173, 178-182, 209 Yates, Richard, 258-261, 267, 269 ; G \Q 1913 ua|H;;u- hpj -Ufiih iit'- ^^^'^-^-w^- Tmnml LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 752 464 A .MMb illii ill I it;UU\niiiiii